First Person with Wayne Shepherd

First Person: Rob Walgate extended conversation

This is the rest of the conversation with Rob which we didn't have time for on the radio. Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company: FEBC National Processing Center Far East Broadcasting Company P.O. Box 6020 Albert Lea, MN 56007 Please mention FIRST PERSON when you give. Thank you!

Duration:: 5m
Broadcast on:: 23 Jun 2011
Audio Format:: other

This is the rest of the conversation with Rob which we didn't have time for on the radio.

Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
FEBC National Processing Center
Far East Broadcasting Company
P.O. Box 6020
Albert Lea, MN 56007

Please mention FIRST PERSON when you give. Thank you!

Rob, we had a conversation on the air that tells the story and that program is archived here on the website, the story of God at Work in Your Life, an addicted gambler. I mean, you're a young man, I look at you now, you've got such a bright future and God has given you a heart to help people who are caught in the addiction of gambling. But talk about your burden for young people, people of any age that are caught in that web. And gambling has been such an easy addiction to become trapped in, especially in the society we live today. It's everywhere, you know, and it's dismissed as carefree entertainment. Whether it's a dollar lottery tickets or doing this to help, you know, they promote lotteries in some states is actually supporting the schools and you're doing your part. If you do that, one of my problems in high school, we had a casino night. I mean, so I always talked about how they would never have given us apple cider and kegs of beer and taught us how to tap a keg, even though it was apple cider, but yet they'll give us fake money and allow us to gamble. But you know, my concern is, is that people were blessed with so much, so many of us. And I want people to understand how easy it is to make those poor decisions. And it does have the domino effect. So your work today involves a lot of just lobbying to make sure that there isn't the environment, that there aren't casinos expanding everywhere. Tell us what you're involved in. Well, I've done a lot of speaking. I've done a lot of, I would like to think of it as educating, talking to people about what could happen. You know, a lot of people turn around and look at me and I'll say, Rob, you made all those decisions. I'll say, you're darn right. I did. I made every last one of those decisions. But I'm going to tell you that it is a fact that the more locations you put that allow people to gamble, the more stories you're going to hear like mine. And yes, I made those decisions. However, it is going to be real in others' lives. And at the end of the day, you are going to pay for those decisions because you're going to pay higher, higher taxes to pay for some of the crime that increases. You know, compulsive gamblers are one of the largest people that default on credit cards and home loans. So your interest rates are going to go up in the long run to eventually pay for the people that have defaulted on all of their responsibilities. And the whole family suffers from that. The whole family does suffer and it will affect people in a roundabout way. And you know, what's interesting is it really would change you if it did hit someone that you cared about or were close to. You know, for some people listening to this, they don't know me. You're never going to meet me and I'm just one guy who made a lot of poor decisions. And that's fine. But when that one guy that's making those poor decisions is someone that you hold dear and it's a brother or it's a mom, it could be a mom or whatever, it's going to hit a lot differently. You rationalize your behavior to many people, your family, to yourself. You rationalize it to yourself. You know that there are people out there doing the same right now. What can you say to them? What can you make them see what's really going on? There was a lot of times in my life when other people wanted me to quit for them or other people wanted me to do it for other reasons. You know. Good reasons. Good valid reasons, you know, whether it was to get a degree, whether it was to strengthen relationships that I had had. But until I wanted to make that decision and do it because that was, I'm telling you that I realized that's how I was going to die. Again, I don't know if it was going to be in a week or 50 years, but I was isolated. No way out. Desolate, I was just so depressed and I had to do it because it was the right thing to do. And I needed God's help doing it, but I came to the realization that I could not live my life that way. All right. Everyone's listening, they have a loved one, they know this is going on. So what do they do? Well, the thing you do is the person that is caught and trapped by this addiction needs to realize that it was a process that got them in the hole and it's going to be a process that gets them out of the hole. You know, it took me years to get into the gambling world and it's taken me years to get out. So that's going to be the same thing. There's no quick fix on this. It's going to be a lot of hard work. But at the end of the day, it's going to be worth it. You have to have to sit down and talk with that person and I'm telling you what, that is one of the hardest things you'll ever have to do because I would not listen to it. I just talked to a friend two days ago that has a buddy that has a problem and he called and asked me how he should address him. And I had to explain to him, I said, well, if you would have called me on the phone, I would have blown you off. I said, you're going to have to look at this person eye to eye and have a talk with them. And a lot of times it's not going, my mom tried to have many of those conversations with me and it got nowhere because I wasn't going to let her penetrate and get through to me, you know. So it's going to take a special person in that person's life. It took for me hearing Cameron Mills story, hearing Cameron Mills talk about something that I could relate to. It's going to take a relatable story. I've spoken to many of those people and some of them, I don't get through to because they view me. They dismiss me as, oh, that's just the kid that lost a lot of money. He was illusory. He didn't know what the heck was going on and what he was doing. And they dismiss me as just being that guy. So and that's fine. I understand their point of view as well and they're going to live their life and do their thing until they come to that realization that they have a problem and they need help.