RAS: So you started playing when.. you had to start playing when you were just little.
MC: Yeah, about six, seven years old.
RAS: Six or seven?
MC: Yes.
RAS: How did you get started?
MC: My mom was actually the first one to start playing.
RAS: Your parents are here, aren’t they?
MC: Yes they are.
RAS: Would you please stand up, Joe and Betty Chang? Welcome to the Cathedral. We’re glad you’re here with us today. So all of this is your mother’s fault.
MC: My mom has a lot to do with a lot of things and certainly is an incredible woman, I have to say that. But my mom was actually the first one to start playing tennis. My dad picked it up after that and my dad would often play some company tournaments on the weekends and my brother Carl and I would go and watch him play. And you know my mom says after a little while, she says you know the kids are getting older now, they have too much energy and we need to expend some of that energy; why not introduce them into the sport of tennis. And that’s how we were able to start.
RAS: Did you have lessons from the very beginning?
MC: Well we come from a middle class income family. My dad is very studious and in many ways would certainly try to learn a lot from whatever he could read. Growing up we actually didn’t have enough money for both Carl and I to take lessons and certainly we couldn’t take lessons every week. So often times what would happen is my brother would take the lesson and my dad and I would sit on the sideline and my dad would jot down all of the notes and all the things that the coach was teaching Carl and so my dad would basically go back and reiterate those same principles, those same lessons over the next few weeks and then would go and take another lesson, so..
RAS: So you’d get the.. you would really get the maximum out of that lesson you could.
MC: Well very much so.
RAS: So what’s it like being 15 years old and being in these major tournaments?
MC: Actually it was pretty exciting to be honest with you. I think to have the opportunity to travel around the world at such a young age, to go to different places, meet different people, experience different cultures was certainly very, very exciting. And I was fortunate to be able to have my mom come out with me, you know to come travel with me for the first four years of my career cause you know my parents didn’t feel too comfortable about a 15, 16 year old traveling around the world by himself, you know, so it was great to be able to learn the ropes with her and to be able to experience a lot of things with her. And in fact Pete Sampras turned pro about six months after I did and Pete actually came out on tour by himself and so, you know..
RAS: How old was he at the time?
MC: ..Pete is probably about 16 as well. And you know it was interesting because you know he didn’t really have anyone to hang out with, you know, being out there by himself. So he hung out with my mom and I. So we played doubles together, we practiced together for the first few years. And it was a lot of fun.
RAS: Yeah, I can only imagine. So here you are winning the French Open. Would you say that’s your highlight of your career?
MC: I think in certain aspects as far as accomplishments I would say so. I think the highlight of my career certainly was, I think, coming to know the Lord my rookie year.
RAS: Wow.
MC: And I really am very thankful for that because to have me come to the Lord my first year, before all the fame, before all the money, before all of the French Open and all the other titles, was very crucial because it gave me a great foundation to build upon. And for me I think it was very, very important, you know I think in today’s day and age of a professional sports, its very, very easy to get off the right track. And there’s certain, you know temptations that this lifestyle throws at you, you know, wherever you go and whatever you do, and for me to come to know the Lord at such a young part of my career, helped me to realize that tennis is tennis, yes, but tennis is also an opportunity to touch lives and to touch hearts.
RAS: Absolutely.
MC: And you know people will forget great shots, they will forget great victories, but when you touch a person’s life, particularly for Christ that stays with them throughout this lifetime and even beyond that.
RAS: Tell me about your spiritual journey. Where does the spiritual journey for your family begin?
MC: It actually started in China. My dad was born in Cantone China and my great grandma was stricken with a stomach cancer. In fact she was gravely ill. The doctors had given her all the different kinds of medications and all the different kinds of treatments that were available at that time and finally got to the point saying you know I’m sorry but there’s nothing else that we can do for you. And my family at the time was very, very strong Buddhist and so my great grandma was there pretty much just waiting to pass on and a missionary lady came and she said I know your situation is very bleak, but is it okay if I come and I pray with you and is it okay if I come and share the gospel with you? And so my great grandma says sure, you know, what do I have to lose? And so she shared with her and she prayed for her with my family there and then she left. And then for some reason after that, my great grandma’s cancer started to get better and started to get better every day and she started to get stronger and stronger and stronger and the doctor’s had no idea why. They couldn’t explain it. They had stopped giving her treatment, they had stopped giving her medication and her cancer ended up going into remission for another 25 years. And my whole family converted from Buddhism to Christianity and that has been passed on from generation to generation and we continue to see God do miracles in and through our family throughout the years and it’s been amazing. It’s been such an incredible journey and continues to be.
RAS: How did you discover Jesus Christ, it would have been when you were 15 then, right?
MC: Yes, 16 years old and I actually come from a very strong Christian family particularly on my dad’s side. We would often go visit my grandparents up in Thousand Oaks and this one particular Sunday I happened to be sitting in the sanctuary and listening to an elderly lady speak and I found her to be a very, very intriguing, very, very funny, and to this day actually, I still remember exactly what she talked about. That’s how much what she said touched my heart. And my grandparents had given me a student Bible about a year before and they said, oh you know we’d like you to read this and I said okay, I’ll read this. And I kind of put it up on my bookshelf and after listening to her speak, that evening I was lying in my bed and I was kind of thinking about some of things that she had said and I saw my student Bible up there and I said, you know, why don’t I take that down and take a look at it. So, you know, when you’re 15 years old, you know you go back to the student Bible and you look on the back and you know what things interest a 15 year old? So the first thing I looked up, I don’t about what.. how you guys looked up is.. a 15 year old looks up love. And why is it that that girl doesn’t love me and you’re trying to understand love and friendship and so I would look up a lot of verses that pertained to the things that were important to me at the time and I said, you know, wow. You know what the Bible has to say about all of these things is very true, is very right, and is very holy. And from there I started to read about Jesus’ life. I made it a habit every night to look up something new and I started seeing things happening in my own life that I knew were not by coincidence, but that the Lord was real. And from there my faith just grew.
RAS: Now you’ve started a foundation. Tell us about the foundation you started.
MC: Our Chang Family Foundation really does a lot of different local and international programs and events. Right now our focus is using sports as a means for outreach. So we actually started it up in Seattle where I used to live and we’ve pulled together about 12/15 different churches in and around the Seattle area. And we use sports such as basketball and volleyball as a means for outreach. Maybe for people who love to play basketball or volleyball but who maybe don’t go to church, this is an opportunity for them to learn about the gospel, to be in an environment where there’s fellowship. Certainly it’s a relational type of evangelism. And in fact we started it also down here in Orange County. We have some games this afternoon and just a great way to reach out to the community and see a lot of lives changed.
RAS: Do you think your faith had any impact on your tennis matches?
MC: Absolutely. I have absolutely no question, no doubt in my mind that the Lord played a very instrumental part in my success. I mean I would say it’s my success, but it’s really God’s glory. I mean that’s really what it is. You know I believe that God’s given each one of us a talent and we’re to use that talent to go out and to make the most of it. And to me, I don’t think that that was ever more evident than during the French Open in 1989. And you know growing up when I was young, I grew up in San Diego where there were not a whole lot of Asians in school and sometimes I would wonder you know why is it that I’m Asian. Why is it that I’m Chinese? And sometimes I’d wonder when I’d be out on tour, you know, why is it that I’m only you know 5 9 and most of my opponents are 6 2, 6 1, you know the Lord must have put me in the wrong sport.
But I think it was evident to me during the French Open in ’89 that God has a purpose and that He can take whatever talents you have to be used for His glory, to make an impact in this world. And I also tell people that the French Open in ’89 was a tournament that the Lord wanted me to win. And the reason why I say that is because if you remember June of 1989, the situation in Tieneman Square was going on. In fact the day of the crackdown, was the middle Sunday of the French Open. And so it was a very down time for Chinese people around the world, for my mom and I when we were in Paris, if we weren’t out there playing a match or practicing, we were glued to CNN watching all of the events unfold in Beijing.
And you know I played the tournament, the last four matches were really played on inspiration, a lot of those matches including my match with Lendl are matches that I should not have won, but the Lord pulled me through and you know at the end I was able to say you know on that final Sunday you know God bless each and every one of you, especially those in China. And I started to recognize the fact that the reason the Lord made me Chinese and the reason why the Lord allowed me win the French Open was to put a smile upon Chinese people’s faces around the world during a time when there wasn’t a whole lot to smile about.
RAS: I’d never put those two dates together. And it gives me goose bumps to think about it, how God works. There are several million people watching and listening to you right now. And you have a message of good news. Some of them haven’t heard it. In two minutes, can you share that good news? Look in the camera..
MC: I think there’s an awful lot of cameras here: which one?
RAS: Take a pick, they’ll find you.
MC: I think if you think about the aspects of life, you think about people go through life trying to you know gain a lot of things, what they would classify as success in life, whether its money, whether its accomplishments, whether its awards, if you think about it, you get to the end of your life, what’s really going to be important? If you really think about all of these things, these are all things. We cannot take any of these things with us. We’re born in this world with nothing and when we die, we cannot take any of these things. But the one thing that the Lord emphasized is the aspects of love. Certainly love for yourself, love for your family, love for friends, love for people and most importantly, love for God. And I think if we’re able to understand that, and to be able to embrace that and all that the Lord has done for us on the cross, we have a freedom that I certainly cannot put into words. The freedom to be able to live our lives with a joy and a peace and a love that we can never find anywhere else other than a relationship with Jesus Christ. And to be able to have that and to know that we can celebrate in heaven, and have eternal life and salvation, love: if I were to say one thing, that the Lord continues to emphasize, is love for people, and certainly love for yourself but ultimately love for the Lord.
RAS: Well, you started this interview with love; you’ll complete it with love.
MC: Thank you.
RAS: Thank you Michael, thank you for the love that oozes from you. We love you; God loves you and so do we.