Third Watch Ministries, NFP Bob & Ellen Bollow
P.O. Box 1283 March 28, 2021
Wheaton, IL 60187-1283
Then there is an “earnest expectation and…hope” that result in “boldness” (Philippians 1:20). Growing confidence in the Lord’s provision and protection undergirds an anticipation for God’s direction and wisdom. Expecting something to happen is the flip side of hope. Experience in kingdom work brings spiritual joy and peace (Romans 15:13). Dr. Henry M. Morris III
Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I hope you have been blessed so far this past winter and “good hope by grace” [2 Thessalonians 2:16] has marked your life. We headed out to Florida to find some groups of people to talk to in an open state. Panama City Beach had changed in terms of the Spring Break crowd. It was dramatically diminished of students, and now is mostly families with kids. Alcohol is now forbidden on the beach. A night club that once held 6000 at a time had closed, along with another large night spot on the beach. Once arriving, what I had thought to be a very reasonable prayer request of 30 people coming to Christ I knew pretty quickly would be closer to a divine intervention. More than a decade before [2009] a conference I was at had 800 kids at it, and they were easily broken up in groups and sent to the beach each day. All found people to talk through the Gospel with. Now in 2021, 800 Christian conference kids would have made the Christians the vast majority of people on the beach in PSB, though we heard Miami was raucous this year. In the end, 31 people prayed with me to receive Christ. I went through the Gospel directly with just over 100 people. Some were onlooker/listeners as a friend did a survey (about a dozen of those) but they interacted and in many cases took booklets. Two who prayed with me were middle-aged African Americans and the rest were student age.
No one was wearing any masks on the beach. By and large, being a younger demographic, these were statistically at no risk of dying from the recent virus. Fortunately, for the immediate calling of our life of ministry, we have not been cut off everywhere in the country from contact evangelism. However, had we a ministry in retirement homes, for now at least this ministry would be on hold, for we could not put others at risk. Though I am told these social environments are opening up. I say all this to say our hearts go out to those who in 2020, and even now, were considered at risk for disease and forced into quarantine. We have a friend whose father is a transplant patient and only last week took his first trip out (to Menards) in over a year. No one could foresee what was going to come, and legally we could not even hang around outside on campus at the doors. Though there is some hope it will open up a bit in summer.
Results of the Work:
I fasted and prayed for part of a day in February, asking God to tell me where I could do evangelism with college students as we approached spring. I realized our campus was not going to open this semester. I had information I got from people associated with the campus and a girl involved in security at the doors taking student’s temperature who comes to our Bible Study. I then felt like God might be telling me to go to Florida. But He did not write it with His finger on my wall (though that would very look cool on my porch.) I was unsure of the trip. I prayed with Ellen that 30 people would come to Christ if we ventured down to Florida and it could be a validation to keep doing ministry and waiting on the Lord. It’s a long trip. And though I had been to Panama City Beach 11 years before doing evangelism with students as I mentioned, I knew it might have changed. Due to the cancellation even this year of spring break, some IL college students are not on campus at all. A group of 5 Christian guys from Arkansas told me on the beach that their school was the only one in the state in that had not “cancelled Spring Break.” By this I imagine they meant all trips associated with travel through the school. In our case, a couple who supports the ministry gave us an unsolicited gift, not knowing about the decision I was trying to make. That helped a lot to bring confirmation. I became convinced God was asking me to get in the car and ride. Ellen was not sure how long she could be distant from work and I wasn’t sure how long to stay. But we thought we’d give it a week and possibly send Ellen home on a plane. Our original digs for a week had a view of a bit of the beach but it was beginning to feel cave-like for Ellen working remotely from our temporary home. Then I helped a lady who looked about 15 years older than me, Donna Sue, with some chairs she was bringing out of the elevator to her vehicle and she offered to pray for me out of the blue. I said sure and she took my hands and blessed me. I thanked her, telling her what I had been doing on the beach. She said she wanted to pray for me again, and did. She used to work in campus ministry. She then offered, through some conversation, her rental place which had a cancellation the following week. She gave the impression she wanted to bless us and would take whatever we thought we could pay her. She wanted to show Ellen the condo, so we went and got her and long story short we decided to stay four more nights, until mid-week. We stayed those nights at Donna Sue’s place, spending about half of what a much bigger, brighter place like hers would cost. It rained hard Tuesday night and was colder Wednesday morning with everything wet, so the day to leave seemed confirmed. We were able to get back in time for our COD Bible Study.
These are the new believers on the beach. Liam, Jared and Adrianna were close to the kingdom and thought they would pray later.
Elizabeth, Madison, Lexi, Kailey, Cameron, Georgia, Jordon, Larry, Thomas, Julia, Celeste, Marguerite, Caro, Mary, Will, Keyton, Joshua, Wrangler, Evan, Jaylon, Griffin, Anthony, Bryce, Lucus, Landon, Tai, Dacota, Regan, Chris, Joseph (aka John), Jazmin
Thanks for your continued prayers and support as we pursue alternative options for ministry and wait for news on College of DuPage reopening the campus.
In Him, Bob & Ellen bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net