CHAPTER 15
Before I tell you any more about Gene and Mike, I think it is best if I tell you about Gene’s brothers and sisters, during his actual life. First, I have not said a thing about Gene’s brothers or sisters, because I wanted you to see how pathetic Gene’s life was. By looking at his life, you can assume that the rest of his family would be the same way.
The rest of his family was as far from Christ as the moon is from the sun. Harold William was the oldest of the boys. After high school he became a drunk and later in his years, he died in his own vomit. Before he died, however, he was married to six different women and had seven children, which he did not support. He was in and out of homeless shelters and he was always wanting hand outs. His life on earth was worthless and he gave nothing to society.
Steven Lynn was the second oldest in the family. He was almost an exact pattern of Harold. Instead of becoming a drunk, he set his eyes on high tech robberies. After three years of having his way with stealing, he was finally caught. He was sent to prison for thirty years. While in prison, he was stabbed to death in a fight over a carton of cigarettes.
As you know, Gene was born next and then came Peggy Sue. Peggy Sue was just like the rest of her family. She married right after high school and within two years, she was having one affair after another. Her husband, Jim, never knew if he was the father of the five children born to Peggy Sue or not. He always had doubts and those doubts would lead to her murder. Year after year of one affair after another was all that Jim could take. One night, he walked into the bedroom and shot Peggy Sue in the head.
Barbara Ann did not change the pattern of the Pittman family. She started doing drugs and she would eventfully become a street hooker. Some of her customers were very mean. One night a customer took her where she had never been before. He sent her to eternity. He cut her throat.
The last was Anna Marie. One might think that she was not as bad as her brothers and sisters. However, she was just as bad, if not worse. She was on drugs and she was also an alcoholic. When she ran out of money for drugs and alcohol, she would prostitute herself for money, so she could buy what she needed. She would also steal or lie to get what she wanted. She was always first and anyone and everyone else came second. Her life was worthless. When she died of old age, not one person came to her funeral. I might say, also, that Gene’s brothers and sisters all died unnatural deaths, except Anna Marie.
Now that I have told you about the actual life of Gene’s brothers and sisters, it is now time for me to show you what would have happened to their lives, if they would have accepted Christ.
If you remember, I said that Gene was saved first and then the rest of his family received Christ as their Savior. The first of his brothers and sisters to accept Christ after Gene was his oldest brother, Harold William. Harold would sit and listen while Darrell would read the Bible and the stories were so interesting, that they almost came to life for Harold. After hearing the story of Christ being crucified on the cross for the sins of the world, Harold knew that he had to make a decision for himself. That night, he dropped to his knees and asked Christ to come into his heart. The next morning he told his mom and his dad that he had accepted. Not only were they happy, but Gene could not believe his prayers were being answered faster than he had hoped for. He said in his mind, “First was dad, now Harold accepted.” Gene was curious which one would be next.
During school, Steven (the second oldest in the family) asked Harold what it felt like to be saved? Harold smiled and whispered, “I really didn’t feel any different, but it is not a thing of feeling. It is a thing of knowing that, if you die, you would be in heaven, and it is knowing that Christ is with you at all times.” Before the day was over, Steven Lynn accepted Christ as his personal Savior, also. The way the Pittman's were getting saved, it would be just a matter of time before Gene’s three sisters, Peggy Sue, Barbara Ann and Anna Marie, were saved, too.
That night at the supper table, Steven told the entire family that he had accepted Christ right after his fourth hour class. Thelma didn’t say a word; she just sat there and was praising the Lord and rejoicing that all of her sons had accepted. She said a silent prayer that her three daughters would accept within the week. Thelma’s prayer was not answered that quickly, but within two weeks Peggy Sue accepted and before the thirty days were over Barbara Ann and Anna Marie had accepted. Gene’s prayer was also answered. Gene had prayed that once his dad was saved that the rest of his family would accept within the next six months. He told Mike if they prayed each and every night, just maybe, his family would get saved within two or three months. However, if you remember the Lord spoke to Gene in a special way and said that within thirty days they would all be saved.
With all of the Pittman’s saved, things changed in this home beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. First, every Sunday, all of the Pittman's went to Sunday School and morning church. Second, they all wanted to go to church on Sunday nights and on Wednesday nights, also. Third, the way they looked at life, the future was unbelievable. They were all looking for the rapture of the Church and that very moment they would receive their new bodies. Fourth, they began to witness to anyone and everyone that would listen to the simple message of salvation. Fifth, their talk changed so much that their old friends were asking what had happen to all of the Pittman's; they acted as if they were a completely different person. Sixth, and most important was that everything they did, and everything they thought was focused around Jesus Christ. You might say the Pittman family became truly devout Christians.
Well, that is the way it was with the Pittman family. They all changed and it was because one small boy opened his heart to the Lord. One might say that one person would change the lives of thousands of his relatives. You will see a little further into the story how many relatives Gene impacted, because he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.
All through school, the Pittman's had an impact on the other students and on teachers, also. Everyone in high school knew that the Pittman boys would probably go to Bible College. They had told everyone that the most important thing in the world was to see people get saved and the only way to get people saved was to tell them about Christ. But, how can you tell as many people as the Pittman boys wanted to tell, unless you learn as much about Christ as possible. The only way to do that was to go to Bible College. Right after high school, Harold was the first of the Pittman children to go to Bible College.
Harold went to BIOLA and he graduated with honors. He decided it was very important to get his Master’s. For the next two years, he studied very hard and he did receive his Master’s. Even though he wanted to get into the ministry, he felt that the Lord was leading him into the Army. He joined the Army and, after his officer’s basic training and advance training, he was sent to Vietnam.
In Vietnam, he was the platoon leader of Charlie company and he was, also, a Second Lieutenant. Unlike some officers, he did not party and drink, but he was always telling his men about Christ dying on the cross for their sins and, if they wanted to have eternal life, they must accept. One soldier after another was accepting Christ. On some occasions, the young men would accept just before they would go on a mission. On many of the missions, those that had accepted never came back. They were killed in action. Just like in the Army, there are promotions in the Christian life, and when a Christian dies, he is promoted. He is promoted to Heaven. Those Christian soldiers were given the greatest promotion a person could ever imagine, a promotion into glory.
Harold had decided, after his first tour of duty (which lasted a year), he would stay for one more year. His heart was burning with the desire for the young men that were coming to Vietnam to learn about Christ. However, most of the young men that were coming to Vietnam did not want to hear about death or about a Great White Throne Judgment. They were only interested in putting in their one year and getting out of the country alive. There were those that really thoug
ht that their destiny would be to die in Vietnam. Those were the ones that Harold wanted to reach. Before every mission, he would ask if there was anyone that wanted to accept, and after every mission, he let his company know that it was the Lord that was with them and led them back safe and sound. I almost forgot to tell you. Harold became a company commander and he was promoted to captain.
On one mission, Harold’s company suffered almost fifty percent casualties. The day started like most any other day. There were reports of a major move by the NVA and the Viet Cong. Every day, rumors had been flowing for months about large numbers of troops moving into the larger cities in Vietnam. However, these reports were not false; they were true. Harold received his orders at nine thirty. The orders stated that his company would be air lifted into an area where a large movement of troops was expected.
As soon as Harold read the orders, he had a bad feeling about this mission. He went from one platoon to another and gave the orders to the men. At that time, he asked if there was anyone that would like to talk to him about eternal life.
There were two men in one platoon that had been asking Harold about eternal life and if all the religious stuff he had been talking about was true? Harold explained what a person must do to become a Christian and, if they were to die in combat, he assured them they would be ushered right into Heaven, immediately. One of the young soldiers was named Pat. He believed everything that Harold had said, and on that fateful day, he had dropped to his knees and accepted Christ as his personal Savior.
Chuck Wilson was the other soldier. All through his short life, he had heard of Christ and about eternal life in Heaven or Hell. He had heard, but he did not believe. Harold explained the whole picture to Chuck and that he needed to have someone with him that would protect him and guide him in times of trouble. On that day, Chuck refused to accept and he stated that if fate meant for him to die in Vietnam, then there was no power on earth or in Heaven that could change that.
The choppers landed and all of the soldiers were loaded inside and, within ten minutes of flying, they were at the place where they were supposed to land. Harold looked out at the LZ (which means Landing Zone) and at the surrounding country side. It seemed peaceful enough and, if they were lucky, this would be just another mission, with not much happening. The landing and the unloading went off without any hitches. There was no enemy fire and things seemed to be content.
Things were content for ten minutes. The first thing that happen is that one of the soldiers found a trip wire on the path. After disconnecting the trip wire, the company had to walk along an open rice paddy. Once all the soldiers were in the open, the firing started. It seemed as if the firing was coming from all directions and then the mortar fire started coming in.
Harold had prayed a lot during his time at Bible College and during the times he would witness to people. But his praying was more intense at this moment than any other time in his life. Some people may think that he was praying for himself and that he was afraid of dying, but that was not the case. The ambush they had walked into was the most fire his company had ever received from the enemy during his entire stay in Vietnam. His praying was not for himself, but for his men. Harold knew that there were going to be a lot of deaths from this attack and he also knew that most of the men in his company had never accepted Christ. He had witnessed to most, if not all of his men, but they were like Chuck, they just did not want to have anything to do with Christ.
Off to the right, Harold could hear one soldier after another screaming from gunshot wounds or from shrapnel. He knew there were many that did not scream or cry out, they just died. Harold called in for the fast movers (those were the jets that would come in very fast and low, if a company was in trouble) to help with their situation.
Even though Harold had assumed that the fire was coming from all directions, that was not the case. The fire was coming from the jungle line to their left. The only thing that was going to save the company was to move about one hundred yards forward to the edge of the rice paddy, where there was some cover. Harold gave the orders to move, as fast as possible, forward to the tree line. As the men moved forward, the firing was becoming even more intense than before. The enemy knew that if the Americans reached the tree line, the fighting could become hand to hand.
As Harold’s company moved forward, they pulled any wounded soldiers with them. Those that were dead, they would pick up after the fighting was over. It seemed as if it took all day to move from the rice paddy to the edge of the tree line, however, it only took twenty minutes. During those twenty minutes, another seven soldiers were killed and ten more were wounded.
Once they were protected by the tree line, the fast movers dropped their napalm on the area where the firing was coming from.
All firing stopped and Harold started to take a count of the dead and the wounded. Out of four platoons of fifty men each, there were thirty-two dead and twenty-one wounded. Harold told his men to be on alert for any more firing. For the next twenty minutes, there was silence. Harold had already called for choppers to pick up the wounded and the dead. That was exactly what the enemy had counted on. The VC wanted the choppers to fly in and start taking the wounded and the dead out, and then they could open up on the choppers.
Four choppers were at the LZ when the mortars and the machine gun firing started again. Three of the choppers were hit immediately and one went down. The other three took to the air and took what wounded they had to the nearest hospital. The one thing that Harold did not know was that the VC and NVA were attacking with over a thousand men.
Harold called for more air support and for more troops to be air lifted into the fight. The enemy was moving in for the kill and Harold could sense that something was wrong. To the right, he could see Chuck firing at the VC and he could see his men falling from direct hits. Harold left his position and went to help Chuck, but Chuck was only minutes from eternity. Once Harold was beside Chuck, they both could see that they had to make a run for the machine gun position. With bullets whizzing by, Harold asked Chuck if he would like to accept Christ as his personal Savior?
Chuck looked at Harold and said, “You don’t think we are going to get out of this alive, do you?”
“I believe I will get out alive, but I don’t know if you will Chuck.”
“In other words, you think that I should accept Christ so I can go to Heaven, if I’m killed?”
“I think it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you accept and you are killed, you will go directly into Heaven.”
“But, if I don’t accept, I will go straight to Hell, right?”
“That’s right, Chuck. You will go straight to Hell. You have a golden opportunity right now, what do you have to lose?”
“Let’s just say, if I don’t get killed. I will have to live a totally different life than what I am living now. I like the type of life I’m living. So don’t try and get me saved.”
The conversation only lasted about a minute, but it would be a conversation that would stay with Chuck for all eternity. You see, one minute after the conversation, Chuck was killed. The very moment he departed this life, he arrived in the compartment of torment, to await the Great White Throne Judgment.
During the battle, Harold was wounded three times. One of the wounds was very serious and he was air lifted to a hospital and was operated on for two hours. The battle had lasted for over three hours and if it hadn’t been for the choppers bringing in more than a thousand troops, all of Harold’s men would have been killed.
Harold had a mission in Vietnam. It wasn’t hunting down the enemy, or killing the enemy. It was telling many young soldiers about a loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Many, many young men did accept during the time that Harold was in Vietnam. He wanted more to get saved. The ones that did get saved, also, became soul winners. Because of Harold’s witnessing and because of the kindness that he showed, many of those men that would never have accept
ed, did accept, when they thought their time was over.
Those men would tell others and the numbers continued to rise. When the rapture occurred and Harold saw all of the people that went to Heaven because he shared Christ, he was amazed. Down deep in his heart, he knew that if he shared Christ with as many people as he could, the Word would not come back void. He knew that Christ would reap a large harvest of unbelievers that would never have believed, if he had not been there.
Harold thought about Vietnam later in his life and some men would have regretted that they had to go and fight, but not Harold. He considered the time in Vietnam as a mission field. Missionaries have been going into one country after another to tell people about Christ. Vietnam was no different. There were people there that had never heard of Christ and what He did for them on a cross, two thousand years ago. Harold’s mission was to tell anyone that would listen, and tell he did.
The people that believed in Christ, during those years that Harold spent in Vietnam, were not just Americans, but a large number of Vietnamese believed that Christ was the Savior of the world, also. Many of the Vietnamese that believed knew that, if their families ever found out that they were Christians, they would be expelled from their families. To some, that did not make any difference. They would tell their family members that Christ was the Savior of the world. If they did not believe, they would regret that decision for eternity. In many cases, when the family heard that one of their relatives had accepted Christ, it was a death warrant. Many of the nationals paid with their lives for becoming Christians.
The number of believers in Christ among the Vietnamese began to grow and grow. All over Vietnam, the nationals were telling others about Christ. The Christian movement was growing and then the impossible happened.
America pulled out of Vietnam and the Communists took over. When the Communists took over, the Christians began to be persecuted. Thousands upon thousands were promoted to glory. However, because of just a few Americans telling about Christ, multitudes were given eternal life through Christ. Also, all of those that were killed by the Communist for their faith in Christ received the Crown of Life, at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
After Harold’s wounds were healed and he was released from the Army with a medical discharge, he went straight into the ministry. First, he became a traveling evangelist for two years. In one small town, he met the girl of his dreams. Her name was Lori and she knew that Harold was going to be her husband. They were married six months after they met. Harold started a new church in town and, after two years, it was the largest church within forty miles. His ministry grew as did his family. Lori and Harold had two boys and two girls. Harold also worked on his Ph.D., and, after six years, he received the degree from Multnoma.
Harold led thousands to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, as did his sons. Each son went to Bible College and became a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His daughters also married young men that were going into the ministry. You could say that Harold’s family was determined to spread the Gospel throughout the world.
If we were to look at 100 ancestors of Harold, we would see that 96 were saved and would be promoted to Heaven, if they were to die. However, most of his ancestors would be going up at the rapture when the trumpet sounded.
Just look at the way things would have turned out. From ancestors going to Hell compared to those going to Heaven. If Gene would have accepted, his whole family would have come to a saving knowledge of Christ. They would have had a different eternal state than the one that they were going to go to after their death.
Some people will say that one person does not make that much difference or they will say one person does not make any difference at all. But, we can see how one person did make a lot of difference. The same could be true in anyone’s family. One person who believed what the Bible said and accepted could change the entire lives of those in his or her family. We will soon see what I am speaking about as we follow the story of Gene’s family.