One moment he is riding his bicycle in Africa and the next he is struck by a motorcycle and gone from this earth.
Former West Linn High School band teacher who taught my son Ryan for three years, Jeff Cumpston, a day shy of his 53rd birthday, was killed in Zimbabwe last month and his memorial service Sunday was a testament to his life. A life lived with passion, with conviction, with love, with faith.
A life lived going after dreams.
I bumped into Jeff Cumpston at the Sunset Market in West Linn’s Sunset area a few days before he was set to leave for a year to Zimbabwe back in 2008. We talked briefly about my son Ryan and I thanked Jeff for being his trombone instructor for three years at West Linn High School. Jeff told me that Ryan had a lot of talent with the trombone and he hoped Ryan would use his talent, and I told him I am grateful for the encouragment.
Then I asked Jeff about his plans in Africa and what made him decide to leave all he knew in comfortable West Linn to go with his family to teach in Africa.
“A dream.”
Jeff told me he had always wanted to live in a different culture, to give his young children a chance to see beyond the environment that we live in here in West Linn. He sensed it was a calling from God. And he was following after that dream.
Those words impacted me then. And even more now, a year later, when Jeff is no longer on this earth.
So many people have dreams. So many people want to live out those dreams. But then life gets in the way. And we put off dreams and we forget dreams.
But not Jeff. He left what he knew, a comfortable job, a job as a teacher at West Linn High School where he was well loved and respected, and decided to take his family to Africa to teach there. What a testimony, as Pastor Joel Dombrow from Willamette Christian noted during the memorial service Sunday. Joel was right when he said that memorial services make us reflect on how we are living our lives, and this one especially, as we see how Jeff lived out his dream and impacted so many lives.
This summer, we saw the movie Up! and in the movie a young girl and boy have a dream to go to a place far away, a place filled with adventure, a certain spot they had only seen on television but wanted to experience live.
But after the young boy and girl are married and they grow older, life gets in the way, and they never make it to this place of their dreams, and the woman dies. And the man is left all alone. Old. Bitter.
But, then a young boy scout type of boy shows up and the old man has a renewed dream to go to this place of adventure, and it is good, and it is right. And the world can go on.
That is what it felt like for me with Jeff Cumpston. Seeing him go after his dream of taking his family to Africa was such a testimony to living life to its fullest. For Jeff, it was about following God in his life. He had a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and Jeff followed him to the end.
Jeff’s life was a testimony to not making excuses for our lives, as to why we cannot do this or this or that.
Jeff Cumpston’s daughter played her violin at the memorial service on Sunday and she had the right perspective. She shared before she played about how she saw her dad living out his dreams and living out his purpose. And yes, we are sad. But she said his life inspires and he lived his life to the fullest so we should not be sad.
Maybe only changed. . .
Indeed, Jeff Cumpston changed so many people’s lives with his music. His encouragement with their music. So many former students of his showed up Sunday for the service. And their parents and friends. I talked to some people whose children were in the band with him and they loved music, though they may not have been the most natural musicians but they had passion and interest and Jeff encouraged them as he did those who may have had more natural talent.
Jeff met people where they were at and that was so wonderful about him. Some students may have had exceptional talent but no interest to pursue music beyond just playing in the basic band and he would encourage them to do more with their music, but he also let them do what they needed to do. Others he encouraged to go beyond, and they did, as Hailey Niswanger who is now studying music in Boston and there are other West Linn High School students such as Max Blair and Kate Davis. .
And he played back up for some of his students in music groups they started, and he was comfortable just being back up to them. A supporting role that made all the difference in the world.
Yet, the most touching part of the service for me — besides his daughter playing the violin and sharing the story of her father, and seeing his wife and son sitting in the front row of the church — was the village Chombo in Africa that Jeff was helping. And changing. That story will live on. And those villagers will never ever be the same.
Jeff came upon the village named Chombo during his time in Zimbabwe and the people in the village had not eaten in four days. Not one of them. I can hardly imagine one day let alone four days going without food.
Jeff went back to the village to help with food and he got others involved including members of our church. And Jeff was planning on helping the village become self sufficient. One way they were doing this was to help them get water. They began a “bore hole” project and that is well under way so that the village can irrigate their own crops year round. The link for the information and to help is at: http://blog.cumpston.us/Chombo
Towards the end of the memorial service, they showed a slide show of various Jeff Cumpston and family photographs, which included his years as a high school band director. After that, there was video footage of the Chombo village members paying tribute to Jeff Cumpston.
They called him hero.
The memorial service was recorded. . . here is the link
