SUBMITTED: Monday, May 23, 2005
POSTED: Monday, May 23, 2005
I think that labeling people who "participate" in this, as stupid, is just plain judgemental. Someone in a desperate situation, who has any tiny grain of belief in God, is going to feel that the letter was written "just for them" because of their situation. Maybe they've tried many things to help their situation, are at the end of their rope and desperate for a solution, so they figure "Why not? Nothing else has worked, maybe this will."
Haven't you ever been in a similar situation yourself? How would you like someone telling you that you are stupid for TRYING to help yourself out of a bad bind?
I received a letter today from these people, and was not sure what to think, which is why I came to this site. I am one of those desperate people in a bad bind, in more ways than one. I am NOT stupid. I am desperate to find a way out of my problems, so desperate that I tended to believe this letter when I read it. I had/have no intentions of sending any money, ever to this group.
In this letter was a paper "handkerchief" which they ask me to lay inside the bible until morning, within the pages of the Book of Acts 19:11,12 after printing my name and my most pressing problem in the center of the handkerchief, then add the name of someone else I love that needs God's help. I am asked to return the handkerchief in the envelope in the morning.
Of course, there was/is some doubt that these people are who they claim to be, yes, but I would NEVER send any money, NOR would I let them have access to my or anyone else's address or any other information. In fact, I planned on putting my first name only (and the first name only of my loved one), and on the return envelope I would remove my address, etc. I figure it's not costing me a penny, and if God truely IS directing these people to help me, then they and He should know me by my first name only. He knows where I am so that he can place his blessings on me.
If my situation doesn't right itself, then I know it was a scam. Simple as that. And without a return address, they won't be sending me anymore of their mailings.
I believe in prayer chains. Either way, I can't lose on this, because as I place the envelope in the mail tomorrow morning (at no cost to me), I will be praying to God for his help anyway, just as I do all day everyday. And if my situation does correct itself after I send it off, maybe it was these people who gave it a little nudge, or maybe it was God Himself and nobody else. I will really never know, and don't care if I do or not. Either way, my situation will have corrected itself, and I will be happy, and still believe in my God.