Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your president’s day was blessed today and there was Grace and all good things to fill your heart. Sandra, Emily and Diego each prayed with me to receive Christ today. I slept poorly and was tanked when I got to school. But of course those things are no obstacle to God who is able to save with many or with few (1Sam. 14:6). Please pray they each grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you want to spend the time.

Sandra was sitting at the base of the stairs in front of the outside door by the Bookstore. She was willing to do a survey after I explained the idea. There’s students walking around doing surveys for Christian groups on campus that do not go through the Gospel, at first she thought she’d done it. She had a backpack on and a white hoodie. Her hair had lighter tints in it. She had on white wedge sole lace shoes and blue jeans. She was a reserved, introverted person by her own self-description and really never smiled a full smile as we talked but was focused. She said she wanted to visit Spain and had a Spanish last name but said she was Mexican. She spoke Spanish. She had a cute narrow face her coloring Latina, pretty mouth, thin, she was tall for the average Latina, at least that I come across at school.  She was sitting by the entrance to the fashion design department at school. I asked her what she would say to God if asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “This is hard,” she said after thinking for a moment. Trying to help I asked if she went to Church and what she thought they might teach you had to do to get into Heaven. “Following Jesus, practicing [that] and going to Church every Sunday.” She replied. I asked if she thought she did that and she nodded. I asked what she thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was and she said 50%. I began to go through the Gospel with her explaining that God wanted to live inside her with His Holy Spirit but first had to make her His type by cleansing her of sin. “So what is the big thing Jesus does that takes away your sin?” I asked and added, “What does he do to take away the sins of the world?” She didn’t have any idea and by way of explanation she said, “Everything at church is in Spanish”. I suggested she mostly just listened and participated at Church with what was going on and she agreed. It did not seem she’d processed much there. So I suggested it would all make sense to her and explained that the Blood of Jesus cleansed her from sin, was God’s payment for her sin so she would not have to pay what she owed God that she could not pay. She paid close attention to everything I said. She listened as I explained Jesus righteousness was to her credit and that this was symbolized in the Mass, the wafer symbolic of Jesus body and the wine symbolic of His blood reminding her that Jesus died for her and so she was forgiven. So she should just say thank you. I said that if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead she believed on His name, “Not that you just know that story but that this is what you place your trust in as an adult to be forgiven so if someone would say to you, “Why should God let you into Heaven? You’d say “Because Jesus died for me.” I explained that was placing her faith in Jesus and faith saved her, which was from God. I asked if she wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else and she said, “Forgiven.” So I explained there was a prayer she could pray and walked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart and she nodded. I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. She nodded again and prayed to receive Jesus. I told her then the likelihood she would go to Heaven trusting in Jesus righteousness was 100%. I began to explain the Christian life (Inside Out, by the Spirit’s Power) and asked her if she’d like her own Bible. She chose the large study Bible I had with devotionals in it and 99 doctrines and where you find them, cross references and maps and aids in the back. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Thank you.” she said. I also gave her a Bible study on how Jesus claims to be God and Bible Promises for You and Strobel’s The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying he also had YouTube videos she could watch. I’d given her a lot so I said, “Everything ok?” and she nodded. I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day through spring and next year and she thanked me again. “I’ll see you around,” I said getting up to go. “You too,” she replied and I headed off up the stairs.

Emily was sitting in a set of padded chairs just around the corner from the staircases of the Student Services lounge. She was also Latina and went to a Spanish speaking Church. She wanted to travel to Spanish speaking countries. She had all her hair colored a light golden brown a pretty oval face and really long eyelashes, long fingernails. She wore greed leggings that flared out at the bottom and had a white hoodie on too and a “Bass Pro Shop” ball cap on with a fish in the logo. I asked her if she liked to fish, she flashed a big smile saying no and shaking her head. She was nice smiled a lot. I asked her what she would say to God and she said touching her cheek with a fingernail, “”Cause I’m not a bad person. I’ve never done any of that stuff. I feel like I deserve to go to Heaven.” She thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. It’s interesting that some people think they will go to Heaven for what they have not done. And effectively since things are so bad in society they’ve done good to resist the evil everyone else did. Others think they have been good. I went through the Gospel with her and she also could not tell me what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. She listened to the Gospel and I explained how it reflected the symbolism in the Mass to her as well. When I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done to take away her sins or thought something else she said, “The first one.” So I said there was “a prayer she could pray to be forgiven, to receive God’s forgiveness and said she could pray it silently and after explaining it I asked if it was the desire of her heart. She nodded and I asked if she’d like to pray it silently she said, “Yeah.” She took the booklet then and prayed to receive Christ. I explained the Christian life to her by the Spirit’s power. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would keep her in my prayers each day through a year from spring and she thanked me. We talked a bit more and I got up to go and said if I saw her I would give her a wave. “But I’ll be praying for you I promise.” “Thank you,” she said again sincerely and I headed off.

Diego was sitting in the cafeteria at a table. I was about finished for the day, but thought I would look for one more person to talk to before leaving. He had a grey t-shirt with some stick printing on it that looked like a floor plan for something and was wearing jeans. He had a squared jaw with a heavy day or 2 of beard and a mustache. Good looking guy his hair was like a cap, short on his head with one inch bangs. I asked him what he would say to God and he said, “Oh wow…” Then thinking more he said, “I guess the way I view people and life and the way I go about my life thinking of the person I should be or would try to be.” I asked him the likelihood he’d go to Heaven saying, “10% low %100 is for sure 50/50 you got a shot?” “I got a shot.” he said.  He listened attentively to the Gospel and also could not think of what Jesus did to take away the sins of the world. So I explained the Blood of Christ cleansing him of all sin and a payment for what we owed God, so God is just to forgive us.  I explained His righteousness and receiving Christ by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else explaining what other religions say. “I would want to be forgiven with God inside, not the others.” He went on to say the other religions were not what he would choose because he wanted “God deep inside me.” “To be one with God.” I said in return. “Yeah,” he replied. I said that if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. Then God would live inside him. I talked him through the prayer and said he could pray it silently. “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he replied and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained to him the likelihood he would now go to Heaven, trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness, was 100%. I have him a compact Bible I had left in my pack showing him the “Where to Turn section and the maps and study aids in it. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave him Bible Promises for You a Bible Study and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. We talked sum more and it seemed like he wondered about how to pray. So I gave him the Book Pocket Prayers Lucado wrote using Bible verses and turning them into prayers and I told him I would keep him in my prayers each night until a year from spring. I got up to go and he was happy. “Thanks I appreciate you,” he said and we shook hands he had a good grip. I said “God bless you.” “Thank you I appreciate it,” he replied and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob