Third Watch Ministries, NFP Bob & Ellen Bollow
P.O. Box 1283 December 12, 2019
Wheaton, IL 60187-1283
“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:8-10
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10
Hey Brothers and Sister in Christ,
I hope you are enjoying Christmas Time in America. A few years back I was in Target looking at toys (years before it had become an adventure in cultural decay to use the bathroom there) and I bumped into an acquaintance who was then a pastor. I wished him Merry Christmas and he complained about the commercialism. I said in reply that I felt like at Christmastime, (at least in America, since we choose this time to celebrate Christ’s birth), God seemed to pour out an extra measure of grace among us. People felt this grace, and not knowing what else to do with it, they light up their houses and give each other gifts. It was the most they could do in response, not truly knowing the Gospel. I said I liked it when everyone put up lights. He said that was a good way to think about it and a year or so later he told me he’d adopted my perspective. I still feel that way about the lights that light up the night, since I know there is a night coming when no one can work. Possibly the false electrical shortages will one day have the Government refusing us the liberty of lighting up our houses (as cheap energy is denied us from using coal), or even adequately warming them (children may then wish for coal in their stockings). But I am going to enjoy the lights while I can, thought it be “commercialism.”
I’ve discovered from doing evangelism that a little bit of the story is used by God to prime the pump of the human heart. There are still probably a lot of students who know Jesus was born on Christmas. When I am looking for the lost students, many discover that they knew the story of sin, atonement and resurrection, but had never trusted in Jesus’ work. They knew God as Creator but not as Savior. Then they happily trust in Christ, now knowing why they are going to Heaven.
God is actively sending me out, with your help, looking. It’s like when you lose something and you keep searching and it bothers you until you finally find it, or give up. I’ve been looking for my watch for a while. I had a scratched-up one that I mislaid, and then wore another one that looked nicer. I mislaid that one in the house too. I’ve had them for years. Our house is organized thanks to Ellen. But I get so worn out during the semester I sometimes do something at night, and in the morning have lost the specifics of the steps before bed. Thus, a couple of lost watches. (Maybe they’ll turn up? I’ve prayed they would.) Lost things just nag at me, so I’ve learned to hang up my keys in the same place each day. So much is going through my mind, conversations and people; I can’t give my subconscious an excuse to discard essential information. Part of it is abundance. I’ve had more than one watch and when I mislaid the first one I was not frantically searching as the woman with the lost coin in Luke 15. When I lost the second, I grabbed an old beat up blue-collar work watch and wore it, not taking the time to retrace my steps and the trail of memory went cold. Both times I was running out the door in the morning to look for the lost. Searches for watches since have proved fruitless, but on campus the search has been blessed. Though lately many Christian workers have given up the search for culturally correct things.
I went through the Gospel with over 250 students this semester. Many were Christians already and some left searching and took a book. Occasionally someone seemed to be indifferent. 10 or so were Muslim, a couple of whom took a Bible. Hundreds more were too busy or it was too near the beginning of class, or for some other reason unsaid turned down a conversation about God. But 104 students received Jesus after hearing the Gospel from me. All but one prayed a prayer to receive Christ. The other one, Reda, was a Coptic Christian from Egypt who felt he should only pray prayers prescribed by his Church. But he confessed faith in Christ to be forgiven. In Scripture, Philip leaves the Ethiopian Eunuch and finds himself elsewhere, taken up in the Spirit. And though 3,000 people came to Christ on Pentecost, since the Gospel was proclaimed that day in many tongues we know many were there for the feast from elsewhere in the Roman Empire. These returned home not remaining a part of the Jerusalem Church and without an Apostle to guide them. Paul writes the book of Romans to a church he had never been too, possibly founded by converts who returned home after being saved and filled with the Spirit at Pentecost. Christian radio preaches the Gospel without even knowing who will hear it. This has happened to me this year going through the Gospel at school, where Andrew walked up after hearing a part, as I spoke with someone else, only to hear more and pray with me to receive Jesus. It made me wonder how often others have heard the Gospel as I spoke to someone else in a lounge where they too were sitting, looking at their phone. We have a little Bible study on campus and Ellen and I are grateful for those we can disciple in it. So I pray each day for those who have trusted in Christ (this year and last year), less often praying for others whom I gave a book to or who said they would pray later. We’re so grateful for your prayers for us and your gifts to the ministry that has made so much of this happen. I look a little older each day and seem to be losing watches. But God seems to allow the peeps to overlook it. So I continue the search.
These are the 104 students who have prayed with me to receive Jesus this semester.
(An * means they said they would pray later.)
Roy, Jamari, CJ, Jaylen, Jordan*, Carmen, Ray, Chloe*, Marco, Jeff, Walter*, Cole, Chase, Gillam, Isabelle, McPaul, Chris, Tyler*, Pablo*, Bobbi, Enzo, Andrew, Kiya, Michael*, Cody, Esabel, Saul, Joe, Kimberly*, Ivan, Ethan, Zandrix, Jasmine, Sandra, Monsieur, Jamie, Tionne, Mia, Maria, Rachel, Desiree*, Luciana, Briaunna, Oedrey, Mahala, David, Clinton, Tavion, Reese, Austin, Kevin, Danny, Mya, Mackenzie, Cam, Nataly, Mishelina, Reda, Angel, Daniel, Trey, Ty, Cameron, Luis, Kameron, Priseila, Jada, Mike, John, Keno*, Joseph, Josh, Joe, Jocelyn, Baylee, Tim, Sam, Jorge, Cedric, Nate, DJ, Kento, Sara*, Shay, Angel, Brandon, Ben*, Demiya, Matteo, Ally, Viktor, Dolen, Janine, Josh, Matt, Rojae, Jada, Anna, Aaron, Hannah, Fabian, Ruel*, Princess, Josh, Damani, Alex, Adam, Sam, Lexi, Juan, Maxine*, Kassandra, Marco, Nuviana, Justin, Jovany*, Ray, and Kevin
Please pray for the hearts & minds of these students, as they walk in their new faith in Jesus, the Savior of the world. May the Lord bless you and keep you this Christmastime. School begins again January 21, 2020. We are blessed by your help, which allows us to continue to reach these students.
In Him,
Bob