Selection of Letters -Part One
_All true stories PTL. For the Glory of God.
You'll find the miracle report from Bill
Fay ( CONCERNING SEPT 11TH) at the end of this section.
1978 June - Telling the Neighbours.
Hello Eve - How are you today?
I was thinking this morning about Jesus and His instructions to us. He said "Preach the Gospel to every creature, first in Jerusalem, then to the whole world".
Jerusalem, to me, means my own neighbourhood.... So we are directed to witness to those around us! How? Why should we? What did Our Lord mean?
As a young stay-at-home Mum, I made friends with many of the people in our street. It happened quite naturally. My husband took the car to work, and my babies and I walked to and from the bus stop at the end of the road. People like to chat to babies. They nodded to me over their garden walls, and passed the time of day as we waited for buses. Some came to my house for coffee. Some of them came to know Jesus.
Connie was one. She was not interested (just listening to me to be polite I think) until she looked in the mirror one morning and was spooked by what she saw there. Connie had been involved in the occult, and that morning as she stood in the bathroom, she thought she saw something evil looking out of her eyes. It was six a.m. when she ran to my door. What a good thing my husband was on early shift and had already left for work. I was up and heard her loud, panicky banging.
By that time I had discovered three other Christian families in my suburban street, and therefore able to ring one lady to come and pray with me as we led her to the Lord and to the healing and deliverance she sought.
- I would not recommend any attempt at deliverance without the presence of an experienced minister.
Although not everyone wanted to meet Jesus , through my own need to meet and chat with people as a stay-at-home mum, the neighbours in my street got to know one another, and we all became friends. After only two years we moved interstate. Eighteen years later I was able to re visit the area. My old neighbour brought me up to date on all the news.
"It is a lovely street to live in ! People are so friendly, we all help each other!"
There was even a street party every Christmas.
"You did that!" said she "If you hadn't chatted to everyone as you walked up and down with the children, I don't think any of us would have known each other. Most of us met at your house."
I was surprised by this news. It warmed me very much, at a time when I was feeling rather useless to God. Some of the best things we do for the Lord may be things we never know about, and did not plan to do..........
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Ideas Page.
Think about the people in your street. Pray to the Lord, and ask Him to bring someone to mind whom he would like you to speak to/ invite over for coffee. Did anyone come to mind? If so, how do you feel about it?
Peaceful? Go right ahead and contact them. Scared or anxious?
Here are some ideas you could use. Or maybe the Lord will give you a completely different one.
Sneak out after dark heavily disguised, and put a tract/ Jesus video/Good News newspaper into their letterbox. (Make sure it has a contact name or number for follow up. This does not have to be yours. Most organisations have tracts you can buy which give a contact number or address for help, further information, free Bible Studies by post etc.)
Walk your dog/ talking parrot/ tame gorilla up and down the road until you catch them out weeding in the front garden. Invite them to come and look at yours. Perhaps they might like to take some cuttings.
Ring their front doorbell and say that you are thinking of starting a neighbourhood group to encourage friendship and support, and would they be interested. If so, chat about the possibilities.
Eg. Car pooling, food co op, or neighbourhood watch. Make it simpler - a coffee morning, which might expand to include common interests, eg. Swapping books and videos on a semi regular basis. No pressure, no commitment required.
Leave a note suggesting they pop in for coffee some time. Leave your phone number and name, and some friendly information about yourself and family.
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1981 PATSY'S STORY.
This is not a letter. The Lord seemed to use my sister and I to work together here.
I had returned to England for twelve months whilst my husband decided what he wanted to do. He had found a new lady friend, and wanted to move her into our house. I decided, after much agonising thought and prayer, to move myself and the girls away whilst he made his decision. We returned to the UK until (and if) he wanted to bring us back. It seemed the best way to cope with the situation. Emotional support would be very important. We could tell the girls that they were going away for a year to meet their English relations. Any further information could be imparted on a "need to know" basis. Should George decide to have us back, the situation could always be seen as an extended holiday. My sister Evangelyn and her husband took us in until we found a place of our own. My tiny girls and I lived in a holiday camp out of season (the rent was cheap) together with many other people who were in hard circumstances.
Gentle Breezes Holiday camp existed through the winter on rents paid by those who had nowhere else to go. The double blocks of holiday flats were set out in a square formation with a play area in the centre, which muted the worst of the bitter seaside gales . There was a playground for the children, and a small swimming pool . Much to my daughters' disappointment, this closed on the day we moved in. A pre-schooler fell in with all his clothes on, so the pool was drained for safety. The flats were pleasant though small. Two tiny bedrooms, one with bunk beds, opened off a living room cum kitchen, and there was a small bathroom attached. I considered myself lucky to find a clean place at such a low rental.
Two year old Rebecca loved the bathroom, which was inhabited by a colony of woodlice (slaters if you are reading this in Australia). She cuddled them up in her flannel, and crooned to them. Pets were not allowed, but Rebecca was quite happy with her tiny, many legged friends.
God was good to us. We rented a top floor unit. It was sunny and had a good view and a balcony pathway which joined all the flats together. I made friends with neighbours on the same level. Peggy and her family were waiting for their house sale to go through, and had Gerbils in a glass tank, which fascinated my little Rosemary. The Gerbils had permission from the landlady. They were like big mice, and sat up to eat grain held in their paws.They stuffed their pouches full. Rosemary was highly amused by their disgusting table manners .....
Down at ground level lived Patsy, with her little son. She was rough and used VERY coarse language. I found her rather frightening and avoided her whenever possible. My sister came to visit us often, and took us to her Pentecostal church every Sunday.
I do not remember how she came to meet Patsy.
Probably bumped into her at the corner shop.
One day my sister drew me aside after church.
"I have a scripture for Patsy" she remarked.
"Oh yes - what is it ?" Patsy was as rough as guts. I really fancied Evangelyn's chances! She would most likely be sworn at and flung out on her ear.
"I was reading this scripture today, and Patsy came to mind ....I am sure the Lord wants you to give it to her"
"Why me?"
"Yes. Well. You know her, and she doesn't really know me. And this is rather a difficult scripture....."
"What is it?"
It was taken from Ezekiel chapter 16. .......................................................................................................................................... When the girls and I got home, I opened my Bible and checked it out. If you already know it, you are probably amused or shocked....
The scripture more or less called Patsy a whore, and said that the Lord had found her unloved and unwanted, abandoned covered in blood, and left to die.
I was pretty terrified. How would you like the job of knocking on someone's door and telling them the Lord wanted to speak to them, and then passing on a Word like that? It is bad enough just telling a person you have a message for them from God!
Let alone someone like Patsy, who seemed pretty likely to up and punch me on the nose if I said something that she did not care for.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and I was more afraid of being disobedient to Him than being floored by Patsy. I left the girls with Peggy for half an hour, and knocked rather timidly on her door.
It didn't seem very wise at the time.
"What do you want?"
" Er ....I have a message for you . At least, I THINK I have."
"You'd better come in then."
I had written it out by hand. It had seemed a bit intimidating or super spiritual to turn
up with a big black Bible.
"Here you are."
"What's this?"
"Well, er.... my sister was reading her Bible and she said she thought that this was a message from God for you." I fled. (Such cowardice).
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Next morning, all the mums from "Gentle Breezes" and some others from the streets round about were gathered at the bus stop, seeing their little ones off to school.
Patsy was there too. I wanted to shrink behind a hedge and hide. "Hey! You goin' home or what? Come and have a cuppa with me. I want to have a word with you..."
Oh dear. I was in for a big surprise.
The scripture, she said, described her life exactly. How had I known? How had my sister known? Who had we been talking to?
Of course, we had been talking to nobody.
What was all this about? What did it mean?
I told her that it meant that God loved her, and wanted her to be His child. She seemed affected by this, and I left pretty quickly and phoned Evangelyn.
"We have to pray. I don't know what is going to happen"
A few days later, something quite remarkable did.
We were all at the bus stop again.
"You have to come back home with me" Patsy looked distraught.
"Something has happened."
At her house, Patsy removed her jumper."Look"
There was a small, perfect, reddish coloured cross on her white t-shirt. I can see it in my minds eye as I write this account. It was about three cms. long by two cms across.
"What does this mean?" she cried. I asked her how it had got there.
It was a perfect shape.
"I woke up like this" sobbed Patsy "Does it mean I'm bad and I'm going to die?"
For a moment I panicked, then I believe the Lord gave me inspiration.
"NO! No! - Jesus loves you! His blood wipes all sins away - that's why you have a cross on your t-shirt! To show that all your sins are forgiven through His death on the cross!"
We talked about how the cross might have appeared. Patsy had a little spot just underneath the place. She wondered if she could have picked the scab off during the night and made it bleed.
However it had happened, the incident was a catalyst for some very remarkable conversation. Patsy started:-
"I had a friend once who was into witchcraft, and we were living in a haunted place. It was B***** terrifying. This friend said that he could use his powers to make the ghosts go away. You're going to think I'm off my rocker if I tell you this."
"No I won't - go on."
"Well, we asked this bloke around to do his stuff, and he went into the bedroom on his own, and we shut the door and let him get on with it. It was really bad. We were **** scared."
"What happened?"
"There were terrible horrible noises like an animal, and things being thrown around and crashing down and breaking. And this bloke was screaming and screaming to us to let him out....... when we unlocked the door, he was in a shocking state. His clothes were all torn, and his back was bleeding." Patsy was white as she told me.
She stopped.
"Go on".
"You'll have me taken off to the looney bin -"
"No I won't. I know that things like this can happen. Missionaries know about evil spirits, you can read about it in their books. The devil is real, but Jesus is stronger."
"Well , when we got his shirt off, he had something written on his back......"
"What was written on his back ?"
It was apparently a four letter word beginning with f.
"It was SCRATCHED on his back."
So this was why she had perceived the cross in blood on her t-shirt as a frightening thing, and a sign of God's wrath.....Her story made my hair stand up, but it was important to reassure .
"Don't you see that makes it even more wonderful.? God is wiping that frightening thing out for you ..... Now whenever you think about it, you will remember the cross on your t-shirt, and know that you are saved and protected, and washed clean from all your sins so that the devil cannot have any claim on you".
The end of this story is Patsy saved and baptised. I have a picture of her little boy's dedication in an album somewhere. At the end of winter, Gentle Breezes had to prepare for its summer clientele, and I don't know what happened to Patsy. We wrote for a little while and then lost touch as people do.
What a foolish thing, to go and tell someone that particular scripture as a personal word from the Lord!
But God uses the weak and foolish things. We know that we could not possibly have done it - and so do our friends. All the glory goes to Him, His love and mercy ( and sometimes His sense of humour) are revealed.
1Co 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men
I could just as easily have taken a punch on the nose!
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Sept. 27th. 2001 - THE LORD USES CYBERSPACE An email sent to me by Linda Evans Shepherd.
Bill Fay forwarded to me the letter you sent to him, and asked me to reply. You got one of two pieces circulating around the internet. Following is the full story with the correct details. From RightToTheHeart@aol.com
Flight 93 Miracle report from my friend and co-author Bill Fay.
1. On September10, 2001, Bill Fay, a Colorado police and Colorado State Patrol Chaplain was on an airplane. He gave one of the flight attendants a tract about the life and death of Cassie Bernall, the young girl who was killed at Columbine upon telling one of the gunmen she believed in God (Cassie's story is very personal to Bill because he was the on - duty chaplain at Columbine in 1999).
Bill told the flight attendant "By the way, you may want to read this."
One minute after takeoff she knelt down beside him with tears in her eyes. She said, "You are the sixth person in two weeks who has given me something like this. What does God want from me?"
Bill said "He wants your life"
She said "I am not worthy"
Bill said, "That's ok, God wants it anyway."
Then Bill and the flight attendant stepped into the galley and she gave her life to Christ. The following day, she worked the ill fated United Airlines flight 93 to San Francisco, rerouted by terrorists. The following day, she met the Saviour she had accepted only twenty- four hours before.
2.In an interview, Bill told me that week a before he met another flight attendant named Christine. He had given her a copy of the Cassie Bernall tract too.
She returned in tears and said, "How did you know I was just diagnosed with MS?"
Bill asked her "Do you want to go through this alone?"
Bill recently received a thankyou note from Christine, as well as the funeral program of the Christian pilot who went down in the Pennsylvania flight.
3. The week after the attack on America, Bill flew from Chicago to Dayton. There were several off-duty flight attendants on the flight. He sat next to one, and gave her the Cassie Bernall tract. She read it, then turned to him and said "This is such a nice story. I'm a woman of faith too."
Bill asked "What kind of church do you go to?"
"Lutheran"
Bill asked "If you died tonight, like your colleagues did at the World Trade Center, where would you go?"
She answered "I don't know. I just bought an NIV Study Bible, and I am trying to find out what's missing in my life."
Bill shared the Gospel with her, and she gave her heart fully to Christ. She wept and held Bill's hand. She wanted to know if she could do something for him.
"No " he said, "the Gospel is free. It's already been done."
Bill concluded our conversation by saying "And although September 11th was a major tragedy, some wonderful God things are happening."
The he asked "Which story of the three flight attendants is more important? The answer is none. Every moment of every day, someone who hears the Gospel may have MS, a death, or the burden of life. Let's not focus on what will be only a moment of a great story of our God and a flight attendant. But let's think of all the flight attendants, and every person who comes across our path, and let's share our faith. "
Do you really know God? Find out, take our survey:- internet address below.
Useful Internet addresses. (Space here for you to make your own list).
http://righttotheheart.com/spiritual survey.
http://www.geocities.com/gospeltrainers
http//:www.ccci.org
http//:www.bocw.com
http//:www.bcl.com
Philemon 1:6 "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."
THINK
What if five witnesses had not been obedient and given tracts to the flight attendant in the first section of this story?
Did it matter if she found the tracts irrelevant the first five times?
We are only obliged to witness, not to worry about the response we get.