A Tale of Two Friends ~ True Story

This past week has been one of the roughest in the last 3 years. Back in 2007, I worked with two people, Joey and Sean. Joey was retired Navy EOD and Sean was a Mechanical Engineer. I began trying to witness to both of them and tried to share Christ with them. They both died this week.

Joey

Joey was antagonistic at first. After I shared Christ with him and our testimony, he would argue with me. He came back and asked many questions, but would get snarky and we argued a lot. I asked for prayer for him over a period of several months. During that time, he started dating a woman and got her pregnant. But, during this time, he would also come and ask me sincere questions about the bible. In November 2007, he came into my office and asked me how to be saved. I talked to him about sin and how we are all sinners, that he needed to confess our sins. 1 John 1:9 states,"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I talked to him about how he needed to repent, which means to turn from our sins. I talked to him about how he needed to ask Jesus to be Savior and Lord.  Romans 10:9-10 states, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."  I told him he needed to pray and ask the Lord to forgive him of his sins and to ask Him to be Lord and Savior of his life. Five minutes later, Joey came running down the hallway in tears and asked me to pray with him! We went out into the parking lot and prayed right there. Over the last few years, Joey had been attending church and I have seen him growing...especially in the last year. He would occasionally come in and tell me about  a sermon he had heard or about a scripture he had read and we'd talk about it. He was trying to work things out with his baby's mama, but was having issues. He loved his little boy and tried his best to be a good daddy. I do not know why Joey killed himself last Monday. At least I know I will see him one day.

Sean

I met Sean about the time I met Joey. I tried to share Christ with Sean, but he didn't want to hear it. He listened to our testimony, but didn't want to know the things of Christ. I prayed for opportunities to share with him. I introduced him to my husband in hopes that Dave would be about to talk to Sean, but Sean didn't want to hear it. Sean went through a really rough time during the fall of 2008-spring 2009 and quit his job. We didn't see Sean after that. I found out that Sean killed himself last Friday. I don't think I will see him again. I did what I was supposed to do...I shared with him.

Moral of this Story

I did what I was supposed to do by trying to talk to each of these people and tried to share Christ with them. They both chose their own paths. I do not have any regrets that I didn't share with them. My regret is that as far as I know, Sean didn't choose to follow Christ. This breaks my heart, but I know that I can look myself in the mirror and know that I tried.

Challenges for You

1) Share Christ with others. Pray for the Lord to give you opportunities. Its ok if they shut you down or say they don't want to hear it. Keep trying. Respect them. But keep trying. You never know when that will be the last time you will see someone. I saw Joey last Friday. I had no idea that he was suicidal. He was just Joey. I miss my crazy friend.

2) If you are not saved, please read above what I told Joey. Contact me or someone who can/will share and pray with you.

3) If you don't know how to share your faith, I will teach you. Or we can find someone to teach you.

4) If you are thinking about suicide, tell someone. Get help.

5) If you have a friend or know someone who is saying they want to kill themselves, report it. Take them seriously...better be safe than sorry.