Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I hope you had a great day walking with the Lord.   I had a good day sharing the faith and watched the Lord bring two students to Christ.   The first was a girl Jessie, who was sitting on a bench in the Science building in the 2nd floor hallway waiting for a class to begin.   She is a pretty black girl who had over a half dozen piercings in her right ear, straight shoulder length hair with some tinted strands and black pants and a long hemmed blouse.  She said she wanted to travel to Dubai someday and I told her there was a non-stop flight 17 hours from Panama.  She could go down and beach it for a few days and then head out.  She thought that would be great.  She is from a Roman Catholic Background and knew of Christ’s crucifixion.  When I asked her why God should let her into Heaven she said, “That’s a hard question.  I didn’t do anything to deserve to go to hell.”   I explained how she would have to be perfect to deserve Heaven and walked her through the Gospel, explaining Christ’s imputed righteousness to her.   She followed closely and when I asked her if she would want to be forgiven, trusting in what Christ had done for her, she gave a firm emphatic “Yes”.   So I asked her if she had ever asked God to forgive her based on what Jesus had done for her on the Cross, or if she had just been hoping going to Church and being religious would save her.   It was then latter, and she said she would like to pray to receive Jesus.  I showed her a prayer she could pray silently and she did.   I gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and More than a Carpenter to read.  I also explained the work of the Holy Spirit in giving us the power to live the Christian life and she seemed happy.  I invited her to the Bible study on campus, so we’ll see if she comes.

Sam was sitting in the MAC Arts building next to the Gallery space on the West side of the big lounge.   He was just listening to his phone waiting for a bus that stopped not far outside the building.   He is a volleyball player, over 6 feet by a few inches, slim with very short hair nearly shaved.   Kind of classic good looking athletic guy, baggy athletic shorts and a College of DuPage T-shirt short sneakers with ankle socks.   He said he went to the Bible Church in town.   When I asked him why God should let him into Heaven he said, “Right now in my life… He would have no reason to let me into Heaven right now.”   I asked if he thought he might get in on mercy and he thought he had an 80% chance.  I thought he might be trying to earn eternal life, so I began to go through the Gospel with him.   He didn’t finish the verses for me as if he knew them, but I could see it was familiar that Christ had died.   So after going through several verses and details I asked him if he had been trusting in the Blood of Christ, in His sacrifice on the Cross and imputed righteousness to go to Heaven, or if he had been trying to do good works.   He thought just a moment and said he’d been, ” …Trying to be good enough to get in.”   I explained trusting in Christ with some word pictures and he said, “Oh I see.”  And he wanted to be forgiven, trusting in the Work of Christ.   So I offered him the prayer he could pray and he did silently in his heart.   I explained the Fruit of the Spirit (which he had heard about) and relying on the Spirit’s power to live the life in Christ, walking by the Spirit.   We talked about some other Spiritual things and he said, “When I left home this morning my parents said, ‘Maybe you can meet some Christian people who will help lead you closer to God this year.’ And now I met you!”   And he grinned with a perfect smile.   I gave him a Bible study and Playing with Purpose to read as I walked him toward the bus.   I unfortunately talked too long as I made him miss his bus.   I offered him a ride, but he thought it was still coming as people were in the bus stop.  But I saw him in a lounge later where we have Bible study so I knew he’d missed it.   I offered him a ride again, but he laughed and thanked me and said his ride would be here in 22 minutes (looking at his phone).

I also chatted up some peeps I’d shared with last year.   I had a couple other conversations with some guys who seemed close, both wanting to take booklets (Alex, a big dude with a short ginger beard and Ed, white guy with dark hair, Baseball cap and sharp features, who said he wanted to think about it.  He took the book and occasionally went to a good church in Naperville) So I will pray for them for a while.

So thanks for your prayers today.  God heard and was faithfully leading me by the Spirit.

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Well, I hope you had a good summer.   Ours had a few ups and downs, but we got to see the mountains in Colorado as some friends generously gave us frequent flyer miles to take a trip.   The College of DuPage is off and running as of this Monday, Aug 24th.  So I will be back at it among the peeps, hoping for the blessing and leading of God through your prayers.   Paul is the model for this – asking for the prayers of the Church at Ephesus

·Ephesians 6:18“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,”

I would humbly ask for your prayers as well as I go out for several hours each day and look for the elect, whose hearts God has prepared to hear the Good News about Salvation by the blood of Christ.   We have a few peeps who want to come to the Bible study again.  And a good friend is teaching a class on Islam beginning half way through the semester at COD.  So I will be taking that.  Should be interesting.   He was studying to be a leader in a Mosque in Lebanon when God began to change his life and now he is a Lutheran Pastor, studying to get a PhD.   He is very well informed, having memorized half the Qur’an when he was a young man.

Thanks for your prayers again this year if you are willing.  We are truly grateful for your help advancing the Kingdom of God by the Holy Spirit.   I’ll be going out on Monday and we’ll see what God will do with my feet and our prayers together.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Well, I hope you had a good day walking with the Lord.  It got warm around Chicago and I didn’t have to spend 50 cents today to put my coat in a locker.  I left it in the truck.  Three students prayed to receive Christ today: Gabrielle, Rhema (ray-ma) and Chris.

Gabrielle was the first person I talked to, sitting in the hall on the second floor.  She went to a local church called Cavalry.  She was a nice shy girl had her hair pulled back into a pony tail and black rimmed glasses, cute round cheeks, African American.  She had yoga pants on and a long hooded gray sweater down to her thigh, boots.  She struggled with what to say about why God should let her into Heaven, saying she was not sure.  I asked her about church and she went so I said, “What would you say keeps someone out of Heaven.  Is it something they have done?” That didn’t help and she finally said, “It’s not for me to decide.”  I agreed that it was God’s decision and said, “There is a way He decides though.”  I explained that Christianity was like a blood transfusion and God wanted to transfuse His life into her, to live inside her in the Holy Spirit.  But first He had to make her His type by taking away her sin.  I asked how God did that and she said, “He forgives you.”  “Yes, but why?” I gently pressed and began to go through the Gospel with her.  It seemed to register like she knew the story, so I asked her what she was thinking when asking God for forgiveness if something went wrong–giving her some options including the correct one – that God would forgive her because Jesus had died for her.  “I am trusting that He is forgiving and that I won’t do it again.”  I continued through the Gospel and pointed out that when she asked for forgiveness she really knew it was likely she would do it again, and she agreed.  I finished explaining it all and she wanted to be forgiven, so I walked her through the prayer.  But she said, “I have always been hesitant to do this because I know I won’t keep it [do what I promised].”  I said, “Yes, that is true you will not.  You can’t.  If the Bible said (and it doesn’t) you have to live one perfect day to get into Heaven you would not because you are sinful.”  “I have been to Church all my life and been to Christian school and not really felt like I was right with God,” she replied.  I pointed out that Christianity was not our living the right way on the outside in order to change us on the inside, but was God transforming us inside so we would be different people on the outside.  Having encouraged her that God made all things into good, even when we fail, I said, “You can’t screw up your life. God will always fix it.  The fix might be painful and hard, but He will always make things into good.”  She decided to pray to receive Christ and prayed very slowly, seeming to take time over each phrase.  I got her email and gave her More than a Carpenter to read and a Bible study, telling her I would keep her in my prayers.  She seemed happy and at peace and thanked me.  It was a very sweet conversation.

I found Rhema standing against the door in the ground floor foyer of the PE building.  She was a pretty black girl who attended the Salvation Army Church and had shoulder length hair pouring down out from under a winter cap, pretty smile.  We walked over and sat on the stairs to answer some questions.  When I asked her why God should let her into Heaven she said, “I’ve been a Christian all my life and followed Jesus’ practices and preaching.”  She was 100% sure she was going to Heaven, but she could not tell me how God took away her sins, struggling over it a minute and saying, “I don’t know.”  I went through the Gospel with her and it did not seem like she had heard it before.  So I explained much of what I had just explained to Gabrielle, I hoping she followed, and finally explained what she was missing.  That what she had told me to get into Heaven was not faith.  I explained the ‘we were first transformed on the inside, then changed on the outside’ idea and that the “Salvation” in the name “Salvation Army” was salvation from her sins.  She wanted to be forgiven and I encouraged her in explaining the prayer that she should pray it, since she had never really told God she was trusting in Jesus and His payment for her sins.  She agreed and prayed to receive Christ.  I think she understood the difference I was explaining to her, but sometimes it is hard to help people see when they falsely think of themselves as Christians their “whole life.”  I gave her More than a Carpenter to read and a Bible study and I will be praying the Holy Spirit (whose work I explained to her) breaks through to her increasingly in her understanding of the Christian life.

Chris was sitting in the lounge in the southeast corner of the second floor of the BIC building.  I walk in that lounge every once in a while and haven’t gotten someone to talk to me in a couple years.  I looked in and saw him and felt compelled to ask him about God.  So I prayed and walked up to him and he was receptive right away.  He looked Latino and his last name was Spanish.  Chris had shorter hair on top, very closely trimmed on the side and was wearing a blue and gold football jersey with a gold chain around his neck, clean shaven.  He smiled a lot, nice guy, not a very big guy.  I asked him why God should let him into Heaven and he said, ‘I lived my life to try to be the best person I could possibly become.  I tried my best to avoid doing bad things.”  But when I asked him the likelihood he would get into Heaven and he hesitated I said, “50/50?”  He came back with, “No, not that much.  30%.”  He had gone to what I think is a multi-site church called “Sanctuary” and also to Calvary, but had not gone for a couple of years.  I went through the Gospel with him, saying I had some good news.  He tuned into the stories I use to explain stuff and knew Christ had died to take away sins.  But he had not been believing on His name.  Chris wanted to be forgiven, however, and trust in Christ and he prayed to receive Him and was visibly happy.  He was really into the NBA, so I gave him Playing with Purpose and a Bible study and got his email.  He said he lived in Naperville, so I told him about Compass Church there, saying the church we went to was going to merge with it and I had heard the pastor, who was a really good speaker.  I gave him the street it was on and wrote down the name so he could Google it.  He enthusiastically thanked me and we said goodbye.

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

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Hope you have been being blessed. There was no school today so El and I met some of the peeps for lunch and I tromped around with them to estate sales as Ellen returned to work.  Got some wall-paper stripped at the end of the day for 3 hours.  But Wednesday Brian and Nick each prayed to receive Christ.

Brian was sitting in the MAC building upstairs at one of the bar height tables, looking down on the lounge.  He looked like Steve McQueen’s little brother, same hair cut and similar features and hair color.  He thought God would have to decide if he went to Heaven and wouldn’t know why he would be given eternal life.  He was raised Catholic but seemed disappointed that the Church had not answered his questions.  As we went through the Gospel, he asked me if he needed to confess his sins to a priest.  I explained things based on James 5:16.  After I had gone through the Gospel up to the death of Christ and His imputed righteousness he said, “I never knew that.”  He asked if he needed then to go to church to have his sins paid for.  I explained salvation by faith.  He wanted to be forgiven and prayed to receive Christ, but it was almost like he had never prayed before.  He asked afterwards who had written the prayer and I explained there was nothing magical about it but that what it said was what was important.  I told him he could write his own prayers and that some people journal their prayers and wrote them down.  We talked through some other questions he had that were not that unusual.  I gave him The Case for a Creator because he said he was into science, and a Bible study, and told him I’d pray for him.  We shook hands warmly and he thanked me.  After I had crossed over to another building I remembered he had said he only had a family Bible and I’d offered him one.  I walked back to find him reading The Case for a Creator and he seemed happy to get the bible and thanked me again.  Seemed like a nice guy.

Nick was sitting along the wall outside the cafeteria just killing time.  African American, he had a bearded chin and mustache and looked just a little bit like LeBron James, whom he said he’d like to play One on One against someday.  But maybe I just thought that because he mentioned Mr. James.  He had dark gray-black work boots on and a cap and hoodie on with a T-shirt.  His hair was in pencil-thin dreadlocks.  He went to a Baptist Church. I asked him why God should let him into Heaven and he said, “All the people I’ve helped.”  He didn’t seem to know the Gospel at all, but as I finished explaining how he could be saved by Faith in Jesus, His work on the Cross and resurrection from the dead, Nick said he wanted to be forgiven and he believed.  And he did pray to receive Jesus.  That was great.  I explained some more of the work of the Holy Spirit to him as I always try to do, and gave him a copy of Playing with Purpose to read and a Bible study.  I got his email to send him some stuff.  He was “Fly” by his own account and I think that was probably true, his jeans were randomly bleached and torn.  He had style.

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

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I had a great day telling the Gospel to students on Thursday and Brandon, Deonte and Abby all prayed to receive Christ.

Brandon was sitting along the wall on some chairs by the exit, right outside the cafeteria.  He’s African-American, shorter than me, stocky.  He had a cap on, a jacket and athletic shoes and a very neatly trimmed mustache and beard lining his jaw, block features.  He said he had only gone to church a few times in his life and in response to why God should let him into Heaven he thought, kind of taken aback, and said, “I’m not really sure.”  So I asked him if he wanted to know what the Bible said about it and he said he did.  So I went through the Gospel with him.  He was pretty serious through it, and when I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven he said he did.  So I said, “When I tell you the story that Jesus is God and died for your sins and rose from the dead, do you believe it?”  He said he did and so I said, “Well then, if you want to you can pray to ask God for forgiveness,” and showed him the prayer.  He wanted to pray and did.  After I asked if he had a bible and he said he did, it turned out it was his mom’s.  So I gave him one.  He said she went to church.  “So your mom’s a Christian?” I asked.  “Oh I don’t know about that,” he replied and took the Bible and the Student edition of the Case for Christ and a Bible study I walked him through a bit.  I asked him if he would like a book for his mom and he said, “Yes.”  So I gave him More than a Carpenter for him to give to her.  He had to run, so I told him to email me if he wanted another Bible study to read and I’d keep him in my prayers.  Please pray he finds a good Church near him and Christian fellowship.

Deonte was just chillin’ out on a couch chair near the student activities window.  He was up for talking and seemed extremely laid back.  He had a black jacket on with a camo patterned hood over his head.  He was thin, wide nose and sharp jaw line. T talked a bit slow.  Not in a slow-minded manner, just kind of easy-going.  He seemed quite bright.  He went to church regularly in Forest Park.  But he had not understood the Gospel and was trusting or hoping in his merit to go to Heaven.  When I asked him he said, “I did my duties on earth.”  But he was attentive to the Gospel and believed he had not been trusting in the work of Christ for eternal life.  “So would you like to ask God to forgive you based on what Jesus has done?” I asked. “I would,” he said and prayed the prayer quietly in his heart as I walked him through it. He was into the NBA, so I gave him a copy of Playing with Purpose on testimonies of NBA players and he took a Bible study from me too.  I got his email to send him stuff.

Abby was sitting on the smooth marble part of the floor outside one of the larger rooms they use for bureaucratic functions and meetings of that type, at the top of the stairs by the revolving doors outside the books store.  She had jeans on and boots.  Dark hair, looked Latina in complexion, had a round warm and friendly face.  She said she’d answer some questions, so I sat down with my back against the wall and began to slide on the smooth floor and had to sit up straighter.  She wants to be an OBGYN.  When I asked her what she’d say to God to get into Heaven she said, “I abided by your rules.”  This is, of course, impossible for us.  As I went through the Gospel with her I explained how the righteousness of Christ was to our credit (imputed) and she said, ‘Wow.”  So that was a good sign.  And in the end she wanted to be forgiven for her sins.  So I explained how she could ask God and receive His forgiveness praying silently in her heart and I showed her a prayer. She prayed to receive Jesus then and that was great. I gave her a copy of The Case for a Creator to read since she was into science.  I explained a Bible study to her and gave it to her to study.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism if you had a chance.  God truly blessed and it lifted my heart.

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Hope you were blessed today.  I had a good day talking to peeps about Jesus.  Even though no one prayed to receive Christ today, I had a good talk with a guy Arman (r-mon) who grew up Muslim in India and then became an atheist for several years.  Now he said he was at the place where he did not know what to think, but by Muslim standards he had maybe a 20% chance of going to Heaven.  We talked all about Islam and I gave him a booklet my friend Hesham gave me about Jesus in the Quran.  After I explained the Gospel to him and talked to him about the differences between major religions, he was interested to read The Case for Christ. So I have him the book.  He wondered about evidence in terms of belief one way or the other.  It ended really amicably and I am hopeful God might draw him to himself.

I talked to a girl who did not believe in Heaven.  Vickie was a pretty brown-haired girl, with big eyes, a knit cap on and wearing a beige snow coat and leather ankle boots.  Unlike the other more or less atheistic students I talked to, when I asked her if there was a Heaven and what was the likelihood she would end up there she said, “If there is a Heaven, I don’t see why anyone should end up there.  We are all materialistic and basically only think about ourselves.”  (Most think they are good or say ‘zero percent’ based on belief)  She thought the idea that your rapist married you in the Old Testament was strange (in a nasty way) and I explained to her the social ramifications of being raped and the welfare of a woman.  I admitted to her it sounded pretty sketchy by modern standards, but in the ancient world it would keep women from being raped to begin with in a closed social community and forced the man to care for her, marry her and give her children.  I told her, “God has to work with what He’s got and make the best He can with it.”  She seemed to see that side of the social equation and took a booklet explaining the Gospel. I had only given it to her in brief.  I told her that it was really about love, and by God’s love working in us we could then love others.  I hope she inched a bit closer to the kingdom of God.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  I encouraged some Christians in their faith and talked up some of the peeps.  So some good work got done, though it always feels better when someone turns.

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters,
I hope ya had a great day walking with the Lord.  I had a good day walking about on campus and Jeremy prayed to receive Jesus.  He was sitting on the ground floor in the back of the BIC building, killing time while his girlfriend (Megan) was in class.  He’s an African-American with sharper features and jaw line, really slight build.  He’s a skater and wanted to open a skateboard shop in East LA where you can skate year round.  I guess there is a huge skater scene there.  He had a Bulls hat on and a lined blue windbreaker and athletic shoes.  He wasn’t into the NBA though (I guess the hats are stylin’).  He wasn’t a student but was interested to talk; I’m sure by the provocation of the Holy Spirit in his heart.  He told me later, “I wasn’t going to talk to you but then it was like I thought, let’s see what he has to say.”  He had thought of himself as a Child of God, saying why God should let him in; “Because man, I’m one of your children.  I haven’t done anything that wrong as far as I can think of.”  He hadn’t understood the Gospel or been trusting in the work of Christ, though he seemed to know a bit of the story.  But he could not even come up with how God had forgiven his sins.  He prayed to receive Jesus, at first saying he had read along with me.  But I said, “If you mean it, you need to pray it, not talk to yourself in your head.”  So then he prayed.  I had a pretty good interaction with him and he tried to act like not much was different than what he had believed already.  So I pointed out to him he had to trust in the name of Christ.  I said something like, “Say for some reason you make it out in LA.  You have me come out to show an old man the club scene. The Bulls are playing the Lakers and Derek Rose is at the club we are at and sees our Bulls hats.  He says he has some friends in LA that can’t make it to the skybox he got and wants to know if we are fans and want to come.  We are like “Sure” and he takes our names.  We go to the gate and say our names, but the woman at the gate says, ‘Who left you the tickets?’  We say, ‘oh yeah Derek Rose.’  She looks them up, hands them to us and we get in.  If we don’t say the name of Derek Rose we don’t get the tickets.  Just like with Jesus, if you are not trusting in His name you don’t get into the Sky Box.”  He liked the story and saw my meaning.  He took More than a Carpenter to read and a Bible study.  So I will keep him in my prayers and told him as much.  I’ll be praying he comes under the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry on campus and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  God was with me.

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I hope you were blessed today.  I had a good day on campus and Mike prayed to receive Jesus.  He was sitting in the hall in the BIC and killing some time between classes so he agreed to answer some questions.  Big dude, (he’s the center for the football team), sandy hair with a beard.  He was wearing a camouflage baseball cap and a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and work boots.  He was a nice guy and thought he might get let into Heaven because he’d helped a lot of people.  He goes to a Catholic church in Bolingbrook called St. Dominick.  He listened well to the Gospel and when I asked him if he would want to be forgiven or if God was more on the outside of his life he said, “Definitely forgiven!”  So I showed him a prayer he could pray and he went right to it.  I gave him a Bible study and got his email to send him some stuff.  I also gave him a copy of More than a Carpenter to read.  So that was great.

I had a long talk with Britney who wasn’t sure who God was or if He was personal or a force.  I would be grateful if you would say a prayer for her as I think talking to her nudged her closer.  She took The Case for Christ from me to read so I hope she will get into it.  She said she’d had some problems with depression, but her grandmother has been praying for her, so I hope talking to her broke through a bit.  She took my contact information.

Thanks for your prayer for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance.  We had 5 students come to Bible Study tonight and a couple more sitting in the lounge listening in, so that was good too.


In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Hope your day was blessed.  I had a good day on campus talking for a while to some of the peeps I see often, which was actually great.  As for evangelism, though I walked around for about an hour before I could get anyone to talk to me, it seemed like God’s plan.  But at the end of the day there were a couple of people who were so grateful to hear the Gospel and be taught some things.  I was glad I had been able tell them the truth from the Lord.  Two different girls who were in Roman Catholic churches said they had believed in Jesus but hadn’t know the Gospel really, and had trusted in their works more at the beginning.  I am not sure if they began to trust in it from all I told them, but they were so grateful to know it seems likely something will change in their hearts or has.  I explained then that the booklet has verses that would help them explain their faith to someone.  When I show them the prayer they seem so interested in it I suggest to them that it is something they could pray to the Lord later just to be certain that they have told Him they are trusting in what Jesus did for them on the Cross.  They nodded like that would be a good idea.  I’m not sure how many peeps trust in Christ that way, but I hope it is more than I can be sure about on this side of Heaven.  Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today.  I know God led me to at least two girls who really needed to hear it and thanked me several times for what I taught them.

In Him,

Bob Bollow


To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Hey hope ya had a great day walking with the Lord.  I had a really productive day on campus talking with the peeps.  Rilwan (Re-wan) and Tom prayed to receive Christ and Taylor committed to trust in the work of Christ to make her right with God and take away her sin.

Rilwan and Tom were sitting on a couple of bench boxes under the stairs in the PE building.  Both were dressed to head outside.  Tom had both his hoods over his head and Rilwan had a black and red stocking cap on, both bundled tight in coats.  Tom had some high-end red sneakers on and Rilwan had some nice workout shoes.  They were both African American.  Rilwan had wider features and a big smile.  Tom’s face was sharper with a bit of facial hair and he was more soft spoken.  Rilwan said he’d answer some questions first and Tom piggy backed onto the conversation.  When I asked them why God should let them into Heaven Rilwan thought and then kind of exclaimed, “I’ve sinned a lot.”  Then answering he said, “I deserve a second chance.”  Tom thought and just said “I don’t know.”  Neither thought they had a very good chance to go to Heaven, 40% and 50%, but Tom went to church every Sunday and Rilwan did once in a while.  They listened to the Gospel through the noise going by us to the doors.  With a bit of prompting, Rilwan remembered Jesus had died for sin but Tom couldn’t remember how his sin might be taken away.  Neither were trusting in Jesus and what He had done for them, but both said they wanted to be forgiven for their sins.  I told them they could pray if they wanted to believe, walking them through the prayer and both said they would.  I gave each of them a book to use following the prayer I had walked them through and each prayed.  I explained that if they had truly trusted in Christ and what He had done they could be 100% sure they were going to Heaven.  I wanted to make sure they understood and they got it.  I gave them Bible Studies and gave Rilwan a copy of Playing With Purpose on testimonies of NBA players (he said he’d wanted to meet one) and he opened it right away to look through it.  I gave Tom More than a Carpenter so I hope God can use that in them and begin to speak to them through the teaching at their churches by His indwelling Holy Spirit.

Taylor was playing around on her phone but said she would answer some questions.  She was sitting in the MAC arts building, had on yoga pants and boots, a purple shirt and a jacket.  Dark sandy hair and fair skin, hazel eyes and sharper features.  She said her dad and her had decided they should get back to church for Lent, so I guess that put her of a mind to answer some questions with me.  When I asked her what she would say to God for Him to let her into Heaven she said, “Went to Catholic school my whole life, been religious.  I never got my confirmation but I think You should still let me in.”  As I went through the Gospel with her she said little things in agreement and also things like, “Oh I see,” kind of realizing what things meant.  She said she wanted to be forgiven but said “Well, I’ll do this later, I can keep this right?” when I showed her the prayer.  But said she agreed with it, and she said it in a way I felt she would pray alone.  So asked her, “Do you believe Jesus is God and died for your sins and rose from the dead?” She said, “Yes.”  “And do you trust in His sacrifice to make you right with God?” She said, “Yes” again.  So I said “The Scripture says if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart you will be saved.  Sbased on your confession, I can tell you your sins are forgiven.”  I talked to her about the work of the Holy Spirit to give her the power to live the Christian life.  She already had a symbolic view of the mass so I encouraged her, next time she went to church, to use the time to be thankful and have joy knowing because Jesus had died for her she was forgiven.  She really liked that idea. I gave her a Bible study and More than a Carpenter to read.  She also gave me her email and I sent her some stuff tonight.  I took her hand to shake it and squeezed it saying, “Thanks for talking with me.  Have a blessed Lent.”  And she thanked me saying, “This was great.”

Friday I lost track of time to write what happened and the weekend flew by, but Marcus, a Filipino guy, committed his life to Christ sitting in the Cafeteria against the windows.  He had a mop of slicked, stick-straight hair on top, with the sides of his head shaved and glasses, full lips and wider nose.  When I asked him what he would say to God if asked “Why should I let you into Heaven he said, “What could I have done to be a better person in life?”  He thought he’d have about a 70% chance to get into Heaven.  He listened attentively to the Gospel and was glad to know he could be forgiven for his sins and said he would like to be.  I asked him, “When you pray for forgiveness, because something goes sideways, are you thinking you are good and go to Church and stuff and God is forgiving so He will forgive you?  Or have you been thinking Jesus died for me so I know I will be forgiven?”  “I never really thought about it,” he said.  So I told him that was what he needed to trust in, and I walked him through the prayer as well and asked him similarly if he believed.  He said he did and trusted in Christ.  Then his ride he had been watching out the window for came and he hurriedly had to pick up his stuff.  I gave him More than a Carpenter to read too and a quick heads up through a bible study.  He said he would pray on his own as I talked him through the work of the Holy Spirit, and thinking of the mass as a time to be thankful and remember he was forgiven, which he really liked.  All too quickly, but I had to let him go.  He was visibly happy and thanked me and ran for the door.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance.  God was with me and helped me.

In Him,

Bob Bollow

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