Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I hope ya had a great day walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Gloria prayed with me to receive Christ. Though she had had a bad experience with Church. I gave The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet to a Muslim guy Mirza after going through the Gospel. He had half round glasses and a beard and was in the Science Building hall just sitting and thinking. His mother had converted to Islam to marry his father but his father had recently died. He was interested in finding out what other religions taught so maybe the Spirit will use our time together as a seed. Nice guy. Gloria’s story is below if ya have the time. I would be grateful for your prayers for them.
Gloria was sitting in the cafeteria were we have Bible study eating come lunch. She has long brown hair dyed deep red for several inches on the ends. She wore black jeans and a black jacket. She had pale blue eyes and sort of a round face and was very pretty. She had an interesting story in as much as her parent were not religious at all but had paid for her to go on a Church retreat with a church in Naperville when she was in the 6th grade. She had wanted to go because some of her friends at school were going. But then all the girls treated her badly isolating her from the 2 clicks of girls on the trip to a water park and making her sleep on a couch. She had hated the experience and felt bad her parents had spent the money. Other than that she’d had no experience with Church. Given that I was glad the Spirit moved her heart to listen. When I asked her what she would say to God if she died and was asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, “I’ve been a good person, didn’t kill anyone.” “Not yet anyway,” I joked. “Well I don’t have any plans,” she replied. I asked her the likelihood she would go to Heaven. “You mean if it exists?” she said. I explained to her what Heaven was, not just a place but the presence of God who was loving. I asked if she would want to be there with him. And she thought and said, “100%”. She listened attentively to the Gospel and what Christ had done to her and His Righteousness that was to her credit. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins and she said “Yes.” So I asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God he died for your sins and rose from the dead. She met my eyes and said, “Yes.” I said, “I could introduce you to the perfect man and you could decide to marry him but it would be kind of a problem if you did not think he exists.” She nodded, “Yeah.” understanding the analogy. I said if she would want to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it and said, “It says here is this prayer the desire of your heart. She said, “Yes.” So I said she could pray it quietly now and know she was forgiven. She prayed then to receive Jesus. I explained living the Christian life, “Inside out” asking for God’s help in everything saying again that He loved her. “It says in James 4 you do not have ‘cause you do not ask. So just ask.” She had her own Bible. I gave her the Book Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and gave her a Bible study on the Deity of Christ. I asked her the story of what had happened on the retreat and she then told me and I said I was sorry that had happened to her. “That’s OK I’m over it by now,” she replied. So I’ll pray that’s true. Things that happen to us as kids can carry a long time. I encouraged her to not let the bad people get her down or get in the way of her life with God. She thanked me as I left. I told her I would be praying for her until a year from spring. I dropped back and gave her Strobel’s The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet saying there might be some stuff he had said she would like.
So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.
In Him,
Bob