Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope ya had a good day walking with God as He’s guided you. I had a good day on campus after the road trip we took Thursday through the weekend to attend the wedding of a young woman who had come to Christ through evangelism work at COD 7 years ago. She married a great Christian guy. I’m feeling a little worn from all the driving but Yanni and Katie each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Their stories are below if you have some time to spend. Please pray they grow in their faith.

Yanni, a Latino guy, was sitting in some benches just inside the doors to the patio at the top of the waterfall. He had a long rectangular face with a block chin and thick nearly straight hair parted down the middle. He wore black sweats and a grey zip up hoodie. He shook my hand as I sat down. He was very reserved but shot me a grin periodically in response to an illustration. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and were asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven. “I don’t want to make excuses,” he began. “I’d ask for forgiveness. I wouldn’t say I was a bad person. I’d ask for forgiveness for wrongs that I’ve done and hope I’d be let in.” He thought he had a 60-70% chance of going to Heaven. He said he went to a Roman Catholic Church. I said that knowing God was that he lived inside you and explained that God had to take away his sins so that was possible. I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins. “Yeah,” he replied. “What did he do?” I asked. And finally he said, “I know He forgives you I’m not sure how.” So I went on to explain that we owed God a perfect life and that since we could not live a perfect life to merit Heaven Jesus lived a perfect life for us. Then they killed Him, “But that’s what Jesus wants He wants to die because the Bible says without the shedding of blood there’s no forgiveness of sin. Life is in the blood. So when He pours out His blood He pours out a life force on the world and it says in 1John 1:9 ‘the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.’” I explained that this was also a payment to God for what we owed Him for wrecking His world and hurting the people in it. Jesus earns the righteousness of God and it is given to us when God adopts us as His children. I said this was his by faith in that Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. This faith saved him. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done. Then God could live inside him and give him strength and take him to Heaven when he died or did he think something else. He said he wanted to be forgiven. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. He nodded. I said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven. He nodded again and so I gave him the booklet and he prayed to receive Jesus. I told him the likelihood he would go to Heaven now trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%. I explained the Christian life to him. He did not have a Bible so I gave him one and showed him the study helps in it. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I also gave him Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study. He was grateful and said, “Take all this?” I said, “Yeah,” and he said “Thank you.” I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day through the end of the year and all the next asking God to bless him. He shook my hand again and I headed off.

I came across Katie up on the north side of the third floor of the BIC building. She was sitting in a lounge that had a window that looked out on the atrium. She was a plump Latina girl with a round face and high cheek bones, a pretty mouth. Her curly hair was pulled up into a bun. She had on a bright blue sweatshirt and black shorts and had clear semi-round glasses on. She was really friendly and happy to talk. She said she wanted to travel to all 50 states and had been to 40 of them. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Honestly—I don’t know. I’d probably say there’s other people that deserve it more than me,” she replied. I told her there wasn’t a shortage of space and she grinned. I asked her the likelihood she would go to Heaven. “A solid 96%,” she replied. I asked if she went to Church. “More or less, here and there,” she said. When I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sin (so God could live inside her) she said she didn’t know, explaining that she hadn’t been to church lately. I explained the Gospel to her. The blood of Jesus cleansing her from all sin and His life as a payment for the life we owed God. I explained the righteousness of God Chris earned to her credit by adoption and that she could receive Christ and by faith be saved. She liked all the examples. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus. Then He would live in her giving her strength by His Spirit and take her to Heaven when she died. Or did she think something else. “I think that I’d like to be forgiven,” she replied. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it asking if it expressed the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she replied. I said she could pray it silently right now and know she was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yeah,” she replied. She prayed then to receive Christ and crossed herself as she finished. I told her then the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You and write her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave her a Bible Study and The case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day asking God to bless her for a year. “God bless you, it was nice to meet you,” I said getting up to go. “Thank you. It was nice to meet you too,” she replied and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob