Forgiveness: The Key to Freedom

I retrieved this article from the St. Paul Pioneer Press archives telling the story of how my wife, Ellen, and I went from shopping for a used car to a conciliation court battle with the less-than-reputable salesman and, finally, to the resolve of it all. The author does a great job condensing the story as it took place over the course of 3 years, with many court dates, countless phone calls, tons of paperwork, and, perhaps most notable, an ever-present sinking feeling in my stomach. Ellen recalls this as the time when I gnashed my teeth in my sleep. Looking back, I amazed at how God took an ugly situation and turned it into something that got His name in the newspaper. The ultimate decision Ellen and I made was not a popular one, as is evidenced by the comments that followed the publishing of this article (which are long since gone), nor was it the common advice we received when seeking counsel, but, the feeling of complete freedom we felt afterwards was confirmation in and of itself. Although certainly not as extreme, I liken parts of our story to that of Joseph's. After his jealous brothers threw him into a well and sold him into slavery, he stayed faithful to God's word, knowing he was destined for great things. He worked to gain the favor of his captors, enduring trail after trial, until he ultimately earned a seat at the right hand of Pharaoh himself. Finally the day comes when he is able to exact judgement on his brothers for their wrongdoings and have the justice he so deserves but instead he says... "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20) It's my prayer that even more people would find the forgiveness Jesus has for them and, in turn, be able to offer forgiveness to those that may have deeply hurt them. If this story somehow encourages that, well, praise God. Forgiveness. The key to freedom. April 21, 2009 IF LORD FORGIVES, A COUPLE DECIDES, WHY CAN'T THEY? BURNED IN A CAR SCAM, A HUSBAND, WIFE LEARN AN ETERNAL TRUTH: GIVE, AND YOU GET Author: Emily Gurnon Edition: St. Paul Section: Main Page: A1 Article Text: What would possess an otherwise normal, sane young couple to forgo $6,400 they could have recouped from a calculating thief? Call it temporary insanity. Call it blind idealism. Or call it forgiveness. Kyle Hopson was 22 and living with his wife, Ellen, in her grandmother's basement in Lakeville in December 2006 when he answered an online ad in the Pioneer Press for a 2002 Honda Civic. The asking price -- $6,400 -- seemed incredibly low, so he put in a call to Little Canada used-car dealer Vahid Sedaghat. "It was kind of hard to get through to him," Hopson said, thinking in retrospect that might have been a warning sign. When he did, Sedaghat took control of the situation, Hopson said, insisting, "Come meet me." Hopson looked under the hood and took a test drive. "But I am not a mechanic by any means, so I couldn't tell that it was really just a slapped-together car." In fact, the car was a salvage vehicle -- it had been in a wreck. But Sedaghat didn't tell him that, Hopson said. After signing the papers at Sedaghat's Apple Valley home, the dealer left the room. When he came back, Sedaghat returned the contract to Hopson in a sealed envelope. Hopson didn't look at it until later. A line was added, in a different-colored ink, saying, "This car does have prior salvage title," and the box for "No warranty," which had been blank when Hopson signed it, was now checked, he said. Within a week, it was clear that the car had major problems. The Hopsons took it back to Sedaghat. He kept it for a week. When they got it back, it was worse, Hopson said. They returned the car to Sedaghat, hoping he would refund their money. He didn't. They took him to conciliation court in Dakota County, but he skipped court appearances. Even when a default judgment was entered against him, Sedaghat never paid a dime. A current telephone number for Sedaghat, 53, could not be found.WAITING, WAITING ... About the same time they bought the car, the Hopsons were members of a small group at Celebration Church in Lakeville. They were struggling with the fact that they had been naive, that they had spent so much money and that it seemed there was nothing they could do to get it back. "We felt really horrible," said Ellen Hopson, who was pregnant by the time. "Especially Kyle felt so bad because it was kind of an unwise decision to go through this guy." The church group began praying about the situation, she said. "They encouraged us that God could get this money back and use it for good," Ellen Hopson said. Kyle Hopson said his feelings began to change. First, it was "he owes us something," but they wanted the whole thing to be done with. Then, it was, "All right, God, this is just your money. We'll let you get it back, because we know you can. And we don't know how." They hit upon the idea of giving the $6,400 to the church's building fund -- if they got it back from Sedaghat. The church planned to raise money for a Family Life Center, an addition to the current building. The Hopsons liked the idea because, among other things, it would benefit their son, Benjamin. The pledge timeline was two years. Months went by as they waited for a criminal case involving Sedaghat to wind its way through the courts. If he were convicted, they could get restitution money and pay the church that way. The case involved not only the Hopsons but five other victims. But things were looking bleak. "It just kept dragging on, with Vahid not showing up, not even a prospect of us seeing a penny back from it," Kyle Hopson said. "So, we're like, we should make good on this somehow," he said. "We started to save up the money ourselves." Every time they had a little extra -- a tax refund, a promotion -- they put it toward the pledge. It wasn't easy. Kyle Hopson works in customer service for Best Buy, making about $30,000 a year. Ellen, now 22, works as a hair stylist and makes about the same. Last summer , they bought a house in Burnsville. Their mortgage payment is $1,100 a month. There isn't a lot left over, though they were able to save more while they lived with Ellen's grandmother. FORGIVEN They finally paid off the pledge to the church in March. "And within a week, we got a letter that Vahid pleaded guilty" to one count of theft of moveable property, Kyle Hopson said, "and there's going to be the opportunity for us to claim restitution." But after all that -- all the waiting, all the frustration, all the scrimping and saving -- they decided to let it go. They wrote a letter to the court saying they would not seek any money from the man who had robbed them. "We figured he's not the type of guy who ever sees forgiveness," Kyle Hopson said. "He's always watching his back." Their faith informed the decision more than anything, both said, citing the Christian tenet that Jesus died for the forgiveness of humans' sins. "So it's really nothing for me to say, 'You don't owe me that anymore,' " Kyle Hopson said. "Because I hope this brings you to a place where you understand how you've been forgiven by Jesus." They now attend "The Rock" church, which meets within Celebration Church. Their pastor, Jeff Warner, had talked about how there is freedom in forgiveness, and that those who hold on to bitterness choose to suffer. The Hopsons now agree. "He's forgiven," Kyle Hopson said. "We're fine with that -- and I'm done." Having pleaded guilty in March to the theft charge, Sedaghat was sentenced Thursday in Ramsey County District Court to the 17 days he has served in custody. He said through his attorney in court last week that his home and business are in foreclosure. [photo not included in archives] Photo: PIONEER PRESS: SCOTT TAKUSHI Caption: Kyle and Ellen Hopson, of Burnsville, say their Christian faith has guided them in deciding to forgive the man who scammed them into buying a salvage car. "So it's really nothing for me to say, 'You don't owe me that anymore,' " Kyle Hopson said. "Because I hope this brings you to a place where you understand how you've been forgiven by Jesus." Copyright 2009 Saint Paul Pioneer Press Record Number: 0904210005 I just found the email I sent to the Ramsey County Court lady who reached out to me requesting my restitution claims against Vahid so I figured I would append it here. Apparently they did end up reading it verbatim in court since that's ultimately what piqued the Pioneer Press Reporter's interest. -------------------------------- Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 1:52 PM Hello Ms. Griffin, Thank you for following up with me and leaving me a message the other day. I am actually not seeking any restitution against Vahid and my impact statement will explain that more. I realize that my statement may not be typical of most that you see but if it is at all possible, I would like for it to be read in court. Feel free to let me know if you need any changes or anything else from me at all! Here is my impact statement: Although my wife and I have been greatly impacted by this crime, we have been able to overcome it through our faith in God and feel that we are not entitled to claim any kind of judgment on Vahid. Several months after the occurrence of the theft by swindle, my wife and I decided to pledge the money we had lost on the car to our Church’s building fund. In other words, we turned the money over to God for Him to recover. Well, we realized that this wasn’t exactly God’s plan for it. Over the years, we kept waiting for justice to be had so that we could give the money to the church. The money didn’t appear to be coming any time soon since Vahid never showed up for any of his court dates. I was even called to attend one which never went through probably because Vahid had another excellent excuse. Running from his problems seems to be Vahid’s strong suit. Anyways, my wife and I started to pay off our pledge to the church out of our own income because we wanted to be faithful to our word. I am thankful that, in respect to entire world, we are considered wealthy; however, we are by no means overflowing with expendable income and, in the midst of this situation, we had a child. Never-the-less, we would still save up enough money to pay the church periodically in hopes that this contribution, this effort, would somehow motivate God to finalize His justice with Vahid. I know, it sounds crazy and, looking back, I would agree. Well, within the past month (February 2009), we finally had enough money to fully pay off our pledge to the church; the total was approximately $6,400 (the amount of the car). No later than a week after we had signed and sent that check, we heard from the court that Vahid had pled guilty to our charges. My point with all this is that money isn’t really what matters in life and God is bigger than it. He provided for my wife and I to have promotions at our jobs even in this economic recession which then allowed us to pay off our pledge and we are confident He will continue to provide for us in the future. We have no need for additional money from Vahid. He seems like the kind of guy that doesn’t see a lot of forgiveness and we can only hope that this would bring him closer to the ultimate forgiveness Jesus has for him. Thanks, Ms. Griffin! -Kyle Hopson --------------------------------