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Alisa Kuppe

kuppe_alisa.jpg“Without the CCO ministry, I am almost certain that I would not be here today,” says Alisa Kuppe. “CCO staff helped me work through depression, an eating disorder, a complete dependency on relationships, and a poor sense of self worth. From this horrible place in my life, I was renewed by the love and patience of so many of those involved with CCO, and found meaning in my studies, the community that I found, and in myself as a daughter of a King. I learned what it meant to have God at the center of everything—academics, sports, relationships, and my daily life.”

Alisa first connected to the CCO’s ministry at Carnegie Mellon University when her boyfriend at the time invited her to attend Alpha, a CCO-sponsored fellowship meeting. “I was not looking for a college fellowship, because I had no idea how important it would be,” she says. “I became a Christian in high school and had very little connection with the youth minister before heading off to college.” She ultimately became a student leader in the ministry at CMU, leading small-group Bible studies, participating in spring break service trips, and attending the annual Jubilee conference.

“Jubilee helped me feel a lot more direction in my life and affirmation in my calling towards working in psychology and counseling,” Alisa says. “It was refreshing to be a part of a huge crowd of believers, after usually being surrounded by a very secular and critical university community. Jubilee inspired me, poured into me, and moved me forward in new directions with God.”

Today, Alisa and her husband, Scott, who was also involved in the ministry at CMU, live in Japan, where they work as international staff with Young Life, an organization committed to spreading the gospel to unreached kids in the world. They are involved in Kobe Union Church, where Scott serves as part-time youth pastor. Alisa spends time with young girls in the congregation, and the Kuppes teach Sunday school to middle and high school students.

“My life today is a direct reflection of the work that the CCO ministry had on me as a college student,” says Alisa. “My decision to commit all of my life completely to God was never accomplished until I interacted with the staff of CCO. My work with middle and high school students in Japan involves needing to demonstrate the same love and patience that was given to me at Carnegie Mellon, to show the love of Christ to as many as possible. Without this demonstration of Christ-like love from the CCO, I would have very few examples for those that I work with today.

“Every time I have a conversation with a young lady, whether it’s at 3 in the afternoon or 1 in the morning, I think of the unconditional love that was shown to me constantly through the work of the CCO staff at Carnegie Mellon. The least I can do to thank these wonderful mentors is try to emulate this with those that I work with today, and express how great a God we have, that he would pour his spirit and forgiveness unto us always, through some amazing, gifted people.

“I draw hope from the knowledge that the CCO was a huge part of the inward change that happened to me throughout my college years. I know that Christ was working through every one of the staff workers I met, and it inspires me to continue being Christ-like in all that I do. I am forever thankful that I now live a life free of an eating disorder, ready to welcome a new life in just a couple months because of some difficult conversations that CCO staff were willing to have with me. I am also thankful that my husband and I have a strong vision for a family and marriage that is God-centered, because of the guidance of great mentors from the CCO and demonstrations of this in their own families that we are still in touch with today.”