Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope ya had a great day walking with Jesus. I had a good day today and Aaliyah and Sydney prayed to receive Jesus as their savior. I also went through the Gospel with one Muslim girl Faizah. Please pray the Gospel begins to affect Faizah and these other young women grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you have time to spend that way.

Aaliyah was sitting on the second floor overlooking the doorway by the bookstore. She was a pretty black student with high cheek bones, straight black hair past her shoulders. She had long eyelashes, her bangs on her forehead were 6, inch long, half circles taking up 2 inches on either side of her forehead. Looked to be in her early 20’s. She wore blue sweats her hoodie said GAP in white letters and she wore a cross around her neck. She had some large books open for study but was willing to do a survey. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She repeated the question thinking and then said, “I don’t know. I feel like all my life I tried to live by the Bible and if I didn’t I would repent, so I would try.” She said she went to a couple different churches and a Christian school attached to one when she was younger. I asked her what the likelihood was she would get into Heaven and she said, “I think I got a shot.” I went through the Gospel with her and she knew Jesus had died to take away our sins. She listened to the Gospel and the blood and righteousness of God by faith and finally I said, “So would you like to be forgiven for your sins trusting in what Jesus has done or do you think something else?” “Be forgiven for my sins,” she said seriously. So I said there was a prayer she could pray to be forgiven and talked her through it. “It says here: Is this prayer the desire of your heart? So if it is you could pray it silently now. I wouldn’t hear but God would hear and then you would know you were forgiven and going to Heaven. Would you want to do that?” “Yeah,” she replied and she prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living inside out by the Spirit’s power. “It says in James 4 ‘You do not have because you do not ask,’ so Just ask. God wants to help you and guide you and He will give you as much success as will not hurt you in life.” I gave her Bible Promises for You and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I told her I would be praying for her a line from Scripture each day through the spring and through next year. She liked that. She said then, “My new year’s resolution was to try to go to Church once a month and I think it was last weekend the pastor said what you said, ‘Just ask.’ I didn’t feel like it really applied to me because I pray (often). Then we went to sing at the end and there had been a song I was listening to (that week) that no one really listens to, and at the end of the service that was the song we sang and I felt like that was a sign. And then you came along to talk to me today.” I agreed that was God speaking to her and God had sent me to talk to her. I then said she should hold on to those things because sometimes we go through stretches when God is not giving us those kind of signs but He wants us to hold on by the Spirit’s power and rest in Him. We talked some more and I got up to leave and she said, “Thank you so much,” she said. “Thanks a lot for talking with me, God bless you.” “God bless you too,” she replied. And I headed off.

I was over in the MAC arts building later in the day. Sydney was sitting in a step down area by the student theatre door. There is one counter height table and a couple chairs there. She said she’d do a survey. She had a grey knit headband with a snowflake pattern on it covering her ears, straight light brown hair pulled behind her head, she wore baggy grey sweats and a black and white turtle neck with thin horizontal stripes. She had a pretty oval face, small nose, didn’t seem to be wearing makeup. She was filling out 3×5 cards studying for something. She was a musician. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. She said, “I try my best to bring Joy to those around me and live my life in a way that benefits me and also them—collective society, friends and family.” She thought she had a 98% chance of going to Heaven. She said she’d gone to a Baptist Church. When I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins she knew He had been a sacrifice. She listened closely to the Gospel and I explained that she would not go to Heaven because she was good but because Jesus was good and she was connected to Him and God adopted her into His family. I explained believing on Jesus, that He was God and had died for her sins, rose from the dead and that this was by faith. I offered her the 2 circles in the booklet asking if she would want to be forgiven with God living inside her trusting in Jesus or thought something else. “I’m this kind of person,” she said pointing to the circle with Jesus on the throne of her life. “I tell people God made everything even when they say God didn’t make a building or something like that that came from them, that it all came from Him.” I agreed using Bob Dylan saying if you sampled a line from one of his songs he would sue you. Everything is sourced from God. He makes you who you are in your mother’s womb so He gives you the gifts and talents to think up the things you create. She agreed. “Well,” I said, “this is asking if you would want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in Jesus and I walked her through the prayer saying it seems like it lines up with what you believe it’s just a bit more to the next thing trusting in Jesus. I asked if she would want to be forgiven then she could pray quietly right now, I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven and going to Heaven. “Yeah,” she said taking the booklet. “Out loud?” She asked. “No silently, it’s just between you and God it’s not my business.” She silently prayed then to receive the Lord and finishing handed the booklet back and seemed to be moved. I explained the Christian life to her living inside out saying she could ask for God’s guidance and even creative inspiration. She didn’t have a Bible so I gave her one, writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I showed her the, “Where to Turn” section and marked it with the ribbon and said there was a messianic passages section there too. I gave her Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I said I didn’t know if I would see her again but if I did I would give her a wave. “It was nice to meet you,” I said. It was nice to meet you too, thank you,” she replied. And I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for of evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob