Note from the Board – Rod Robison – March 2025
The Transformative Power of Forgiveness
By Rod Robison
Saturday morning, January 8, 2011, shook the entire nation. As I sat in my home reviewing the morning’s news on social media, I stared down at the headline in disbelief: Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords had just been shot, along with several other people, outside a grocery store that was located a mere block away from my office. Had it happened the morning before, I would’ve been at work and might well have heard the gunfire.
Shockingly, I’d later learn that one of the victims was my friend, Jim Tucker. He and his wife, Doris, had arrived early at a Congress on Your Corner meet and greet and were near the front of the line to chat with Giffords when the
shooter began his rampage. In his booklet, Choices, Jim recounted the life-changing moments that rapidly unfolded next.
“We had just started talking with Giffords when there were some loud bangs and a whirlwind of air. The first two shots were a blink of an eye apart, then a flurry of shots began and I found myself lying flat on my back, looking up at the roof under which we had been standing. I was shot twice. The first bullet struck my upper right chest, knocking me backwards. The second bullet entered and exited my
lower right leg. The shooter had emptied his extended clip in less than 20 seconds.”
Congresswoman Giffords sustained a critical wound to her head, nearly killing her. Miraculously, Doris was uninjured and was able to render aid. A moment before it had been a sunny, beautiful day full of promise. Seconds later, thirteen people lay wounded and six people had lost their lives.
The next day, recovering in the hospital, Jim turned on the TV and, for the first time, learned the extent of the carnage. He also saw a photo of the gunman.
“My first reaction was a desire to wipe that smirk off his face. However, knowing how much I dislike standing in long lines and considering that my dominant arm was no more than dead weight, I thought it best to reconsider my choices.”
Then another thought popped into Jim’s head. “Growing up in the Los Angeles area, I was familiar with the late John Wooden, longtime head basketball coach of UCLA. Wooden was widely held in high esteem, regardless of whether his
team trounced yours on the basketball court. He taught his players more than just basketball: he taught them about life. And his lessons weren’t just words alone; he modeled the life skills that so many of his players would practice long after they graduated. Wooden once said, ‘There is a choice you have to make in everything you do. So, keep in mind that, in the end, the choice you make makes you.’”
“I thought long and hard about how the shooting affected Doris and me. Although she was not injured, she would join me in the healing process. How we initially processed things—mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and, for me, physically—during the next few days would determine the true path of healing we would take then and for years to come.”
Jim shared the incredible outcome in Choices. “The next morning, I talked with Doris about the choices we needed to make. Although we were not expecting something like this to be added to our bucket lists and did not feel we could forgive the shooter, we knew that we had to trust and thank God. It took a little more time to reach the point where we chose to forgive the shooter. We still wanted justice to take place, but we refused to harbor an unforgiving spirit toward him. It would only prolong the damage he inflicted on us by his tragic actions. Our true healing had begun!”
I still have breakfast with Jim from time to time, and though his physical healing has been dramatic, he still lives with the physical impact of his traumatic wounds. The pain and limitations to movement are still daily realities and will be with him the rest of his life. To be sure, emotional healing is still taking place, too. But it was a choice he and his wife made—a hard but necessary choice to forgive—that started the healing process.
You may remember another story of transformative forgiveness – that of Dr. Okongo Samson, founder and president of Unite 4 Africa – that is equally inspiring…and challenging. He recounts that story of transformation in his book Abducted but not Forsaken. The victim of unimaginable abuse at the hands of terrorists and his jailers, Okongo made the difficult but necessary decision to forgive. A decision that God used to not only transform Okongo but to birth Unite 4 Africa and reach untold thousands with the Gospel. In those countries where Unite 4 Africa serves, we’re seeing incredible transformational changes as hearts are freed from the shackles of sin and liberated to become new creations in Christ.
If you’re standing with Unite 4 Africa with your financial support – thank you for being an important partner in sharing this message of transformation. You are making a difference in so many lives.
This year we’re determined to bring the transformational message of Christ to many thousands more through Unite 4 Africa’s outreaches. Hope to the hopeless. Families to orphans. Water to the thirsty. Medicine to the sick. Empowerment to the poor. Each of these outreaches brings the Light of Jesus to the darkness and gives us more opportunities to tell others about Him.
Will you join us this month by sharing a gift that God will use to transform lives? It only takes a few moments to make an eternal difference. Visit www.Unite4Africa.org/donate. Thank you for caring.