Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a great day and felt the presence of the Lord. I had a long, slow day on campus, but after nearly 2 hours there I finally found someone who would talk to me. And though I had talked to them before, Mari and Dorien each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

The number of students in attendance is down at school and there really are not many people sitting around. There normally would be fewer by this time in the semester after you can drop a class while passing. By the time I found Mari (Pronounced Marie) the rest of the lounge she was in in the MAC arts building was empty and she sat in the corner alone. As I walked up to her, I recognized her face as someone I had talked to before (who I think is someone I’ve been praying for) early in the fall. (She is a pretty petite Latina with bangs and a small cute face, sharp nose and a couple pretty freckles, wearing a hoodie, jeans and jacket.) She thought that was when we talked and said I had explained things to her. But I had not given her a book so I knew she hadn’t prayed to receive Christ. At first I thought she’d said her name was Maya, who had prayed to receive Jesus (but she did not look like her). As I got her name squared away, I asked her if I could give her a book and gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do so I could explain trusting in the Spirit’s power. I asked how she was doing and she said she had gotten pregnant. I asked if the guy was still involved with her and she said yes. I asked if she might marry him. She thought so, and said, “He gave me a ring.” She had recently stopped working in a clothing store saying she needed to make more money. Her boyfriend Rodolfo was working trying to save money and his family was supportive of them. I realized in talking to her she had not remembered the Gospel. She believed God would always forgive her but did not know why. So I explained the Gospel to her, that Jesus had died for her and if she trusted in His work He could live inside her and give her strength. She wanted to trust in Jesus ( I think her situation had changed to make her more interested in dependence on God). I offered her the prayer she could pray. I explained what it meant and said she could pray it right now quietly so only God could hear. She took the booklet and looked up and said, “Can I pray out loud?” “Sure,” I said and I bowed my head as she prayed. When she finished I explained more of the Christian life to her living “Inside Out” asking God for strength and we talked about how God could make all things work together for good. She was hoping in that. She hadn’t been going to Church and she and Rodolfo were looking for one. She had a slight accent so I asked if she spoke more Spanish or English and she said she spoke more English but Rodolfo was more fluent in Spanish. I got a card from my backpack for the Spanish service at the Wheaton Bible Church and gave it to her. She thought she knew where the Church was and said he and his parents would be more comfortable (with a Spanish service) so they might check it out. She did not have a Bible so I said I would give her one. Then I got sidetracked offering her a Bible Promises for You book she seemed like she really wanted to read some Bible verses and get into the scripture and was excited about it as she had been about the 100 Bible verses in the back of 20 Things God Can’t Do. I gave her my contact information. I had left my wallet in my coat saying I felt like I should give her something (I almost never have done that). But she said not to worry. She thanked me a few times and I gave her a Bible study to read and headed out. I figured I would return to my locker on the other side of the BIC, the building next to the one I was in, connected by a tunnel. I had some money a supporter, Joe, had given me. So I prayed that if she was there when I returned with it, it would be God’s providence to help her and give her $20. Then half way back I remembered I had forgotten to give her a Bible. Pretty bad form, I’ve been pretty exhausted (worked too hard over Spring Break on projects) but God is compensation for my weakness. So I began to walk fast and got my coat and money and returned to give it to her and she was still there. So that was great. I gave her two $10 bills and she said “Oh you did not have to do that!” and I gave her the Bible. I showed her the “Where to Turn” section and explained Jesus words were in read. I wrote her name and the date and forgiven in the front. She thanked me a few more times. “I just think God wants you to know He cares about you today,” I said. “Thank you,” she replied emotionally, and I headed out.

I headed down the hall back in the BIC and I was not looking up but a black guy, I just caught his voice, crossed the end of the hallway. He hollered out to me but I’d missed his face so I just hollered “Hey Brother,” back and kept walking towards where he had been (I call every male at school “brother.” I think I picked it up from watching “Lost” on TV). When I got around the corner he was waiting for me. He had a bright blue satin sports jacket on and a t-shirt, sweats that gathered at the ankle. It was Dorian, who always says hey to me when he sees me walking around. He had his hair shaved on the sides and curly braids out the top of his head. He wore a beard that was still short but he pulled on the corner of his chin curls giving it a wizardry look as we spoke. Real good looking black guy about 6’3″ tall, lean and athletic, played football. There are a dozen or so of the athletes that are always friendly to me through the year after I have gone through the Gospel with them, even if they didn’t receive Jesus by praying. Thinking back he had been sitting with another guy I had gone through the Gospel with, Malcolm, who had received Jesus. Dorian confessed Christ (saying he was a Christian already) but I wasn’t sure he’d heard all the Gospel as I was mostly talking with Malcolm. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do then though because he wanted a book. Anyway he said wanted to come to Bible Study but when he’d walked by the study going on he didn’t know if he could just jump in and I said for-sure he could. I’d run out of cards for the Bible study but I took out a booklet as it had my email and the time and day and location on the back. I got his name again as I was having a senior moment. I had prayed for him a bit but didn’t put him on my list of peeps that had not received Christ as he said he believed. Many students say they are already Christians and since I am praying for about 280 students each day now (kids that received Christ with me this year and last year.  If they say they are saved I do not pray for them. I pray for an extra unsaved list, but not every day.)  Anyway I started chatting him up and he could not remember what he had said about why God should let him into Heaven. “I think I said I didn’t know,” he laughed. He prayed often and thought God forgave him. I explained God’s justice and how everything belongs to God so when you do something bad you damage His stuff, “Like if you sleep with your girlfriend before you are married, that damages her and since she belongs to God, even though you hurt her you owe Him for it.” I explained that God had to be paid and nothing you could offer God was perfect in payment so Jesus had to pay. One drop of his perfect blood was worth an infinite amount to pay for his forgiveness.  I asked who his favorite player was, “NFL?” he asked I said yeah and he told me. “Say he autographs a football and we go to sell it on eBay. We’d get a lot of money but if I put my name on a ball I just wrecked it, it matters who does the work it is worth more if Jesus does it.” That worked to explain things and he got it. I said it was not enough for him to just believe God forgave him, he had to trust in Jesus’ payment for him on the Cross. I said there was a prayer he could pray and walked him through it and he prayed to receive Jesus as we stood together in the hall. He remembered some of what I had said before and I added to it. His Christian girlfriend was involved at her church and had been working on him. Maybe that lined him up so he could hear. So that was great. We said goodbye and I hope he’ll come to Bible Study.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed yet again in His good time.

In His Great Love,

Bob