Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you are walking in the joy of His salvation. I had a good day on campus and Sean, Veronica, Yesennia, and Erik each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Thanks for your prayers and for your help.

Sean was sitting on the floor on the second floor of the BIC in the east most hallway. He said he’d do a student survey so I sat on the floor and began to ask him some stuff. He had a stick straight Sergeant Carter hair cut, dishwater blond hair. He had the occasional freckle for a birthmark. Good looking kid. He wore straight leg jeans, cuffed above the ankle and had on a black pull over fleece. He wore kind of a surprised smile the whole time I went through the Gospel like “this is great”. When I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “I would say I lived my life with pure intentions despite the wrongs I’ve done.” It turned out he went to Knox Presbyterian Church and I could see he was absorbing the Gospel as I went through it and I thought, “John Knox would think this was great.” He thought he had a 70% chance of going to Heaven. I explained God wanted to live inside him with his Holy Spirit and first had to take away his sins. He knew Jesus had been the sacrifice for sins. He took it all in and when I asked him if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or thought something else he smiled with a look like it would be the obvious choice and said “Probably be forgiven.” So I said if he wanted to place his trust in Christ there was a prayer he could pray to know he was going to Heaven and I talked him through it and ask if he would want to pray it so only God could hear and he said, “Yeah,” in an upbeat voice. He prayed then to receive Christ and when he was finished he thanked me and I said, “Yeah, you’re welcome” and went on to explain the Christian life living by the Spirit. I gave him the book 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and “By the Spirit’s Power” explaining how to live. I got up to go after giving him a Bible Study and told him I’d see him in Heaven and he said, “Thank you, thank you.” “You’re totally welcome,” I replied and headed down the hall, happy.

I feel like I look pretty old these days, but God can still get kids to talk to me. Maybe I’m a grandfather figure . I found Veronica sitting in the PE lounge waiting for her ride. She had an eastern European accent and was dressed in workout clothes, a v-neck t-shirt and leggings, pulling a pink hoodie over her head as we talked. Sweet kid. English was obviously her second language so I let her see the writing I was reading as I asked her questions and then later read her verses. She leaned in paying close attention. She went to church once in a while with her mom. She was pretty, had a full figure and round cheeks and a pointed nose and her thick curly brown hair was pulled up by a 6 inch wide black band around her head. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she thought for a moment and said, “Well, I’m not a bad person.” She listened closely to the Gospel and I could tell she was receptive. When I asked she said she wanted to be forgiven for her sins pointing at the circle with Christ inside. She was getting a text and I knew she was going to get picked up by her ride soon. So I quickly explained the prayer to her and asked if she’d like to pray it silently and be forgiven. “Yes,” she replied taking the booklet. “I can take the paper?” (meaning the booklet) she asked and I said sure. Then she prayed to receive Christ. I quickly gave her a Bible Promise Book and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven in the front and gave her a Bible Study. I did not have time to explain the Christian life to her, living by the Spirit, as she had to run so I hope I will bump into her again but the last line in the booklet reads, “Your walk with Christ depends on what you allow Him to do in and through you, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Not what you do for Him by your own self effort.” Now she is in the capable hands of the Holy Spirit living inside her. “Thank you, nice to meet you,” she said getting up to her to her ride. “Nice to meet you too,” I said, and she ran off.

Later in the day I headed over to the Health and Science Center buildings and in the northwest corner lounge of the first floor Yesennia (Yess En-ya) was sitting at her laptop at a round table. She’s a cute brown haired girl, wore black half round glasses, and an off-white sweater. She had a pretty kind smile, fair skinned, really nice kid. She described herself as Mexican, though she was born here and we talked about being bi-lingual when she said she’d like to travel to Spain. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said. I always put others before me; I never say no to anyone who needs help, I help everyone. She thought she had an 85% chance of going to Heaven and went to a Catholic Church where she did volunteer work. I began to go through the Gospel and she was really receptive, her face looked really tuned in, she knew Jesus had died for her sins but I could tell what I was saying was novel to her and she ate it right up. It’s really great to tell someone the Gospel when you can see they are being called by the Lord to believe. I explained everything to her and the imputed righteousness of Christ and that she did not go to Heaven because she was good but because Jesus was good and she was connected to Him. “Like if you marry millionaire you got a million bucks or if you get adopted into a Billionaires family you get to live in the mansion and drive the cars. So God adopts us into His family, we become his children and He gives us the blessings of His family. Her gives us the sacrifice for our sins the blood that cleanses us and the righteousness of God that surrounds us so it’s like you got someplace to go, Heaven and something to wear when you get there, the Righteousness of God.” I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus or if she thought something else. “Be that person, yeah,” she replied putting her finger on the circle with God inside her. So I said she could pray a prayer asking for God’s to forgive her and I walked her through it and asked her if she’d like to pray it. “Yeah,” she said and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life living “Inside Out”, first asking God to change her on the inside by His Spirit and then becoming a good person who did good things on the outside.  I talked to her about the Mass saying, “The wafer is symbolic of His body right?” ‘Right,” she agreed. “And the wine of His blood, so it is commemorating that Jesus died for you and so you are forgiven so when you take it you can just say thank you.” She liked that idea. We talked some more and I told her I would be praying for her until spring of 2021. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible study. She thanked me and I said she was welcome and headed out.

Right down the hall I came across Erik. He looked like a college version of Alfalfa from the Little Rascals to me a bit but it was just the hair. He had a narrow face with a barbell pricing through one eyebrow and a narrow nose. He wore a red and black lumberjack plaid puffy coat with a hood and blue jeans. He checked to see how long the survey would take and then said he’d do it. He was extremely soft spoken and I took on his demeanor as I spoke with him. When I asked him why God should let him into heaven when he died he said, “I’m not a criminal. I’ve not murdered anybody. I protect those I love. (Then he paused, thinking to himself saying what else?) I do my best. I never did drugs. I never harmed anybody at all.” He thought he only had a 35% chance of going to heaven. I said something like, so you don’t think it is very likely? “Well maybe 45%,” he said then changing his answer. “Barely passing,” I said and he agreed. He listened closely to the Gospel and had gone to church regularly and then stopped a while back, but he didn’t give a reason why. He knew Jesus had died to take away our sins. I told him all that I usually say as clearly and evenly as I could, he seemed a bit frail, though he wasn’t a small guy at all. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus or thought something else and he said he would want forgiveness. So I said if he’d like to ask God for forgiveness there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it asking him if it was the desire of his heart. “Yes, I think so,” he said meekly. So I said he could pray it quietly in his heart if he wanted and God would forgive him. He took the booklet then and prayed to receive Christ. I explained the Christian life to him living “inside out” as well. He did not like to read so I gave him a different publication that I had of  Bible Promises for You. I wrote his name and the date and ‘forgiven” on the inside and he was grateful. So I said I would see him in Heaven and he seemed more at peace and I headed down the hall.

So thanks for your prayer for the Ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance, God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob