Tune into this inspiring continuation of Family Talk featuring conversations with John and Mary Lois Gibson about their unwavering commitment to Dr. Dobson’s legacy and mission. Follow their incredible story from real estate success to impactful global ministry as they strive to uphold and disseminate the timeless wisdom of Dr. Dobson. Learn valuable insights about homeschooling, creating a lasting legacy, and serving others in far-flung places like India and Romania, inspiring listeners to embrace life’s adventures for God’s greater purpose.
Hello, everyone. You’re listening to Family Talk, a radio broadcasting ministry of the James Dobson Family Institute. I’m Dr. James Dobson, and thank you for joining us for this program.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, welcome to Family Talk. I’m Roger Marsh. On our last broadcast, we began an inspiring conversation with John and Mary Lois Gibson, longtime friends of Dr. and Mrs. Dobson, supporters of the James Dobson Family Institute. As a matter of fact, founding board members of the JTFI. John shared his journey from Air Force pilot to successful real estate developer, while Mary Lois told us about her passion for homeschooling and mentoring young people. On today’s edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, we’ll continue that discussion as John and Mary Lois reveal their heart for preserving Dr. Dobson’s legacy through the James Dobson Family Institute. You’ll also hear about their unique ministry in Romania, where they are transforming an entire village showing Christ’s love to neglected children. Now, the story of John and Mary Lois Gibson beautifully illustrates what happens when we simply say yes to God’s calling and allow him to use us in ways we never imagined. Today’s program was recorded shortly before Dr. Dobson went home to be with the Lord on August 21st. So here now is Gary Bauer with John and Mary Lois Gibson on Family Talk.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, hello, everybody. Welcome back to Family Talk. We have a continuation of our show. We’ve got John and Mary Lois with us today and to follow up on a great conversation we’ve had with them already. But let’s get right into it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, thank you, Gary. We’re humbled and pleased to be able to be back with you again today. Anything we can do to promote the beauty of the wisdom of James Dobson Family Talk is just an honor to us.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, all these years, you’ve stayed close to Dr. Dobson. And now we’ve got the James Dobson Family Institute. And as he continues to touch countless people’s lives around America, John, you were original board member of the James Dobson Family Institute. Share a little bit about how committed that you guys are to this legacy of Dr. Dobson continuing so that future families can have the benefit of what so many families have had the benefit of over these decades.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you, Gary. I’m just so excited. Jim Dobson had so much that he can offer. And here’s the beauty as well. And that is that our audience needs to know that there are over 5,000 of his radio programs have been recorded. And with the help of the AI and digital, we believe that we can spread Dr. Dobson’s voice across the world to have maybe 100 times more more reach than he’s had in his entire lifetime. And now with the current generation, they want to hear short bursts of information. And so we do the one-minute briefing with Dr. Dobson. And that will give them a glimpse into a particular area they’re struggling with. And then they can go to JDFI and they can get more information. So the wisdom that God gave Jim Dobson is so precious and so valuable. We have to make sure that we can carry that on. And that’s why we’re excited to be involved with James Dobson Family Institute. That’s where his heart is. That’s where his legacy is, and we just want to continue to promote that to spread the gospel across the world through all the wisdom that God gave Jim Dobson.
SPEAKER 02 :
I think it’s not only the wisdom of Jim Dobson, but the beauty of him. Jim’s approach has been through interviewing other people. So it’s not just Jim’s wisdom that he has shared. It’s the wisdom that has accumulated through his many interactions with others. And so it’s the wisdom that God has sprinkled throughout his people that are available. And so if it’s someone who doesn’t necessarily resonate with what Jim happens to be saying at that moment, there’s probably somebody else that he has talked to over the years who will resonate with that person and give them the little nuggets that they need to go on and be successful in Jesus.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s absolutely right. And as I think of that, I think of how gracious Jim has been because there are hundreds, literally hundreds of ministries that were undiscovered that Jim interviewed. And now their reach has grown a hundredfold to be able to influence people.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, there’s a tendency even in the Christian world, you have your organization, your ministry, and you begin to get very defensive. You know, I want to protect this ministry. I don’t want any competition. I don’t want anybody getting on my turf. I’ve already got a group that deals with that. Dr. Dobson’s approach over all these decades has been to open his hand, you know, and let whatever he’s got to be shared with everyone else. And so we, you know, the Alliance Defense Fund started with Dr. Dobson’s help. Of course, he came alongside of the Family Research Council at the very beginning. And I was blessed to be part of that in that first decade. group after group. And, you know, I think we would love to be able to say that everything’s gone well for faith, family, and freedom. But I was thinking the other day, where would we be today if Dr. Dobson had not appeared on the scene and for all these decades defended Those pillars of our civilization.
SPEAKER 03 :
Exactly. And all the data shows that people of childbearing age are much more excited about learning God’s ways than people even in past generations. And so now we have a platform and we have the information available to help them with everything dealing with marriage and raising children and being good family spouses. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 04 :
You touched on this a little earlier, but I think it’s worth repeating. You both have spent a lot of time making sure your children and then your grandchildren were in love with the Lord and having the right priorities. And, you know, a lot of people, when they think— They want to leave a legacy or they want to leave an estate for their family and their grandchildren. And they’re always thinking about, naturally, you’re thinking things, money. But the ultimate inheritance is… is what we teach our children and grandchildren about our love for Christ and the important things in life. And I know you both have a great heart about that. Talk about how that motivated you and your own families.
SPEAKER 03 :
We’re in the fourth quarter of our life, and we believe that the most important thing we can do in this fourth quarter is to help our grandchildren fall in love with Jesus and know the wild adventure they can be part of. In fact, we just spent yesterday making more plans. We’re going to be taking three of our eight grandchildren, along with our son, to India. to help build a girls’ dormitory for Christian school, just because I have seen so often that reaching out our side of ourselves to be on mission trips, especially to third world countries, helps us develop just the concept that life is not about us. Life is about being used, and we’re so much happier when we can do that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I also think the advantage of taking children… to serve in a third world country situation. I wish every American child would spend some time in a third world country. It’s life changing. It’s perspective changing. And those things are critical in really developing an attitude of gratitude and a recognition of what we have been given in this amazing country.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, Mary Lois, John and I were talking on the phone the other day, and we started talking about the fact that it was no surprise to God when we were born in America or ended up being able to come to America and become a citizen. He knew exactly where we were going to be born. And in so many ways, Being born here is the greatest blessing you could possibly receive compared to all the other places you might be. You might be born in communist China and hiding your Christian faith. American young people can take it for granted because they’ve never seen anything else. And they think the whole world is like this. So to do what you’re doing and taking your children and grandchildren to see what a good bit of the world is like, it’s bound to give them a greater appreciation for a country that was built on the idea that our liberty comes from God, and that this could be a shining city on a hill as long as we continue to understand what a blessing it was that we received from him.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. And it goes with what you talked about earlier. It’s so easy, and the Bible talks about this, so easy to become complacent Christians, thinking it’s all okay and we’re okay. But We think about the stories in the Bible like the Pharisee that prayed and said, God, thank goodness that I’m not like some of these other people. But yet the person that Jesus recognized was the tax collectors who wouldn’t even look up, said, God, I’m just not even worthy. And it’s that appreciation for who we are, which is why I try to start every morning thanking God for at least 10 things. There was an author that talked about that. And so he then talked about the fact that he became sick and was feeling really sorry for himself. And a man came over and visited him and said, what are you grumping about? You’re the guy that wrote the book about… Giving thanks for things. So he said, okay, all right. I’ll see you later. So as he left, he said, okay, God, I want to thank you for the fact that that guy, the door is shut and I don’t have to listen to him anymore. Went on with nine other things. So it’s that attitude of gratitude that makes us the kind of Christians that people want to know more about Christ.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. Mary Lois, you mentioned you homeschooled. You know, I recall when I was in the Reagan administration, homeschooling just seemed to be getting some traction and it was still considered to be sort of an odd thing. And, you know, when I think back on it, Dr. Dobson was, I think, one of the original people who gave homeschooling visibility that this wasn’t, you know, some… weird people out there trying to not send their kids to school. This was a commitment that, you know, we can educate our children better than they can in a government school. And now homeschooling has just exploded and grew even more during the unfortunate COVID epidemic. But it’s amazing to see that growth. You’re kind of a pioneer having been doing that many decades ago.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, and it wasn’t a popular thing when I did it. I took a lot of heat from well-meaning people who it was like, well, who do you think you are? You’re not a certified teacher. And I’m like, well, that’s true. But who cares more about my kids than I do? And he will give you the ideas and the creativity if you just commit to him. on a daily basis and go forward. And there were many days that I did a poor job of it, but there are also days that I did a great job and I can look back and say, we had fun. It was probably the funnest part of parenting. And We did not do school at home. We did reality-based learning. And there’s a huge difference there. There weren’t a lot of curriculums available to purchase at the time, so I didn’t purchase any. We just pressed ahead on learning things that it was important to learn from real life and problem solving and experimenting and doing things with your hands and going places and So I’m glad that the movement is much stronger and it’s considered not as weird, but I still encourage parents to do it, not by just buying something off the shelf and stuffing it down your kid’s throat. Yes. Do what’s creative that draws out the curiosity and the interests and the joys of discovery in your own child.
SPEAKER 04 :
In many different states, there are still these efforts to regulate homeschooling in inappropriate ways, to try to restrict it and so forth. The government schools don’t want any competition. But the research is absolutely clear that parents are the first and most important teachers that a child has. And nobody’s going to love that child more than… than the people that brought the child into the world. So we’re a better country. I was under Secretary of Education for a while and under Bill Bennett. Very early on, we saw the research and it’s all positive. And you’ll see a lot of these competitions, math competitions and spelling bees. And it’s often homeschooled children that are coming in first, second and third place. Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. At the risk of being redundant, you can do it, Dad. You can do it, Mom. And your kids will become shining lights. And one of the arguments against homeschooling is how are they going to learn to communicate with other people and be out there? And I’m saying they won’t learn it from seventh and eighth graders who bully them and make fun of them. Our son, for example, I remember he was probably eight years old. We were at a gathering and there were three doctors talking to each other. He walked up and said, hi, I’m Marcus Gibson, and began talking with him. Because you learn how to communicate with people older than you and younger than you, and you learn how to then encourage younger people. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. That’s a great example that your son would do that. That’s really a comment on the confidence that you gave him to be able to do that with adults. Mary Lois, I understand you’re involved in a relatively unique ministry dealing with the nation of Romania. I’m sure people would love to hear about that, how that won over your heart and what you’re doing in Romania.
SPEAKER 02 :
We have a young friend that we try to claim as a daughter. Her name is Sarah Vienna. She’s actually been on the Dr. Dobson show a couple of times. She and a friend that she met in Romania through, it’s a long story, but YOM is what got her there. They started a ministry in Romania for neglected and abandoned children. It actually kicked off primarily when they found children in the children’s hospital that were just laying in their cribs and not even crying because there was no point. And so they started with a diaper program. Volunteers coming from all over the world to hold these babies, play with the babies, diaper the babies. So they thought, well, let’s get to the root of the problem instead of just having all these children. And so over the years, they started first just a little kids club, and then they started a little after-school program. And there was some resistance on the part of the parents because… The generational poverty says, so who do you think you are? You think you’re better than your mom and dad? You think you should be able to read when mom and dad can’t read? So there was some resistance there. But over the years and just continuing to love on these kids… We now have our very own building, which was a huge thing. Just to buy property in a post-communist country is miracle after miracle. So now we have about 300 children in our after-school programs. And we have… A couple of college graduates, which is enormous. The first girl that we came around and sent to the high school, she was the first in the history of her village to complete Eighth grade and go on to high school. Seriously. And to see how over the years this is changing. Now we have parents saying, can my kid be in your program? And we’re even seeing young parents saying, wow, could I learn to read? Could I learn about your Jesus? And so we’re able to start having little Bible study groups, and the whole culture of that village is starting to change because of the dedication of these young women who have dedicated their lives to making a difference in the lives of all these children. I’m cheerleader number one. I’ve also tried to write some curriculum that they can use to teach some basic, basic health issues to the kids. Primarily, it’s to just come around them and let them know Jesus is with you. It might be pretty bleak at your home, but Jesus will go home with you and he’ll still be your friend. And he will help you achieve when you think, and other people tell you, you can’t do it. You can do it. Wow. And so it’s been thrilling to see the difference that this is making.
SPEAKER 04 :
Mary Lois, that sounds like a wonderful project. You know, in so much of the world, people, they may never meet an American. And when they do, it may not always be a positive experience. But when they meet somebody like you in this ministry and bringing the love of Jesus to them, the ripple effect of that, we’ll never know until we’re all with the Lord, right? And we can see how it all fits together. What a wonderful thing to devote yourself to. It’s been great. I want to take a second just to say how much the JDFI team appreciate you folks. We’re all committed to Dr. Dobson and Shirley and their legacy. And we believe there’s just a reservoir of wealth and knowledge that we have at JDFI. The way he was blessed was that couples like you kept coming up alongside of him and and generously sharing what you were able to earn in your lives and supporting the ministry. So I have absolutely no doubt that whenever you’re standing before the throne, you’re going to hear well done, good and faithful servants from God, from all of the things you’ve done. But I want to make sure you hear it now from the JDFI team, Deb, we love you guys. We appreciate you. We’re amazed and awed by your generosity over the years. You both have come alongside the ministry in this very time right now and are helping in so many ways to continue this legacy. And we’ll never forget all the sacrifices you’ve made to help this ministry continue to be effective. Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
I’m laughing, Gary, because of the fact that all we did was show up and allowed ourselves to be used. And your comments are very kind. But let’s face it. God simply says, if we’ll show up, he’ll take us on a wild adventure. And it’s just humbling to think of the privileges we’ve had with all the people we’ve met. You and Dr. Dobson and all the good folks that work for JDFI. So we’re all part of a team. We’re all just, as the guy that just helped me talked about, you know, we’re just one cog in a very big machine. And God chooses to use us as he wants. But I just have to emphasize, if we’ll simply say, God, I’m ready to be used, he’ll take us on adventures we couldn’t even imagine. The fact that I was able to work with Jim to look at land sites and building sites to be used by the ministry. That wasn’t because I’m a smart guy. It’s because God said, if you’ll be used, I’ll use you because Jesus came to serve, not to be served. And so we just want to follow in his footsteps. Thank you, Gary. It’s such a privilege to work with you and all the team and kudos back to every team member who makes this all work.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you, John. You’re a great couple and we all love you and we look forward to working with you hopefully for many years to come. Thank you. Thank you, Gary.
SPEAKER 01 :
I love what John Gibson said toward the end there. God simply says, You’ve been listening to a special edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, featuring an uplifting conversation with our own Gary Bauer, Senior Vice President of Public Policy here at the JDFI and host of the Defending Faith, Family, and Freedom podcast, and his guests, John and Mary Lois Gibson, true everyday heroes discussing legacy, service, and trusting God’s plan. Now, if you missed any portion of today’s broadcast or if you’d like to share it with a friend, go to drjamesdobson.org forward slash family talk. And if you haven’t done so already, I want to encourage you to sign up for our free email series. It’s called Raising Kids with Love and Limits. The series delivers practical insights right to your inbox. Everything from setting healthy boundaries to building character in your children. To sign up, go to drjamesdobson.org and look for the Raising Kids with Love and Limits email series. That’s drjamesdobson.org. The Dr. James Dobson Family Institute exists to preserve and promote the biblical principles that strengthen marriages, protect children, and build healthy families. As John Gibson mentioned today, we have over 5,000 archived programs containing decades of Dr. Dobson’s wisdom. Insights that could reach a hundred times more families through new technology. But this mission depends on friends like you who believe that strong families are the foundation of a strong society. Your financial partnership helps us continue broadcasting hope and practical guidance to parents and grandparents who are doing one of life’s most important jobs. You can make a secure donation online at drjamesdobson.org. You can also give a gift over the phone when you call 877- 732-6825. Or you can send your gift through the U.S. Postal Service. Our ministry mailing address, as always, is Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk. Or you can just write JDFI for short. P.O. Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80949. Well, I’m Roger Marsh, and from all of us here at the JDFI and Family Talk, thanks so much for listening today. Be sure to join us again next time right here for another edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, the voice you can still trust for the family you love. This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
Tune into this inspiring continuation of Family Talk featuring conversations with John and Mary Lois Gibson about their unwavering commitment to Dr. Dobson’s legacy and mission. Follow their incredible story from real estate success to impactful global ministry as they strive to uphold and disseminate the timeless wisdom of Dr. Dobson. Learn valuable insights about homeschooling, creating a lasting legacy, and serving others in far-flung places like India and Romania, inspiring listeners to embrace life’s adventures for God’s greater purpose.
