Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope ya had a great day today walking with the Lord in His strength. I was tired from being sick with a nasty headache all day yesterday. But I had a good day on campus and Jerry, Caleb, Elona & Corey each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Thanks for your help in prayer. If you have a moment, please pray they are blessed in their new faith. Their stories are below if you have the time.

 Jerry was sitting across from a girl with an orange afro in the PE lounge and I asked them if they would do a student survey for a Bible study group. He said he would and she kept studying. He was a very big black dude (turned out he played offensive line). He had a beard and finger thick dreadlocks that came down to his chin. Good looking guy with classic black features and coloring. He wore red and black flannel lounge pants and a black hoodie. When I asked him one thing he would want to do before he died he said, “I would say find God, but I already found God.” I asked if there was anything else and he said, “I don’t know to be honest.”  I asked what he would say to God if he died and God asked him, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said, “I lived by Him, read, prayed… relationship with Him.” He thought he had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. I went on to explain the Gospel to him and said God wanted to know and live inside him. So I asked “What happened that took away your sin?” He could not think of anything so I added, “That Jesus did?” He said, “Repent?” I said, “Well, that’s true, but this is how it works.” So I went on to explain the perfect life of Christ and His sacrifice that cleansed him and the Righteousness of God earned by Christ that was to his credit.” He listened closely, even though another big black guy walked up and said hi and was talking to the orange-headed girl and sat down across from me. I asked Jerry as I finished if he would want to be forgiven for his sins, with God living inside him, or thought something else. Then looking at him I said again, “Would you want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in what Jesus has done?” He nodded and said, “Yeah.” So I said there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it clearly and asked if it was the desire of his heart and he said “Yeah,” again in what came out as kind of a low rumble, looking at the booklet. I asked if he would want to pray it, he said, “I prayed it already reading.” “Ok I said. I explained to him then that the Christian life was lived “Inside Out” by the power of God’s transformation making him a good man, by His Spirit, who did good things. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “Forgiven!” on the inside. The guy across from me said something about it being time to leave and Jerry got up saying “Thank you so much,” and made to fist bump me which I caught in a flat hand (messing it up) so he shook my hand and they headed out.

I found Caleb at the top of the stairs, sitting on the couches outside the workout area. He was tall and thin and had dark red hair, short on the sides, a mask on. I never saw his face, it was narrow. He wore black sweats and trainers and a grey COD sweatshirt with green letters.  He said he’d done a survey yesterday so I said, “This is different. The main question is 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?” “I’m a good person,” he said quickly. So I said, “Christianity is different, it’s kind of like a blood transfusion.” I went on to tell him God wanted to live inside him, but had to make him his type by taking away his sin. I sat down then using some other analogies of the Blood and Righteousness of Christ and he listened as I took out the booklet to write my notes in so he would have it. I asked if he would want to be forgiven, trusting in Jesus or thought something else and he said, “Probably trusting in Jesus as my savior,” he said nodding at the same time. I could see he was smiling on the other side of the mask. So I said there was a prayer he could pray if he wanted to be forgiven and offered it to him and he took the booklet and said “Thanks you,” and I said, “Just pretend I’m not here and after half a minute he began to pray and trusted in Christ. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You. I wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front. He said “Thank you,” again seeming to smile and I thanked him for his time and headed out.

Elona was petite and sitting in the hall in the BIC on the first floor in a row of chairs, with a black snowcap and snow boots, dark brown hair and black mask, green eyes, white sweater. I saw her face as I left her. She had pretty sharp features (nose and chin) and a warm smile. She was really nice. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven and she said, “Oooo, that’s a good question, oh my gosh.” Then thinking about it she said, “I would probably say just because I try to care. I always put myself after others with my siblings and my parents.” I said, “There’s a Bible verse that says, “Let each of you consider one another as more important than himself.” She said something like that’s deep and I said if everyone was like that the world would be great. And she agreed. She thought she had about an 80% chance of going to Heaven saying, “I know there’s things I can do to improve myself.” She went to church once in a while. I began to go through the Gospel with her saying God wanted to take away her sin to live inside her and asking her what Jesus had done to take away her sin.”  “He died on the cross,” she said processing with me. I explained the Blood and Righteousness of God to her credit and that she needed believe on and to receive Jesus by faith not by works. I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven for her sins with God inside her or if she thought something else. “Definitely the first one,” she replied. So I said there was a prayer she could pray and asked if it was the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she said thoughtfully nodding. So I said she could pray it right then like I wasn’t there and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living the Christian life, “Inside out” and referring back to the things she said she thought she could improve, that God does those things for us by His Spirit. She liked that idea and said, “Thank you so much.” I gave her a copy of Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “Forgiven!” in the front. “Thank you, that’s so sweet of you,” she said taking the book. I also gave her a Bible study on the Deity of Christ she liked. I said I would keep her in my prayers until Spring and then one year after and asked if I could see her face so I could picture her when I prayed and she said oh sure and slipped her mask down as I stood up and we said good bye.

I talked for a while with some guys handing out Bibles, walked around and the school was basically empty and I was shot. I got my coat and headed out the doors near where I park. As I went through that last longue through the Computer Department (it is usually empty) there were some students in there studying on laptops. Corey was at the first table and seemed to be just charging his phone from the table plug. He’s a Black student with an inch and a half high, rough-top afro, the sides shaved short. He said he’d do a survey. He was wearing a dark-blue cotton hoodie with some athletic branding across the front. He had moved up recently from St. Louis and said he wanted to snowboard. I said I’d never tried it, but asked if he skate boarded and he said he did. So I said he’d probably pick it right up. When I asked him what he would say to God if he’d died he said, “I mean, I did what I was supposed to do.” He was 100% sure he was going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died for his sins. I explained the Blood and Righteousness of Christ and believing in faith and not by works, that your good things did not fix your bad things. “Say you got a girlfriend for about 3 weeks. You thought she was pretty cool but then you find out she’s cheating on you and stealing your stuff. So you cut her loose. She comes back in about a week and she’s like, ‘Oh Corey I know I was bad to you. I was even stealing your stuff and selling it for drugs,” I used my fake girl voice. “But I just want you to know I’m gonna be nice to my next 3 boyfriends.’” He laughed then. “You’d be like, ‘Yeah that doesn’t help me at all.’ You can’t do good things over there to fix your bad things here. But that how some people think. ‘I’ve done some bad stuff and I’ve done some good stuff. My good stuff gonna fix my bad stuff with God.’ But your bad stuff still out there kicking people around and there’s not much you can do about it. But God says He can turn your bad stuff into good stuff.” And I quoted Romans 8:28 to him. I said then there’s 2 kinds of people in the Bible and asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins, trusting in Jesus, so God could live inside him or if he thought something else. “Definitely be forgiven,” he said. So I said if he had not had a chance as an adult to tell God he wanted to trust in that, there was a prayer he could pray and I walked him through it and asked if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied. I said he could pray it right then and know he was forgiven. He prayed then and finishing, handed me back the booklet. I explained the Christian life to Him living “Inside out” by the Spirit’s power and Just ask. I had a copy left of 20 Things God Can’t Do and I showed him some verses in the back. I wrote, “By the Spirit’s Power” and his name and the date and “Forgiven!” in the front. I said the likelihood now he would go to Heaven was 100%, not because he was hoping he’d done everything right but because Jesus’ Righteousness was his righteousness. I gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ as well. I told him I would keep him in my prayers and he shook my hand and said, “Thank You.’ I said yeah sure and asked if I could see his face so I could picture him when I prayed for him. He happily did so with a smile and looked like a young Carl Weathers, bit thinner face and a Michael Jordan mustache. I got up then and headed out the doors.

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 blessed with all good things walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus. We started a Bible study with one girl Alma who prayed to receive Jesus last year and Jaden and Cira each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray for them if you have a moment to do so. Their stories are below if you have time.

Jaden was sitting in the Cafeteria where I went ahead of meeting for Bible study. He was a big Black guy with a beard, wearing a snow cap, slightly wider nose. He wore a red t-shirt after he took off his sweatshirt while we were talking and had black and red plaid flannel lounge pants on. He is a power lifter and hopes to keep working for a while on getting the world record. He has added 100 pounds to his lift in the last 7 months having had to break for the lockdowns. The record is 1000 pounds. He has a tattoo on his right forearm that says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” But he had not been trusting in the Blood and righteousness of Christ for salvation. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “That’s a good question.” Then thinking a bit more he said, “’Cause I always follow your will. I always look at you as my Father.” He thought he had about a 70% chance of going to Heaven. He paid close attention to the Gospel as I told it to him and had known that Jesus died to take away our sins. I asked him if he would want to be forgiven for his sins as I finished the Gospel message, trusting in what Jesus had done for him and he said, “Yes.”  So I offered him the prayer to pray, walking him through it, and asked if it was the desire of his heart. He nodded and said. “Yes.” So I said he could pray it right then and he would know the likelihood he was going to Heaven was 100%. He took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living “inside out” then to him, “By the Spirit’s power.” I said God could give him strength to pursue the goal he had lifting and he said, “I know,” and showed me then his tattoo on his arm with Philippians 4:13 written under it saying,  “I came across this verse.” We had a good talk and I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and also gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. He fist bumped me to thank me and wished me a blessed day and I headed out.

After Bible study, I walked Ellen to the door and then headed down on the same floor, down the hallway by the Bookstore and found Cira sitting at a bar-height table. She had a light-blue sweatshirt on with the Chicago skyline on it and looked close to having rolled out of bed. She had a thin, narrow pretty face (like Little House on the Prairie), which I saw when she took sips of her drink, and wore no make-up. Her light brown hair was in waves down to her shoulders. She was friendly and came from a Roman Catholic background, though her church attendance had become sketchy, like everyone’s it seems. She said she wanted to explore the world and then clarified to say she wanted to understand finance. I talked with her then about the petro dollar collapsing and fractional reserve banking, none of which she had understood before. When I got back to the survey, I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven if she’d gotten hit by a bus and was dead. She said, “My belief has never changed—even though I got hit by a bus.” Adding the caveat as a joke. She thought she had a 90% chance of going to Heaven. I asked if she meant her belief in God and she agreed that she mean that. She listened attentively to the Gospel, asking what would happen if she could not get to a priest for a while. I mentioned an Admiral I had recently read about who was in prison for 7 years in Vietnam. “There was no priest in the camp.” I said she could confess her sins directly to God, quoting 1John 1:9. I explained the standing doctrine of the Catholic Church is that only God can forgive your sins. So I said, “The priest does not forgive you, he is telling you God forgives you.” I explained the analogy I often use where the priest is like an insurance agent for automobile insurance. You get the insurance from the agent who sells you the policy. But when you crack up your car, you don’t expect the agent to pay but know that the policy says the Insurance Company will pay for the damage. I went on to explain the righteousness of Christ He earned by perfectly fulfilling the Law and quoted Isaiah 61:10 and Galatians 3:27. She said she had never thought about it this way before. When I had finished I said, “It seems like you had not understood all this before.” And she agreed. I went on to asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins, trusting in Jesus. She said she would, so I said there was a prayer she could pray and walked her through it. I asked her if it was the desire of her heart and she nodded and said yes. So I said she could pray it right then. “I wouldn’t hear you, but God would hear you and then you would know you were forgiven.” “OK,” she replied. And I said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” And I stepped back a bit and she said, “I’m just going to read it as it is.” “OK.” I said and I bowed my head and when she had finished by crossing herself. I explained living “inside out” transformed by the Spirit’s power. I gave her a copy of Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “Forgiven!” in the front and a Bible study on the Deity of Christ. We said goodbye and she thanked me saying, “Thank you Bob, I appreciate it.” And I said, “Your welcome.” And headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today with Joy and Peace in Believing. I had a good day on campus, seeing some students from last semester that I knew and who had trusted Christ or heard the Gospel. Esther and Nikki each prayed to receive Jesus today. Please pray they are blessed and if you have time for their stories, they are below.

 Esther was sitting along the hallway that runs to the bookstore. She had soft classic African American features. A warm round friendly face. She described herself as shy and she was pretty quiet, not saying much as I went through the Gospel with her. She had a dark parka on with a fur-look strip on the hood. Her hair ran into thin braids down past her shoulders. She had a bright red shirt on and blue cotton sweats. When I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked her why He should let her into Heaven, she thought for a moment and said, “I’m a child of God. I followed your commandments.” She thought she had an 80% chance of going to Heaven when she died, saying she went to Church every Sunday and Wednesday. She leaned in over her back-pack, interested, as I went through the Bible verses of the Gospel. She knew when I asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins that He had died for her sins. When I finished explaining how His blood and righteousness had saved her, I offered her the two circles in the booklet, suggesting she could be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done for her. Asking, “Or do you think something else?” “I would definitely want to be forgiven for my sins,” she said emphatically. Her response to the “What would you say to God Question” had sounded like she was hoping she was good enough to go to Heaven. So I said if she had never had a chance to ask God to forgive her, trusting in what Jesus had done for her on the Cross, there was a prayer she could pray. I walked her through the prayer and said, “It says here ‘Is this prayer the desire of your heart?’ Would you say it was?” “Yeah,” she said and nodded. I said if she wanted to then she, “could pray it right now and know she was forgiven.” I wouldn’t hear but God would hear her and forgive her. She took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I explained the Christian life living “Inside out” where she could ask God to transform her. I told her now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be her righteousness, the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She thanked me and I gave her the book Bible Promises for You. I gave her a Bible study on the deity of Christ. I told her I would pray for God to bless her each day. I told her where and when we had Bible study saying she could drop by. She was really nice. As I got up to leave I said, “It was so nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you too,” she replied. “God bless you,” I said and she said, “You too.”

Nikki was sitting in the cafeteria at the counter looking outside eating lunch. I passed her and talked with Tyler sitting at a far table who had prayed to receive Jesus last semester and invited him to the Bible Study. She was done eating as I came back her way and said she would do a student survey. She had a child-like voice and might have been one of the special learning students on campus. But she tracked with everything I said and was unescorted. She wore an off-white parka and black pants. Her hair was blondish and got brighter blonde as it got longer, a few inches past her part to past her shoulders and she had on bright red nail polish. She said she hoped to become an ultrasound technician. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven and she said, “That’s a hard one…” Then thinking a bit she said, “Because I care a lot for people. I always did the right thing.” She said she went to Church every Sunday at a Catholic Church in Naperville. She thought she had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. She listened closely to the Gospel. She knew Jesus had died for her. As I finished I asked her too if she would want to be forgiven, trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. She said she would want to be forgiven. I said if she had never asked God to forgive her before, trusting in what Jesus had done for her, there was a prayer she could pray. After I explained it, I asked if it was the desire of her heart. “Um hum, “ she affirmed and so I asked, would she “like to pray the prayer right now and know she was forgiven?” “Yeah,” she said and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus, crossing herself as she finished. I explained to her then asking for God’s help in everything, living “inside out” where God could transform her on the inside. I said now it was 100% that she was going to Heaven. I asked if she would like a book with Bible verses in it and she said she would so I gave her Bible Promises for You and put her name and the date and “Forgiven!” on the inside. She thanked 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 ya had great day walking with the Lord by the power of the Spirit. I had a good day on campus and Victoria, Gabriel and Milda each prayed to receive Jesus today. Please pray for them to grow. And for Gabriel’s grandfather Don, who has cancer and Covid. Their stories are below if you’re interested to read them. I only found 3 students to talk to today.

Thanks for your help.

Victoria was sitting in the Cafeteria. She had jeans on and a jacket. She looked Indian in features and coloring, narrow face and sharp nose.  Pretty girl with curly ringlets of shoulder-length hair. She had come to the US in December of 2020 and had attended a Christian fellowship in one of the Arab oil states where she’d lived before for a few years. She hoped her family could soon be here with her close by. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and were asked why He should let her into Heaven and she was unsure. So I asked what she thought would get her into heaven. “Something I do would maybe get me into Heaven,” she guessed. I asked if she meant a good work.  “Yeah a good work,” she agreed, “Kind… an act of kindness,” she said giving an example. She thought she might have a 50/50 chance of getting into Heaven. When I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins, she knew Jesus had died to do so. As I went through the Gospel with her I explained how His blood and righteousness was to her credit. I also explained the Bible verses where she needed to receive Him by faith. As I came to the end, I asked her if she would want to be forgiven, trusting in His work and she said, “Yes.” So I said if she wanted to, there was a prayer she could pray to be forgiven and walked her through it saying, “It says here ‘is this prayer the desire of your heart?'” and she looked at it and said “Ummm, yeah.” So I said if she had not trusted before in what Jesus had done to get her into Heaven, but was hoping she would be good enough, she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. “OK,” she replied and took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained the Christian life living “inside out,” by the Spirit’s power. I gave her the Book Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “Forgiven!” in the front. I gave her a Bible study on the deity of Christ and told her I would be praying for her through next year in Spring. She had asked about some of the Bible studies on campus and thought she did not have time for them. As we walked out together I showed her where one, run by a friend, was meeting.

 Gabriel was sitting in the PE lounge at the table they have there. He had kind of a mop of blondish hair, parted on the side and a thin mustache and goatee and kind of a wry smile. He wore jeans and a grey pullover hoodie. When a couple black guys at the table did not want to do a survey, he said he would do it. He was raised by his grandparents and they were very religious Christians. His Grandfather was sick in the hospital with bone cancer and now had tested positive for Covid. His name was Don and his grandmother’s name was Judy. “She’d be thrilled if I told her I asked someone to pray for her today,” Gabriel said. So please pray for them. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “You should already know really, you’re watching me all the time.” Then he opined, “I guess that would not be the best thing to say to God.” I agreed a bit of humility might be good in the situation. “It’s true though,” he replied. I agreed it was true. “I tried my best,” he said then. He thought he was going to Heaven 100%. He talked about his grandparents who he seemed to argue with a lot, saying he’d gotten kicked out of the house a few times. I went through the Gospel with him and he said he would want to be forgiven, but said he had asked Jesus into his heart a couple of times before. “There is nothing in the Bible about asking Jesus into your heart,” I replied. He was a defensive lineman so I used a football analogy talking about a Quarterback that would run around behind the line 25 years back and get sacked trying to be a one man team. I mentioned Elway and the QB for Denver, who finally won a Super Bowl when he stopped running around and played behind his linemen. I said he was that quarterback. I said, “Jesus is your line-backing core. You need to get behind him.” Saying he could not do anything perfect to pay God what he owed. I explained Jesus had to buy the ticket, using some analogies and suggested he needed to trust in Jesus as savior. It got through to him then and he unfolded his arms and listened to me. I walked him through the prayer and said the prayer was asking God to make him who He wanted him to be. I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear, but God would and forgive him. “Ok,” he said. And He prayed to receive Jesus. “This is actually awesome, I like this,” he said finishing. “This is great you do this. A lot of people would think this is weird or something, but it’s not.” I agreed, saying I really didn’t care what people thought. He thought about it and said he didn’t either. He shook my hand a couple times and thanked me. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. And I gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. We talked a bit more and then he shook my hand again and thanked me saying he needed to get back to his subway sandwich and I said “All good” and headed out.

Milda was sitting in the lounge I pass on my way out to my locker where a couple other students who have prayed were sitting this week (Valentin and Demo). She was a pretty girl, sharp features, wearing black leggings and lace-up winter boots. She had a black, white lettered Adidas sweat shirt on. Her blondish hair had silver highlights. She wanted to open her own business, seemed like the strong type. She went to a Catholic Church on Easter and Christmas, saying she did not think going to Church got you into Heaven and I said I did not think it did either. When I asked her what she would say God if she died, to get into Heaven. She thought for a moment with a “Hmm..” Then in second said, “I mean I would say I’m a good person. I haven’t done anything wrong enough not to go to Heaven.” She thought she had a 90% chance to get in. She listened closely and was engaged. I went through the Gospel with her and she was very attentive. I asked if she knew what Jesus did to take away her sin so God could live inside her and she nodded like you would agreeing with the point (that her sins would need to be taken away) but not knowing how it happened. So I just kept going saying “This is how it works” explaining Jesus had lived a perfect life for us fulfilling the Law. When He died and His blood was a power in the world that cleansed us of sin. His righteousness was to our credit. I explained she needed to believe and receive Jesus by faith and God could change her bad things into good things, forgiving her. As I finished, I asked if she wanted to be forgiven and she said she did. And so I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray, and walked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart. She began nodding yes and when I met her eyes she said, “Yeah.” So I said she could pray it silently and only God would hear and she said, “Um hum.” And she took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained living “Inside Out” asking for God’s help in everything. I said the likelihood now she would go to Heaven was 100% ,trusting in the righteousness of Christ to be her righteousness. I offered her the book Bible Promises for you and wrote her name and the date and “Forgiven!” in the front. “Perfect,” she said taking the book. She said she did not like to read but I gave her the Case for Christianity Answer Booklet saying she could find Lee Strobel videos on YouTube and listen while she drove. I gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. She was grateful and I said if I saw her around I’d wave and she laughed and said OK. I said I would pray for her and I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God blessed again, bringing students to Himself with the Gospel.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I Hope your day was truly blessed today walking with him. I had a good day on campus going through the Gospel with 7 people. One a Muslim, Muzammil from Pakistan heard the Gospel for the first time and was interested to understand the good deeds of Christ are to our credit. I’ll pray for him in the hope something might strike him later, very friendly guy. 7 is a lot for the present times with fewer people around, but 2 were very quick and they took the booklet to think about it. One running to class, the other to a meeting. Also Demo and Kori each prayed to receive Christ today. Please pray for them if you have some time. If you have time for the longer stories they are below.

 Demo [due mo] was sitting in the lounge on the NW corner of the 1^st floor of the BIC. I had not realized he was on the phone but he asked how long it would take and excused himself saying he would call them back. He had some short braids poking out from under a trucker style hat sitting high on his head, turned backwards and to the left. Since he was wearing a mask, I never saw his face. But he was medium build, African American wearing a hoodie and jeans. He said he wanted to get baptized. He had no assurance of salvation because he was trusting in his works in part to qualify him for Heaven. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I am a believer, even though I feel like right now if I die I wouldn’t make it. I made my bed and I have to sleep in it. I do believe.” He thought he had a 40% likelihood of going to Heaven. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins so God could live inside him he said, “He was crucified.” I agreed and went on to explain how the Blood of Jesus was a power in the world to cleanse us from sin and it is His righteousness, not ours, that we claim before God. After I finished the Gospel I asked him if he would want to be forgiven, trusting in what Jesus had done. He said he would and so I walked him through the prayer again asking if he would want to begin trusting in Jesus and be forgiven, and starting today, asking for God to make him the kind of person He wanted him to be and not do it on his own. “Yes sir,” he replied. And I gave him the booklet and he quietly prayed to receive Jesus. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” I the front. I explained living the Christian life “Inside Out”. I also gave him a Bible study on the Deity of Christ and told him I would pray for him. He thanked me sincerely and I headed off.

The last person I talked to today was Kori, a black girl. She plays basketball at school and had long braids big eyes and a pretty full face with a bit wider nose I saw as I walked away. She was sitting in an atrium lounge on the South side of the ground floor of the BIC. She thought she had a 40% likelihood of going to Heaven. She had not been to Church in a while but said she wanted to go back. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “That’s a hard question…” Then thinking a bit more she said, “I probably would ask Him to forgive everything I’ve sinned, [forgiveness] for sinning.” She knew Jesus had died to take away our sins and so I went through the Gospel, encouraging her that she could place her trust in that and the Righteousness of Jesus, not her righteousness, is what she could rest in. I said God is not like a bad boyfriend who, when you tell him you screwed up, he is shocked or says, “we’ll see how you do” qualifying his forgiveness. But He knows the future and immediately forgives us and has a plan to make it into Good. When I had finished, I asked her if she would like to be forgiven with God inside or thought something else and she said, “Forgiven with God inside.” So I said there was a prayer she could pray and walked her through it, asking if it was “the desire of her heart.” She nodded and I said she could pray it right now, knowing she was forgiven and asked if she’d like to pray and she said, “Yeah,” nodding. She prayed then to receive Christ. I told her now that she was trusting in the Righteousness of Jesus to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I gave her a Bible Study also and Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and told her I would be praying for her. She was grateful and I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed. I also got to speak briefly to another ministry’s Bible Study group today and went through the Gospel and explained the Biblical basis for Contact Evangelism.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was a good one blessed and walking by the Spirit. I had a good day on campus and Hazel and Valentin each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Angelina committed to Christ saying she trusted in what he had done to be forgiven so I hope she will pray later. Please pray for them if you have a moment and if ya want to read their stories they are below.

Hazel was the first person I found to talk to today. We talked for a little over a half hour. She was sitting in a chair in the first big atrium lounge on the ground floor of the BIC building on the North side. I sat on the floor beside her. She described herself as “shy, careful and nervous” so I’m glad the Lord moved in her heart to talk with a stranger. She is a Latina and has a cute round face and long brown hair. She was wearing long black sweats and a black hoodie that had white writing up the sleeves. She said she recently moved here from Mexico (her English was very good with no accent) and had not found a church yet, but had been attending a Catholic church there. She was interested in finding out what other religions taught. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, “ ‘Cause I did things to make Him proud and did my mission on earth.” She thought she had a 75% chance of getting into Heaven. When I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins she did not know. As I went through the Gospel with her, explaining that faith in the blood and righteousness of Christ saved her, she was receptive, understanding the Bible verses. I asked her if she now wanted to be forgiven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Christ, so that He could live inside her or thought something else asking, “In your heart do you think this is true?” She nodded and I said if she wanted to there was a prayer she could pray and God would hear her. I walked her through the prayer and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life living “inside out” where God transforms us on the inside and then we do good things. I explained that part of the way we knew that Christianity was true was that Jesus fulfilled prophecy. I showed her Isaiah 9:6 and gave her a Bible study on the deity of Christ. I then also gave her the Rose Publication “100 prophecies fulfilled by Jesus.” I talked to her some more and gave her another Rose laminated fold out “Why trust the Bible.” I explained the writings of Buddha we have are 2500 years after his death, so we really cannot know what he said and that other Holy Books do not predict the future. I gave her, Bible Promises for You writing her name the date and “forgiven” on the inside. I explained that now if she trusted in the righteousness of Christ, the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I told her I would keep her in my prayers. She thanked me and said, “I was needing your words.” She said she believed God sent people to us, suggesting He had sent me to her and I agreed. As I walked away she took off her mask so I could see her face and waved goodbye and I waved back and headed down the hall.

Angelina was sitting in one of the connecting halls in the BIC studying on the second floor. She had a narrow face and dark pretty eyes long brown hair. She wore a grey hoodie with some skeletons on the front that seemed to be dancing. Had jeans on and red high tops. She too was Roman Catholic. When I asked her what she would say to God she said, “That’s a hard one…” Then thinking some more she said. “I don’t know personally what would qualify someone to get into Heaven.” She said she’d hoped she would go though and thought she had a 90% chance. When I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins she did not know. I explained the Gospel to her and that Jesus lives a perfect life for us. And when they kill him, He wants to die because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. I explained “Life is in the blood and when Jesus pours out His blood, He pours out like a life-force on the world, and that the Bible says in 1John 1:7 that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So we are cleansed inside and we match God and know God can live inside us.” “Oh!” she said understanding this for the first time. She said at the end when I asked “I would want to be forgiven, but I feel like I have to do my part.” So I explained that that was true. That by asking God to live inside us and transform us, we will become better people who will do good things, explaining the Christian life living inside out. I think I had given her a lot to think about and she needed to process some more to pray, though I walked her through the prayer. But I asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God, died for your sins and rose from the dead?” She thought for a moment and said, “Yes.” “And do you trust in that to be forgiven,” I asked. She said yes again, thinking. So I said then she knew God forgives her and she can talk to Him about it later and she agreed that made sense. I gave her the Book Bible Promises for You writing her name in the front. And I left her and she thanked me for talking with her. “Thanks for talking with me,” I replied and headed off.

Valentin (vale n teen) was sitting in the last lounge I walk past heading for some lockers no one else seems to use this year, where I put my coat. I was pretty spent but I asked him if he’d like to do a survey and he did, so I’m grateful I asked.  He was wearing a winter cap, his mask pulled down on his chin. He wore a red, white and blue Tommy Hilfiger down vest and had blue sweats on, a roundish face, pug nose with a 5 o’clock shadow where a mustache would grow. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I’d just let it be in His hands. I’d let him judge me, what I was doing in life… He’s seen me fail and seen if I had [done the right thing]. I would see if He had forgiven me. I would look Him in the eye and ask Him if He would let me into Heaven.” He thought he had an 80-90% chance of getting into Heaven. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away our sins so God could live inside us, he did not know guessing, “you repent” and then saying he was searching for another word. I offered “reconciliation” and he agreed. So I said, “This is what God does to reconcile us to Him.” I went on to explain the blood and righteousness of Christ. I explained the Mass was symbolic of what Jesus had done, “The wine is symbolic of His Blood and the wafer of His body, and it is commemorating that He has died for you and so you are forgiven. So when you take it you should say, “Thank You.” He understood that and as I finished I said, “If you feel like you haven’t had a chance as an adult to tell God you are trusting in Him to forgive you, there is a prayer you can pray.” I walked him through the prayer and said he could, “pray it right now and God would hear.” I asked if he would want to do that and he nodded and I said, “Just pretend I’m not even here.” Then he prayed to receive Christ. I explained living “inside out” to Him as well. I gave him the book Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven”. He thanked me and I also gave him a Bible study. I explained that we could not offer anything perfect to God to pay Him but we could show by our actions we were grateful. I told him I might not see him again but I would pray for him. “Preciate you, thanks so much,” he replied. And I said goodbye and headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed in the Lord. I had a good day on campus once I settled down from first day jitters and Matt prayed with me to receive Jesus. I also went through the Gospel with 3 girls who had not heard it before. Of them, Cindy (Latina in the science buildings lounge) and Sameen, who had family members in Islam and Hinduism as well as Christianity, cool green eyes. They seemed open to thinking about it. So I will pray for them. If you have a moment please pray these are blessed. And if you have even more time, Matt’s story is below.

Matt was sitting on the south side ground floor of the BIC in a run of chairs. He had a longish mop of straight dark hair pulled into a ponytail, the left side falling in front to his chin. He wore black sweats and a rust red T-shirt. Real nice, open guy. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I’d say ‘please.” Then letting the joke set for a minute he said, “But umm… I’ve done my best to help as many people as I can. I’ve given my best effort. I pray every night.” He thought he had about a 70% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and though he said he had attended a Catholic Church when he was young, he did not know what Jesus had done to take away his sins. I explained more and he said words of agreement as I went through the verses and explained things. I said the mass was symbolic of what I had been talking about; the wine was symbolic of His blood and the wafer of His body. But I could tell that did not mean anything to him and I realized later he had probably gone to church as a kid and never participated in the Catholic Mass. I finished explaining how Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness saved him and that God could forgive him and turn all things into good. I asked if he would like to be forgiven, trusting in what Jesus had done so He could live inside him. Or if he thought something else, giving him examples of Islam and Buddhism. Matt said, “The first option.” So I said if he would like to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I walked him through that saying, “It says here ‘Is this prayer the desire of your heart?’ so if you’d like you could pray this and know you were forgiven. I wouldn’t hear it but God would hear and forgive you. Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he replied. “Just pretend I’m not even here,” I said.  And he softly prayed to receive Jesus.  I explained then living the Christian life “Inside out” by the Spirit’s power. It turned out he did not have a Bible so I gave him one and showed him the “Where to Turn” section that answers questions with passages. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I gave him The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a Bible study on the Deity of Christ. “I hope I haven’t weighed you down with too much stuff,” I said. “No, thank you. This is awesome,” he replied.  I gave him a fist bump then 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 you had a blessed day. I had a good last day on campus and Lewis, Adrian and Leon. All confessed Christ as Savior after I went through the Gospel with them in the Cafeteria. I also got to give witness to some peeps in the works righteousness cult on campus, one of who may be saved but is stuck there. So please pray these guys would truly realize the faith. They were all High School students from York visiting for something. They did not seem old enough to be seniors. Their story is below.

I walked into the cafeteria and towards the back several students were sitting at the windows. I asked if they wanted to do a student survey and Lewis was game right away. He was shorter not 6 foot looked a bit like a cross between Jon Bon Jovi and John Mellencamp (if you know of those old rock stars). Had sandy hair. Adrian was shorter still and looked Latino. He had a small round face and a narrow mustache a flat mop of brown hair. Leon was the furthest from me at the counter. He had a big mop of dark blonde sandy hair was a bit taller could have been Lewis’ brother but had a less serious face and demeanor. They were waiting for a bus that was a half hour off. When I asked them what they would say to God to get into Heaven Leon said, “You shouldn’t I have not followed your rules.” Adrian agreed saying, “Yeah, I’m a messed up person.” Lewis said, “I feel like you guys but you know you can be forgiven.” I went through the Gospel and asked how Jesus had taken away their sins. They didn’t know but Lewis said, “Confession”. I said that was true but checked if he was catholic and then said that the Church says only God can forgive sin. I then used the analogy of priest being like an insurance agent where when you crack up your car you don’t expect the agent to pay the company pays. I said the reason God can forgive you is because he got paid. I explained the atonement to them and the righteousness of God Christ earned and Lewis agreed affirmingly throughout, saying “That’s right.” Adrian was really tuned in. Leon checked on something at one point but they all tracked with me. I asked if they would want to be forgiven and they all did. So I said there was a prayer they could pray. I talked them through it. I knew they were not going to pray right there around a bunch of friends so I asked each if they wanted a booklet, they all agreed they did. So giving each one a booklet I asked them one by one, “Do you believe Jesus is God He died for your sins and rose from the dead.” Lewis said yes as I addressed him first. “And to you place your trust in that to be forgiven?” He said yes again. They had kind of gathered towards me and so I did the same with Adrian and he answered, “Yes” to both questions. Leon was next and I could tell he wanted me to ask him and I did also getting a yes to both questions from him, it seemed he went to a Lutheran Church. I then gave each of them The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and wrote their names and mine I the front. I said “So if you guys are trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be your righteousness like the extra credit in class, {referring to the story I had told them} the likelihood you will go to Heaven is 100%. Because how righteous is Jesus 100% righteous and what is his righteousness worth, an infinite amount. So there’s enough for an old Bike like me and you guys too.” They all liked that. “Thanks for the Lecture,” Leon said and they all agreed.  And they decided to head over to Starbucks and I went over to talk with a friend Roy a few tables over who prayed to receive Jesus a couple years back and had been invited to Church locally by his science teacher on the 19^th.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry this semester and for evangelism today if you had a chance. I hope the seeds planted in Lewis Adrian and Leon with take root and they have truly trusted in Christ. I’ll be praying for them until a year from spring, in the hope it has or will.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with the fullness of God in Christ. I had a good day on campus. I’m not sure many classes were in attendance today. Today one guy, George, was close. He was thin in a jacket and years with his mask pulled down on his chin. He looked like Phineas from the cartoon “Phineas and Ferb”–if you put a narrow mustache and a jaw line beard on him like a French impressionist. He hadn’t known what Jesus did to take away his sins. He said he wanted to be forgiven and nodded when I asked if the prayer was the desire of his heart. But his friend had entered the lounge. 3 is a crowd, and being Greek Orthodox it might have been a little too outside the box to pray in public in front of a stranger. He took the booklet, so I am hopeful and will pray for him.

I bumped into Jeremy, who had to run to his ride a month or so back but said he would pray, and he said he did so I gave him a book and Bible study. I was grateful for the confirmation. He is half Italian and Mexican short with a mop of hair. I could not recognize him with his mask up and didn’t t first. “Don’t you remember me?” he asked, when I asked his name. When he told me it was “Jeremy” I said I had been praying for him but had never seen his face, so it would not be possible to recognize him. I still haven’t seen it. He said he had prayed so I gave him Bible Promises for You and a Bible study and we talked for a while.

Nya came to Bible study, so we’ll make plans with her next semester too, so we are grateful for that. There is one more day tomorrow, but I am not sure any classes are meeting as many use the last day for an exam. And Fridays were a ghost town more than any other day all semester. So I’ll go and see if God has some more miracles to show me. 86 Students prayed to receive Jesus this school year so far.

Thanks for your prayers this semester. God has really blessed the work.

In Him,
Bob

Third Watch Ministries, NFP                                             Bob & Ellen Bollow

P.O. Box 1283                                                                     November 29, 2021

Wheaton, IL 60187-1283  

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Hope you are being blessed by the kind things of God as the Holidays start. I’ve begun them with a back problem that has got me moving tentatively off and on for the last week. I was kept home today with heat on my back, unable to stand up quickly out of a chair. Our Christmas tree waits in a bucket of water in the garage. Likewise, the star waits to be hung on the chimney until a day when a sudden spasm will not send me tumbling down to the yard below. But it’s not like I could put the ladder up anyway. So today I am home writing you. Fortunately God, knowing my limitations, has blessed evangelism on campus and 86 students have already trusted Christ as their Savior after hearing the Gospel from me. I hope to get back before the semester closes, but I am grateful God has already worked in the strange setting on campus. College of DuPage has only 50% of the students coming to school for class. Some days it is a ghost town for want of someone to talk to about the Truth. They plan on raising that to 75% next semester, but reactions to various Greek-lettered variants may bring different decrees down from above. New York has already declared a new state of emergency. Though early report of the “Omicron” seems like a simple flu. Something bugs typically do as they mutate is they become weaker. So there is hope in that prognosis.

COD is a commuter campus. Students often only have a short time before running to the next class or the bus or their ride when I come across them. There is a pressure I feel each time I talk with someone, hoping they won’t have to hurry off. The moments they have to hear the truth are often compressed. We live in a time of that kind of attention span as well. I often recall Warren Wiersbe, saying, “It is a sin to bore people with the Gospel.” He, the one time pastor of Moody Church now with the Lord, is now never bored. One day we will all stand before Christ and recognize we are stupid and boring by comparison. But if you are telling the greatest story you ever heard, it would seem to be inexcusable to screw it up. Fortunately, in evangelism God is more directly concerned to communicate than He might be in the telling of other tales in our lives. I think a glorified body might lead to glorified storytelling in Heaven. There, the illustrations I use on campus will pale presumably unless they are a part of someone’s overheard salvation story. The sermon I have often thought would be most interesting to hear was the explanations of Jesus to Cleopas and his friend on the road to Emmaus. There Jesus “beginning at Moses and all the prophets… “expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” If we for a moment doubt this was a good sermon we have only to read the response of the hearers in Luke 24:32 “And they said one to another, “Were our hearts not burning within us when He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” It is my hope that Jesus, in the moment I speak to students on campus, makes their hearts burn unto salvation as I quote to them the verses they might believe to be saved. So I pray for each by name, every day, some piece of scripture or a prayer of Paul that they might grow.

Thanks so much for your prayers and gifts to make these moments possible again on campus this fall. These are the names of the students I know of who confessed faith in Christ and prayed. Please pray they are blessed. (An * means they said they would pray later and I have yet to know.)

Brieana, Delyla, Jermaine, Tryvis, Dajon, Edwin, Solomon, Adiel*, Brandon, Joe, AJ, Rafael, Keyshawn, Edmund, Fiyin, Cedric, Marshawn, Derek, Micheal, Anecia, Adrian, Amarillus, Richard, Joe, Victor, Natalie, Katie, Abraham, Eddie, Beth, Devion, Karina, Arielle, Slone, Henry, Leo, Jake, Anthony, Laila, Cam, Fashawn, Aniya, Amaya, Garrett, Gabriel, Ryan, Travis, Jack, Juan, Armen, Nathan, Roman, Fabi, Noah, Ben, Eugenia, Alexis, Bobby, Jeremy, Alma, JJ, Yaritza, Maritza, Karina, Vernon, Sam, Brooklyn, Keagan, D’Andre, Ash, Matt, Tyler, Nuvia, Dom, Kaliyah, Jenn, Romel, Kendall, Thea, Eduardo, Daniel, Marissa, Harry, Jimmy, Elena, Jordan, Nya

In Him,

Bob & Ellen

P.S. Dec 9th update: 6 additional students who have prayed and Bob’s back is better!