Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a day blessed with all good things. If ya had a chance to pray today thanks so much. Cody and Esabel prayed to receive Jesus today, great Birthday present for dear old Bob. I also had a great conversation with Mike who wanted to be forgiven and was near a decision for Christ. I gave him The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a bible study on the deity of Christ after going through the Gospel with him in upstairs porch overlooking the Science building lounge. Sandy haired kid with a day’s growth of beard wearing cargo shorts and a green shirt. He had warm face, good looking guy. He said he’d been attending a Baptist Church in Oswego. “How about if I attend a couple of your meetings?” He said after checking his schedule. So I hope he will come. Please pray he does.

Cody had only 5 to 10 minutes to get to class. He was sitting at a counter height table in the hallway along the bookstore. His hair was swept across and back as bangs above his forehead, bleach blonde from the sun of Florida from whence he had recently moved. He said his mom had initially brought him to a Catholic church but then they went to a Christian one before moving, but they had not settled on one up here. He had black basket ball shorts on and some light brown facial hair lip and chin and was wearing a purple hoodie. Good looking kid cheeks a bit scared like my own. I gave his some light speed questions as he had to run. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “That’s a tough question… I feel it’s more complicated… it’s complicated. I feel I can’t know what I would say because just seeing His face…” He gave some other examples of sudden shock that would leave you speechless. He thought he had a 50/50 shot at going to Heaven. So I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died. So I explained the Blood of Christ cleanses us as a power in the world and the inherited righteousness of Christ. In the end he wanted to be forgiven with Christ. I said it did not seem like he had put all of this together before. He said he’d “never given it that [level of consideration} the process of the whole thing, but it is who I am inside.” So I offered him the prayer saying he could pray it silently and he agreed and prayed to receive Jesus. I told him about walking by the Spirit living “inside out” and gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I said I’d see him around and he was grateful and headed off to class.

I spoke to an atheist for a time under the stairs; (see some of the discussion below in the PS) He did not have the depth to understand the lack of scientific proof for his faith in atheism. When he had to get to class and I went up the stairs. Esabel was sitting on the stairs and asked me about my NYPD hat. I wear it to commemorate those who heroically died in 9/11. She asked if I had any relatives in the police department there. She was a fan of TV shows portraying the NYPD in some way. We talked a bit and she said she was catholic but went to CRU at school. I said I had started CRU there an asked her some questions about what she would say to God to get into Heaven. “Because I go to church every Sunday… I pray every day for my hip.” She was a just a bit eccentric but nice. She was slight in build and had ringlet curls tinted a bit lighter here and there, African American in features and wore glasses and blue yoga pants and a t-shirt with Asian letters on it. She thought she had a 90% chance of going to Heaven. We were interrupted she called out to her friends across the foyer and staircases and here and there by a target she began so I would steer her back to the point. She listened as I spoke and wanted to be forgiven for her sins. So I said there was a prayer she could pray trusting in Christ and talked her through it. I said, were she to pray it then God could live inside her by faith and it would be like she was “the Energizer Bunny and God was the Batteries”, she’d keep going and going and, “When ya die it’s like you don’t die because God’s inside.” I had told her this earlier, that this is what it meant to know God to be one with Him by the Holy Spirit living in her. She read the prayer along with me and then I asked if she’d like to pray it silently on her own and she said, “Yes,” Emphatically. And she prayed to receive Christ. When she finished I said Now you know that you are forgiven.” “Thanks true,” she said cheerfully and matter of factly. I explained that if she was trusting in the Righteousness of Jesus to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She agreed. I gave her Bible Promises for You and put her name and the date and forgiven in the front and also gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. We chatted bit more about living the Christian life “inside out” by the Spirit’s power and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

PS

My conversation with an atheist teenager. He was the kind that has read a bunch of popular atheists and does not realize they are not using science to disprove the existence of God. Evolution is a descriptive theory of what some people say happened to advance life. It is full of holes and has always struck me a magical thinking, since evidentially you never see things evolve beyond their kind and no new life forms are hoping into existence every few years, which would be predicable. The cell is far too complex to have evolved, as we know it now (Darwin thought it to be only as complex as a Jellybean with a ball bering in the middle of it.) and there is not enough time for it to have evolved in Humans. But even were evolution true its claim is that things evolve by randomness and chance. The problem is that “chance” is not a power in the universe; it is a colloquial name for a force, like luck. You use this name when you don’t really know how something happened so you say it happened by chance. So if evolution happens by random selection and a force, what is that force. It is not survival of the finest, because all it means to be fit in evolutionary theory is that you survived and all it means that you survived is that you were fit, it is circular. So the question is why does a given life form or entity wish to survive and what is it that compels these survived life forms to organize into ecologically viable systems? He said everything wants to survive but I pointed out he had said he’d wished he’d not been born and did not want to survive. I told him I did not believe him but if so he was an example of an entity that did not want to survive. What compels life forms to want to survive and be organized? “They just want to survive, everything wants to survive.” is not true or an adequate answer. “Well it is just “chance” that things turned out that way.” But see once again chance is just a colloquial name for a heretofore unnamed power that made things compelled in a certain fashion. What made them want to “evolve” evolutionary theory does not know and cannot say. So then I can say it is God if I want to. Since you have not named the power driving things to evolve I can pick any power I wish. This is why evolution is not incompatible with God and is not a proof text for atheism. It is because even if you do not want to admit there are complex designs emerging, and refuse them to say that points to an intelligent designer. As an evolutionist you have not accounted for the power of force that is the driver, why do life forms wish to survive. Some might say all life is accidental but no one lives that way and no scientist believes in experimentation random chaos can kick in any moment. If you read EO Wilson, On Human Nature you get this very sense of compulsion in life forms.

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things. An African American, Kiya, prayed to receive Jesus today. (Her name rhymes with Ikea the furniture store). 🙂 Michael trusted in Christ saying he would pray later so I gave in The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and I’ll be praying for him more.

Kiya was sitting in the big lounge were we have Bible study. She is a big girl and has short braids on the top of her head nice smile. She wore green leggings and a t-shirt and was sitting alone at one of the tables. She said she had just started going back to church but had some anxiety problems, maybe with crowds she did not specify. But she had been baptized (it seemed more recently) and was going to a Bible study. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into heaven she said, “That’s a good question. I know that you just can’t go to Heaven because you are a good person, there’s a thing you have to do. It depends where I am at when I die.” She went on to say she thought she would go to Heaven. I asked her how sure and she said 80%. I began to go through the gospel with her and she knew Jesus had died to take away our sins. She was very serious all throughout. I explained the righteousness of God and His blood that cleansed us from all sin and His imputed righteousness. She paid close attention and as I finished I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus or thought something else. She wanted to be forgiven so I said, “When you are asking for forgiveness for your sins have you been thinking, I am a good person and am going to Bible study so I think God will forgive me or do you think I know I’ll be forgiven ’cause Jesus died for me“? She thought about it and said, “Kind of a little of both, if that’s possible,” saying it like she did not believe it was. “The Bible says you are either living or you are dead,” I replied. She agreed. I said something like, well if you wanted to be forgiven and don’t think you’ve trusting fully in Christ yet there is a prayer you could pray. I talked her through it and asked, “Do you think this is still something you need to do, say this to God?” She nodded that it was so I she could pray the prayer silently like I wasn’t even there. “Ok,” she replied and prayed to receive Christ. I explained the Christian life was reading the Bible and asked if she had one. “I need to get one,” she replied. I gave her one and showed her the “Where to Turn” section that answered questions and the section of fulfilled messianic passages. I put her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and explained living the Christian life “By the Spirit’s power” And wrote that and “Just Ask” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do. I also gave her a Bible study on the deity of Christ. ‘Thank you so much, ” she said smiling and after getting her email I told her I would pray for her and she thanked me again and I was off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your weekend has been blessed so far and you are recharging for the run into fall. I had a good day on campus on Friday I got couple seeds planted and also Enzo and Andrew each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Enzo was sitting on a porch area outside the south side of the MAC arts building that looks down on the outside concert area. There is a picnic bench there and he was sitting alone and the college has few students in attendance on Fridays so we were isolated. He had jeans on and a long sleeve nylon shirt like a cross country runner might wear, I never caught the writing straight away to read it, sitting to his left. He had his hair swept up on top in a heavy mop of brown hair and looked very young though our conversation seemed to have a gravitas feel to it somehow. He had sharp features he actually looked like the cartoon character “Speed Racer” with an Italian nose. He said one day he like to own an Enzo Ferrari. He looked like an Italian sports car driver, though small in stature but you gotta be to fit in that car. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said “Why not?” Probably to see how I would respond. I had a professor who once put the Question “Why” on a final exam in philosophy, one student respond “Why not?” and turned it in and he gave them an A. Fortunately I wasn’t in the class. I told him that story. He thought he had a 50/50 shot at getting into Heaven. I went through the Gospel with him and he knew the blood of Jesus took away our sin saying that. I talked to him about the righteousness of Christ and that he died and rose and we were forgiven by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven with God inside or thought something else and he said, “Be forgiven with God inside.” So I asked if growing up he had ever placed his trust in what Jesus had done. “When you ask for forgiveness were you trusting believing Jesus had died for you or did you just know the story?” “Just knew the story,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven placing his trust in Christ there was a prayer he could pray and walked him through it asking if he’d want to do it. “Yeah,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. He had not shown much emotion and was concentrating on what I said as I spoke. I explained living the Christian life. He did not have his own Bible so I gave him one writing his name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside and showing him the “Where to Turn” section that pairs Bible verses with common questions of need. I explained if he was now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven is 100%. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I gave him a Bible Study too. I asked if he had any questions and he said, “Yeah, what if you are doing something you know is wrong but you don’t know how to get out of it. What would your advice be?” I said the Bible teaches that there is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man and I wrote the verse paraphrasing and later in the day sent it to him in an email. Looking for it I took out Bible Promises for You but the verse wasn’t in it. I gave him the book anyway. I said, “The first thing to do was to pray, God promises to give you an escape but I’m not telling you to jump out and do something… having no knowledge of your situation or who might be hurt” I suggested it might be a test. I explained that God might want you to do something difficult because you know it is the right thing to do. I said I would pray for him each day, and he did not need to tell me what the problem was exactly I would just ask God to give him guidance for the “secret thing”. Writing then “Pray for the secret thing.” on the back of a note card. We talked some more and then I got up to leave and he said, “Thank you Bob.” I said he was welcome and it was good to meet him. “Good to meet you too,” he replied and I headed off.

Andrew was the last person I talked to I had been at school several hours and there was almost no one around but he was one of about 4 people in the cafeteria sitting at the counter looking out the window. He said he’d do a student survey; he was a very reserved guy. He looked Latino he had a slightly larger nose, near perfect smile and wore black rimmed glasses. His thick brown hair had a line of white in it, very short on the sides it was combed up in a neat wedge on the top of his head. He really looked like the proverbial common man. He had a nice poly white t-shirt on and tan shorts. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “If God could look back at all the good things… He’d see all the good things that I’ve done. And [as for] the bad things, we make mistakes… we’re sensitive creatures.” He thought he had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and it turned out he had gone to a “Christian Church” but had not gone in a while. I said God wanted to live inside him and give him eternal life but first He had to make him “His Type” by taking away his sins. I asked what the big thing was that Jesus had done to forgive him. He didn’t have any idea. So I explained the death and cleansing blood of Christ and his imputed righteousness and resurrection. He listened to everything and I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus. And he said he would. I said then, “It’s doesn’t seem like you ever had a chance to put all this together before right?” He should his head agreeing, keeping eye contact with me. So I talked him through the prayer and then read, saying, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ So would you say it did?” “It actually does,” he replied. “Well, you could pray this right now, not so I would hear you but God would hear and he’d forgive you and you’d know you were going to Heaven, wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he replied. I handed him the booklet then and he prayed to receive Christ. I went on to explain the Christian life asking for the power of the Holy Spirit to give him the strength to do anything God was asking him to do. I gave him a Bible Study too. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and “By the Spirit’s Power”. I explained “This is 100%,” pointing at the question. Because if you’re trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be your righteousness, how righteous is Jesus? 100% righteous, what’s His righteousness worth? An infinite amount.” We finished talking and I got up to go saying, “Nice to meet you man.” “Nice to meet you too,” he replied. “God bless you.” “God bless you too,” he replied 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 with the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Bobbi prayed with me to receive Jesus. I also got a couple seeds planted with a couple students, Azari an older black student with 2 boys was on the verge of trusting Christ but felt there were contradictions in the Bible. She could not name any for me to resolve for her (no one ever can as there are not any you can help folks see the point in) but then her bus came so I gave her The Case for Christianity Answer Book and she got my email thinking she might ask me some questions.

Bobbi was sitting in the PE lounge talking to a guy (Tee) across a table that had to run to class and said she’d do a student survey. She had a round face, big toothed smile wide features and a short curly afro that had been permed into larger curls. She was cute with big eyes, long eye lashes and a v-neck blouse showing the tattoo on her left breast in cursive writing. I’m not sure what it said, not being willing to stare at it long enough to read the letters for obvious reasons. She was bigger in stature, not fat and wore shredded jeans and a windbreaker, nice kid. She had grown up going to Church and when I asked her why God should let her into Heaven she said, “I was reborn, I repented.” She was 95% sure she was going to Heaven. She could not really recall what Jesus had done to take away her sins at first but it came back to her. She said she’d want to be forgiven. I asked her if when she did something wrong and asked for forgiveness if she was thinking she was a good person and God would forgive her or if she thought, “I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me?” She had not been thinking about Jesus dying for her sins. It seemed like she thought she’d try to be better. But to be sure I said that if she was not sure she’d been trusting in Christ there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it. I asked if she had ever prayed a prayer like that or ever told God she would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. She smiled and shook her head “No”. So I asked if she wanted to pray and do it and she said, “I’m doing it,” reading already silently as I’d encouraged her to do. So I said, “Sorry,” (for interrupting) and she finished praying to receive Jesus. I said she could pick between 20 Things God Can’t Do and a book of Bible promises. She wanted the first one so I explained living the Christian life to her and wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. Then I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven”. It seemed to me she wanted the other book too so I asked her if she’d like it and she said, “Yes,” with a big grin so I put her name in the front of that too. She then began to ask me about demons and if they could speak out loud. I said they can speak words you hear in your mind or speak possessing someone. She said she heard voices sometimes and had thought she was nuts and checked herself into a medical program of some kind at one point, her family members thought she needed help. She said she knew things sometimes that had been told her but did not want to tell people because they would wonder how she could know that. I said we have guardian angels and there might be evil forces that observe us and others and so know things people have otherwise kept secret. They can tell you details about other people just because they can watch you in private moments. I told her some people hear Angles speaking or get a word of knowledge from God where they know things they otherwise would not know. I said it had never happened to me but I had thoughts that troubled me sometimes (discouragement or unforgiveness for example) so I would just pray “Lord take the thoughts of Satan out of my Heart”. I then wrote that in the front of the book. I said to her, “When I prayed that the thoughts would immediately stop.” I wrote several Bible verses in the front of the book, “Test the spirits” saying not all were from the Lord encouraging her to pray the prayer that takes satanic thoughts way when he is trying to mess with you. I explained how some verses applied to her situation, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” We talked some more and I got her email address to send her some stuff and gave her my cell phone number in case she needed me to pray about something so she could text me. “It was so nice to meet ya, you’re great.” I said. “Thank you,” she said in a sing song tone. And I headed out and so did she.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God blessed. I also went through the Gospel with two really faithful black guys, one an artist (Brian) in photography and video and a football player (Lucas). I explained Christ’s imputed righteousness to them giving them assurance of salvation and it was a blessing to chat them up too.

In Him,

Bob

Hey sisters and brothers in Christ,

I hope ya had a great day walking with Jesus. I had a good day on campus and Isabelle and McPaul each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. His friend Jared asked for a booklet to think about it. I had a long conversation that I think made some headway with a cute round-faced Islamic girl, Massa with a tiny nose.  She had dyed her hair close to blonde and was from Syria. She was dating and not very committed to Islam. But I gave her scholarly evidence for the Bible in a Rose hand out and pointed out how Islam and the Quran had changed giving her a little pamphlet on Jesus and the Quran.

Isabelle was sitting in the hallway at a counter height table on the ground floor that wraps around more or less westward toward the bookstore. Her hair was dyed blonde, halfway from the ends upward and she had sharp features, tall, thin and pretty. Her nose in profile was kind of a perfect triangular shape. She wore skinny jeans, black with holes in them and a white t-shirt. She was up for doing a survey about God. She said she wanted to travel the country and I talked to her about going to the lodges of the National Parks. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven, she really struggled saying, “Ahh let’s see…” I tried to help, asking her if she went to Church. She was a faithful Catholic in Elmhurst. So I asked her what her church might say would get her into Heaven, but she could not think of anything and in the end had to settle on “I don’t know.” She thought she had a 50/50 chance to go to Heaven saying, “it depends.” But she wasn’t sure what it depended on. I began to go through the Gospel with her, saying some of it would probably come back to her, but literally nothing did. She was happy to find out that Jesus had died to take away her sins and I pointed out that that is what the Mass was about. ‘The wafer is symbolic of Jesus’ body and the wine His blood.” So I suggested when she took it she should say “thank you,” because it commemorates that He had died for her so her sins could be forgiven. She liked that and resonated with the Gospel. I asked her if she would like to be forgiven trusting in Jesus so He could live inside her or thought something else. “This one,” she said convinced, pointing at the circle with Jesus inside. “Well, it seems like you hadn’t ever put all this together to place your trust in it.” She agreed, so I said if she would like to trust in Jesus there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it, saying she could, “Pray it silently and God would hear the thoughts of your heart.” “Sure,” she said brightly. And she prayed to receive Jesus as I stood by the table looking down. She crossed herself as she finished and I began to explain the power of the Spirit to live the Christian life. I gave her a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do writing by the  Spirit’s Power in the front and then writing her name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside of the cover. I gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Jesus and got her email address to send her some stuff. I explained that if she was trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be her righteousness, the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She thanked me and was happy. I said I’d see her in Heaven and she laughed and I headed out.

I was walking through the big lounge were we have Bible Study and 4 black guys were sitting at a table together so I asked, “Anyone here wanna do a student survey on what you think about God and stuff, find out how to go to Heaven?” I explained it was for a Bible study group. McPaul, with his back to the glass wall, said he would do one. They guy next to him, Jared, asked for a booklet when we were finished, saying he’d been listening. I said maybe I’d see him around and we could talk about it more. A big dude walked up and introduced himself and I shook his hand. He went to the other end of the table and a white girl had walked up to the other end of the table too and that got the rest talking, so I focused on having a conversation with McPaul, kneeling on the floor next to where he sat. He wore a blue polo shirt with a white coat he had buttoned up to the top. A bit of chin hair and a pencil thin mustache. He had a mop of short braids on the top of his head and was a doppelgänger for a young Malcolm-Jamal Warner. (The oldest son on the Cosby show.) When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I feel like He would let me into Heaven. I’m a follower of Christ. I do good, give back.” I asked him the % likelihood he would get into Heaven and he said, “75%, only because I have lived my life to the fullest and go to Church.” When I asked him what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away his sins he though a second and said, “He sacrificed himself.” I said, “Right,” and went on to explain the blood of Christ cleansing us and that the imputed righteousness of Christ could be to our credit as He perfectly fulfilled the Law. He said he would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. So I pointed out that his answer suggested he had been trusting in his good works to earn him Heaven and he agreed. I said he could pray a prayer and trust in Jesus and know he was forgiven and said he could do it and no one would know (everyone else was distracted and talking between each other) as we sat there. I asked if he wanted to pray silently. “Yeah,” he said. When he finished he reached out his hand to me to shake mine and said, “Thank you.” as I shook his hand. “Yeah, you’re welcome man,” I replied. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and also and explained the power of living the Christian life, relying on God’s Holy Spirit. He had a Bible so I gave him a Bible Study and explained a couple ways Jesus claimed to be God. “Nice to meet you,” he said as I got up to leave after thanking me a few more times. “Nice to meet you too,” I replied and 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 give some follow up books to Danni and Thomas, who prayed to receive Jesus last year.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed yesterday and life was good. I had a headache that finally lapsed after a few hours, so I went to campus and Chase and Gillam each prayed with me to receive Jesus. So that was great. 11 students prayed to receive Jesus this week and 2 others committed to Christ saying they would pray later.

Gilliam was sitting in the cafeteria at the counter looking outside, about to study something. But she said she’d do a student survey. Her blondish hair was up in a bun and she had on running shorts and a v-neck shirt. She had a pretty smile, cute perky looking kid, small nose looked kinda sporty. She was faithfully attending a Roman Catholic Church. When I asked her what she would say to God if He asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” she said, “I don’t know,” and then pausing said, “I mean it’s really up to Him.” She thought she had about a 65% chance of getting into Heaven. She was not sure what Jesus had done to take away her sins, but the story seemed to come back to her a bit. And after I explained that Jesus had lived a perfect life, had died in her place and His blood cleansed her, I said, “That’s really what the mass symbolizes. The wafer is His body broken for you and the wine symbolizes his blood that cleansed you. It is reminding you He died for you and so you are forgiven, so sometimes you don’t know what to do in the service right then but you can just say ‘thank you'”. “Thank you,” she repeated in a bright tone of understanding. I then explained how Jesus’ righteousness was to her credit. He made good things out of our bad things and we were saved by faith. I asked her if she’d want to be forgiven, with Christ inside, trusting in Him or thought something else and she said, ‘I’d want to be forgiven.” I said, “Well, you grow up in the Church and maybe don’t think about it much. But now you are in college and have to decide for yourself. So if you wanted to place your trust in that, there is a prayer you can pray.” I explained it, reading it through and she said, “I like that.” I said she could pray it silently now and she’d know she was forgiven. “Right now?” I said, “Sure, not like I’d hear you, but God would hear.” She checked again if she should pray it out loud and I told her no only God needed to hear. And she prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do writing her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and a Bible study she could read. I explained living by the Spirit’s power to her. Just asking for help from Him. I said that if she was trusting now in Jesus righteousness to be her righteousness, the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. “God bless you,” I said. “God bless you too,” she replied. “Thanks for talking with me,” I said in leaving. “Of course,” she replied. And I headed out.

I had some long talks with some students I knew from last year who were not Christians.  I walked one theist, who had not settled on Jesus yet [Bill] but was in another philosophy of religion class, to the bus stop, and he gave me his thoughts on where he was at. He was in the middle of 5 books and did not want another one.

I headed into the BIC and the hall was pretty empty as it was getting into the afternoon. But I found Chase sitting on a bench with a basket ball sitting beside him, his duffle bag at his feet. He had a short afro and a bit of facial hair lip and chin, good looking guy, lean with a round head. Friendly, warm smile, seemed laid back. He had on basketball shorts and a plain white t-shit. He was over 6’4″. Friendly. He’d gone to Church in life, and his mom made sure “we all had bibles”. When I asked him why God should let him into Heaven he said, “I would hope to say, ‘I did what He asked me to do… hopefully.” He thought he had a 50/50 shot to go to Heaven. As I went through each point of the Gospel he repeatedly said, “Makes sense.” And said he want to be forgiven when I asked at the end. I said it seemed like he hadn’t had a chance to put all this together before so he could trust in it and he agreed. So I said if he wanted to place his trust in Jesus there was a prayer he could pray and walked him through it. He said, “Makes sense.” again and when I said he could pray it quietly and be forgiven he said, “I’ll do it.” And he did.  I said he could keep the booklet and he held out his hand to shake mine and said, “Thank you.” I shook his hand and I explained the Christian life was asking for God’s power through the Spirit to do anything He was asking us to do. I gave him a Bible Promises for You book writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and “By the Spirit’s power.” I also gave him a Bible study, which he liked. Then it seemed like he had to get somewhere. I told him I would keep him in my prayers through next year and he said, “Thank you, thank you,” and threw the book in his duffle with the Bible study and headed down the hall. My headache was coming back and the school was basically empty so I headed home.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism on Thursday of you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with the joy of the Lord. The Lord blessed me on campus.  Jeff and Cole each prayed with me to receive Jesus.  Daniel also committed to Christ, saying he would pray later. So I am hopeful I’ll run into him again in the lunch room. He had the Clark Kent brown haircut and a wider nose, typical American face.

Jeff was sitting in front of some conference room doors, just west of the outside doors near the bookstore, up on the second floor. He had skin like mine (sadly for him), brown hair swept back and looked like a young Homer Simpson, minus the 5 o’clock shadow. He wore jeans and a blue t-shirt and said he was an Eagle Scout. When I ask him what he would say to God to be let into Heaven, he said, “I don’t think there is anything I’ve really done that’s been, like you know…” I queried him a bit more and he said, “Bad or spectacular, either.” “So you haven’t done anything really great, if that’s what gets you into Heaven and you haven’t done anything really bad if that would send someone to Hell?” I asked. “Right,” he agreed. He had gone to a Catholic Church as a kid and then his family had gone to a Lutheran Church that was closer to his home. He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. He did not know what Jesus had done to take way his sins, or could not remember. He really tuned into the Gospel however and it was enjoyable to talk to someone I was certain wanted to listen. It is good news after all. Based on where he was sitting, he wasn’t waiting for a class to start and we just sat on the floor leaning against the wall and talked. When I had finished going through the Gospel, I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven or thought something else. “Well, I’d want that one,” pointing at the circle representing Christ inside, with a tone of voice suggesting it was the obvious choice. So I told him there was a prayer he could pray to be forgiven and walking him through it. I asked if he would be willing to pray it silently and be forgiven, he nodded. I said “Just pretend I’m not even here” and he gave chuckle and received Jesus. When he’d finished he was glad.  I explained the Christian life living inside out by God’s power. He thought they had some Bibles around somewhere, but I offered him one of his own and he wanted it. I showed him the “Where to Turn” section in the back to answer questions and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and told him Jesus’ words were in red. I gave him the book 20 Things God Can’t Do explaining how everything was by the Spirit’s power in the Christian life, writing that in front. I also gave him a Bible Study and got his email to send him some stuff. He offered me his hand and I shook it and he said, “Thanks.” I said I’d see him around maybe and say hi and he said ok. “Have a good one man,” I said getting on my feet.”You too,” he said with a smile and I was off. I also gave him an extra booklet and a Bible Promise book for Jenna his girlfriend, whom he said he wanted to marry.

I bumped into Cole just past the lounge where we have bible study down the hall a bit. He was a small guy with stick straight brown hair in a mop with bangs pushed over to the side, pointed nose and a round head, no facial hair, he looked too young for it. He wore a red, white and blue kind of tie-dyed hoodie and red and blue basket ball shorts. He was a really nice, friendly kid, smart. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “Ooo,” thinking a bit, then settled on, “You were always in my life, I guess, even when I didn’t go to Church you were still with me.” He thought he had a 50/50 shot at going to Heaven. He didn’t know what Jesus had done to take away his sins when I asked him. It turned out though he didn’t live far from school. His father and stepmother had taken him to Willow Creek Church, but the left it and had been headed downtown somewhere for church. He went occasionally. He listened closely to the Gospel like he hadn’t heard it before. Though he must have heard some. In the end, I asked if he wanted to be forgiven, trusting in Jesus and he said yes, using a theological term for abiding with Christ which escapes me now, (sorry it’s late and I’m tired).  I said something about growing up in the church you kind of just roll with it and don’t think about it much. But hey, welcome to college you’re a man and you have to make up your own mind to follow. I offered him the prayer and he decided to pray to receive Jesus, though he had to run to his class. That was great. I hadn’t had a chance to get another Bible so I said I’d look for him around and give him one since he said he needed to get a new one. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and explained living by the Spirit’s power, writing his name and the date and forgiven in the front. I gave him a Bible study, quickly explaining it a bit and he thought it was cool.  I asked if he had any questions and he said, “No, I’ve heard it before.” I assumed he meant at church, which made some sense that it would all start sounding familiar. “Thanks,” he said, getting up to leave. “See ya around man.” “Yeah see ya,” and he ran off.

So thanks for your prayer for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance. God blessed and life was good.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a great day walking with the Lord. It rained a lot here but the Lord blessed on campus.  Ray and Marco each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Chloe committed to Christ saying she’d pray later. She hadn’t understood any of the Gospel but had been attending a Bible study of some kind. Unfortunately, she had to run to class as I quickly explained the Gospel to her. She hadn’t understood it at all. We’d just started to talk and she was willing to take a booklet before class began. She was a cute, short girl with blonde hair, an oval face pointed chin .and asked for another booklet for her boyfriend Juan. So I am hopeful when I see her again she will have prayed to receive Christ.

Ray was sitting on the edge of the lounge outside student activities (the lounge below where we have Bible Study.) He was a little more slight and shorter than me in build and had a wide flat nose, sharp chin and jaw line with a bit of facial hair lip and chin. He wore a gray cross country shirt from high school and had ripped up jeans on. His afro piped up a bit into braids on top. Good looking’ kid, reserved. He was cool. He said his Grandfather was a preacher, after agreeing to do a student survey. After his Grandfather had died he’d stopped going to Church. I asked him what he would say if God asked Him why he should be let into Heaven and he said, “That’s a good one… Because you love Him?” he guessed. He didn’t say he loved Him so I wasn’t sure how to take it. He knew Jesus had died to forgive sins. I went through the Gospel with him and he stopped me in the middle and said, “I know you probably don’t mean to say this but it seems like you are saying you could believe and just do whatever you want.” “Well I’m not finished yet,”  I replied. But I went on to explain if someone said they believed God had died for them, to save them, and then did evil things it would be realistic to think they were lying. After all your mom has done for you if you never helped her at all or showed her any appreciation I would not believe you if you said you loved her. He agreed that was true. I said that if you knew someone for 20 years who said 20 years before they’d become a Christian, but then saw no change in their life, and they were still bad, you’d assume they were lying. People can make big mistakes though and have a bad day where they fall into a sinful life they left behind too, “I’m not saying people can’t make mistakes.” I went on to explain the rest of the Gospel and asked if he wanted to be forgiven, trusting in Jesus or thought something else. “The first one,” he replied. So I said that if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it. I asked if he would want to pray silently to receive Jesus. “Yeah,” he said, slowly dragging out the word. I handed him the booklet and he prayed to receive Jesus. He went to hand it back then but I said he could keep it, having used it to explain the Holy Spirit to him a bit. He asked for some verses on faith. So I gave him a Bible Promise book. There wasn’t a specific chapter for faith in the one I gave him, so I gave him some others. I wrote his name, the date and “Forgiven” in the front and gave him a Bible study to read too. “Your Grandfather is looking down right now and saying, My Man” I told him and he grinned and laughed a bit and said, “Yeah” and thanked me. Then, saying I would be praying for him, I headed out.

Marco was sitting on one of the stone walls outside the PE building. He had a couple of days growth of beard, a pointed nose and sharp outline to his long face, deep set eyes and swept back, straight, light brown hair. He said he’d gone to church a couple times with his mom as a kid but he didn’t know what kind it had been. It was obvious he had never heard the Gospel before. He had on a t-shirt, dark gray jeans and brown leather high-tops. It was sprinkling a bit so I did not know how long we’d last. I kept praying the rain away thinking about Elijah. I got hit with the occasional drop as we talked. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I feel like I’ve done nothing wrong.” ‘You mean nothing really bad, nobody’s perfect. ‘Right” he agreed. I knew he’d know nothing of the Gospel so I went straight through and he was really interested to understand what God had done. I explained the short time we have here compared to eternity where God would glorify us. I said he could be forgiven, believing in all I had explained to him. That Jesus was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He thought he believed and could trust in that “But is that enough?” he asked. The theological answer is it is enough if God is at work in the hearer and enters them with His Spirit by faith Who seals them. All the Bible’s analogies are written that way, dead one moment-alive the next. No one is half alive and then finally totally alive. It is a zero-sum game. But it seemed like Marco was asking if he had enough faith. I explained that you have to take the first step on the ladder and with God’s power you do that and you’ll climb higher, you will depend on Him more. Sometimes you won’t like what He is doing and you’ll have to ask for more faith. He had said he wanted to have a family and so I talked about the day I got married. Now decades later I realize I could not have known then what it would take to stay married or known what my wife and I would each become, how we might change. But I learned to trust my wife more and more and now I would trust her with anything and would do anything she asked me to do for her. But if you tell God you believe, “If you die tomorrow you will be in Heaven, it is enough,” I concluded. He decided to trust in Christ saying, “I can do that.” And he prayed to receive Him. It was raining a few more drops. He had to go so I gave him, The Case for Christianity Answer Book, “Following Jesus” the Rose publication and a Bible, writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front trying not to let the rain hit it, after I showed him the “Where to Turn” section. I told him my email was in the booklet and then gave him a Bible Study that has my email on it too and shook his hand. It started to pour. I shook his hand again as he thanked me and encouraged him to ask me anything. He headed to the parking lot and I to the building. He thought he’d come to the Bible study. Please pray he does if God would have me pour into him more.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance. I was wiped out from a long, tiring night the night before, but God used me today anyway.

Love in Christ,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I went through the Gospel with 4 African American guys, Roy, CJ and Jamari, Jaylen, who each prayed to receive Jesus today and Carmen, a Latina Catholic who prayed to receive Jesus too. I got through the Gospel with a Muslim guy Hadi and Kenyan girl [Linda] who took it in anyway, saying she believed already and another black guy Jordan who committed to Christ saying he’d pray later. Thanks so much for your help in prayer. This is pretty long so I can imagine not everyone wishes to read it. I’d be grateful if you’d just pray for these 5 kids to grow in their faith.

A lot of people turned me down today, but 11 peeps heard the Gospel including Hadi a HS kid who afterwards did not want to tell me what he thought of Christianity (intonating he did not want to insult me. He said he had nothing to say that would help.) but was friendly.  I gave him a small pamphlet on Islam which he took with him. I also went through the Gospel with an Atheist Samantha outside the MAC.

Roy was sitting at the end of a row of chairs and had a slip of paper in his hand he was working on that turned out to be a survey from another group. I asked him if he wanted to do a survey before I realized what he was up to and he said, “I got one ,” showing it to me. I said this was something different and began to ask him questions. He showed me a tattooed verse on his arm saying “This right here,” when I asked him why God should let him into Heaven. He had on red sneakers, quilted jeans and a blue short sleeve shirt. He had a very short afro, fairer skin and an oval face with classic African features. I explained that his tattooed verse (from Proverbs) was from the Old Testament, so that could not tell him how to be saved and I began telling him some of the Gospel through analogies. I went through several of them and then took out a booklet so he’d have the verses written down. “Where did you learn all this stuff?” he asked. “From reading the Bible,” I replied. He circled a few more things on the survey and the girl came back and picked it up without speaking, smiling at me knowingly and I went on explaining everything to him. He had not understood or trusted in Jesus by faith and hadn’t known Jesus had died for him, to take away his sins. Though I think the story sounded a bit familiar. I offered him a chance to pray at the end and he  did and received Christ  and was really happy thanking me. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and a Bible Study on the deity of Jesus. He was late for an appointment and had to run. “I hope I’ll be seeing you around,” he said. I encouraged him to ask for God’s help in everything and blessed him and he gave me a very serious look saying, “You too,” and headed off.

Jamari and CJ were a couple of football players sitting in the hall of the BIC. They said they’d do a survey. Jamari, a real solid looking guy, was very dark and  more reserved with sharp features, dark blue t-shirt. His afro went up and then flat like a stove pipe. Good looking guy. CJ was built like a receiver and both wanted to play “In the League” [NFL]. CJ was more outgoing, had fairer skin and a bit of facial hair on his lip and chin, face more round classic features for an African American. Both were friendly. Jamri knew Jesus had died to take away our sins, but both had been trusting in good works to go to Heaven. I don’t think either had thought about it much before meeting me. When I asked why God should let them into Heaven, both reacted like they had just read the test question they hadn’t studied for and stared across the hall, thinking. Jamari said, ”Cause I always put people before myself.” CJ said, “I changed my life around from bad to good.” Jamari was 100% sure he was going to Heaven and CJ gave himself a 70% chance. After I went through the Gospel with them and pointed out that they had been hoping they were good enough by their answers, I asked if they would want to be forgiven believing in Jesus. They seemed a bit unclear and I had taught them a lot, through a couple high fives of other players walking by. “Would you want to trust in Jesus dying for you on the Cross to be forgiven. Trusting in the good things Jesus has done, not the good things you have done? Jamari said yes right away, but CJ said, “Man this is a lot to think about.” “It’s not really a lot,” I said, “It’s pretty simple. Do you believe Jesus is God, has died for your sins and rose from the dead.” He looked at me and said, “Yes.” I asked would you want to put your trust in that to be forgiven? He thought for a moment and God touched his heart and he said, “I believe,” very seriously and remained very sober. I talked them through the prayers they could pray and handed them the booklets, saying they could pray silently. They each prayed their own prayer though closing their eyes off and on and kept the booklets. I gave them each 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote their names, the date and “forgiven” in the front of each. They were thankful and cheerful as I left them and I gave them Bible Studies a bit later passing them in the hall.

Jaylen was a round face guy with a short afro and facial hair, (lip and chin) very articulate, shorter, had some weight on him, not too much though. He was sitting at a table on the edge of the lounge where we have Bible Study facing the bathrooms. He was willing to do a survey. When I asked him why God should let him into Heaven he said, “Because I try to bring a positive influence wherever I go.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. He listened carefully to the Gospel and so I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins after comparing Christianity to Buddhism and Islam. “Forgiven,” he said simply. So I asked him if he thought he had been trusting in the death and resurrection of Jesus to pay for his sins and get him into Heaven or if he’d been hoping he was good enough. “Trusting in Jesus,” he replied. So I said that this was a way he could share his faith and I showed him the quote in the back I always talk to students about, “Your walk with Christ depends on what you allow him to do in and through you, empowered by the Holy Spirit, not on what you do through your own self effort.” [Paraphrasing] Then I said if he was showing this to someone and they wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer they could pray and I walked him through it.  I asked, “Is this something you’ve done before, said this to God, or haven’t you gotten around to it yet?” “Hadn’t gotten around to it,” he replied. So I said he could pray the prayer silently in his heart so only God would hear and asked if he wanted to do that. He nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ, so that was great because he had joy then. I offered him some books to read and he chose a Bible promises book, so I wrote his name and the date and “Forgiven”  in the front. He was very grateful and thanked me several times. I explained the Christian life to him. “Alright,” he said enthusiastically, “thanks for that.” I said I’d write that down as to what he thought about the Gospel and he said, “The man.” I also gave him a Bible study to read and said I’d see him in Heaven as I got up to go. He thanked me again and I headed out.

I hadn’t put two Bible promise books in the my pack and school was emptying out. But it was a little earlier than I wished to leave, so I walked out to the truck and got some more books and went in to school again. After another conversation with a Christian I invited to Bible Study, I found Carmen sitting on the second floor near the stairs in back near the waterfall. She is a pretty short, petite, Latina girl with long brown wavy hair past her shoulders. She had a yellow shirt on and jeans and nearly perfect white teeth. Her eyes were like  Mila Kunis, cute kid. She said she tried to go to Church every Sunday.  When I asked her what she would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” she said, “Because I always believed in Him and looked up to Him.” I went on to explain the Gospel, saying God wanted to know her, which meant to live inside her with His Holy Spirit but first He had to take away her sins to make her his type. I asked what the big thing was that God did to take away her sins. She kind of apologetically said that in her church, which she assumed would be different than mine, she confessed her sins. I said that was right. The Bible said “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I went on to say, “The Catholic church teaches that only God can forgive your sins. So the priest does not forgive your sins, but he is telling you that because you confessed that God forgives your sins. So why is it the priest can say that?” She was unsure. To help her think I said, “When we sin we hurt ourselves and the earth, and everything here even us is God’s stuff. So when you wreck God’s stuff you owe Him for it. And God has to get paid, so the priest can say your sins are forgiven because God got paid for your sins.” I went on to explain the Gospel of Christ as how God is paid for our sins, His blood cleanses us in an ongoing power in the world and His righteousness is to our credit. I said this is symbolically what the Mass is about. She had not realized these thing before at all. I said when she took the mass she should just say, “Thank You” to God for forgiving her. She wanted to be forgiven so I said she could pray a prayer receiving God’s forgiveness trusting in Christ. I explained it to her and said she could pray silently and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. She said her mom had a big Bible so I offered her one and showed her the “Where to Turn” section and she really liked that. I put her name the date and “forgiven” in the front. She got a phone call from her ride home and asked them to wait 2 minutes more. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible Study. She thanked me for talking to her and I said now she knew what church was about. “Thank you,” she said warmly and hurried off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Third Watch Ministries, NFP, P.O. Box 1283, Wheaton, IL 60187-1283                                                                                                                                         Bob & Ellen Bollow                                                                May 29, 2019

^“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”  John 5:25

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Well the school year has ended, though someone forgot to tell the western suburbs of Chicago to warm up. It’s nice today as I write, though rain is predicted again. The seasonal pond in the yards behind us has ducks. The Cubs were all still wearing head socks in the field at night until a week ago. The school year went well as a whole, and 151 students prayed to receive Jesus after hearing the Gospel from me. This school year I have survey cards for 410 students I went through the Gospel with, though sometimes I go through the Gospel without doing a survey. Many of these students were professing Christians already. Some changed their mind, from hoping they would be good enough to saying they were trusting in Christ for salvation by the time our conversation ended, and yet did not pray with me. So I am hopeful for others whom God may have drawn to Himself as we talked, without their truly realizing it in the moments after. I am hopeful these too realized the truth for the first time and placed their trust in Jesus. There were days God lead me to someone through a prompting in my mind to go to a certain place on campus when I first arrived at school. But for the most part, I just got blown around by the Spirit until I could find someone to talk to about Christ. As John the Baptist says in the Gospel of John, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.”  I worked hard. Hundreds of students turned me down (usually politely enough), uninterested in a conversation about God or too busy. I pretty much ran myself into the ground from conversations by the time the year had ended. But apart from God’s power, no one would pray with me to receive Christ. So I feel like it was kind of God to use me and hear your prayers for the work. About a half dozen students told me they would pray later in the evening and then later on I bumped into them and they said they had prayed. Several after checking with a parent about if what I had said was true.

This spring, a guy I had first talked to over in the BIC building, called out to me later over in the science building. He introduced himself and I said I remembered him and where we’d been sitting and what he’d been wearing. I said I’d been praying for him each night. He thanked me by saying that our contact had made a huge difference in his life. He was grateful. This is what I wrote of him back on February 11^th:

Sam was on the second floor where I felt nudged to go when I first got to school. He was just killing time on his phone, waiting for his class to begin directly across the hall. He was wearing running clothes; heavy nylon sweats and a jacket, and a red and blue winter hat pulled down so I could not see his hair. He had a boyish face with skin like a kid. He had been to a Lutheran Church growing up and now had begun to get back into Church and go with some couples he found at school. I warned him there were cults at school, since I did not know who his new friends were. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and God asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said, “I don’t know to be honest. I don’t think there is a right answer I could give that would be good enough. It’s really in God’s hands. It would just be begging at that point.” He was nonetheless certain he would go to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died to save us from the consequences of our sin. He understood the Gospel better as I went through it and really liked the illustrations I used and related to them. I asked him in the end if he would want to be forgiven for his sins and have God live inside him. “I would want to be forgiven.” So I began to ask if he had been trusting in what Jesus had done for him to be forgiven. It turned out he had not really been thinking about it at all. “I really just pray a lot,” he explained. I explained the difference in having a relationship with God as his creator and being in a relationship with God as his Savior. He talked about his friend who was engaged at the age of 20 to a girl of the same age. He said his friend had said the first thing he did when he got up in the morning was to text her. His friend went on to say that he should be doing that with God, the first thing in the morning he should talk to Him. I said that was great, but getting back to their relationship…the reason he could text her was because they were engaged. If I started texting her first thing in the morning, that would be creepy. Their relationship made that texting meaningful. I said he had not been sure there was anything he could say to God that would get him into Heaven. But God had told him what he could trust in to do just that. I said he could not have been trusting in that truth, that Jesus was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead, if he did not understand there was such a truth. Sam agreed, and so I said if he wanted to trust in Christ there was a prayer he could pray. I finished explaining it and asked if he thought he’d like to pray it. “I like it,” he replied. Then checking to see if it was OK to do so silently, he prayed to receive Jesus. We talked some more about providence and I quoted Ephesians 2:10 to him. I explained the Christian life was walking by the Spirit. I gave him a Bible study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name, the date and “forgiven” in the front. I also wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” and explained asking for help in all things. He thanked me and asked about the Bible study again so I am hopeful he will come. We had a great talk right up to the minute before his class began and then he took 6 steps across the hall and went in.

I often do not bump into students again, so I was touched that Sam had called out to me after I was 20 steps down the hall past him.

The weekly bible study we have on campus to disciple students was pretty well attended and we made some new relationships and friends.  Several of those students will be transferring to other schools in the fall, and we will miss them.

We can’t fully express to you how much your prayers and gifts to help us do ministry have meant. I have acquired some physical infirmities with sciatic nerve pain and  a recurring neck pain that have drastically limited my ability to do painting work on the side and through the summer. I can still do small stuff where the physical side is less demanding. Ha, maybe I just got old. But the Lord is still guiding students to talk with me on campus and bringing them to be discipled a bit by us at bible study (Ellen of course looks much younger, so that helps I’m sure.) So we are truly grateful for your financial help so we can keep on ministering the Gospel on campus.

We have, however, reached a point where the gifts to the ministry are not sufficient to cover the expenses.  Third Watch runs on a shoestring, and we are always trusting the Lord to provide for our needs.  Drawing a modest salary the past several years is depleting our surplus funds, and it is likely they will be exhausted this year.  All of Ellen’s administrative work is volunteer. Our efforts to continue in this ministry will be at a cross-road.  If you know someone, or a group of friends, that we might share our ministry with in order to bring more partners alongside us, we would be grateful for an introduction. Or if you have a bible study or small group that would be interested in hearing how to do a Gospel presentation.  Over 1300 students have prayed with me to receive Christ since we began this ministry in 2002.

These are the 151 students who have prayed to receive Jesus this school year. (An * means they committed to Christ, saying they would pray later and I have not yet found out if they did.)

Maya, Paul, Alec, Nashoana, Daniella, Jackie, William, Alexis, John, Mariana*,Justin, Nick, Mark, Jada, Sebastian, Frank*, Celeste, Nick, Sam, Irima, Christian, Joaquin, Dylan, Luis, Mike, Derick, Bridget, Christina, Demya, Tamera, Jalissa, Chamar, Ryan, Patrick, Angelo, Sydney, Adi, Cody, Alyssa, Jane, Zeke, Joey, Kamaria, Drey, Colin, DJ, Stephanie, Jesse, Kyle, Patricia*,Anthony, Cind, Chuck, Nick, Stephanie, Sean, Jessica, Jocelyn*, Nickie, Jaslynn, Malcolm, Tanner, Nataly, Emily, Lekayla*, Lauren, Oscar, Issac, Patty, Nino, Alec, Mia, Jalen, Grant, Alex, Stephanie, Brian, Josh, Jack, Lionel, Anthony, Jose, Nick, Jada, Bre, Lucien, Janet, Charley, Leidy, Jessica, Charliene, Tika, Connor, Gaetano, Leondra, Ben, Dylan, Nicole, Sam, Tavarus, Anthony, Cameron, Lupita, Joe, Flora, James, Roben, Jaden, Jacob, Kaela, Michael, Juana, Aislinn, Nas, Yadi, Joe, Mirijam, Chris, AJ, Dom, Alex, Noah, Akire, Carter, Mike, Matt, Xavier, Matt, Ariel, Dawnnette, Danni, Mari, Dorian, Zac,Thomas, Jerry, Brianna, Michael, Tom, Byron, Arturo, Jacob*,Mike, Erik, Alex, David, Julio, Anjelica, Lea, Storm, Eddie, Grace, Melanie, Salma, Alex, Florin, Christian

Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” John 6:28&29

In Him,                                                                              bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net

Bob & Ellen                                                                       www.thethirdwatch.org