Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today and the nearness of God was your good. I also hope you had the nearness of an air conditioner to keep cool. In the Midwest we are having another 100-degree day. I guess before AC everyone went swimming I’d hope be living closer to a lake. I had a good day on campus. Tony, Mitch and Toni each prayed with me to receive today. Their stories are below if you have some time. Thanks for your prayers to guide me and open hearts to hear, 12 people trusted Jesus this week.

Tony was sitting on a set of chairs in at the southeast corner of the BIC building. A calculator was in one hand and some paper he was taking noted on his laptop open in his lap. He had on a black and grey kind of a tie-dye shirt and black shorts. His small caterpillar mustache matched dark brown hair in a short haircut that looked like it would be curly if it got long at all under a cap. He was seated but didn’t look very tall.  I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey. He hesitated asking how long it was but decided to give it a go. He was from a Spanish background and wanted to visit Spain. I asked him what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Umm… kind of a tough…” he said thinking. “It’s up to You,” he said. And I agreed it was up to God to decide. He thought he had a 75% chance of going to Heaven and said his church attendance had trailed off being busy with school. I began to go through the Gospel with him and said God had to take away his sin to live inside him and give him eternal life. I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins and he knew Jesus had died. He listened to the Gospel, hearing the blood of Christ saved him and of the gift of Christ’s righteousness by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins and he said he did so I asked if he had ever told God he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. I said, “You know you grow up believing things your family does but then when you become a man you have to decide which way you are going to go for yourself. So, when you have asked God for forgiveness are you thinking, I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me or are you just asking for forgiveness and moving on. “It’s more like I ask Jesus to forgive me but I’m never really sure that He does,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked it through with him and read, “Is this prayer the desire of your heart?” “Yeah,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently. “Sure,” he said. “Just pretend I’m not here,” I offered and he said “Alright.” And he prayed to receive Jesus. I talk through with him the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power and I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “Forgiven!” in the front. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I asked him what kind of Church he went to and he gave me the name of a Church I knew to be Roman Catholic. So I said, “When you take the Mass the wafer is symbolic of His body and Wine of His blood and so when you take it, it is a reminder that He has died for you and so you are forgiven so you can just say thank you.” I also explained that the sacrifice of Christ was of infinite value so of course because God says we are forgiven (by that) we know it is enough. He was visibly happy and I told him I’d be praying for him until a year from Spring and he was grateful and I headed out the doors into the heat.

After standing in the shade (which helped not at all) to take some notes, I went over to the PE building then just across the pavement. Fortunately, the AC was working at school today. Mitch was sitting at a table in the lounge down the stairs. His straight brown hair was parted on the left and swept back, he wore glasses rimmed across the top in black and a faded reddish t-shirt and grey shorts. He had a sort of anime shaped face with a pointed chin and perfect skin. I asked if he wanted to do a student survey on what he thought about God. He asked what it was about and I said the main question was, ‘You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus, so you’re dead and you stand before God and he says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?’  I asked if he wanted to know what the Bible says is the answer to the question saying was what the survey was about. He said he’d be interested in the idea of it. I asked if he wanted to do a survey or just hear what the Bible had to say. He said he was more interested in the ideas but maybe he’d do a survey afterwards. So, I took down his name and began to go through the Gospel with him. He tuned right in and was genuinely interested. He said he’d lapsed into primarily going to church on holidays and I found out afterwards he attended a Methodist church. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he said, “He suffered.” Right. He died for you,” I replied and went on to explain the payment for sin and forgiveness and the righteousness of Christ. I said he could be forgiven by faith and asked if he’d want to be forgiven or thought something else. “I’d want to be forgiven,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it asking if it was the desire of his heart. He said “Yes,” and I said if he wanted he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven. “Could I change a couple words?” he asked. “Sure, it’s more of a template, it’s not a formula,” I replied. He took the booklet prayed then to receive Christ. I explained living by the Spirit’s power and he said, “I like thinking about stuff like this, about beliefs.” So I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven! in the front. He seemed to really appreciate that. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him I would be praying a verse for him each day until Spring and one year after and he thanked me sincerely with the praying hands gesture and a nod and I headed off.

Toni was sitting just south of the Book Store in the hall there. She said she’d do a student survey. She was African American and had straightened her hair and dyed it blonde, which was past her shoulders. She had a braid on either side of her head. She has a cute face, fair skin, kind of a smallish pug nose and a full mouth, big eyelashes. She had cut a T-shirt into a v neck and the bottom was cut off to make it into a shrink top. She had on blue jeans torn at the knees. I asked her 3 words to describe herself. She struggled a bit kind of grooving side to side in the oversized chairs we were sitting in when she answered questions. And then listening was very serious in expression. I asked her what she would say to God and she said, “Hm,” paused and I said, “Do you ever go to church?” “Yes,” she replied. “What do you think your Church would say gets you into Heaven?” I asked, which did not help. “I’m very giving,” she replied then. She thought she had a 50% chance of going to Heaven. I went through the Gospel with her and she knew Jesus had died to take away her sins. I explained the Gospel to her and how the blood of Jesus cleansed her from sin and paid her debt with God. I said she could have the righteousness of God by faith and her good stuff could not fix her bad stuff agreeing it wouldn’t work for her with a guy. I asked if she wanted to be forgiven or thought something else. “I want to be forgiven,” she said. So, I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and reading it through I asked her if it was the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she said. I said she could pray it silently and she went from being very serious to having a big smile on her face and she took the booklet and laughed. I’m not sure if it was nervous reaction or quite happened but then she prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven! in the front I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and Bible study.  I had told her I would pray for her each day. Getting up to go I said, “I’ll keep you in my prayers.” “Alright, thank you,” she replied and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob