Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with joy and peace in believing as you abound in hope.  I had a good day on campus and Gabe and D’Riyah each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Please pray they grow in the faith. Their stories are below if you have the time today to read them. I’m grateful for your help.

Gabe was sitting at the end of the 1^st floor hall in the BIC building right before it enters into the tunnel. He had a very short thick afro and classic black features, smaller nose, nice smile, kind of the common man look, perfect skin.  He was wearing a black sweatshirt and jeans. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said, “I’m not sure, ‘cause I believe in God. I’ve grown up believing in God. I pray. I don’t go to church as often. My religion with God is not as close as I want it to be or it should be. I want to be closer to Him. I pray when it’s going bad, I’ll get on my knees in my room and pray.” He said he went to Church when he was younger and then the church was torn down and they moved. He said of his life with God, “My dad talks to me about it, he helps me to stay closer.” I asked him the likelihood he would go to heaven and he said, “I haven’t done anything crazy. We all sin but… I always thank Him for all the prayers He’s answered.” “I don’t thank God enough,” I replied. But it’s likely,” I suggested about his going to Heaven and he agreed. I hadn’t gone into the booklet with him yet and Isabella, a girl I bump into sometimes and pray for as she’s from a broken family popped in and cheerfully said hi, she knew Gabe. That sidetracked the discussion and I was feeling like I would run out of time so I said, “I have to go through this with him,” holding a booklet up. So I started to explain the Gospel and how God wanted to live inside him but first had to take away his sin.  I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins, he knew Jesus had died to do so. I explained how we owed God a perfect life. I used the example of when you borrow something from someone you have to give it back perfect how you got it. I told him everything is God’s and if we hurt the world or someone else or even ourselves we have damaged God’s stuff. But if I roll over someone’s leg in the parking lot I can’t give God a new leg or even make someone forget how I hurt their feelings. So we owe God but we cannot pay. But God loves us so He becomes a perfect man, His life is worth an infinite amount, so His blood is worth an infinite amount. So when He pours out His blood it pays God back for all the imperfect things we have done that we owe God something perfect for. I looped Isabella into the conversation a bit but she was on a break from class and left. (She’s a Christian I went through the Gospel with last year.) I finished going through the Gospel then saying he was saved by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done to pay for his sins so God could live inside him and give him strength to live. But a group of people had piled into the hallway and made some racket and he looked that way and missed what I said. I asked again a bit differently. He said, “Yeah.” I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I turned to it and explained the prayer. I asked, reading if it was the desire of his heart. He nodded and so I said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” he replied again and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I went to explain the Christian life. He didn’t have his own Bible so I gave him one and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I explained living “Inside > Out” by the Spirit’s power. I gave him Bible promises for You and a Bible study. He said he didn’t like to read books but he liked the book with the verses in it. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day through next school year. I thanked him for his time. “Thanks man,” he said. “I really appreciate this, I really appreciate this,” he replied and we fist bumped and he headed off down the hall. I saw him a while later passed him in the hall and he high fived me and cheerfully said, “Long time no see.”

D’Riyah (d rye ah) was sitting in the first-floor hall on the way to the Book Store. He was fair skinned, African American, had a bit wider flat nose and a “Kurt Douglas” chin dimple in the center of a square jaw, good-looking guy. He had pencil thick 4-inch braids on his head which was covered with a grey hoodie. He also wore sky blue jeans. Friendly good-looking guy. Seemed intelligent and thoughtful. I asked him if he would do a survey and he asked what it was about so I said it basically was about how the Bible said you entered Heaven. He agreed to do the survey but wasn’t sure he was interested in Bible verses, so I kind of snuck them in on him at the end. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and He asked him, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “That’s a very good question,” he replied. He thought for a bit. Then he began with his statement. “Hey you know I know my time on this earth has been good. I believe I should go to Heaven because of my good spirit.” He was 100% sure he would go to Heaven. I said, “The rest of the survey is about what you think about Christianity. Christianity is like a blood-transfusion, I have A+ blood so if they filled me up with B- blood in the hospital I would clot up and die. So like that God wants to live inside you fill you with his Spirit but first he has to make you His type. Everybody is a sinner and God can’t be in the same place as sin so He takes away your sin and I quoted verses to him and got into it explaining how the blood of Jesus cleansed him and paid for his sins. I went through the Gospel and the righteousness of God to his credit when God adopted him. “This is actually good timing,” he said saying he’d been wondering about a lot of this. I said he needed to be saved by faith. I asked if he’d want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done so God could live inside him or thought something else. “I think I would want a life entrusted to Christ,” he said in part reading the line out of the booklet. I said then there was a prayer he could pray and I explained the prayer. He agreed with it when I asked. I said he could pray it silently and prayed to receive Jesus saying, “Amen” out loud as he finished.  I explained the Christian life to him, he said he had a couple Bibles. I explained living “Inside > Out” and living by the Spirit’s power. I gave him The Case for Easter because he said he liked to read and I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front of Bible Promises for You. I said that now trusting in what Jesus had done the likelihood he would go to Heaven was in fact 100%. He thought he would try to get to the Bible Study on Thursday so I hope he’ll come. I said “God Bless you,” getting up to leave. “Thank you God bless you too,” he replied. “Sorry took so long,” I put in. “No I actually needed this, thank you,” he replied and I headed out from another one of God’s appointments.

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

In Him,

Bob