Letters from Dad

"If you were to die today, what would your wife and children hold in their hands tomorrow that would let them know they were the treasures of your life?"

The answer that popped into Greg Vaughn's mind back in 2002 was troubling: nothing.

In that moment, the Texas film producer first grasped the blank page before him.

The irony of it all, says Vaughn, is that he hates to write.

But he realized, in what he thinks of as divine intervention, that writing was the perfect way to leave his legacy. That's how Letters from Dad was born.

Vaughn has made it his mission to help other men see the blank page before them, to help them put their love, hopes and desires down on paper so their families have a legacy to hold on to.

On May 7, Vaughn will bring Letters from Dad to Cape Girardeau to help kick off local chapters of the ministry.

Known as legacy groups, they usually include 10 to 12 men who help each other draft letters to family members. The curriculum for the program is broken down into these steps:

* Learn to write and say the things you have always wanted to say but just didn't know how.

* Leave treasured letters of love that will be read long after you're gone.

* Learn to speak and write these blessing to your family.

* Build relationships with other men in the group.

* Deliver your letters to your family.

Participants receive sample letters to use for ideas, a list of recommended adjectives, a Bible study guide and other supplies to get started. The program including writing four letters: first to wives, then parents, then children, then the last letter, read after the writer dies.

Coming to Cape

The Rev. Derek Staples received a copy of Vaughn's book, dubbed "Letters from Dad" for Christmas in 2005 and couldn't put it down.

Pastor of Lynwood Baptist Church, Staples and two other men from the church attended one of Vaughn's January seminars in Dallas, where they learned how to implement the program locally. Staples also invited Vaughn to speak in Cape Girardeau.

He will be at Lynwood's morning church services May 7 and will also attend a barbecue to kick off the Letters from Dads legacy groups from 5 to 7 p.m. that day.

Staples hopes the local groups will begin meeting once a month for four months in June or July.

"This should interest every dad who wants to be able to say to their wife and their kids, 'I love you, I thank God for you,'" said Staples. "For anyone who wants to make sure that when they leave, their kids will be able to clearly tell their grandchildren 'this is who my daddy was.'"

Spreading the love

Vaughn first gathered a group of about 12 friends together in fall of 2002 to help him write letters to his wife and children after realizing he wanted to leave a written legacy.

The initial attempt was so successful, that the original 12 friends asked Vaughn to meet with their friends and family.

The group grew to 130, to 350 and 700. Soon, he was getting requests from across the country. Now, some 5,000 men have attended Vaughn's conferences in Dallas and taken Letters from Dad back to their churches to share with other men.

Vaughn has recently developed a version of the program called Letters from a Soldier's Heart for use in the military. He's trained members of Rotary International and even business corporations and jails. The program will be launched in more than 1,000 churches this year alone. His book is a bestseller and about 28 of the 50 largest newspaper in the U.S. have written stories about Letters from Dad, he said.

"And we've only just really started," Vaughn said.

He's had men from a variety of churches attend his workshops, everything from Catholics to Episcopalians to Methodists.

"That's what's so cool. Loving your kids has no denominational stripe to it," Vaughn said.

The concept of Letters from Dad rests on two pillars, he explained. The first is the written word, the second is the spoken blessing.

"When we learn to speak life and hope and blessing into the lives of the people we love, and reduce that to the written word, then we see our families change before our eyes," Vaughn said.

cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128