Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed week knowing the goodness of the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Ella, Madi, AJ and Charles each prayed to receive Jesus Thursday. Please pray they grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you have the time. I had a quick opportunity to go through the Gospel with Ethan. He had shoulder length hair that had not been recently washed. He wore a purple shirt and black shorts, sitting outside the cafeteria. He said he went to Church every week but could not think of what Jesus had done to take away his sins. I left him with the booklet after speedily going through the points with a couple quick analogies. He hadn’t wanted to talk but said, “Thank you,” as I walked away and I said, “no worries”.

 Ella was sitting along the hallway beside the bookstore at a counter height table. I walked past her. She seemed busy but two steps later I decided to see if she’d do a student survey and turned back. She was a pretty girl wearing a grey hoodie and blue shorts. She her nose was a small pretty version of the Statue of Liberty, not as wide but the top of it was flat. She had a sharp jaw line and long brown hair. She said she wanted to go to Italy so I asked if she was Italian and she said, “Yes.” I asked her what she would say to God if she died and were asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “That’s a good question, I’ve thought about that a lot,” she said and then said, “I think the majority of my life he’d observe me, [and] because of what I do, He knows my heart, I care and my empathy for others and when I love someone I love them, He’d see that.” She thought she had a 75% chance of going to heaven. She went to church with a neighbor and another friend sometimes. I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sin so He could live inside her and she thought for a bit and could not remember. Turning the page I said, “He died for you.” “That was on the tip of my tongue,” she said. I explained that the blood of Jesus cleansed her and was how God got paid. She tracked with everything and was a quarter step ahead to the conclusion of each illustration. I thought she was rushing but I realized later she was just tracking hard on the story of redemption. I explained Jesus had earned the righteousness of God and this was her credit when God adopted her. All Jesus had done was hers by faith and His Grace. I asked if she wanted to be forgiven for her sin or thought something else. “Be forgiven,” she replied. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I read it through for her with explanation saying, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ Would you say that’s true?”  She nodded. I said she could pray it silently right now and know she was forgiven, “Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” she replied and she prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished she said, “You explained this really well.” I thanked her and said the likelihood now she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness and blood of Jesus. She had a Bible, I explained living life by the Spirit’s power. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet  and a Bible study on the Deity of Christ. I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after. “I don’t know if I will see you again.” “Hopefully,” she put in sweetly. “But I’ll be praying,” I replied. “Thank you so much I appreciate your coming up to me.” “Thanks for saying that,” I replied, “God bless you.” “God bless you too,” she said and I headed off down the hall.

 Madi was sitting in a lounge that is by the student account windows. She had her back to the hallway. I guess she was caught up in what she was listening to as I startled her, asking her to do a student survey. I apologized and she asked what I’d said so I asked again and she said, “I can do that.” She was a really cute kid with a small face and freckles her summer blonde hair pulled back behind her head in kind of a bun, she was tan. She was wearing gray shorts and a gray hoodie of the same fabric. I sat down in the chair next to her after she made some room by moving her backpack and got her name. I asked her what reason she would say to God to get into Heaven.  “What I’ve been through the last 10 years,” she said firmly. “OK,” I replied. I asked the likelihood she would go to Heaven, “99.5%… I would hope,” she said. I explained that God wanted to live inside her and to do that He had to take away her sins, make her His type. She said she had gone to church now and again so I asked if she remembered what Jesus had done to take away her sins. She said she had not “gotten into it that deeply” before. So I explained the atonement like I usually do, His blood to cleanse her and pay for her sis and righteousness of Christ. I said God would adopt her and give her the blessings of His family. All that God had done she could have by faith. “If you believe Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the dead and put your trust in that,” I explained that would mean you had faith. And it’s by grace you are saved by faith. Her good stuff would not fix her bad stuff but God would make all things work together for good. “He can turn a bad thing into a good thing because He controls the future.” I asked then would she like to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done or did she think something else. “Be forgiven,” she said. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she replied. I asked if she wanted she could pray it quietly right now and know she was forgiven. “Yeah I can do that,” she said taking the booklet. She paused for a moment and then she started to cry. “Sorry I just get really emotional with this kind of stuff,” she said. “I’ll be ok in a minute.” I said Ok I’ll just look down and wait,” wanting to give her privacy. It threw me a bit since she came across as pretty determined. Then she prayed to receive Jesus. I told her the likelihood she would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying there might be some questions it would answer and the author had more on line. I also gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. I said I would pray a Bible Verse for her each day from now through Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. I touched her shoulder with my finger tips and said, “God bless you.” “Yeah, thank you,” she replied and I headed off. I think I’ll bump into her again somehow.

 AJ and Charles were sitting on the second floor of the PE building in some couches at the top of the stairs. AJ had tattoos running down his left leg, on a hat turned backwards and a narrow square jaw face with a mustache and a chin beard. Charles had tattoos on what I could see of his forearms. His black hat had a 2inch band and then the rest of it looked like curly lamb’s wool. His face had dark cheeks where I think a heavy beard would have grown in he had an inch long beard growing only under his chin.  They were wearing t-shirts and shorts. AJ said he’d do a survey right away and Charles jumped in after. They both seemed athletic but only AJ said he was who seemed just a bit more engaged than Charles but he might have just been thinking faster being the first to reply to everything.  When I asked them what they would say to God to get into Heaven AJ said, “There’s something you say… I forget. I would just hope God didn’t judge me off my actions but He judged me off my heart.” Charles replied with, “Pretty much the same thing he said.” AJ said that he was sure he was going to Heaven and Charles agreed. “100%,” I asked and each replied, “100%.” I began to go through the Gospel with them and AJ knew that Jesus had died for his sins, but though Charles agreed with him and it seemed like he hadn’t known that before. I explained the rest of the Gospel, that the blood of Jesus cleansed them and this was also how God got paid but he had to pay Himself. I explained the righteousness of God. Christ earn this and it was to their credit and they were given this by faith. We were alone off to the side and both of them listened closely to everything I said. “So would you like to be forgiven for your sins trusting in what Jesus has done? Then He would live inside you and give you strength. Or do you think something else?” I finally asked. “Be forgiven,” AJ said immediately. “What about you?” I asked Charles. “Be forgiven,” he replied. So I said if they wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer they could pray and I talked them through it asking if this prayer was “the desire of their hearts”.  Yeah,” AJ said and Charles nodded. So I said they could pray it right now and they wanted to. AJ took the booklet and asked “Can we keep this?” I said they could and they then each prayed silently. I took AJ’s booklet back and wrote all the additional Bible verses in it. I explained the Christian life was living “By the Spirit’s Power”.  I only had one Bible Promise Book left, so I wrote their names and the date and “forgiven!” in The Case for Christ Answer Booklet inside each book. I wrote in AJ’s first and then Charles who was beside me handing it to him I said, “Your documents.” AJ wanted the promise book so I gave it to him and gave a prayer book to Charles telling him I was around a lot and he could get a promise book from me when he saw me. I gave them each Bible studies too and told them I would keep them in my prayers each day from now until Spring and one year after. They were both grateful and I headed out to get more books from the truck.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism last week if you had a chance. God truly blessed and 10 students prayed to trust Christ as Savior.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with goodness and grace. I had a good day on campus and Lauren and Camille Each prayed to receive Jesus today. Please pray they grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you are interested and have some time.

 Lauren was sitting on the ground floor of the west science building in the hallway. I had rested my pack on a bench and she passed me and sat down on the other end of it. She was wearing gray nylon sweats and a blue-gray t-shirt and clog slippers with faux fur on the edge against white ankle socks. She had long natural eyelashes and an oval face that was bright when she smiled. Her light brown hair was pulled behind her head in a bun. She possessed one of those princess-pretty faces you would hope to see on the babysitter. One of the words she used to describe herself for the student survey was “tidy”. She was a nice, caring person. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “That’s a good question,” she replied thinking. “I try to be the greatest person I can be and incorporate [that] into my community as well, help others when they need it.” I asked her what the likelihood was she would go to Heaven. She said 100% a bit hesitantly. She said something like didn’t want to sound arrogant. “But you have always thought you would go to Heaven,” I said. She agreed that was how she thought things would work out. I began to go through the Gospel with her asking what Jesus had done to take away her sins. She knew He was crucified. I explained then that His blood cleansed her and this was why God could forgive her because He got paid. At some point she said “Wow.” And I explained the righteousness of God that Christ earned like getting extra credit someone else had earned in a class. Isaiah 61:10 said one day she would be clothed with His salvation and that she was clothed with Jesus in Galatians 3:27. “That’s awesome,” she replied. I explained salvation by faith and then asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins. Christ would then live inside her with His holy Spirit. She said she had gone to “Church School” all her life. “They always told us to let God into us to live inside us.” She said in response. (This morning before school I listened to an interview with a couple guys from form day4 Astronomy while I was getting ready to head out.

The Mind-Blowing Purpose of Outer Space

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UCXl2rVQWY

One of them, James, mentioned that he had read Ray Comfort’s book, Hells Best Kept Secret. I had not read it so I bought it on eBay when I got home. He said Comfort had challenged him in reading that book. He realized had never actually asked God to forgive him for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done on the cross though he had gone to Church most of his adult life. So he prayed to receive Jesus and the Spirit had opened his eyes to Astronomy testifying to scripture after. So when Lauren said that I remembered his words.) And though I’d done this with students before I felt like God was tipping me off for today and I should help her think it through. I asked if she had ever asked God to forgive her for her sins based on what Jesus had done for her on the cross, this would cleanse her of her sins and then the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, would live inside her. “Not directly,” she said. So I said that if she wanted to ask there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through the prayer in the Booklet I’d gone through. I asked if she would want she could pray that silently and know she was forgiven. “Would you want to do that?” I asked. “Yes,” she said immediately. So I said she could pray it right now. “OK,” she replied and took the Booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained to her then living “By the Spirit’s power” asking for His help in everything. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and forgiven! in the front. She had not heard of Lee Strobel. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet showing her that it was some short 2-page explanations. I gave her a Bible Study and told her the story of how Jesus had walked on the water as a way to claim he was God as described in Job 9:8. She had not seemed to hear all of the gospel story before. I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after. I might not see her again but I would be praying. I got up to go and she said, “Thank you so so much for everything.” “You’re welcome,” I said “have a good day.” “You have a good day too,” she said enthusiastically and I thanked her and headed off.

Later in the day I came across Camille [cam eel] sitting along in a fist floor lounge in the BIC that has an atrium attached to it. She had a round full cute face and was a big person but not fat at all. She had really thick poof-ed brown wavy hair that was full from her head out and past her shoulders. She was not interested in a Bible Study and had done a survey already, she said she was just too busy to join a group. I said this survey was different and just asked the question, “Say you are walking down the road and get hit by a bus so you’re dead and you stand before God and He asks, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say? So do you have any interest in what the Bible says is the way you get into Heaven or not so much?” “OK,” she replied. Would you like to hear the Bible verses that explain it? “She said she would. She said she went to a Catholic Church. I went through the gospel with her. She had a hard time remembering at first what Jesus had done to take away her sins. I said, “He died for you.” “Oh yeah,” she said remembering. So I explained how Jesus’ blood had cleansed her and was really how God got paid for the imperfect things we had done to wreck God’s stuff, we owed Him something perfect for this in return. I said this was like the mass at church that the wine was symbolic of Jesus blood and the wafer of His body and it was reminding her she was forgiven because of Jesus. When she took it she could just say, “Thank you.” She smiled pleasantly all through. I explained the righteousness of God and salvation by faith. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done and she said again she did not have time for a Bible study but maybe in the summer she could come. I took note of the huge Anatomy text beside her on the table and said I could see she was going to be busy studying. I understood she would have no time for a group but what I was asking was would she want to be forgiven for her sins so God could live inside her or did she think something else. “Be forgiven,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it. It says, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” She said it did so I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” She nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her Strobel’s The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I said maybe she would have some time to look at it at Christmas break. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day through this next Spring and one year after asking God to bless her and if I saw her again I would just wave. “Thank you,” she said smiling and I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking by the Spirit. I had a good day on campus. I spoke with a lot of Christians and Brandon and Adrian each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray they grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you are interested.

Brandon was sitting in the PE lounge against the south wall. The guy he was with was sprawled out looking at his phone but he was sitting up straight looking around, smart guy. He was a good-looking black guy with a diamond shaped face and braids that were about 6 inches long coming down off the top of his head. He had a slight mustache and a chin beard. He wore a pullover hoodie with blue and orange printing on it (Chicago Bears colors) and athletic shorts. His legs looked strong but he looked slightly built. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I’d say… that I just never stopped believing in faith, no matter how bad gets you got to have faith. No matter how bad life gets it’s God’s plan.” he said. He thought he had a 70% chance of going to Heaven. He had gone to church when he was younger. I began to go through the Gospel with him and I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sin so God could live inside him. He could not think of anything so I went on to explain the blood and righteousness of Jesus to cleanse him and be a payment for our sin to God. He listened careful to all I said about the blood and righteousness of Christ. I explained that what God had done could be his by faith. Faith saved him and he could not fix his bad stuff with other good stuff. I showed him the two circles and asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done. Then he would live inside him and give him strength to live life. I explained then the circle on the left and said God would be on the outside of his life. Islam had a religion based on that. God’s Spirit did not live inside them he is not a father because he did not have a son and there is no sacrifice for sin, “So they have a different god,” I explained. Then I asked if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else. He pointed at the circle with Christ inside him. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I explained it. “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ so would you say it does?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied. So I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Um Hum,” he replied so I handed him the booklet and he prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him living by the Spirit’s power. He had a Bible so I gave him a Bible Study and Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I said that now trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. He asked when the Bible study was and I said in a week we’d start it in the cafeteria at 2 PM. I told him that I would pray a Bible Verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after. I got up to go having been sitting on the floor at his feet and said, “Thanks for your time.” “No problem. Thank you,” he said and I headed out.

Adrian was sitting in the cafeteria. He had bright-red hair and skin like mine, some scaring on his forehead and cheeks. He had on a white FILA t-shit and purple and black sweats that looked to be in some kind of tie dye pattern. He was born here but his parents were from the Czech Republic. He said things had changed in the perspective of people he knew who had come to the US. Whereas once the American dream seemed a possibility, costs had gone so high for even a subway sandwich, that some doubted prosperity would be attainable. I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died and he said, “Have a loving family.” So he fit into the experience I had of guys who said that on campus (they wanted a family) that they were either already Christians or would pray with me to receive Christ. I asked what he would say to God if he died and were asked why should I let you into Heaven. “Well I’m not perfect, no one is but every time I think about it it’s not necessary to think about it like that you just always should do your best.” He went on to say that that meant trying harder at whatever situation you found yourself in. He said his parents were Roman Catholic but he felt that just being Christian in whatever denomination was acceptable, it was about community and repentance. He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. “I don’t know, there’s only one person who knows, so 50/50.” he said smiling. He didn’t feel He was interesting to talk to and he was engaged with the Gospel as I made each point and asked, “What version of the Bible would you say I should read?” I said I had a New King James version with me he could have, which was an early translation into English that used some Latin texts that later were replaced with Greek. It was updated a bit.  The New American Standard was good too. I said I could give him one and he said that would be great. I said I had memorized verses out of both.  He knew Jesus had died for our sins. When I had explained the righteousness of God and salvation by faith I asked if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else he said something like, “I’d be forgiven of course.” So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I asked if it was the desire of his heart. He said it was so I said he could pray it now silently. “Can I take a picture of this?” I said, “Sure but you could pray it now.” “I will,” he replied, “but I want to pray it again later.” He took a picture and prayed to receive Jesus. Later when I gave him the booklet he said smiling, “So I did not need to take a picture.” I agreed with a smile, he didn’t. I told him now the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus. I gave him a Bible writing his name and the date and forgiven!” in the front. I explained the Christian life to him living by the Spirit’s power. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and Bible Promises for You. Opening the promise book I just happened to turn to the page with promises on finances and he had said he wanted to be an accountant, we’d talked about that and Ellen’s professional life (when she wasn’t doing all the stuff for the administrative part of the ministry for free). He was a sharp thoughtful guy and I was glad he’d joined the Kingdom. He was grateful for all the free stuff; I also gave him a Creation magazine. I said people donated to the ministry to pay for the books and Bible so no worries. He had to head to class so I said I would pray for him a Bible verse each day from now through Spring and one year after. “I’ll pray for you too,” he said and I thanked him and he was off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and evangelism today if you had a chance God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope ya had a good day walking in the Kingdom God granted to you. I had a good day on campus encouraging some Christians in their faith (Klaudia and Alicia) and Sergio and Jaydi each prayed to receive Jesus, after I offered them the Gospel. Please pray they grow in faith.

Sergio was sitting at the end of the second floor SRC building hallway on the second floor just past the glass doors (fire-doors?). It’s sort of a hallway on the west end of the student services building right there, there’s some chairs. He had like of a honey bear looking face, wore black framed glasses, Latino, 5×5 in build wearing solid blue shorts and a t-shirt. He had a mop of brown hair and a nearly transparent mustache. He was an athlete, probably a defensive back. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I’m not [going to Heaven], I don’t deserve to go.” I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven and he said, “Zero.” He said he grew up in the Catholic Church. He listened closely to the Gospel and when I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins he knew Jesus had died. I explained the blood righteousness of Christ to him saying the being cleansed by the blood of Christ would allow God to come into him. I explained salvation by faith and how his good stuff could not fix his bad stuff, and he agreed. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus so God could live inside him or thought something else. “I would want to be forgiven,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through the prayer and said, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ would you say it does?” “Yeah,” he said. I said he could pray it silently and be forgiven saying, “Wanna do that?” He nodded and then he took the booklet and looked at it and set it down open and talked about his life, “When I would go to do something stupid there would always be something in me that would stop me.” I said that was the Holy Spirit on the outside trying to direct him.  “When you walked up it was quiet and then when you began to talk there was all this noise and people walking by.” He was right too there was suddenly after we’d been alone for a moment a lot of traffic. He felt like they were looking at him in a questioning way. There was even a guy who went by in a walker whose movements were very erratic and chaotic. He seemed to feel like they were almost sent to distract him. I said that I’d seen that. I redirected him to the prayer asking if he still wanted to pray and he said he did and prayed to receive Christ. He finished and I talked to him about how life sucked sometimes. He agreed. I said that God allowed that so that He could find people who would be strong by trusting in Him. They would be filled with the Spirit and become one with God and they could be part of the resistance against everything going to Hell. I said that by God’s Spirit making him stronger he would become like a rock that the wave breaks against helping to hold things together. Because he would be one with the Rock that is Christ. He nodded and seemed to resonate with the picture. He did not have a Bible so I gave him one and I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. If anyone ever said he was not God’s he could get the Bible and read in the front and remember he was. I said Ephesians 1:13 said as soon as he believed the Holy Spirit comes into him and this would seal him and God’s Spirit would not leave him. I gave him Bible Promises for You. He did not like to read so I gave him a Bible Study on places Jesus clams to be God explaining it. I said I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. “I may not be able to remember your face that well by this time next year but I will still be praying,” I said. He reached out and shook my hand, he was strong and had a solid grip and said, “Good to see you man,” he said looking me in the eye. “Good to see you,” I said and I headed out.

I also went through the Gospel with a pretty, light brown-haired girl Klaudia. Her hair was stick straight and pulled back the front edges lightened. She was sitting in the PE building in black running shorts and a half top with spaghetti string shoulders. She had no make-up on and had a tiny cross around her neck. To answer the question she said, “I would say I’m also a believer of God, I tried to spread the Gospel and just be a good follower.” When I had finished going through the Gospel with her I asked her if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or if she thought she had already done that. She felt like she had trusted in Christ already growing up in the Church. She hadn’t easily been able to express saving faith though she knew Jesus had died for her. So I said that growing up in the Church you believe everything but have not always had that one moment you can point to if your Church tradition was not telling you to have a time you just decided. So like a chain snapped or a shot from a gun, because you had not lived some kind of dramatically sinful life you had to turn from. She nodded that was true. But that this was a way she could not share her faith giving her the booklet. She was grateful to have the content I’d given her in it and added to it. I gave her Bible Promises for You and a Bible Study. “Thank you so much for everything! This was very impactful!” She said as I got up to go. “You’re welcome,” I replied and headed off.

I had a good talk with Alicia a black woman (heavy set with straight black hair and kind of traditional African America features) who seemed to be in her late 20’s in the science building hall. She really appreciated the Gospel clearly explained. I said maybe she could ask the question if you died and God asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven? what would you say?” to a niece or a nephew to help them understand. “I have a daughter,” she replied. I’m going to go through this with her.

Jaydi (jay dee) was in a lounge in the Science building at a table. She had one of those pretty sweet faces you’d expect in a painting of Mary the Mother of Jesus. She had Latina coloring and long brown straight hair to her elbows. She had perfectly lined eyebrows with flat edges above her nose like some girls have to draw on. She was a student athlete and had on a dark grey sweatshirt. She said she went to a Catholic Church. I asked her what she would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Hmm, I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve done anything that’s worth punishment,” she said. She thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. As I went through the Gospel with her I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins and she said, “The blood?” I said that yes He had died for her shedding his blood. I explained that the Bible said in 1John 1:7 the blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sins.

I explained the righteousness of God that was hers when He adopted her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus has done or did she think she had done that asking God to forgive her trusting in Jesus? She said something like, “I don’t think I have ever done that.” So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I explained it to her and said, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ Would you say that it does? “Yeah she replied. So I said she could pray it quietly and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear her and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked. “Yeah,” she replied and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living “By the Spirit’s Power” asking for God help in everything. “Then because you have asked Him for strength in small things when something big happens you will have become used to trusting in Him and you will ask for His help.” She nodded. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Thank you,” she said taking the book. I also gave her  The Case for Christ Answer Booklet explaining a bit of Strobel’s story and a Bible Study on some ways Jesus claimed to be God. When you go to Church and take the mass you can remember the wine is symbolic of Jesus Blood and the wafer is symbolic of His Body broken for you, so when you take it you can just say “Thank you” knowing you are forgiven. I told her I would pray a Bible Verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after and if I saw her I would just give her a wave.  Thank you, it was so nice to meet you,” she said as I got up to go. “It was nice to meet you too. I’ll keep you in my prayers,” I replied. “Thank you,” she said again and I said, “Ok,” and headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed and you were given the power to do all the things the faith God has placed in you prompted. I had a good day on campus Thursday and 3 students prayed to receive Jesus; Lilly, Erick and Matt.  Their stories are below if you have the time. Please pray they grow in their faith. Another girl Anna was close who was dressed all in black with platform boots sporting big silver buckles, she looked like the girl in the musical grease, almond eyes, light brown hair shag haircut. She had not thought about asking God to forgive her based on what Jesus had done and went to a church that taught what she interpreted as universal salvation.

 Lilly was sitting on the edge of the foyer at the doors that overlook the bookstore up on the second floor. I had taken the elevator up to spare my leg and planned to talk to a guy I’d seen over there but she sat down right as I got to that spot so I asked her instead. She was a pretty girl with a slight gap tooth smile, light brown hair past her shoulders. She wore yoga pants and a black t-shirt. Her short pretty face looked tan. She smiled a closed lipped smile periodically as I explained the Gospel to her. Nice kid she said she’d had religious education through the 8^th grade. When I asked her what she would say to God if she died to get into Heaven she said, “I always tend to put others before myself.” She thought she had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven.  She listened closely and knew Jesus had died to take away her sins. I explained how she was cleansed by the blood of Christ. His blood was also a payment to God and His righteousness could be hers by faith. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else explaining the other ideas and returning to Jesus on the throne and she quickly then said, “Yes.” I said there was a prayer she could pray if she wanted to be forgiven and talked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she said. I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven and she replied with “Ahh, yeah.” She took the booklet and I said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” She nodded and prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her a Bible Promise book and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Thank you,” she said as I handed it to her. I gave her a Bible study and explained it and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day through next spring and one year after. “Thank you,” she said again sweetly and I said If I saw her around I would just wave and she smiled and I headed off.

Erick was sitting on a bench on the west side of the lounge connecting the science buildings. He was a tall guy with curly light brown hair and angular features, square jaw. He said his family was from Poland but he had never been there and he’d like to go. I said I had a friend who married a polish girl and he’d just seen it for the first time. He went to a catholic church near him, he could not think of the name. “Our Lady of Mercy” popped in my head so I asked if that was it and he said, “Yeah that’s it!” I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked why should I let you into Heaven. “That’s a good question actually,” he said thinking. “I guess ‘cause I did my best.” He thought he had a 40% chance of going to Heaven. He knew Jesus had been crucified to take away the sins of the world. I went on to explain the Gospel, that he was cleansed by the blood of Jesus who paid his way to God. I explained the righteousness of God and believing by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. “Yeah, be forgiven,” he said. So I once again said there was a prayer he could pray if he wanted to be forgiven and talked him through it. I said he could pray it silently. “Yeah, I’ll do it,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him reading the Bible. He did not have one so I gave him one and showed him all the study aids in it. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I explained living by the Spirit’s power to ask for His help in everything. I gave him a Bible Promise book and Strobel’s Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I gave him a Bible Study on the deity of Christ too and said I would pray for him until a year from Spring. I showed him the question again, what is the likelihood you will go to Heaven. Saying, “This is 100%, if you trust in the righteousness of Christ to be your righteousness.” I explained the righteousness of Christ and His blood was worth an infinite amount. There was enough for us both. He was grateful and I headed out.

In the face, Matt looked a bit like Archie from the comic books. His hair was reddish brown and he had freckles. He had a slight build and a silver cross around his neck. He wore a blue t-shirt and maroon shorts. He was a real nice guy and went to an evangelical multi-site church that has a campus in Wheaton. He said he wanted to travel. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and God asked why should I let you in. “I don’t think I would say I deserve to go to Heaven,” he began. “I heard before that it’s only by the blood of Jesus I would be let in nothing that I do. That would be my answer.” He thought he had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. I explained the Gospel in the usual way, and then also the righteousness of Christ and he said, “That’s awesome.” In the end I said that he would receive all God had done by faith. So I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. He wanted to be forgiven so I asked if he had ever had a chance to tell God he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. “I haven’t done anything like that but I would want to,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I explained it to him and asked if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied I said he could pray it silently and I would not hear him but Jesus would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. I asked, “Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” came his response, so I handed him the booklet and he prayed to receive Christ. I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and forgiven on the front saying everything the author was saying he needed to do he should “just ask” for God’s strength to do it. I turned to the 13^th one that said, “God can’t withhold his guidance when you trust Him” I said. “You might respond, ‘great but I’m having a hard time trusting in God’. So if that is true just ask for more trust. You just step it back to the point you are willing. Say you were trying to stop smoking but you loved cigarettes. So you knew God would help you stop but you did not want to give them up. So you could pray, ‘Lord make me the kind of person who would be willing to pray that I would have the strength to stop smoking.’” He nodded with a smirk, obviously not a smoker. He liked the book and took it with a, “Thank you.”  I gave him a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him Strobel had other stuff he could find on line. I said I would pray a Bible verse for him each day until Spring of next year. “Thank you Bob, I really appreciate it,” he said shaking my hand. So I said that was cool and headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism last week. 10 students prayed with me to receive Jesus. And 3 others (Issac, Jake, and Anna) were close.

David, Jonah, Skylar, Rosslyn, Phil, John, Erick, Lilly, Erick, Matt

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with God’s peace today as you walked with Him. I had a good day on campus. 3 guys Phil, John and Erick each prayed to receive Jesus. I’d be grateful if you had a moment that you would ask they be blessed in their life in the Lord. Their stories are below if you have a chance. Sheily (shah lee) was close and thought she might pray later. She was a short Latina looking girl with jeans on and a white Gibson guitar t-shirt. She had a cute sort of round-cheeked face and long thin brown hair. She went to Church several times a week but had not seemed to know that Jesus died to pay for her sins.

Phil was sitting at the counter in the cafeteria looking outside. He had bright blue eyes but his hair was light brown and he wore a black t-shirt and black nylon shorts with some kind of print at the hips. He said he was Presbyterian. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. He said something about your opinion of yourself might not be very accurate. He thought for a while more and said, “I guess ’cause I care for everyone, not just humans, not just family, but everyone, even people I don’t agree with.” I said a lot of people would not say that, things are pretty messed up. He thought he had a 90% chance of going to Heaven. He smiled at some of the things I said, “God wants to live inside you but he can’t because of sin, you know the stuff that ticks off your mom.” And he smirked a smile in other places too. He knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world but he had not been trusting in that to be forgiven. So I explained it was Christ’s righteousness not our goodness that saved us. His blood cleansed us and it’s how God got paid. That way of putting it got another smile.  I said that your good things would not fix your bad things saying, “Say you had a girl friend for about 3 weeks. You thought she was pretty cool but then it turned out she was cheating on you and stealing your stuff. So you cut her loose. She comes around in about a week and says, ‘I know I did you wrong, I was even stealing your stuff and selling it for drugs but I just want you to know I’m gonna be nice to my next 3 boyfriend.’ You’d be like, ‘Yeah that’s not gonna help me at all.’ Because the good stuff you do over there can’t fix the bad things you did here.” He got that so I said all that God had done for him he could have by faith and finally asked him if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for him to be saved or if he thought something else. He said he’d want to be forgiven. I said if he would like to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it saying, “It says here does this prayer express the desire of you heart, so do you think it does. “Yeah,” he said. I said if he wanted to he could pray it silently, I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Sure,” he replied. “Ok, just pretend I’m not here. “Ok,” he said and prayed to receive Christ. I wrote something down and when I looked up he had finished. I told him he could keep the booklet and that now if he trusted in the Righteousness of Christ to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I explained that the Christian life was “By the Spirit’s Power” and gave him a Bible Study and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front of Bible Promises for You. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told him I would pray a Bible verse for him through next spring and one year after. “Thank you,” he replied. And I headed out.

John was sitting in the MAC arts building lounge on the edge of display pictures of giant heads of Olmec from Mesoamerica. Why they are on display in wall size posters in the MAC art building was not worth my time to discover. John looked a bit like the actor Bradley Cooper when he was in the show “Alias”. He had a mop of curly blondish brown hair, very short beard and white blonde mustache. He had the most wrinkled tan t-shirt I remember seeing at school. He was upbeat and when I asked him if he’d do a survey he said, “I can do that,” in a tone suggesting he was willing to do me a favor. He said he was religious though he had not been to church in a while and thought he’d like to have a religious experience. By way of an example I mentioned I had recently heard again that people who have an experience where they believe themselves to be abducted by aliens (from space), have claimed the name of Christ and the abduction stops. I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I think I would say… you know… I have good intentions in my heart.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. I went through the Gospel and he knew Jesus had died. I felt like he had limited time so I was sticking to the things I always say about the blood and righteousness of Christ and he believed. I asked if he would want to trust in what Jesus has done and be forgiven for his sins where Christ would live inside him and he said, “I would hope so.” So I said there was a prayer he could pray and after talking him through it I asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “I would say so,“ he replied. I said if he wanted he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear but God would and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. He nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I told him then that the likelihood he would not go to Heaven trusting in the righteousness of Christ and his blood was 100%. I explained the Christian life was living by the Spirit’s power. I also gave him a Bible Study and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front of Bible Promises for You. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told him I would pray a Bible verse for him through next spring and one year after. “Thank you,” he replied. “Have a good semester, :I said getting up to go. “You too, thank you,” he said and I was off.

I looked around a bit more and had been there for several hours. I had to sit a bit so my leg would stop aching (sciatica) and had a little time before an appointment I set up for treatments on it. I headed down the 2^nd floor south patio of the BIC from the PE building. Seeing a brown head of hair at the west end I thought I would ask him and then head to the truck. Erick was sitting there at a rubber coated wire mesh picnic table with attached benches. He had a dark mustache that stopped at a gap under his nose (like Charles Bronson) and a slight chin beard, looked Latino. He had skin like mine in college and wore a grey t-shirt with gothic lettering and blue jeans. He seemed very reserved. I asked if he wanted to do a student survey. “Is this for CRU?” he asked. They had a table all week set up at the doors getting names with info surveys. “It’s a little different it’s really the answer to the question, ‘You’re walking down the road, and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He asks, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” He started to say, “I don’t…” and hesitated. “Do bad things?” I tried. It’s really asking what gets you into Heaven. “Just being a good person,” he replied. Well would you like to hear some Bible verses that give the answer. “Yeah,” he replied and making sure he was not interested in a survey I began to go through the Gospel. He tuned right in listening carefully without much expression or response. I was pretty tired so I just prayed God would work and went on explaining the sacrifice of Jesus, the blood to cleanse him and the righteousness of God to his credit received by faith. He knew Jesus had died for the sins of the world. He took it all in saying “OK,” here and there. I then asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done showing him the two circles.  I explained that Islam had a god who was on the outside of your life, “He does not come inside people, he’s not a father as he didn’t have a son and there’s no sacrifice for sin, so they have a different god.” I’m definitely on this side,” he said pointing to the circle with Christ in you on the throne of your life. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and read it through with explanation and asked, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ would you say it does?” “UmHum” he replied. So I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said. And he prayed then to receive Christ. I said I had some stuff to give him and asked if he had a Bible, he didn’t so I gave him one showing him some of the study helps and writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I gave Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I would pray a Bible verse for him “through next spring and one year after,” I said. I showed him the survey and told him that had he done the survey one question was “How likely is it you’ll go to Heaven?”. So now the answer for him was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. “I’m old so I have sinned way more than you as each year it adds up, God forgives me but all told you’ve sinned less than me but if we both died today we’d both go to Heaven. His blood is worth an infinite amount and his righteousness is worth an infinite amount so there is enough for us both. And since I’m old I’d die and be there first so you can look me up and I’d show you where all the cool places are.” He smiled at that and said he’d look for me and I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with life and peace. I had a good day on campus talking to students and Rosslyn prayed to receive Christ after I explained the Gospel to her. Two guys were close. Jake, a Latino looking guy with a round face and a thin mustache and slight goatee, his hair pulled back and tied behind his head. He had a full sleeve of ink on his left arm and some random tattoos on the right. We talked out on the south patio of the BIC building and he wanted to talk to his friend who was devoted to God about it. Issac was a good-looking black guy his afro topped in points. He was sitting in the cafeteria in a brown hoodie and wanted to check out a Bible study, he was right on the brink so I hope he’ll contact me.

Rosslyn was sitting in the ground floor hallway that runs down along the bookstore. She had a narrow pretty face with long dark stick straight hair almost to her elbows. She had full lips and had put inverted comma points on the end of her eyes that make your eyes look more almond shaped, I guess. She had on a cream-colored sweatshirt and a pale blue jean skirt. She seemed like a kind person. She said she had grown up in an evangelical church but was thinking about finding a Catholic church. (Another Catholic guy, Diego, told me today he would say to God, “I don’t deserve to be here but it’s because of your sacrifice that I’m here.” The official positions of denominations notwithstanding students often simply believe.) I asked Rosslyn what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I feel like I can’t answer that, I feel like he sees what I’m doing,” she replied. I then asked what she thought it was that got you into Heaven. Her response was, “The way you live, your life, being kind to others, not being selfish.” I began to explain the Gospel to her and when I told her that God had to take away our sin so He could live inside us I then asked what Jesus had done to take away our sins. “He died,” she replied. I said that was right and went on to explain the blood of Jesus to cleanse her and be a payment for all we owed God. I explained the righteousness of Christ as the gift. “So you don’t go to Heaven because you do good things but because Jesus is good and you are connected to Him.” I explained everything God provided for her, His sacrifice, blood and righteousness were hers by faith. When I finished explaining the Gospel I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done on the cross and not good things she had done, then He would live inside her and give her strength. “I agree with that, yeah,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I read it through with her. “It says here does this prayer express the desire of your heart? So if you wanted to you could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do it?”  “Yeah,” she replied. She took the booklet and then said, “I have to read it,” and then she read it silently to receive Jesus. “Thank you so much,” she said then. I explained living the Christian life by the Spirit’s power. I gave her a copy of Bible Promises for You and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her a Bible study and Strobel’s Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after. I said that the likelihood she would go to Heaven if she is trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be her righteousness was 100%. “Thank you so much I really appreciate it,” she replied. “God bless you. I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said getting up to go. “God bless you too have a good day,” she said and I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a good day walking with Jesus. I had a good day on campus and 3 students prayed with me to receive Jesus; David, Jonah and Skylar.  Please pray for them to grow in faith and the Knowledge of God. Their stories are below if you want to spend the time. Thanks for your help in prayer.

David was sitting in the hallway alongside the bookstore. He was dressed all in black and had a silver cross around his neck. He sported a thin mustache, a bit of a goatee and a mop of dark hair in curly waves. He said he was a mix of Latino and French Canadian and felt he had the skin of the Canadian side and the hair of the Latino side. He was shorter than me by a few clicks. I asked him what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “You shouldn’t,“ he replied. “I’d probably ask Him for forgiveness. When I was alive I loved Him with my lips but not my heart.” He paused and continued. “As I go older I did not disbelieve but I mocked Him. I have a brother who is religious, whose best friend was stabbed to death going to Cornerstone,” I think he meant the Christian Music festival. He did not seem to have witnessed it but he was with his brother that day afterwards and said they were both crying in the car. He asked his brother why God would allow something like that and his brother just said that he did not know and could not always understand God’s ways. “I told him I would not believe in a God like that,” he then said.  I said “Not to make light of this, but your brother’s friend is better off. He’s in Heaven.” He seemed to agree. I said he got to go home early. David thought the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 10%. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died to take away our sins. I went on to explain the righteousness of God Christ earned that could be to his credit and that if he believed he would have the rights of a child of God. I explained he was saved by faith and I asked if he would want to be forgiven, trusting in Jesus. I said if he believed, there was a prayer he could pray that he would know he was forgiven. I read through it and he said, “Yes sir.” I said if he wanted to pray it right now he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d be forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. That took him aback a second but he then said, “OK” and prayed then to receive Jesus. When he finished, he looked up and I reached out and shook his hand and said, “Your sins are forgiven.” I explained the Christian life to him; living “By the Spirit’s Power.” He had a Bible already so I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and I gave him a Bible study on the Deity of Christ and The Cases for Christ Answer Booklet. I gave him my card and said we’d be starting a Bible study and to text me if he wanted to come. He was grateful. I told him I would be praying for him until a year from Spring.

Jonah was wearing brown cargo shorts and a black shirt and also had a silver cross around his neck. Wore black shoes, thin mustache and goatee also, good looking guy with a dark mop of hair. Looked about my height. He was sitting just outside the cafeteria on a ring of couches there, just in earshot of the interns at a table for Cru, next to the one for Intervarsity. He said he’d do a survey. I asked him what he would say to God as to why he should get into Heaven. “Hmm… ‘Cause I tried” he replied. I said a lot of people could not say that much. I asked what he thought the likelihood was he was going to Heaven and he said, “At the moment I have no idea. I’ve been working the last couple months repairing my relationship with Him. I don’t know.” I began to go through the Gospel with him. I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins. He thought for a moment and said, “Crucified,” touching both his hands to his shoulders like a ref signally “Illegal Touch” in a football game, except his elbows were in more. He said some word of assent to several of the points as I went through the Gospel with him. When I finished I asked if he would want Christ to live inside him, having forgiven his sins. He said he would, so I asked if he had ever told God he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus. He said he hadn’t but he had felt it. So I said if he would want to be forgiven, telling God that, there was a prayer he could pray.  I talked him through it asking if it expressed the desire of his heart. “It does,” he replied. I said then he could pray it quietly. “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do it?” Yeah,” he replied and he prayed then to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him living by the Spirit’s power. I also gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. He was happy and I told him to contact me with my email if there was anything he needed.

I first bumped into Skylar walking through the doors at the far end of the BIC on the north side second floor. She was opening a door for her and her girlfriend. I thought it was for me and slipped in, “Oh OK,” she said with a grin so I opened the next door for them both saying, “Beauty before age,” and they laughed and went in. Skylar was wearing camo-print high-waist pants, tight at the ankles and white shoes. She had tan and black long braids coming down from under a black watch cap, an over shirt with a black shrink top beneath with skeleton hands on it. She was a little bit plump, cute round face with classic African American lips and nose. I passed her a bit later sitting (waiting for her friend it seemed) by the account windows on a couch. I asked her if she’d want do a student survey for a Bible Study group on campus and she agreed. I asked her what she would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Oo… Oh, hmm…  that’s hard,” she said thinking.  “Well maybe because even after everything good and bad I tried my best. Even if I don’t get in I tried my absolute best.” She thought she had a 50/50 chance of getting into Heaven. As I went through the Gospel she was not sure what God had done to forgive her sins. But when I explained that her sin had to be cleansed so He could live inside her she said, “Wow.” I continued and she put in, “So that’s why He wants to forgive you?” I agreed it was. We owe God to return what we use in the world back to him perfect—how we got it. I explained then that God became a perfect man and poured out His blood to pay God back for all the imperfect things we had done that we owed God something perfect for. “The real reason God forgives you is He got paid. But He had to pay Himself,” I said and she smiled an amused smile at the way I put it. I explained the rest of the Gospel and asked her if she would want to be forgiven, trusting in what Jesus had done. Or was God on the outside of her life (showing her the circle with God on the outside of her life and self on the throne there). “I feel like I am this,” she said pointing to the circle with God on the outside of her life. “But I want to be this,” she said pointing to the circle with Jesus on the throne of her life inside her. So I said if she would want to be forgiven with God inside, there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it, asking if it was the desire of her heart. She nodded it was. So I said she could pray it silently. I would not hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” She said she did and asked, “Can I say it in my head?” “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said affirmingly. And she prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished, I said she was forgiven and said the likelihood now she would go to Heaven was 100%. I began to explain the Christian life to her “By the Spirit’s Power.” She and the girl I had opened the door for had just found a church they were checking out. She did not have a Bible, so I gave her one and showed her all the study helps. She loved it and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her a promise book also, Strobel’s book and a Bible Study. We talked some more about life and stuff and I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly worked by them.

In Him,

Bob

Third Watch Ministries, NFP                                                         Bob & Ellen Bollow

P. O. Box 1283                                                                                         May 21, 2024

Wheaton, IL 60187  

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”  1 Corinthians 3:6

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your summer has been blessed so far with good things from above. We had a good year on campus. Both semesters we had bible studies with different students and Ellen got to participate a bit. Everyone who came was a guy, so it mattered less that our most essential volunteer missed some studies. Ellen does all the behind-the-scenes things we have to do to be a NFP in the state of IL. Without her I might still have a ministry—you know out of a trailer park in Florida walking the beaches. I could possibly hope to be kind of a sunburned John the Baptist. The locust diet seems unappealing however, so I’m grateful. We had 145 students pray to receive Christ after hearing the Gospel from me on campus this year. Many more are a question mark for me, though I tell them the Gospel. They often seem to agree with it but are unresponsive in the moment. I had about 20 conversations like that this year. So to end the year, here’s a conversation with John that I had recently through social media. It encouraged me that God was at work in people I prayed for but did not know much more of, in terms of their life in Christ. I have known John over 10 years through his attendance at the college, but had not seen him in a few years.

John:  Dear Bob, I don’t want to force myself into making this a long-winded thing, but I recently saw a bunch of testimonials about people who had communication with God and give themselves to Christ. Many had near death experiences and saw some of the afterlife. Some visit heaven, some visit hell, some see demons, etc. This prompted me to make a ton of changes over the last month or so. I’m more aware now than I ever have been that it’s my duty to establish a fellowship with Christ. I just wanted to mention that some of the conversations we had a few years back at COD had stuck with me throughout the years. I don’t know how big or small it was to you, but your friendship always had a gentle impact on my life that I believe is at least partially responsible in orienting me towards this. You are a true friend and your kindness was a huge gift. God bless you and El.

Bob:  Thanks a lot John. I prayed for you for several years when I was seeing you regularly off and on and asked God to bless you and lead you to Himself. I’m so glad our conversations and friendship was a good thing. I’m grateful you’re getting closer to the Lord. I believe the Bible teaches if you believe Jesus is God, died for your sins and rose from the dead, you are a child of the God. Then trusting in Jesus’ work, to earn God’s righteousness for you, and His blood to cleanse you; this means God enters you and seals you with His Holy Spirit [Ephesians 1:13]. You are saved by faith and this is God’s gift. [Ephesians 2:8&9]. So you do have an obligation to draw near to God because you owe Him for creating you. He’ll save you if you tell Him you trust in Jesus and His work on the Cross by faith. And forgive all your sins. But also He will give you all the strength you need to live to please Him by the Spirit that dwells in you. Thanks so much for touching base. I’ll be praying you continue to “bear fruit.” God bless you man. I am at [gave him my cell] if you ever need pray for anything or conversation. Peace be upon you Brother.

John:  Thanks again for the kind words. I’m working on changing how I pray to better communicate with God and get some things off my chest. In the past I feel like I mostly just prayed for protection (good health, happy family, healthy dogs, etc). I’m sure God hears me well enough, but I’m trying to reflect more on the how I can better serve God. It’s been an experience trying to restructure my thinking in that way. I’m trying to reflect on my sin to experience the significance of the sacrifice. I don’t want my prayers to sound like a list of requests anymore and I think that starts by working harder to reflect on things in the bigger picture. It’s been a journey but I’m reading my Bible and doing my best to understand how my life works into everything. Like I said, I’m thankful that you were there as a friend to help “water the seed” in the way that you did. I don’t know where I would be now if you hadn’t said something like: the only thing that gives me a shot at getting into heaven is Jesus’ sacrifice. If I hadn’t heard that I would have probably continued to think that my “good deeds” would have outweighed my laundry list of sins. At the very least, I’m happy to have eventually caught on and corrected that thinking. I don’t want to warp Gods gift into something that fits into my life. Anyway, I hope things are going well. I don’t know how often you hear this kind of thing from friends, but I appreciate everything. I’ll give you a call if I need it, and if not- I might just give you a call to catch up sometime. Thanks again Bob.

Bob:  Yeah call anytime. I still walk around school and talk to students about Jesus. Many trust in Jesus right as I am talking to them and I will pray for them for at least a year. I hear something once in a great while from someone I talked to at school a bit after but running into people is pretty random. I think God has to work in people or there would be no understanding. I truly appreciate your kindness to let me know that God used what I said. It’s a blessing to me. You’re welcome..

Here are the names of the students who are new believers during the 2023-24 school year. Please pray for God to bring growth in their lives. (*means they said they would pray later)

Alijah, Jordan, Ken, Kolton, Will, Alex, Kiya, Marshall, Ashlyn, Tony, Mitch, Toni, Maia, Nick, Gabby, Brandon, Jameson, Christ, Kate, Trevont, Ian, Kyra, Davon, Vincent, Ian, Andy, Ray, Shauna, Oscar, Chris, Ella, Ryssa, Tim, Kayla, Kendall, Janayah, Juan, Mia, Abrianna, Ayleen, Daniel, Braedon, Tessa, I’sis*, Marnita, Sno, Matt, Kathline, Brenda*, Brandon, Rebeca, Bao, Diego, James, Neeha, Justin, KB, Mariah, Ben, Simona, Joseph, Darion, Michael, Jimmy, Leo, Clare*, Cristina, Maritza, Pablo, Gabriel, Alissa, Christopher, Kadin, Emerson, Lexi, Caliah, Yami, Kailey, Alex, Jonathon, DiLo, Joseph, Rosa, Fernanda, Oliver, Joe, Atiba, Christian, Zach, Isaiah, Thania, Israel, Mariana, LeDonte, Lucas, Rulan, Pearla, Griffin, Irlanda, Jarely, C.J., Gabe* Alex, Gia, Cristina, Janiyah, Myles, Fabian*, Simone, Calvin, Tilicia, Gabi, Zach, Sebastian, Lilly, Nicole, Matias, Quelle, Gabe, D’Riyah, Jomaine, Jack, V, Jacob, Anthony, Floyd, Jack, Quin, Jake, Samantha, Carlos, Anna, Olivia, Peter, Liam, Eva, Abby, Jason, Maggie, Angel, Mallory, Nick, Patrick, Sara, Haetham, Chris, Jalen, Jay, Derrick, Steph

We are grateful for another school year where God blessed the work, and your prayers & support provided the opportunity.

In Him,

Bob & Ellen

bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net

www.thethirdwatch.org

I had a good day on campus and Stephanie prayed to receive Jesus.  Daria was a Russian Ukrainian who was only here for a couple years. A pretty girl with rounded features and long brown hair. She thought of herself as a Christian. I asked her if when she prayed for forgiveness if she thought she would be forgiven because Jesus died for her or just because God was merciful. She said she’d never really thought about it. So I hope she will pray later. Please pray these students are drawn closer to God by faith. Stephanie’s story is below if you have time. Thank you for your prayers.

I had talked to Stephanie earlier in the semester on February 29^th. She’s a cute round-headed little Latina girl with long naturally curly hair. She had hoped she would be good enough to go to Heaven when we first talked. Then, in February, she said she would pray later.  I had bumped into her one other time and she had said planned to pray. Today I asked if she had and she seemed to have forgotten, and she had not finished reading through the booklet. So I explained trusting in Christ again and I showed her the prayer asking if it seemed to be the desire of her hear. She said it was, we were in the cafeteria. So I said, “Well I could leave you alone and you could pray the prayer privately and I could come back and ask you how it went?” She was grateful and said she would so I left her. Another guy Michael, who had trusted Christ this year, talked to me a bit at the far end of the cafeteria and when I returned she had prayed. So I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name (she said to write Steph) and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Oh thank you,” she said as I gave the book to her. I said I would pray for her each day a Bible verse and ask God to bless her. She thanked me again and I said, “God bless you.” “God bless you too,” she replied. And I headed off.

I found some other students I had spoken with who were glad to see me. Max from Last school year was doing well though he had had sudden pneumonia a while back that had put him in the hospital for a week. He said he was fine now. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You as last year I when I had talked to him I had not given him a book. He was grateful too. There were no many at school today. Tomorrow is the last day of classes so I’ll try casting the net out again then.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob