Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and goodness and mercy has followed you all the day long [Psalm 23;6]. Thanks for your help in prayer if you had a moment today. Janayah and Juan each prayed to receive Jesus today after I explained the Gospel to them. Neither had known how God took away their sin though they went to church. Please pray they are blessed. Their stories are below if you want to spend the time.

Janayah [jan I] an African American girl was sitting in the science building lounge; I believe waiting for a ride (since she was sitting up against the glass wall on the north facing the parking lot). She had on dark blue scrubs for pants and a pull over sweatshirt (it was a little cold in the Science Buildings today). Her afro was strings of semi ringlets that were about 6 inches long with a part down the middle. She had a small nose, sharp features and wore clear plastic semi round glasses. She was a cute kid, petite. She was friendly and went to church off and on with her aunt. But the Church was in the city so they did not make it as often as they once did when she was younger. She wanted to learn to fly an airplane. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and was asked why should I let you into Heaven. “Oh, um… man,” she began then thinking some more she said, “I would say because I am a child of God. I do like to believe that I am saved. I did my very best to follow the footsteps you laid for me… I don’t know how to say it.” She thought she had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her explaining Romans 6:23, “Sin kills you; God gives you life. God can’t be in the same place as sin but there is sin inside you so He just takes away your sin so He can live inside you.” I asked “So what’s the big thing Jesus does to take away the sins of the world?” She said she did not know how to answer that question. So, I began to explain the cross to her and the cleansing blood of Jesus and the payment for her sin. Then the righteousness of God Christ earns, which was to her credit. I said she could receive this by faith and have the right to be a child of God. I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven and have God live inside her trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “Trusting in Jesus,” she said and then added, “Of course.” I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. “OK,” she replied. After talking her through it I asked if this prayer expressed the desire of her heart. “It did, yeah,” she replied so I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. She took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I explained there was more about faith in the booklet and explained the Christian life. She had a Bible on her phone, which she liked because she could carry it with her. I explained living “Inside > Out” by the Spirit’s power. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside. “Thank you,” she said when I handed it to her. I gave her a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and she thanked me again. I said that now trusting in the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I told her I would be praying for her each day through Spring and the next year and got up to go. “Thank you, you have a nice day,” she said. “Thanks, you too,” I replied. And I headed out.

I came across Juan sitting in the stuffed chairs in the hall outside the bookstore. He had a wide face and a weak mustache and a bit of a chin beard. He had shorts on and near shoulder length, curly wavy, thick, light brown hair and a sweatshirt. I think he was from south America, he had something of an accent. He was fair skinned and didn’t fit into any stereotypical demographic for appearance of which I’m aware. He had gone to a Roman Catholic Church growing up. He wanted to travel and said he’d been to Central and South America. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. “Hmm, I guess I would say I treated people around me as best as I can and as well as they treated me. I’ve been caring—about everybody in my life.” He thought he would have about a 70% chance of going to Heaven. I went through the Gospel with him first asking Him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. He could not think of anything. So, I began to explain the Gospel saying this is what God does. He took it all in following and making eye contact. He was very reserved, and had described himself as shy. I had a bit of a headache and could not get any kind of a read on him as we talked. But after hearing what Jesus did to save him I asked if he had gone to a Roman Catholic Church. He had. I pointed out that in the Mass, the wafer was symbolic of Christ’s body and the wine symbolic of His blood. He acknowledged this. [On a side note: Even if someone believed in Transubstantiation, and most of the Catholic students I talk to do not (nor do I), the elements of the Lord’s supper begin symbolically. But now Christ has been glorified, so He is no longer flesh and were He to somehow inhabit the Eucharist since He is not flesh it would not become flesh 1Cor. 15:50]. I said that salvation was received by faith and not by works. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus or thought something else. “Would you want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for you, that He is God died for you sins and rose from the dead?” I asked. “I could trust in that,” he said. I said if he would want to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through the prayer in the booklet. I said if he had never told God he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done he could pray that silently and know he was forgiven for his sins. “Sure,” he replied. And then taking the booklet asked, “Just read it?” And I said, “Yes.” He prayed then to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life and he said they had a Bible at home to read. I explained living “Inside > Out” to him living by the power of the Spirit to transform him. I told him the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus and explained that though I sinned and had to be forgiven and each year my sins added up, so that I had sinned far more than he had, being young. But if we died today the righteousness of Jesus would cover us and God would forgive us both. I also gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I told him I would pray for him each day until next spring and one year after. “Thank you, have a nice day,” he said pleasantly. “You too,” I said and I headed off down the hall.

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

In Him,

Bob