Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I hope you had a good week walking in the light of His word and love for you. I had a good week and 6 students prayed to receive Christ (Thania, Israel, Mariana, LeDonte, Lucas, Rulan) and 3 more committed to Christ saying they would pray (Gwen*, Tara*, Lilly*) Or in Lilly’s case intonating they would. Thanks so much for your prayers Rulan prayed to receive Jesus on Thursday her story is below. And a girl from a Hindu background Karina* might pray. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven or if she thought something else and she said, “I would like to be forgiven.” But then her father called and had come to give her a ride home in the middle of explaining the prayer. I’d only read through part of the prayer and she had to run waving to him through the window as she spoke on the phone. So I said, “Well here’s your free booklet, thanks for your time,” and she smiled and ran off. In Hinduism you can add a god to your pantheon without problem so it is hard to know where she landed.
Rulon was sitting in the hall of the Science building, seemingly early for class. She had on a purple hoodie that zipped up and a t-shirt, baggy leg pants. She had a round head, high forehead and sort of a flat face and dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her skin was fair and based on her eyes I’d guess she had come from Chinese heritage. She was Catholic in background. She said she wanted to travel particularly to Indonesia but had no family there. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Um, I don’t know,” she said thinking hard. Then she made kind of an amused sound about being stuck and settled on “’Cause I’m a good human, a good person.” She thought she would have an 85% chance of going to Heaven and regularly went to Church. I began to go through the gospel with her and she was interested and listened. I told her God would have to take away her sin so He could live inside her and asked, “So do you know what Jesus did to take away the sins of the world?” She struggled thinking and then finally said, “I don’t remember,” I said, “Well, it’s reconciliation (hoping to use a word she might have heard) and this is how it works.” I began to go through the atonement and the blood that cleansed her the payment for her sins and the righteousness of God Christ had earned. I gave her all the Bible verses and used illustrations to explain them and then said, “So how do you connect with all God’s done for you so you know you’ll be forgiven?” Then turning the page I said, “You just believe it or receive it.” I told her she was save by Grace through faith. Asking then if she would want to be forgiven or believed something else giving a couple examples and then said, “Would you want to trust in what Jesus has done to be forgiven and the Spirit could live inside you?” “I believe that,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked through it reading the line, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’” She nodded. “Well if you want you could pray it silently right now. I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and then you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do it?” “Yeah, seems interesting,” she replied and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I began to go through the Christian life just a bit with her. She had a Bible. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I gave her a Bible study explaining it with the miracle of Walking on the Water. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would keep her in my prayers through next year said if I saw her I’d wave. “Well, have a good one,” I said getting up to go. “Thank you, you too,” she replied and I headed out.
Lilly had naturally curly brown hair almost to her shoulders and light brown eyes, a shy kid. We sat by the windows in the science lounge the sun coming through the windows made her eyes kind of sparkle. She had gone to Church more when she was younger. “I wanna be forgiven she said with conviction,” when I asked. She had to run to class but I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and quickly read through the prayer. “Ok,” she said in a resolute way. Saying she was sorry she had lost track of time, as a couple others sitting near us were gathering things to go to the next period, she headed off and I gave her a Promise book.
Thank again for the blessing of your prayers. God blessed this week.
In Him,
Bob