Third Watch Ministries, NFP Bob & Ellen Bollow
P.O. Box 1283 March 23, 2023
Wheaton, IL 60187
“Your sins have been forgiven….Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:48,50
Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I hope your days of winter are behind ya and it’s been warming up outside at your house. We had some false hope coming into March and now it’s cold again. The volcano off the shore of Tonga has created the “Year without a summer” in the southern hemisphere, and the temperatures dropped 15 degrees on average. So we’re told by some experts to expect the same ice clouds to drift to the North. These clouds that formed in the mesosphere (the eruption sent water 52 miles up) increased the moisture there by 10%. So if Jesus returns soon with His angels they will have to strap on ice-skates to get through the first layer of clouds it seems. Buy some extra food ya like, as I presume the price of everything will be rising again.
Wow, lots of bad news on the weather front Bob. Got any good news? Yes! God is at work on campus again this semester. 44 students have prayed with me to receive Christ. Many conversations have gone like the one I had with Jake a few days ago. He looked slightly older, in his 20’s, light brown hair in a pony tail poured over his right shoulder—touching his chest. He had a long chin beard and a one inch thin jawline beard he had just begun growing out from the looks of it. He had kind of a windbreaker jacket on and appeared like something I’d have bumped into at Yosemite in 1980. He did not think he had time to do a long survey so I asked, “Want to just answer the main question then?” “Sure,” he replied. “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” I asked. “Hmm, Umm, well I’ve had faith” he answered.“What kind of faith? You had faith when you sat down on these chairs. You did not check them first, you just plopped down. What do you have faith in?” I asked.“That there is something greater,” he replied. He was 100% sure he was going to Heaven.”From the perspective of the Bible, that is not a faith that saves you,” I replied. I went on to explain the Gospel to him. It turned out he went to church some. I asked how Jesus took away his sins so God could live inside him with His Holy Spirit. “Reconciliation,” he guessed after a moment of thought. “I agree with you that you that it’s reconciliation. But what did Jesus do that reconciled you to God?” I asked. He was uncertain and I knew I did not have much time, so I launched into the Gospel. At the end I asked him if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. I quickly mentioned “Islam does not believe God lives inside you nor was there a sacrifice for sin. So they have a different God. And the Buddha left his wife and kids to go off and seek enlightenment. But he’s not looking for God at all. He thinks he is trapped in a dream and can think his way out of it. So would you want to be forgiven for your sins, trusting in what Jesus has done or do you think something else?” “I would want to be forgiven!” he exclaimed. So I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it and said he could pray it right now and know he was forgiven. He took the booklet, looking at the prayer, and said “I’ll take this with me.” “OK, here let me give you a book,” as I quickly handed him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. He took it, gratefully it seemed, as I quickly said something about Strobel’s story and he got up and crossed the hall and ran up the stairs to the class I had made him late for. I hope he will pray and I will find out. Fortunately for me, over 120 students have prayed with me right after going through the Gospel with them and I saw it. A few others told me later they had prayed when I bumped into them. Hopefully Jake will come to saving faith. He was the only person I found to go through the Gospel with that day.
Most days this year it seems someone has trusted Christ as Savior. Thanks so much for your prayers for the ministry on campus. I know there is power in prayer and this is the reason God is at work. Over 1800 students have prayed to receive Christ after hearing the Gospel from me since I began college ministry. I know that at Pentecost and other times in history God turned that many to Salvation by faith in one day. But Ellen and I are grateful to be used by God and feel He has been kind to put you in our lives to share in the work.
These are the names of the students who have prayed to receive Jesus this school year.
(If you don’t get the daily email, the accounts of their stories are at www.thethirdwatch.org)
Kevin, Brian, Riq, Shane, Fernando, Dona, Mariana, Kyra, Ethan, Savannah, Riley, Litzy, Gordon, Scott, Josie*, Henry, Sam, Anthony, Ryan, Arely, John, Skye, Michael, Jason, Giancarlo, Andrew, Sam, Anish, Erika, Erick, Jocelyn, Christian, Gian, Victoria, Tony*, Mike*, Nick, Emerald, Dom, Sam, Martin, Desha, Morgan, Citlali, Julie, Leslie, Max, Mattie, Eduardo, Cyrus, Bris, Kayla*, Heaven, Mimi, Isaac, Micky, AnnMarie, Dejan*, Nathan, Ysabela, Zakia, Michelle, Ryan, D, Robertro, Jayden, Mayra, Freddy, Emily, Znyia, Gianluca, Alex, Jessica, Riley, Juan, Kenny, Omar, Kiara, Joaquin, Rose, Ben, Tanya, Quin, Denise, Sam, Ozzy*, Ashley, Mars, Allison, Ishani, Osvaldo, Kelly, Sabas, Daisy, Andrew, Aaliyah, Sydney, Shanice, Taron, Melissa, Preston, Daniel, Evelyn, Abbey, Adrienne, Kyle, Ahsi, Kristina, Sandra, Emily, Diego, Ryan, Nicole, Xia, Fisayomi, Noah, Sarah, Niko, SarahMary, Janet, Will, Chris, Rico, Dan, Miles, Aaron, Sara, Ethan, Jaden, Devin*, Hameedah, Michael, Otto
In Him,
Bob & Ellen
Happy Spring!
If you’d like to get the daily “going out” and “results of the work” send me an email at:
bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net