Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things from above. I did not have many students to talk to today but Ash, the last person I talked to, prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray she is blessed and her boyfriend’s parents, who she lives with, will take her to church. Her story is below if you have the time.

I came across Ash in a largely empty school, pretty much the story of Mondays with few classes scheduled. I think it may be the only day she comes to school.  She was wearing a grey sweatshirt with some picture print on the sleeve and front. She was pretty, a small girl with long brown wavy hair, tinted on the frame of her face that had a sharp jaw line. She had printed socks pulled up over her jeans to just below the knees that were torn. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, “I don’t know.” Then thinking about it more she said, “I been a good kid”. She had a bright disposition and really seemed interested to know the Gospel. She said she had “never” been to church. Some kids say that but they mean “regularly” and it will turn out they had gone a couple times with a friend or relative. She had never gone once. I explained the entire Gospel for salvation in the blood, righteousness and resurrection of Christ. That her good works could not save her because she could not do anything perfect. I asked her if she would like to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus that He was God had died for her and rose from the dead, or thought something else. She said, “I would like to be forgiven.” So I said there was a prayer she could pray to be forgiven. I talked her through it and explained what it meant and said she could pray it silently right now and she would “know she was forgiven and she could start up with God, ya wanna do it?” “Yeah,” she said sweetly and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I went on to explain how God lived inside her now and all the power she needed to live the Christian life He wanted to give her by His Spirit ‘Inside out.” She did not have a Bible so I gave her one that had the ribbon maker in the “Where to Turn” section that would answer biblical questions. I put her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I also gave her a Bible study and explained it to her. I gave her 20 things God Can’t Do and a card for a church website she could watch videos. It turned out she lived in Batavia and I didn’t know a church that far west. I told her the likelihood she would go to Heaven now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus was 100%. She said her boyfriend’s parents went to church. I asked if she would like to go to church with them, she said she would. She said that she saw them praying sometimes. I said I was sure they were praying for her and would love to take her to church. I said she could tell them she had received Christ (and I explained again the use of that word and read her the Bible verse again (John 1:12 “As many as Received Him…”). Or tell them she had “trusted in Jesus as her savior” and they would probably understand what that meant, saying she could show them the booklet. She was a little shy to ask them. I gave her my number and said Ellen and I could meet her at school to have a Bible study. She seemed to want to do that so I hope we can arrange it. I asked if she had any questions and she said, “Is it too late for me to learn all this?” I said it wasn’t that she’d learn things all her life. I said the Holy Spirit was in her and would teach her and give her power for anything in life she asked for help with, giving her as much success as would be good for her. She said, “I get a thought for the day each day. Today it said, ‘Your life will change today’ I think that was you.” I told her I was sure it was and that sometimes God will use things like that to tell us something is going to happen. I got up to leave saying I would pray for her until spring and then a year after. I stood and said, “God bless you.” And as I walked away she said, “Thanks for talking with me.” Thanks for talking with me,” I replied and she pulled down her mask so I could see her face when I was across the lounge area on the 2^nd floor of the BIC so I could see her face and smiled at me and I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. I only talked with two people but it was worth the walking around to find one.

In Him,
Bob