In Finding God, Finding Me, Izzy Koo tells her powerful testimony of how her life changed after encountering god at sixteen years old. She openly her fears, struggles, and insecurities as a high school student, as well as how God helped her find her identity and confidence.
SOLA Network is proud to present an interview with Izzy Koo, who is now a freshman in college. She is interviewed by Soojin Park, a SOLA Editorial Board member. They discuss:
- How Izzy began writing her book
- The process of writing and publishing a book
- How to be a witness for Jesus in high school, college, and beyond
- The importance of building up personal and community-based faith
We hope you are blessed by the interview. You can check out Finding God, Finding Me on Amazon.
Editor’s Note: Below is a lightly edited automated transcript of their conversation. There may be typos or grammatical errors.
Soojin Park: Hi everybody. My name is Soojin and I’m serving on the editorial board of the SOLA Network I am so excited to be here today with Izzy Koo who is the author of the book Finding God, Finding Me.
Just a quick bio for Izzy. She is currently a freshman at Pepperdine University, studying religion and English. And she hopes to pursue youth ministry in the future. She herself was radically impacted by God during those teenage years specifically, in her sophomore year of high school, the passion she gained to spread God’s love at that time has led Izzy to write this book, and to start a blog to write music and most importantly, to strive to be a light to people wherever she goes. So welcome, Izzy, and glad to have you here.
Izzy Koo: Thank you. It’s so good to be here.
Soojin Park: Yes, I know, we’ve been trying to make this work for a while. And I’m so glad that we can finally hop on and get this going. And I’m so excited to have you because it’s really not common to meet such young people who have a published book under their belt. And so I just want to jump right in and ask you Is he What is it that inspired you to write this book? What led you to decide I’m going to publish a book?
Izzy Koo: Yeah, no, thank you for the introduction, Soojin, I’m so glad that we’re finally able to meet like this. But I think what really inspired the book was simply kind of like you said that I had radically met God, and my life was changed. And I just wanted people to know about it. I think my moment of encountering God, in my sophomore year of high school, was such a transformational event for me where through it, I really found everything I found confidence, identity, passion, and purpose, kind of like how I talked about in the book. And ultimately, I think I found myself.
And the interesting thing was that when I returned back to school, or my youth group, or my volleyball team, I just saw everything differently. And I think I saw my friends, and I saw my classmates and just people I didn’t know. And I saw the hopelessness and the insecurity in them that I used to struggle with so much myself. And I think all I wanted to do was tell them my story of how Jesus helped me overcome those things, and really bring me to a place of just indescribable joy, and peace. And I wanted to tell them how God changed me, and that he could change them to if they just opened their hearts to it. And so it was through that conviction.
And then the push of my mentor at the time, her name was Pastor Esther, that kind of led me and inspired me to write the book. And from there on out, I think it was just a clear prompting from God that this was something that he wanted me to do.
Soojin Park: That’s awesome. I feel like the fact that you, you know, you, you grew up in the church, right? But that like you have this radical moment where things became so clear to you. I think a lot of people want that, or they’re looking for that almost. I know you talked about it in the book, but just for a little preview, can you share a little bit about it? What do you think it was that kind of led you to finally have this eye-opening moment?
Izzy Koo: Yeah, that’s such a good question. I think I’ve thought about it a lot. Because it’s so true that even if you grow up in the church, it doesn’t mean that you have this deep relationship with God. And I didn’t even know what I was missing. Because I just grew up in the church my whole life, I thought that I had everything. And then it was kind of that moment of encountering and I realized, wow, like this is the kind of transforming love and power that God can have on a life.
But I think when I just look back on my whole story, and just my whole life, I think God had to kind of bring me to a point where he stripped everything for me and brought me to a place of complete brokenness and helplessness where I needed him the most. Because if he had maybe revealed himself to me earlier, I think I wouldn’t have appreciated his love for me as much, because I didn’t need it as much I was okay. More or less, but kind of taking away, like the friend group that I had, at the time, the church that I had at the time and everything kind of went to Ground Zero, I think I came to a place of desperation of realizing I needed God’s so bad. And it was through that where I was able to experience his love fully and immensely, and God really captured my heart through that.
Soojin Park: I think it just goes to show that even the good things that God has given us in our lives, often they can work against us right and blind us from what truly matters. So what an encouragement to hear you say that instead of just resenting God in the midst of your losses, the fact that God was able to show you his love, I just praise God for that.
So you wrote this book when you were still in high school, I’m sure it was a daunting process. So I’d love to hear from you a little bit about just what that process was like for you as a first-time author and just being so young while you’re doing it. Was it scary? Was it stressful? What was it like for you?
Izzy Koo: Yeah. Well, the fact is that the idea of just writing a book at all was kind of not in the picture ever. Because I mean, that’s not an idea that first comes to your head. And I’m also a perfectionist by nature. So I struggled so much with writing in high school, when it came to like essays and just those one-page papers, I could not put my thoughts down for the life of me.
But when I started to write this book, it was crazy, because the writing came so effortlessly for me, and it was truly as if God was writing the pages. And as I reflect upon it, I think it was because it was the first time where I was passionate about what I was writing about. And I wanted to write about it. And more than that, I think I needed to write about it.
And so as I kind of began that process, and just do praying, and just seeking the will and the heart of God, I think God, really, it was as if you’re sitting right next to me writing the pages for me. And that’s how it felt like a process that came so naturally in the face of something that would honestly really be difficult.
And then the publishing process, that’s also supposed to be really hard as well. And I didn’t know anything about the publishing process going into it. I kind of learned as I went, but the publishing process for a first-time author to get published, it’s less than a 1% chance. And because, you know, I had no following, or I don’t have any fame background and stuff like that. The odds are even further against me in that sense.
But I just remember a night it was before my parents even knew that I had written a book but I had the completely, like, finished manuscript in my hands. And then my sisters were in my room, and they knew about it. And I just held their hands. And they prayed over the book. And I still got that whiteboard in my room with their signatures, just saying amen. Amen. Next prayer, like let this book get published, not for the sake of just being published, but so that God would really be glorified and use this book in the way that he wants to, to reach the people that he wants to.
And so when I think about the book being published, I really look back at that moment of prayer, because I think that’s when those seeds are planted. And God really uses that to allow the whole process to happen. And from there, I think 10 weeks later, the publisher reached back and reached out to me, they said, they wanted to take a chance on the book. And from there, it was just fun. It was just a process, like six months of editing, designing of creating, and was certainly released 2021.
Soojin Park: Yeah, I think what just really encourages me hearing you talk about that is the fact that when God calls us to difficult tasks that we feel unequip for feeling, he is so kind and giving us what we need what you know, through the Spirit, helping you write or opening doors to the publisher. So that’s such an encouragement to all of us that when we feel called to these difficult and weighty tasks, we can try to serve you really will give us exactly what we need.
So I want to dive a little bit into just the actual meat of your book, I don’t want to spoil too much I want everyone to go on reading the book themselves. But I think there were certain parts of the book that really stood out to me just because I’ve done youth ministry for the last four and a half years of my life. And so there were things where I just really resonated with some of the things you’ve shared.
And I thought, What a great way for you to give encouragement to teens right now who may be struggling with these things. So one thing that really stood out to me as you open in your first chapter by sharing a story of how you felt conflicted and isolated from your friend group because one of the friends in your friend group felt that she could not share openly about her sexuality because she knew you were a Christian.
And so I think this is a really common experience. I think there’s a lot of Christian teens out there who more and more don’t know how to handle these situations where they have non-Christian friends who have openly different beliefs, and it makes them feel isolated if they stand up for what they believe. And so what kind of encouragement or advice would you give to teens who may be wrestling with that kind of scenario in their social lives?
Izzy Koo: Yeah, it’s such a good question. I think what I struggled with and did poorly in the past was thinking that I to bring up the word Christian, bring up the word God, and everywhere I went without any kind of filter, and I thought that by continuing to talk about God and continuing to push forward, the idea of Christianity would be what made people accept it.
In the end what I learned through my exposure is that you don’t have to verbally say anything about being a Christian to show that you’re Christian and that you love God. And the most powerful thing that you can do in an environment that leads that tends to shut down verbal expressions of faith is to really show them your love and friendship, through your kindness, and through your selflessness and the joy that you come every day with to school, and the peace that you have, despite, you know, difficult circumstances that come your way.
And I would say, to just be that loving and welcoming person first. Because I think if you do that, then you’ll see the beauty that God shines through you to your friends and your community that will lead them to God without you ever even having to say the word Christian. And I think the goal is to really be so radical of a person that your friends will want to ask you. Hey, like, why are you so different? Right? Why do you always smile? Or how can you be happy right now, when those things are going on in your life? So you so even when you’re just surrounded by people and friends who don’t know, or who don’t share your beliefs, I would say to just love them and to be kind, and show them through your character about the God that you follow. And even through just your kindness, I think those seeds will be planted in their heart.
Soojin Park: Yeah, I think that’s a good word, even for grown adults who are not in high school. Yeah, even myself and peers around my age. I know, it’s hard, or even with coworkers, I know. There’s always that pressure to either have all the right answers and be able to say all the right things, but at the same time, no one feels fully equipped to do that. Or it’s scary to like, have to explicitly say all these Christian things. And so I think your word is a good one that, you know, I think kindness is underrated, sloping line, being loving. Yeah. And like building that relationship as a platform. And I’m sure, God definitely opens doors for those explicit conversations to happen. But definitely it happens on a foundation of relationship. That’s awesome.
Do you feel like you said, you know, in the past, you weren’t so good at it. So do you feel you learned that the hard way?
Izzy Koo: Yeah, I think I definitely learned that the hard way. Kind of with those the experience of friends that I talked about in that first chapter of the book, I think, that was kind of that learning experience, where I realized I didn’t handle that maybe as best as I could have. And just from there, having experienced God and realizing that there’s so much more to showing somebody that about the love of God than just saying it verbally.
I think in my experiences, after that, I really tried to just be that person first, that welcomes a new student, or to go sit with that person at lunch was nobody to sit with. And it was through that, like just how you said that. Then those explicit conversations come up through those windows of opportunity that you create through the foundation of just genuine relationships.
Soojin Park: Yeah. And it’s a challenge. I think sometimes we think that like, you know, being the best speaker and having all the right answers the hardest thing, but sometimes the hardest thing is going up to the person that’s alone in the lunch room and sitting with them. That’s usually really hard. So that’s a challenge for all of us.
I think something else that really stuck out to me in your book was later in the book, you talk about how, during the pandemic during the COVID-19 shutdowns, you realize how it’s so much easier to feel God when you’re surrounded by Christians at church. And I think a lot of teenagers during the pandemic felt this not even teenagers, but just people in general. But I noticed also with even doing youth ministry myself, I think, especially teens, I think a lot of them felt that disconnect.
But even after the shutdowns stopped, and even after they came back to church, they never fully reconnected with other believers are with God. And so I see a lot of people and a lot of students who just post COVID are feeling stuck and feeling slow and dry in from that. And so what would you say to especially those teens who may be feeling stuck in that? And do you have any, like practical help for how someone can try to get out of that?
Izzy Koo: No, that’s a really good point. Because it’s so true that I think a lot of us have a community-based faith but don’t necessarily have a strong foundation of a private faith. And I guess those who feel like they can’t experience God without their church or their community or their friends, I would say that first I understand and I’ve been there. And what allowed me to have more of a private faith is to do what it says in the Bible. In Matthew six it says, to go to your room to close your door and to pray to your Father. There’s just this peace that passes understanding and a worth. Just beyond anything that you can describe that occurs I think when you just when it’s just you and God, and that one on one relationship is so important because if you just hang out with God in He’s group settings, then you never get to know him on the intimate level that he wants to know you on.
And so I would say, to push yourself to embrace kind of the bit of awkwardness that comes with the silence of it just being you and Jesus, because it can be a little awkward if it’s just you and him in the room, but it’s in that silence, that God will do something that makes that silent room feel. So fold. Yeah, so feel so filled. Yeah.
For me, I thought that, you know, I needed people I needed my pastor, I needed my friends, for me to feel the love of God. But in reality, even though we feel like those are the people showing us love, it’s God working through those people and discard that’s ultimately surrounding us all the time, whether we feel lonely, or whether we feel fulfilled, he’s the one right there. And so just to keep that in mind, and to know that I think can be really helpful.
Soojin Park: I think that’s really good. And, you know, it reminds me of something I always share with, you know, youth students, college students to whatnot, is that we have a skewed view, I think of relationship with God, where with any other relationship in our lives, whether it’s friends, significant others, or even family members, if that person doesn’t try to spend any time with me, I’m not going to feel like there’s much of a relationship.
But for some reason, when it comes to our relationship with God, we don’t have that same mentality where we think this relationship should just happen and be flourishing with no effort and no time put into it. Yeah, and I love that you kind of acknowledged that it can be awkward. Yeah, it can be awkward. And that’s normal, I think for all of us. And so just kind of getting through that, or even getting through the days where you really don’t feel like it. Yeah, I feel like it’s worth it. Because in any relationship, like you need that kind of effort.
Izzy Koo: Right? I think it’s really cool. Kind of to compare the relationship with God to a relationship with a friend, because honestly, there’s so many parallels. You need to still reach out to God get to know him, just like you would get to know a friend through their Instagram or through their social media. Get to know God through His Word. And just spending time with him.
Soojin Park: I think that’s true. And he’s given us so much than his word. He’s revealed so much about himself. It’s just up to us to look for it there. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, so I read the book, as any high schooler writing the book, but now I’m speaking to Izzy the college student, right. And college was a long time ago for me, but I remember feeling like college was really different from high school.
So one question I would love to ask you, having finished your first semester, you’re in your second semester of your freshman year at Pepperdine. If you were to add an epilogue to the end of your book, what would you say in it? Would you like go back on anything you wrote in high school? Or would you add to it? Would you say something different? I’d love to hear just kind of having this new life experience what you would add to the content of your book?
Izzy Koo: That’s such a fun question. And honestly, I thought that going to college, I guess that there would be all these new things that I would learn and there has been there’s been a ton of things. But at the end of the day, I think the same message holds true even in college, that people are just as broken and just as empty hear that, that they as they were in high school, and that Jesus is so just as necessary.
And I think that’s kind of one of the biggest things that I’ve learned here. In college that’s still following Jesus is the best decision that you can ever make. Because that’s what gives me the ability to, I think, have so much joy in college to have so much peace, when everything else feels like it’s so busy or so stressed out. Just a certain piece that kind of Yeah, I guess transcends understanding that way.
But if I were to add an epilogue to my book, I think I would just emphasize college is just like high school. And after college, I’m sure that it’s just like high school as well in the sense that we just all need Jesus and we still need him. And that going anywhere different doesn’t change that and probably only magnifies it as you get older and as you have all these different opportunities to pursue, but since I do go to Pepperdine, I will plug that and if you’re a high school student, you should go to Pepperdine. Honestly, it’s been the best couple months of my life. And so yeah,
Soojin Park: I actually recently visited Malibu, and how can anyone get any studying done here? It’s so beautiful.
Izzy Koo: Yeah, but honestly, I think it’s the atmosphere. Just the, you know, the view and everything you kind of also just reminds you of God as your study, extra extra push of motivation sometimes when you need it, as well.
Soojin Park: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I love what you said because that’s very true. In some ways, life is the same, but I will say it’s the same with just more distractions. are like temptations to look to the world besides God.
And I think in some ways, even as I’m listening to you, I feel humbled and I feel challenged because it can be easy for someone like myself to say, oh, like things were so easy in high school or things were so easy in college. And you know, it’s so different now. But when I think I think you’re right, I think actually, it’s the same. And I it’s just, I’ve dealt with the same kind of struggle, same idols in my life, but they’ve just become more and magnified. And in a way, I need to have the same realizations that you had in high school, and you are still having a college.
Izzy Koo: Right? Yeah. And I think when I first wrote the book, it was just kind of for middle school and high school was kind of the audience that I had in mind. But after releasing it, and just kind of seeing how it’s impacted people, I realized that the audience is actually a lot broader. And it’s, in reality, it’s for parents to who need to be encouraged by the younger generation’s faith.
It’s for middle schoolers who want to hear a cool story about how a kid like them encountered Jesus or for high schoolers, figuring out their faith for themselves, but it’s also for college students who need to be reminded and convicted and challenged and missed everything going on in their lives and kind of everyone in between who just needs encouragement, because there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that no matter what age you are, God is the same God who needs us.
Soojin Park: Yeah, sure. Right, like Finding God, Finding Me part 2 like 10 years later, and like, what are the things that you think are still the same? And I think, people need to hear that. I think this challenge sometimes is, and I don’t know if you’ve encountered this, but I think sometimes people can look at, like fired up young people and think like, oh, that’s just because they’re young, right? Like, that’s not going to last.
And so I think to push against that, like, I would love to hear from you or read from you, like five years on the line that no, like, you still have this passion for God. Because at the end of the day, like God is the one sustaining God in your life. Right? And I don’t know, have you felt any of that, like, people kind of, you know, perceiving your passion just because you’re young?
Izzy Koo: Yeah. No, I’m sure a lot of people think that too. But I’ve seen so many other people that have so much more faith in me too, and who are just as on fire. Recently, I went to this youth retreat, and there was this speaker there. And he was like in his mid 30s, kind of older, I guess, than me. But when I tell you he was jumping up and down during the worship songs, not even during the, quote, unquote, hype, worship songs, but just the slowest just because that’s how much he loves God. And he said something that was really profound that if you change, you know, your faith, as you get older, that means you’ve compromised somewhere along the way. And I think that’s stuck with me, because I don’t want to compromise my faith. Even as I get older, it should only increase just as a relationship with a friend would increase. As you get older, your love for God should also increase. Yeah.
Soojin Park: And I think it just goes to show why Jesus lauded childlike faith. Right? That’s, that’s what it means, right? It’s like, you don’t overcomplicate and you don’t compromise along the way for the shiny things of the world around you. Very true to like, what’s pure and true. I hope we are all going to grow old and jumping up and down. I love that.
So just to like, kind of start wrapping up our conversation. Your book is really about you sharing. It’s a testimony, right? Like, it’s a story about how God met you at this particular time in your life, and how that really changed you and how you want to share that with people. And so it’s really you sharing your story. And I think that’s such a big encouragement to me, because I think it’s not a natural thing.
And I think specifically within like the Asian American context, it’s not a natural thing to share your story. I feel like the Asian cultures, it’s not very common. You’re told to kind of, you know, keep to yourself, I think, speaking out is not as common and so how would you encourage other youth to be more open and bold and confident about sharing their stories? And I think especially Asian American students, how would you encourage them to like have a voice and share their story?
Izzy Koo: Ya know, I think it’s so good that you bring up the Asian American side of it because it’s, it’s such a reality and growing up in the Asian American Career To now experiencing more multiethnic churches and stuff like that, too, there is such a difference. And there’s definitely a sense of more timidness and reserving, I think, when it comes to the Asian American church, but these have, we all have such good stories to share, and we need to share them at the same time.
And so I guess my encouragement would be, if you’re kind of scared, or have fear in sharing your story, to first share it with your best friend, I think it happens over the coffee table over the dinner table. And I think we limit our view of sharing testimonies to be in front of an open mic, session, at the end of the retreat or something you have planned that you have to speak for 15 minutes, about something, but it really is not all of that.
But it really is just asking your friend out to coffee and just sharing your story with him casually, because, and I would actually argue that that is the most powerful way to do it. Because something special happens when a friend hears the powerful story of their friend who are they who they are so close to, and who they trust. And it’s in those moments where they then start to believe that same power that changed their friend can also change them too. Yeah, I think that’s where the real magic happens.
I have friends who also after doing that, they started a blog. So then they post on it every couple of weeks, just starts that they have or convictions that they feel like God has put on their heart, or to post on their Instagram Stories, feeling that confidence. And finally, I think there’s so much fear too in social media and kind of vocalizing your faith through there. But I think those are just some of the things I’ve learned some of the methods, that my friends, as well.
Soojin Park: And I love the idea of like, starting with your friend, because you’re starting with someone you feel safe sharing with. And that’s kind of like how you build the courage to share with more and more people. Right? Yeah, one thing I would add to that is, I think sometimes the fear comes out of just lack of experience of actually articulating what we think or feel in regards to our faith. So one thing I would add is if you just start with journaling, sharing with just you and God, right, you and your journal, because that’ll help you put words to the things that you’re thinking, and then you’ll be able to verbalize to your friend over coffee. And then maybe your Instagram.
Izzy Koo: That journaling thing is so good. That’s how the book process started too, a process of just journaling. Because it wasn’t going to be a book from the very beginning. That wasn’t the goal. But my mentor at the time just said, you have so many thoughts, just journal, some of them down. And I think you need to journal those thoughts. That’s when God really spoke to me and kind of put together all the pieces and connected everything in my mind so that I could share it.
Soojin Park: I used to journal so much, and especially in college, and I still have all of them. And sometimes I’ll just go back and read through like what were my thought processes at this time at these like pivotal moments in my life. And it’s always really helpful. I don’t think my journaling was profound enough to get into a book like yours, but it’s always been helpful for me. That’s a that’s definitely like a encouragement to others.
So Izzy, as we’re closing out, how could we, the listeners and the viewers here at SOLA,, how can we be praying for you and your campus? Like, what are some of the things that? You know, I think a college campus is a beautiful place. But it’s also a really difficult place to be a Christian in these days. And so I’m sure there are challenges there, but also encouragement. So how can we be praying for you and how can we be praying for Pepperdine?
Izzy Koo: Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I think a lot of people think Pepperdine is a Christian school. So I think the general consensus would be, you know, that we have so much more faith than other schools. But in reality, it’s not always like that, too. And so maybe just a prayer for the campus to be able to take advantage of the faith opportunities at the school because it does such a good job of cultivating that environment if you take advantage of it.
So yeah, just just praying, oh, I don’t know, I have such a heart for just youth and teenager because it’s such a pivotal point in our lives. And it’s at that it’s at this point, where we have so many options to go down, and Jesus is usually just one of them. But just to know that that is the best option that you can take at the end at the end of the day. And then I guess a prayer for myself would be that I’ll be able to show people that kind of through that kindness that we talked about earlier, being the light on the campus that is able to lead people to him, I guess would be my prayer as well. Yeah.
Izzy Koo: Thank you.
Soojin Park: Well, I personally have been so encouraged by our conversation and I can’t wait for all first to hear from you. And as someone who’s been doing youth ministry and even as you know someone who’s been doing ministry as a Asian female, I’m so encouraged to just hear from you because it gives me a lot of hope for the future. It gives me a lot of hope that there are young women like you who want to do ministry who wanted to youth ministry, the tough work of youth ministry, and the way that you can articulate your faith and be so bold about it, it gives me so much hope and so much encouragement so even just personally for me, I want to thank you for this time as he yeah and to all of our listeners and viewers. Thank you for tuning in.
If you haven’t, please go get a copy of Izzy’s book, Finding God, Finding Me. She did not ask me to endorse her book, but I have wanted to endorse it. I guarantee you will be encouraged. And please be praying for Izzy and her future ministry and even her time at Pepperdine. So, thank you all for tuning in. And thank you, Izzy.