Reaching Out

I’ve had two pleasantly surprising experiences this past couple of weeks, both involving letters I wrote. Both were written to men, one of whom I used to work with and know very well, the other to a man I  was acquainted with in high school.  He is a year or so older than me so I do not know him very well.

I have known the the first guy, who I will call Brad, for more than twenty years. We both worked in Juvenile Hall at the time and were only slightly acquainted for the first several years. Before I go further, I need to take a rabbit trail.

Brad was a Supervisor and I was a Probation Officer who took as many overtime shifts as I could get. During a phase of building a new wing to Juvenile Hall, a worker on a backhoe broke a water line to the gymnasium. This rendered the fire sprinkler system inoperable, so someone had to be in the gym to call the Fire Department should the empty structure spontaneously burst into flame. I was called several times to cover the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. It was great because I was paid time and a half to stay in the gym, listen to the radio and shoot baskets. (Your tax dollars at work). Anyway, one night I thought I’d be cute and point out the absurdity of the situation by reporting for fire duty dressed in pajamas and fuzzy slippers, carrying one of my daughter’s teddy bears and her “blankie.”  

I walked in the door and went to the sign-in sheet. Brad was on duty, sitting at his desk in a glass walled office next to the sign-in table. Several people were in the area and I got a huge laugh from them. No such thing was forthcoming from Brad. He saw me and I watched as his forehead, then his ears, then his face turn bright red and his eyes bugged out at me. He was not amused. I guess you could say that Brad took his job very seriously. Me, not so much. While all the laughs I got were satisfying to me, Brad’s reaction was the best part of all. In spite of all this, we eventually became very good friends. And, for the record, I did have a change of clothes so I did not sit in the gym all night in my jammies, clutching my teddy bear. 

Now Brad was raised by his mother who is a devout Christian. While he does believe in Jesus, he does not attend church regularly and has not raised his daughters in the church. We have had several conversations over the years about this. He offered that he is not a church goer because he does not want to be a “hypocrite.” I often talk to him about spiritual stuff and he is receptive and not offended. I care deeply for the guy and I want him to know Jesus. So, a couple of weeks ago I wrote him a letter. Following is an excerpt from that letter:

What I really don’t know is what you believe will happen to you when you die. Because I have asked God to forgive me of my sins and that I have professed that Jesus Christ is my Savior, I KNOW that I will spend eternity with God in heaven. My questions to you are: Can you say the same thing? Do you believe in heaven and hell? Does it matter to you?  Many people give lip service to God saying they believe in His redemption. They think that due to this they will go to heaven. My belief is that we must honor God through prayer, Bible reading and doing our best to follow Him. 

I want you and your family to all go to heaven, but it is an individual choice. I know you well enough to understand that you want what is best for all of them. You are a good man, good husband and a good father. My hope is that you will come to agree with me that you also need to be a strong spiritual leader to them. It all comes down to what you believe happens after death. If we are products of evolution, then I am wrong; when we die, we’re dead. But if there is a Creator, we owe it to ourselves to explore His existence fully. I’m not suggesting that you take my word for it. The Holy Spirit does not need Stan Faddis to tell Brad this stuff. My hope is that you, because you do believe in God, will ask Him to reveal Himself to you. I am praying that He will. 

You can call me anytime to talk. Or, you can ignore what is written in this letter. As I said, we have all been given the freedom by God to choose. Whatever you decide will not alter our friendship as far as I am concerned. I love you, brother. 

A few days after I mailed the letter, Brad texted me to say thanks. I texted back to say I hoped he was not offended. His response was that he absolutely was NOT offended and wanted to be “a man of God like you.” Wow! Thank you, Lord! 

The second letter went to a fellow who I’ll call Jake. Following is found excerpts from that letter:

This is Stan Faddis. I am writing to you because I have some things I want to talk to you about. I think about you once in a while whenever I drive by [your uncle’s] place because I know that you often work for him. I guess what I want to say is that you and I have a very sad thing in common in that we have both lost sons unexpectedly and way before they should have died. Your boy’s death was an accident and my boy's death was suicide. Nonetheless, they're both real tragic and I know that you were affected as deeply as I was about the deaths of our boys. I also know that you lost your father many years ago and I did too when I was 11 years old. Additionally, all three of my siblings are now dead from driving under the influence of either alcohol or drugs. 

I want to tell you that the way that I got through all this is through my faith in Jesus Christ. I don't know where you are at spiritually, what you believe, or if you even think about it. It is my belief that there is eternal life for us. I believe that I will spend eternity in heaven with God and with a lot of my family members who were also Christians when they died. I think it's really important for us to have faith like this because, if this life was the only thing we have to look forward to then, what is the deal? 

Jake, even though I don't know you very well I do care about you and I know that people that cares about you too which include [your aunt and uncle]. We talk about you on occasion and I got your address to send you this letter from them. Anyway, I don't want to be too lengthy but I do want to tell you that Jesus loves you and he wants you to love him back. I know that you sometimes go to church on special occasions but I'd like to invite you to church this next week after you get this letter. I go to Ceres Christian to the early service at 9:00 and I'd really like to see you to to visit there. If you're not open to that I'm hoping that we can sometime sit down and have a chat. I'll come to visit you wherever you want me to because I care about you and I like to talk to you. I would welcome the chance to talk with you about Jesus. You can call me anytime on my cell phone - 408-674-1160. I hope to talk to you soon.

I mailed the letter last Tuesday. On Wednesday, Jake called me. He said the letter meant a lot to him and that, “No one has ever written a letter like that to me.” He went on to say he did want to sit down with me and talk so I plan to see him next week. I thank God for giving me another opportunity to share the Gospel. I look forward to it with great anticipation.

So, what is the point of this post? Have I written this in order to brag and thump my chest about what a great guy I am. Absolutely not. I am sharing this to show how meaningful it can be to those we reach out to. Reaching out can be by letter, a phone call, a text or even a hug. Not everyone will be as receptive as these two men, but some will. Everyone needs God in their lives. They/we are lost without Him. You/I may be the only ones who ever share the Gospel with a particular person. It is our duty as Christians to love God, love our neighbor and make disciples. The door to loving our neighbor and subsequently sharing God’s Word with them can be as simple as reaching out to them by writing a letter.