Hey Brothers and Sisters,

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry or for evangelism today if you had a chance. Two people, Thalia and Roy, prayed to receive Christ today. Thalia was sitting by the revolving doors near the bookstore. (I had just walked Ellen to the door after Bible study to head to the office and walked right by her and turned to talk to her.) She has naturally curly brown hair, pretty. Her mom was a pastor at some kind of Church and she went to another once in a while.  But like many college kids, she had work conflicts and time crunches. She did not get there much. She did some online studies with YouVersion.  At first I thought she had received Christ as she said she would say, in part, to God if she died, “You’ve forgiven all my sins”. But she did not really know how God too away her sins and though she seemed familiar with the gospel story she had not really trusted in it. She had a hard time with some issues. One was people going to hell who followed a different religion and the other was the idea of Satan and his influence on us. I began to explain how the Bible says our influences are God, the world, the flesh and the devil and that the satanic world used the world around us to distraction and our own sinful nature and God even used Satan. Somewhere in the midst of just saying some stuff that the Bible said, she said all of a sudden, “Something just kicked there” and the Holy Spirit had worked in her heart.  I talked to her about receiving Christ and pointed out from some of the stuff she had said she really hadn’t really been trusting in what Christ had done and she finished the sentence, “received Him yet”. I agreed and I walked her through the prayer and she prayed with me. I spoke with her more, explaining the Holy Spirit.  She was really open to the things of God and I gave her The Case for Faith and a Bible study and got her e-mail to send her some stuff.

Roy was a bit older guy, 30 maybe.  He was sitting at a table in the Lounge where we have Bible study, texting. When I asked him something he wanted to do before he died he said, “Get my soul right.” Turned out he did.  He did not think he would go to heaven when he died, that he “didn’t have enough straightened out.”  I went through the Gospel, as he had not know how God took away his sin or understood about receiving Christ.  When I asked him if he had ever asked God to forgive his sins based on what Jesus had done, he said he hadn’t, but wanted to be forgiven.  I walked him through the prayer and he prayed with me to receive Jesus.  I explained the role of the Holy Spirit and gave him a book to read.  His wife walked up, Sherice, and I asked the nature of their relationship and then gave her a booklet and having given him More than a Carpenter I gave her the student edition of The Case for Christ to read.  I had gotten his e-mail to send him stuff too.

So please pray for growth for Thalia and Roy and for his wife Sharice, that she might receive Jesus if she has not.

I’m grateful for your prayers today or whenever you might have a chance.

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Hope your day was blessed. I had a good day of sharing the faith today and two girls, Amber and later Kim, prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior.

Amber was sitting on the stairs by the bookstore waiting for a ride and is Puerto Rican by heritage and wanted to go back to visit there. She was really shy, dark hair and complexion. But I got her to laugh a few times and when I asked her what she would say to God as to why He should let her into Heaven she said, “I need forgiveness.” She went to church sporadically but did not know how God took away her sins and had never prayed to receive Jesus as her Savior. She wanted to pray to receive Christ when I invited her and she did. She did not have her own Bible at home so I gave her one to read and a Bible study. So I will be praying for her.

Kim was sitting on one of the shelf seats overlooking the lounge in the science building on the second floor. Pretty, thin, brown haired girl, black military style boots on with her black jeans tucked in them. Kim has the longest eyelashes I remember ever having seen on a student. She worked Sundays but her catholic family went to church periodically. She knew she had done things wrong but said, “I don’t think I’ve done anything to the point where I wouldn’t be allowed into Heaven. She listened to the Gospel and decided to pray to receive Christ also. I gave her More Than a Carpenter to read.  I’ll be praying for her as well.

Jerv came to Christ last week Monday. His friend was at a table in the Student Services Center Lounge where we have Bible Study. He started talking and then took a phone call, but Jerv wanted to do a survey in his absence. Gap-toothed smile with braids, he was a nice guy. He was from Rwanda.  Both his parents were dead and he lived with his Auntie. He attended Church but did not understand the Gospel of Grace through Christ. He prayed with me to receive Christ, but his friend, having come back and heard it, decided to think about it.

So thanks so much for your prayers for the ministry or if you had chance today. God answered them and please say a word for Kim, Amber and Jerv that they might grow in strength of faith.

In HIm,

Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Well, we had Bible Study today and Felicia, a girl who prayed to receive Christ last year came afterwards and had a piece of Pizza (a recent attempt to attract more bodies we’ll drop since no one eats it, ha) and went around with me for a few hours doing evangelism. She is from the Ivory Coast and likes to come along so we talked though the Gospel with a few people and Tywan came to Christ. Tywan is a big black dude who was sitting at a table with a couple other students.  It was a little hard to navigate the conversation since one kid, Jenny, was a little over the top, but I managed to calm her a bit and could tell Tywan was interested. He prayed with me and took a Bible study. He goes to Church every Sunday, but did not know how God took away his sins. Another of the guys, Kajai, wanted to think about it and took a booklet, as did Jenny in the end.

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry. Please pray for Tywan if you get a chance to grow in his faith. I have some painting work to catch up on the rest of the week, I’d be grateful for prayers for stamina since my business has pretty well vaporized and I need to climb some ladders.

Blessings in Christ,

Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I hope you had a great day. My day went good.  I had some great conversations and 2 guys, Jesse and Bijan, came to Christ today. Jesse was sitting in the science building and went to church at Calvary in Naperville, but he was trusting in his good works and self effort to go to heaven. He decided he had not asked God to forgive him based on the work of Jesus on the cross and prayed to receive Christ. He took a Bible study from me and More than a Carpenter to read and I got his E-mail to send him some stuff.

Bijan is from Michigan and came here to play football. He got here late in the semester and is a quarterback so he is sitting out a year. His Uncle and Auntie have a ministry they just began where he is from, and he went to church there but he did not know how God took away his sins and had not prayed to receive Jesus. Bijan said he wanted to be forgiven for his sins and prayed professing his faith in Christ. I gave him the Student Edition of The Case for Christ to read and a Bible study and got his e-mail too.

So thanks for your prayers today, God blessed through them. Please pray for Jesse and Bijan to grow in their faith, and if a guy named Bijan is in the NFL one day might be him. 🙂

Thanks again.

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Well, I only got to go through the Gospel with 2 peeps yesterday because we had Bible study.  But one of them, Jose, came to Christ, who was sitting on a bench outside the lounge where Starbucks is.  That was such a good straight conversation of the Gospel with a guy who wanted to know God and took More than a Carpenter from me to read.

I guess that was consolation for today, where no one came to Christ and I spent a third of the day talking to moral relativists.  “What kind of moral relativist?” you may ask. The kind where you are a moral coward to the point where you are unwilling to say Child Rape is definitively wrong. The kind where everyone gets what they want when they die; Yes, including Hitler who will be in an Arian Kingdom where he gets to kill Jews, (I know because I asked), I was told, “If that is what they believe who am I to judge?” Well, when ya got that little of a moral compass and can talk yourself repeatedly into a logical corner with no thoughtful change of tack — I got nothing for you. I just wish it did not take 40 minutes for me to finally give up.

Another guy was basically in the same place and with scientific reductionism believed we were all just results of chemicals in our brains. By the way they know almost nothing about the brain, guess nothing conclusive about its evolution ( which does not lead them to think it can’t have happened but should) and the honest Evolutionists admit there is a poor fossil record and we cannot be sure any of them is in line with us in our ancestrally. But if all your science teachers and some lectures at Fermi lab have told you otherwise hey, why believe me.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2008/feb/19/thedistinguishedbiologistpr

So hey, hopefully there will better news tomorrow, maybe it planted a seed.

Thanks for your prayers. They kept me from screaming 🙂

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I hope your day was truly blessed and I pray that it was as I write this. The last person I talked to today came to Christ.  Ledonte was leaning against the wall using his backpack as a prop on the ground floor of the SRC building. He did a survey with me. He basically did not think he was a bad person and hoped in that for Heaven, but I think the gospel sounded familiar to him. He went to church in Glen Ellyn. He had not asked God to forgive him of his sins based on Christ’s work on the Cross. As I was finishing going through the Gospel with him he had to head for the bus, so we walked together and he prayed to receive Christ reading as he walked. I gave him a Bible Study and he said he’d like a Christian book to read so I gave him More than a Carpenter.

It was kind of a hard day somehow, in part from a long conversation with two atheists. Stefan and Kyle were friends, the later was in a wheelchair with almost no use of his hands. They had been taught a number of lies and were emphatic about them. Stefan said he had read through the Bible twice and had made notes underlining all the contradictions. I said, “I would love to see it.”   I confess I doubted his word a bit, though you can create some issues with crossing genre’s of literature or failing to understand how to interpret a passage. I kind of doubt he did this, and he is the first student I have ever met who read through the Bible twice. (There are resolutions for all the ones I have heard and I have come up with some myself that the apologetic books I have are stumped by.) They also emphatically claimed Socrates was killed because he was an atheist, claiming they had been taught this in a philosophy class at COD and on two other occasions by teachers in High School. I don’t remember ever hearing this before and the Dialogues do not suggest a religious aspect to the trial. I explained Socrates words are completely found in Plato’s dialogues who was not an atheist, and Socrates was not killed but committed suicide by drinking Hemlock after refusing exile. They seemed to kind of remember this.  It was a long conversation and wore me out for some reason. Stefan also claimed there was absolutely no evidence for the existence of God. But they each took a book, The Case for Faith and The Case for a Creator, promising to read them.  But Stefan insisted no one ever stopped being an atheist and Lee Strobel was obviously lying if he said he had been. So basically everyone is lying if they said anything that contradicted anything he thought.  But I smiled all the way through and simply countered their remarks, pointing out that since they admitted there was at yet no proof disproving God or explaining the origin of the world as we find it, God had to be a solid a possibility as their position which they had to admit was also faith based. So hey.

I went through the gospel with 2 Muslim girls on two separate occasions as well and several others, man it really just seemed to wear me out somehow today, maybe it is just the end of the week.

Thanks for your prayers today I need them, and I hope you will have a chance to pray for Ledonte and that Kyle and Stefan would read the books.

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Well, I had a good day sharing today.  I had some good conversations with some Christians and encouraged them in their faith and the assurance of Salvation, explaining the work of Christ on the Cross in a manner they might understand. It is often the most humble students who are living closest to the Kingdom of God that lack this assurance and it is often a joy to talk to them and see them trust more deeply in Christ.

The first guy I talked to came to Christ, Mike. Red-headed guy, a runner, half marathons. He was covenant and had not really thought about how God took away his sins. He went to church and had even been on some mission trips that were service oriented and kind of hoped that would get him to Heaven. He had not been trusting in the work of Christ to take away his sins, but he is now. He decided to pray to receive Christ and be forgiven for his sins. He was not an enthusiastic reader at all but I had The Case for Easter and that looked short enough for him to give it a try. He took a Bible study too and I got his e-mail to send him some short things to encourage his faith.

I had a very discouraging conversation about world views at the end of the day with a representative of the Newman Club who was not a student.  It reminded me that a lot of those purporting to be Christians on campus are not really teaching anything from the Bible or about the truth. So thanks for your prayers to help the Gospel go out.  God is blessing these prayers and I am led by them on campus.

I will be back at it tomorrow, I thought I would be painting but the job got moved to another day.

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Hope ya had a great day. I’m doing great…well tired and wiped out but hey, I got lots of birthday wishes, thanks primarily to Face Book but a bunch from others too. My good friend on the mission field texted me “Happy Birthday” which was pretty great for her to take the time. I got a couple big hugs from one of the girls who came to Christ last year too, so hey I got that goin’ for me and Ellen is making me dinner.

4 students all African American came to Christ today; Tival, Tatiana, Derrick and Devontae. Another day that evidenced that black parents give their kids more interesting names than white parents in America as a rule. The black kids are cool and often the most fun to talk to. Tival was the first conversation I had. He was sitting killing time in a ground floor lounge in the BIC. He went to Church consistently but did not know how God took away his sins or about the Holy Spirit as the means to live the Christian life. So the conversation was completely straightforward to the Gospel and he prayed with me to receive Jesus. I gave him a bible study and More than a Carpenter to read. Sometimes I feel like I get to pick all the low hanging fruit, (prayer works). I feel like Ruth walking behind the gleaners, not that it is always comfortable or easy to enter into conversation but hey, no complaints. Tatiana went to Church regularly too and wanted to be forgiven and had never asked God to forgive her sins based upon what Jesus had done for her on the Cross to pay for her sins. She prayed with me as well and I asked her, “Do you like to read?” she said, “Yes.” I asked “A lot of just a little?” She had a heavy somewhat urban accent in English to my ear and I had to ask her to repeat herself once. She said she liked to read a lot and I asked if she would like to read some things about Jesus and she said, “Yes, about Jesus.” So I gave her The Case For Christ. I gave her a bible study on the Deity of Christ too.

I caught Derricks eye as I walked buy his table and nodded. So I circled back around and asked if he would do a survey, Devontae was sitting with him and another guy Jeremiah started out but felt like going somewhere it seemed. Anyway he said he had to go after he did the survey. So I gave him a booklet and told him, “This will explain how to go to heaven.” He took it happily but I don’t know if he read it. The guys were using with the plug outlets built into the table and I picked at the one in front of me out of curiosity, Derrick reached over and popped it open. I cracked, “Yeah, this is the new thing in American the Black men lead the white men now that we elected Obama.” This cracked them up and Devontae decided to do the student survey with Derrick then and both listened to the gospel and prayed to receive Jesus and be forgiven. They both had gone to Church when they were younger so I invited them to Bible Study as we sat not 15 feet away from where we were seated and got their e-mails to send them stuff. I gave them each More Than a Carpenter to read since they confessed to be less than big readers, and a bible study too and encouraged them to read the Gospel and go to Church explaining the Holy Spirit to them.

So hey Happy Birthday to me, I will take 4 peeps praying with me for a gift every year. Thanks so much for your prayers for me today, God blessed me and I pray all who blessed me would be blessed.

Please pray for Tival, Tatiana, Derrick and Devontae, that they might grow in the Lord and God would lead Derrick and Devontae to a Good Church.

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Well, we did a book table today. They can be hard mid-year when not as many peeps come by. But today, the second week of classes, was good. We’ve learned though to just give away unconditional candy and books. If you don’t think you want to come to a Bible stud,y don’t give us your contact info to get something, because we really don’t want to bother you. But I went through the gospel with at least 6 people. Some of the students I have gotten to know from doing evangelism came by: sweet Beola (spelled Beulah) and her friend, a very pretty muslim girl Namra from India, they are fun. The guy at the table next to me was a methodist student, Adam. He obviously did not know the Gospel but confessed it when I had finished going through it with him, which I overlooked as a contradiction to everything he had said b4 since it seemed there was a pride block. He is one of the guys in the movie club, they screen film and talk about it after so I signed up.  And I gave him $10 for food at the end of the day after he had said he was gonna be there until 10 PM, was unemployed and wouldn’t be eating. H said he had no money with him and was broke, he had taken a lot of our candy. 🙂 The other peeps I went through the Gospel with were two guys named Matt, dressed in the same  t-shirts, oddly, James and his girlfriend and Andrew a catholic guy who I got to take a “Jesus Saves NT” which has the Gospel in the front. He was interested in different translations and that copy I have a few of is New American Standard which is the closest to the Greek. I could tell you why I don’t read any of the other ones and have good reasons for all but hey ya probably don’t want to know. A bunch of peeps signed up for the Bible study and the day went well. I got a bit of the Gospel in with some others and gave them a booklet or a book. I hope we’ll get some to come to Bible study to learn some stuff.

Thanks for your prayers,

Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Hope you had a good day walking with the Lord. 4 people prayed with me to receive Christ today. Two Catholic Latino Guys, Jorge and Alex, a girl Jen, also Roman Catholic and a Black woman Araina (A-Ray-na). Jorge and Alex were straight up guys that did not know how they would be judged in terms of salvation or how God took away their sin. I went through the gospel with them after I did a student survey for the Bible Study. Jorge seemed a bit distracted but it turned out they were waiting for Isabel who finally came after he called her and said she’d missed them.  They were praying to receive Jesus at that point. So I talked to her briefly and gave her a booklet and Alex said reassuringly, “We’ll explain it to her on the way home.” So I gave them a choice of books to read, Alex picked The Case For a Creator and Jorge The Case for Faith. Isabel said she’d like to read something too even though I had not had any time to really explain the Gospel too her and said she’d like to read More Than a Carpenter. I left them, promising to pray, and then thought, “Oh I should have given them Bible Studies…what was I thinking”. I doubled back, but they were gone.  But it forced me to walk by a table and a girl, Jen, stopped me to ask me about tattoos saying, “Are you the guy that teaches the Bible Study?” I said I was. Then she said, “I have some questions.” So I sat at her feet and turned the explanation into a presentation about sin and the Gospel. She prayed to receive Christ there too and took a Bible study and More Than a Carpenter to read. I gave her my e-mail and said if she wanted, her friend who had been the source of her question could e-mail me.

I went out into the sun and came upon Araina sitting on a bench. In talking to her she thought she was a Christian but did not think she was going to heaven as she wasn’t good enough and did not know how God took away her sin but was pretty convicted about it. I explained the free gift of God eternal life in Christ to her and she prayed to receive Jesus with me too. I gave her a Bible study and the Student edition of The Case for Faith.

I had several other really good conversations today. The first guy I went through the gospel with had two friends sitting off to one side who asked if they could have a copy of the booklet when I’d finished with my spin on it and when the bible study was. We talked about social issues for a while and they were really thankful.

So thanks for your prayers.  I know God was really leading me today and giving me words. Please pray for Jorge, Alex, Araina, and Jen if you get a chance that they might grow closer to Christ and even check out Bible Study.

In Him,
Bob Bollow