The Car Crash That Revealed Her Calling

“The only thing I remember when I woke up was that I was already screaming…I was in a full scream, and I thought I was on fire.” By all reports, Kelly Kopp and his band mates should have been killed when their van crashed into a guardrail in 2007.  At 23 years old, Kelly had strayed far from God, and attributed his and his band’s close call to luck. “I was taking the credit now,” Kelly stated. “Now I had this awesome story to tell. More people are going to pay attention to me, more people are going to be interested in what I have to say…because now I have this story.” Kelly grew up in a Christian home, was homeschooled, and went to church every Sunday with his family. Overall, it was a happy childhood. “I don't remember a time where I didn't know Jesus.” He said. “I was in love with God from right out the gate.” 

Then at eight years old, he found out that the woman he called ‘mom’ was not his biological mother. “I felt rejected from my mom. My stepmom never treated me any differently, but in my mind, I was different.” He stated. “I was an outsider, an outcast, and I internalized that and thought that they didn't love me as much…my mom didn't love me…I wasn’t her son. So now I'm in the middle. All I wanted was for somebody to love me. I want somebody to like me.” Despite feeling rejected, he started spending time with his biological mom, who wasn’t a Christian. It opened a different lifestyle to him. At 14, he asked his parents to be enrolled in a public school because he wanted to be a part of what the other kids were doing. “I would see all my friends and they were partying or doing different things that I wasn't allowed to do.” He spoke.  “It looked like they were having a blast and that they were having more fun than me.” So, Kelly decided to join in on the fun by smoking weed and drinking. He also got into rock music and playing guitar. Still, he couldn’t shake God’s call on his life. “Every single night when I would lay down in bed, I would hear his voice saying, ‘Kelly, I have a plan for you. I have a call for you.’ Since I was 14-15 years old.” Kelly spoke. “Every night that I was away from him, I would hear him say that before I went to sleep, ‘I have a plan for you. I have a call for you.’ So I never really ran from him…I just ignored him.” 

Throughout high school, he lived a double life. On one hand, he was constantly fighting with his parents and at times, getting into trouble. On the other, he was the good Christian kid who went to church. In fact, when Kelly was a senior in high school, his pastor tried to convince him to go into ministry, but Kelly had other plans- to start a band and hit the road. “The next day after I graduated, I left. I was gone, and that was it.”  “All I wanted was to be a rock star! I wanted to be famous and wanted people to love me…because I felt empty on the inside. I thought that if everyone in the world loved me, then that would fill that hole.” 

Although his attempt at starting a band failed, he landed a job as a tour manager for a punk band and started his life on the road. “I was living the dream at that point. I mean, everything that I thought that I wanted, I had it…it was going amazing.” By now, he was even further from God. Then, in 2007, his band’s van crashed into a guardrail splitting open the side of the vehicle. Amazingly, all survived with non-life-threatening injuries, although Kelly suffered a back injury and cuts on his arms and face. By the time he recovered, the band had replaced him. Kelly, now 23, was devastated. One night while sitting in his truck, he says again, God spoke to him. “I heard his voice so loud in my truck, say, ‘Kelly, I'm waiting on you. I have a plan for you.” He spoke. “I remember yelling out loud back to him, ‘I'm not doing this again. I keep going back to trying to make it happen on my own. I keep going back to trying to make people love me.’” “I said, I'll make a deal with you. God, if you really want me, you change me. I said, I'll open my heart to you, but that's it…you can have my heart, but I'm not changing anything.” 

“The next day when I woke up, something happened, and every desire I had, had changed. I didn't want to talk the same, I didn't want to go to the same places, I didn't want to do the same thing, I didn't want to listen to the same music. All I wanted was to listen to sermons, to read the word, get the word in me to go to church, it was crazy.” Having rededicated his life to Christ, Kelly started posting videos on Facebook of him preaching. Before long, his videos were going viral, one even had 3 million views! Eventually, Kelly went into full time ministry and became a pastor speaking at churches and conferences. He also married his wife, Lindsey, and they have five children.

Today, Kelly is a best-selling author, pastor and evangelist who travels the world telling people about the love and grace that comes through faith Jesus Christ.  “Press in, run to the Father, go to him and just tell him, I need fulfillment. I need a joy. I need a peace that lasts…He'll give it to you. What he does for one, he will do for another. Let me just be an example and say, if He did it for me, He'll do it for you!”