A young man cowered in the corner of a dirty, roach infested death row
cell in a South Carolina prison. His body curled in a fetal position, he
seemed oblivious to the filth and stench around him. His name was Rusty,
and he was sentenced to die for the murder of a Myrtle Beach woman in
a crime spree that left four people dead.

Police arrested twenty-three old Rusty Welborn from Point Pleasant,
West Virginia in 1979, following one of the most brutal slayings in South
Carolina history. Rusty was tried for murder and received the death penalty
for his crime. Bob McAlister, a deputy chief of staff to South Carolina's
governor, became acquainted with Rusty on death row. Bob had become
a Christian a year or so earlier and felt a strong call from God to minister to
the state's inmates, especially those spending their last days on death row.

Bob's first look at Rusty revealed a pitiful sight. Rusty was lying on the
floor when he arrived, a pathetic picture of a man who believed he mattered
to no one. The only signs of life in the cell were the roaches, which scurried
over everything, including Rusty himself. He stared blankly at Bob as he
began to talk, but did not respond.

During visit after visit, Bob tried to reach Rusty, telling him of the Love that
Jesus had for him and of his opportunity, even on death row, to start a
new life in Christ. He talked and prayed continuously, and finally Rusty
began to respond to the stranger who kept invading his cell. Little by
little, he opened up, until one day he began to weep as Bob was sharing
with him. On that day, Rusty Welborn, a pitiful man with murder and
darkness behind him and his own dearth closing in ahead of him, gave his
heart to Jesus Christ.

When Bob returned to Rusty's cell a few days later, he found a new man.
The cell was clean and so was Rusty. He had renewed energy and a
positive outlook on life. McAllister continued to visit him regularly,
studying the Bible, and praying with him. The two men became close
friends, over the next five years, in fact McAlister said that Rusty grew
into the son he never had, and as for Rusty, he had taken to calling
McAlister "Pap."

Bob learned that Rusty's childhood in West Virginia had been anything
but " almost heaven." His family was destitute, and Rusty was neglected
and abused as a youngster. School was an ordeal both for him and for
his teachers. Throughout his junior high years he wore the same two
pair of pants and two ragged shirts. Out of shame, frustration, and a lack
of adult guidance, rusty quit school in his ninth grade year, a decision
that was to be just the beginning of his troubles. His teenage years were
full of turmoil as he was kicked out of his home many times and ran
away countless others. He spent the better part of his youth living under
bridges and in public rest rooms.

Bob taught Rusty the Bible, but Rusty was the teacher when it came
to Love and Forgiveness. This young man who had never know real Love
was amazed and thrilled about the Love of God. He never ceased to be
surprised that other people could actually love someone like him
through Jesus Christ. Rusty's childhood enthusiasm was a breath of
fresh air to Bob, who came to realize how much he had taken for
granted, especially with regard to the Love of his family and friends.

Rusty became extremely bothered by the devastating pain he had
caused the family and friends of his victim. Knowing that God had
forgiven him, he desperately wanted the forgiveness of those he had
wronged. Then a most significant thing happened: the brother of the
woman rusty had murdered became a Christian. God had dealt with
him for two years about his need to forgive his sister's killer, finally,
he wrote Rusty a letter that offered not only forgiveness but also
Love in Christ.

Not long before his scheduled execution, this brother and his wife
came to visit Rusty. Bob was present when the two men met and
tearfully embraced like long-lost brothers finally reunited. Rusty's
senseless crime ten years earlier had constructed an enormous
barrier between himself and the brother. The Love of Christ obliterated
that barrier and enabled both men to realize that, because of Him,
they truly were brothers reunited on that day. It was a lesson Bob
would not forget.

Not only did Rusty teach Bob McAlister how to Love and Forgive; he
also taught him a powerful lesson about how to die. As the appointed
day approached, Rusty exhibited a calm and assurance like Bob
had never seen. On his final day, with only hours remaining before
his 1:00 A.M. execution, Rusty asked McAlister to read to him
from the Bible. After an hour or so of listening, Rusty sat up on the
side of his cot and said, "You know the only thing I ever wanted
was a home, Pap. Now I'm going to get one."

Bob continued his reading, and after a few minutes Rusty grew still,
very still. Thinking he had fallen asleep, Bob placed a blanket over
him and closed the Bible. As he turned to leave he felt a strong
compulsion to lean and kiss Rusty on the forehead. A short time
later, Rusty Welborn was executed for murder. A woman assisting
Rusty in his last moments shared this postscript to his story: As he
was being prepared for his dearth, Rusty looked at her and said. "What
a shame that a man's gotta wait till his last night alive to be kissed and
tucked in for the very first time."

Does it seem almost unbelievable to you that a convicted killer, a man
who had brutally murdered an innocent woman with little or no thought
for consequences, would mourn the fact that as a child no one kissed
him; no one tucked him in? That is a Tragedy.

This true story was copied from a book "From Bad Beginnings to Happy
Endings." This was a book that Billy Graham sent out to all that asked
for a copy. Reading this short story has given me a new heart for God and
for His People. I hope and pray that regardless of which side of the bars
you live on, that it has touched your heart too. I hope and pray that
because of your reading this story, that you will be able to give Love
to many others.

Because Christ First Loved us, now I can love you too.