Ocean passages on rolling seas; counting waves to challenge the myth of the set wave, where every seventh swell is the largest of a set of 14 waves. Sometimes, it was the fifth; other times it was the ninth. Whatever the number, there was always a wave that appeared too big, that roared and enveloped you.

By James E. Copple As Kenya Airways made its descent into Nairobi, the rising sun colored the eastern sky bright orange. Enveloped in morning fog, the beauty of sun-on-clouds painted an endless, boundless horizon — it’s a continent so rich in diversity and history, and I am thankful this place has been part of my […]

By James E. Copple As a policy guy working to change environment for the greatest good to the whole, the realities of numbers or data run deep when I see, first-hand, a child playing in the waste of a slum community; parents struggling to educate their child; a family mourning the loss of a child, […]

By James E. Copple The Church is a relationship to something bigger and greater than an individual and a people, and that’s true across denominations and even for the un-churched. For me, it is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, one that has taken me to the White House and 30 governor’s mansions. It has […]

By James E. Copple I am taken with the idea of language, especially metaphor. It fascinates me, our dynamic linguistic toolbox and its ability to, at once, simply communicate the complex; create nuanced compositions of description, insight and perspective; illuminate and elevate the basic; to build bridges of understanding. In the world of extreme poverty, […]

By James E. Copple When the world seems big and the problems seem bigger, look to the people like Karen and Inez in Honduras, who remind us that the bridge to hope is a promise built locally on the premise of one and the commitment of individuals to make personal, meaningful connections to people, one […]

By James E. Copple Occasionally, I have a crisis of confidence that undermines my faith; challenges my optimism; and generally leaves me grumpy and deflated. It was several weeks ago, in the silence of my home and looking over various projects mostly dealing with the poor and disenfranchised, when I wept (truly) and begged God […]

By James E. Copple Human-trafficking lives in the shadows of our global urban centers.  “Shadows.” That’s her word, and she is a 15-year-old Eritrean girl sold by her parents and trafficked via container-truck to Nairobi, where she lives in a small shack. And hers isn’t an uncommon story in East Africa, where famine and drought […]

The pursuit of social justice is in the very fabric of faith. Justice is not an isolated term reserved for the individual in the sanctuary of his/her soul. Justice is lived out in the context of community and is, therefore, social. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord […]