SS 10 “Teen Suicide Prevented”

This week’s Salvation Story, I believe, will help each of you to trust God even more and also with the “order of salvation” in your family. All of us have more than a few family members who we know need a Savior, so we often focus on these family members while the Lord often chooses others to pave the way.

Such is the case with this Salvation Story, which is very near and dear to my heart. It’s about my niece, Laurel, my older brother’s daughter, who I knew ahead of time the Lord would use to help bring both her parents to the Lord someday. Very often, the Lord prompts us to ask about “things to come,” things that are “hidden,” and such was the case concerning my brother Tom, who I knew desperately needed the Lord in his life.

Unlike my experience in a Catholic school (where God graciously placed a nun in my school for just one year to instruct me to open my heart to the Lord), Tom had a far different experience. When we were young, he and I would play dress up: he being a priest, while I was dressed as a nun. Of course, this was before I found out a nun couldn’t have children, and children were top on my list for when I grew up. Nevertheless, I told my mother often that I wanted to be a nun so I could be “married to God.” It was a bit prophetic, wasn’t it?  *smile.

It was when Tom graduated eighth grade and transferred to an all-boys high school. Unlike my oldest brothers, who went to Notre Dame with "jolly sandaled brothers" (like Friar Tuck in Robin Hood), they were Jesuit priests known to be very strict—not just on others, but on themselves. They'd whipped themselves to share in the suffering of the Lord and achieve personal redemption.

It wasn’t that Tom was personally ill-treated; it was what he witnessed. He saw his classmates abused, which ultimately prompted Tom to turn his back on God, and it’s when he began looking into Eastern religions for the answers.

The day after graduating high school, Tom hitchhiked from California to New York and then caught a freighter ship to begin traveling the world. For the first several years, he traveled around Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He then met his future wife in Japan, who was raised Buddhist that makes up 75% of their country.

My brother, Tom, and his wife, Keiko, were married in a Buddhist church, and it was many, many years before they had their two daughters. Even though Tom often told me how Christianity “must be real because I was so different,” he was never ready to embrace the Lord himself. So, on one occasion, the Lord prompted me to ask how his salvation would happen. Did you notice I didn’t say “if” it would happen? 

God says, “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me" (Isaiah 45:11). So I did.

That’s when He reminded me of what He not only revealed to me but actually did in my oldest brother’s family and who he used. The full salvation story (which I know you’ll love!!) is in an upcoming chapter.

Okay, as a preview, before it ever happened, He showed me that my oldest brother, Robert, would come to know Him through his only daughter. She was a daddy’s girl, so calling her to know Him first made perfect sense. Thus, she would lead the way for her parents and, before that, her brothers! So when I asked about Tom in Japan, I knew this was how it would be for Robert, too—using one or both of Tom's daughters.

At the time of this Salvation Story, we were living on our farm, and one day, I got an urgent email from Tom, followed by a long-distance phone call. Though he didn’t come right out and say it, he was very concerned about Laurel's depression. Later, I learned that teen suicides plague Japan—actually, double what is in the U.S. and triple the amount in the U.K. So when nothing they tried worked, and even Laurel's school was warning Tom and Keiko to be watchful, he did what I thought he’d never do—He sent Laurel to visit us, alone "knowing full-well" I’ve never been quiet about my love and devotion to my Savior and Lord.

As I said, I’ve never witnessed to anyone like most Christians are taught to do: trained and urged to “witness” by confronting them and then persuading them, like most evangelical churches. Instead, the Lord is such an intricate part of my life that no one who is ever around me for long would fail to come face-to-face with Him, too.

So Laurel came for a visit, and the very next morning, when she woke up, she walked in to find our entire family sitting in our living room, listening to Alexander Scourby while reading along in our Bibles. After we finished, each family member prayed through their stack of 3x5 Prayer Cards.

When Laurel asked what we were doing, my children whisked her away to my daughter's bedroom to explain what a Bible was (when she asked) and also to show Laurel a picture of herself as a baby with her family taped to one of the 3x5 Prayer Cards. The picture showed her sitting on my hip with her family behind her, and my children explained that since that day, our family had prayed for her to know the Lord personally someday.

Laurel was only visiting for a few weeks, so I could have become anxious, knowing her visit would limit the time to share the truth with her. Yet, I knew this was not my problem, nor was it my goal, nor was it up to my children or me to “get her saved.”

“Do not fear! Stand by and witness the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today..." (Exodus 14:13).

"You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf . . . Do not fear or be dismayed . . . the Lord is with you” (2 Chronicles 20:17).

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).

So I did as the verse said and simply stood back to witness the salvation of the Lord on my family’s behalf—knowing there were years— generations of principalities that were fighting against her knowing Him—which is the reason I knew that it was not us doing anything—He alone is Who does all the saving! *smile

The first thing that happened was that God used my children. It happened a day or two later when very early one more, three of my children ran to me shouting (with Laurel following behind) and jumping up and down, "Mom Laurel 'asked' to pray for salvation, so we led her in the 'sinner’s prayer.'” Yes, I know this is not the method I've personally been using, but with God, there is no "formula" or set path to come to know your Savior. If there was, He would never have given us so many different examples.

It was my teenage son, Easton, who took the lead. He told Laurel that he'd feel better if she came down to the altar during a church service, most likely since He was part of their V.I.P. Youth Program (and soon headed it up), and that's what happened that very night!

At a certain point in the service, the youth pastor asked anyone new to raise their hand, and Laurel did. Then, he asked the group to follow the V.I.P. volunteers into their lounge for food and fun. As they walk through the door, a corresponding male-to-male or female-to-female who lives excitedly and lovingly greets each newcomer. They get to know each other better as they eat and play games like ping-pong. In Lauren's case, she remained with her cousin Easton, who'd known her all his life. Later, they return and sit together until the altar call when they walk up to the front with their guest. Later, it's the VIP who speaks to them about their salvation.

So that evening, Laurel went to the V.I.P. lounge, sat with Easton, was thrilled to go to the altar, and even signed up to be baptized that upcoming Sunday. Her baptism could be a testimony in itself, but let me simply say that with her broken English and when the church heard her mother raised her Buddhist and also said, “My family pray for me since I was baby”—it led to the church erupting in cheers of excitement— everyone jumping to their feet and shouting!

Please remember it doesn't matter how a person begins their personal relationship with their Savior—the proof is if the person appears new. This means they've been Born Again.

“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:7).

For us, the real proof is when Laurel returned home, and her parents said they simply didn’t recognize her!! They said her face was actually glowing!!!

“I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be the same” (Psalm 34:4-5).

When I spoke to her mom, Keiko, she said (and continues to say until this day) that the change in Laurel was due to the love I had given her! Well, in a way, that's true. And though I’d love to have said, “Oh, no, it’s not my love but the Lord’s love,” I knew discussing this could just as easily interfere with what God had already begun and Who needed to finish the story.

Like many young people, Laurel was frightened by many things, primarily her future and inability to live up to her parents' expectations and compete with her older sister, Lila. However, when Laurel met and embraced the Lord, He saved her from all those fears, and her face radiated with His love!

“I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be the same” (Psalm 34:4-5).