WM: Introduce yourself briefly and tell what you do for your job.
TR: My name is Tom Rodrigues. I’m a motorcycle officer in a traffic unit for the city of Hayward, California. I have been a police officer with the city for twenty-five years. My wife Mary and I have three daughters: Sarah (18), Allison (17), and Hannah (8). We attend Calvary Bible Chapel in Hayward.
WM: How did you get saved?
TR: I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and raised in a Catholic home. Although my parents never went to church, they wanted us to go, so I did all of the things that the church told us to do. After a while it got pretty boring–very repetitive, and I certainly wasn’t learning anything. I was just going for the sake of going, and to avoid the little guilt trip that follows if you don’t. After Mary and I got married, I quit going to church for six or seven years.
Since Mary was unable to conceive, we applied for adoption. The County told us that the wait would be three to five years for a baby.
About eight months into the process, we spent a weekend at Lake Tahoe, where we met a Christian gentleman. I didn’t know very much about Christianity, but we talked about a number of things and before we left, he asked if there was anything that he could pray about for us.
We reluctantly said, “Well, we are in the process of adopting a baby.”
He said, “Let me pray about that.” So he prayed that we would get this baby soon. I was hesitant believing that anything like that could happen, but as good as the Lord is, the next Friday–five days later–we got a phone call from Social Services, telling us that we had a little baby girl waiting for us. Mary was ecstatic and I was very happy, but didn’t give any credit to the Lord.
The next Tuesday we picked Sarah up and took her to show my mom. My sister was there. She was a believer and had been attending Fairhaven Bible Chapel in San Leandro, CA. She challenged me that our lives were going very well: we had a nice home, nice cars, good jobs–all the material things. The Lord had really blessed us, but what had we done for Him? She was pretty aggressive in her comments towards me about my non-relationship with Christ. She invited us to attend Fairhaven with her.
The next Sunday we went to Fairhaven and attended an SBC class (Survey in Basic Christianity). The class was on Lesson # 6 which talks about heaven and hell, but they never mentioned purgatory. The teacher made it clear that the Bible does not talk about such a place as purgatory–when a person dies, he either goes to heaven or to hell. That was a stark reality to me.
We went back the next week and I filled out a visitor’s card. The next Monday, there was a knock at my door and the man who taught our first class was standing there. He shared the gospel with me and invited me to a meeting in his home. I was reluctant to go, but I went and had a really good time. I met a lot of neat Christians–men and women who loved the Lord dearly. I started going frequently.
After about five months, I was invited to the Breaking of Bread, but I made up reasons not to go. At last, one Sunday I said, “You know what? I’m going to that meeting to see what it’s all about.”
When I got there, I was a bit late, and there was only one seat left–right at the front. I noticed on a table in the middle of the room was a loaf of bread and a cup of wine. I had been hearing the message of the gospel and I had been receiving some very good teaching from God’s Word, but it wasn’t until that Breaking of Bread meeting that I was able to put together the meaning of what Christ did for me personally. On the cross He died for my sins; He shed His blood for me. After that meeting, I decided that I wanted to accept Christ as my Saviour. Everything fell into place. It all made sense like it never had before. That was fifteen years ago.
Mary was saved a couple of years later and we have been in fellowship at Calvary Bible Chapel since then.
WM: Tom, can you tell us about how you were able to reach a policeman for the Lord?
TR: In 1987, I was on the street working speed enforcement and a California Highway Patrol Officer pulled up and sat beside me on his brand new Harley Davidson. I asked him if I could take it for a drive. We traded bikes for about two minutes and as we were talking about our bikes, my radio broadcasted an in-progress armed robbery–a man with a handgun in a bar. It was only about two blocks from where we were sitting, so we exchanged bikes quickly and he followed me to the area of the robbery.
I was there so fast that as I turned on to the street, I saw the perpetrator with the gun in his hand, running down the sidewalk. He saw me and I began to chase him. This highway patrol officer and I followed him a couple of blocks and were able to apprehend him and take him into custody.
I let my supervisor know that I was assisted by this CHP officer who didn’t have to help me; he just wanted to. Our city sent a letter of commendation for Angelo Costanzo.
Shortly after that, I saw Angelo on the street with his wife, Dorothy. He invited our family to his house for dinner, so we went over. We talked about spiritual things. He was a Catholic, but he had some serious issues with the church. I invited them to the chapel.
Angelo and Dorothy couldn’t believe the love the saints had one for another. It wasn’t long after that that both of them were saved. They have three beautiful children and are going on for the Lord.
I don’t call it chance–it is the Lord’s leading and His dealing with us as we minister His Word. Many people need to hear who Jesus is. Our conversation started with him talking about my Kawasaki and me talking about his Harley Davidson. The Lord has us meet particular people for a reason and from there we need to get aggressive for the sake of the gospel.
WM: Can you tell us about how the Lord has been working in your department?
TR: A number of things have been happening. Randy White was a missionary in Ireland for ten years but before going there, he worked for us as a communications operator, or 911 dispatcher. When he returned to California, he was given his old job. We have been praying together about what the Lord is going to do in our department.
Currently, Randy has a Bible Study going on with a number of people. We are seeing souls come to the Lord at work. Men and women are asking questions about eternity, about having a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Corey Quinn is a police officer who worked in my unit. We didn’t know each other very well, but I knew he had been married for a short period of time and that his wife had two miscarriages. In April 1999, I got a call one morning from Corey asking if he could come over to my house. He wanted to bring his wife, Danielle, with him as they were having a hard time dealing with this second miscarriage and they didn’t know what else to do. I told him to come over; they were there within fifteen minutes.
Prior to them coming, my wife and I prayed together about what we were going to say. We had asked the Lord to bring a family our way in the year 1999 so that we could share the gospel with them. We wanted to see a family saved and living for the Saviour.
We began a Bible study with Corey and Danielle in our home. Three months later, in June 1999, both Corey and Danielle confessed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I had the precious opportunity of baptizing both of them.
Miraculously, she got pregnant again. In May of 2000, on Mother’s Day, they had a beautiful baby boy and they are living to serve the Lord in our assembly.
As a result of that, another girl, Alice, a connection of Corey and Danielle’s, has professed faith in Christ and it looks like next month we’ll be baptizing her also.
At work a number of guys are asking me questions. I think in our profession when you don’t know what’s going to happen from day to day and so many law enforcement officers are being killed in acts of violence, the guys need to know what’s going to happen to them and where are they going to be the day that the Lord takes them. Are they going to be in heaven or hell?
My department has 182 people and we have about fifteen strong believers who are going on for the Lord.
WM: In your dealing with young people, what is the main problem that gets them in trouble with the law?
TR: There is a breakdown in the family structure. Many young people have no father figure in the home, the mom has to go out to work, and the kids are left alone. That’s when they get in trouble. We see in the school district that I work an overall lack of respect for adults. Looking at the big picture and going into a lot of homes on domestic disputes and issues with young kids, I would really say it is the family breakdown.
WM: Do you have any suggestions for the average Christian in a local assembly on how they can minister to a young person in danger of getting in trouble with the law before they end up in jail?
TR: I think that we certainly need to make headway in sharing Christ with the youth of today. We can do that through AWANA programs, by having kids bring their unsaved friends to church services, maybe youth activities, camps–things that will get kids to see that there is a life that is better than the life they are living.
Victory Outreach does a good work with kids who have been in trouble before, some in the county jail, some in the state prison, some recovering alcoholics or drug addicts.
Five or six years ago, I got called to an R.V. court. A woman had complained that a guy was preaching from the back of a pickup truck. A lot of kids were listening, and people were hanging around in the streets–some gang members, some young people with nothing to do. The preachers were doing an excellent job.
As I pulled up to the scene, a woman came up and said, “Make them stop! We don’t want to hear that!”
I said, “Ma’am, they have a good message. You need to hear that message. They aren’t doing anything illegal; they have their constitutional right of freedom of speech.” She didn’t appreciate whatI had to say and after a few minutes, she turned around and left, but they continued preaching the gospel.
I don’t know if there was any fruit, but they did not have to turn their bull horns off and leave the area. Maybe another officer would have asked them to do that, but I didn’t feel it was right or necessary.
Sometimes we want to live inside a little box, but we need to get out of that box to get young people to hear the message that will give them eternal life.
WM: Can you think of one outstanding incident where your response to a situation was different than most would have expected because you are a Christian?
TR: I was working overtime one day, and was detailed to a home because a gentleman had his car broken into and his stereo stolen. I went into Rick Welch’s house to write the report and he introduced me to his wife, Irene. I overheard her say to her two boys, “Make sure you thank Jesus for your food.”
I told her, “You know, that’s a good idea. We should always give the Lord Jesus thanks in all that we say and do and receive.” Then Rick and I turned to the business at hand. With auto burglary, you’ll probably never find the stolen property–it gets stolen and sold so fast.
Doing some questioning of witnesses, I was told about a guy who might know what was going on or be involved somehow, so I went to his home.
While I was talking to the young man at his door, I heard his father say from behind me, “Ok, son, Officer Rodrigues is here. If he wants to talk to you, you’re in trouble. Just make sure you tell the truth. Whatever you do, tell the truth.”
I looked at the man–I had known him for fifteen years. I asked about the stereo. The father said, “Is that the stereo you and your friend sold me for $50?”
The father went and got the stereo and brought it to me. The young boy gave me a complete statement implicating his friend, even though he was there also.
With all of that done, I took the stereo back to Mr. Welch’s house. I was gone no more than an hour. He was completely dumfounded that I was able to do all of that so quickly.
I really believe it was of the Lord. I was preaching at our assembly the next week and invited the Welch’s to the meeting. They came with their boys, and about six months later both of them professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
They’re strong believers in the Lord and I believe it was all over a stereo that was stolen so the Lord could give me the opportunity to return it to them and have an open door to share Christ.
WM: How should believers pray for the police officers in their area?
TR: Well, number one, I think it’s important for people to pray for safety. When a police officer goes to work he doesn’t know what he’ll face.We have to wear bullet-proof vests every day. Our mind has to be clear, free from the distractions that sometimes could cause us to stumble when we’re doing our job. Certainly pray for safety for all of the policemen on the road today.
Pray for wise decision making–that we would have wisdom that only comes from the Lord. We can only get that through a relationship with Him.
If there are believers in law enforcement, pray that they would be bold to share Christ with their counterparts and their peers. We certainly need more Christian police officers on the street today.
WM: In the assembly at Calvary Bible Chapel there are four police officers and another young man is
taking tests to become a law enforcement officer. I think it shows that there is a work of God going on in the police department here and I pray that it will continue to increase.