Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was fill mercy peace and love. I had a good day on campus and Jesse, Jocelyn and Andrea and prayed with me to receive Jesus today. I encouraged a backslidden girl tall brown-haired Rachel and gave her a Bible Promise book she wanted and prayed for her. Please pray these all grow in their faith through the Spirit’s power and are led into fellowship. Their stories are below with a description. I often wish I could take a picture to better remember each face.

Jesse was sitting in the west most 2^nd floor lounge of the BIC, the classrooms across from it face south. He had short straight hair that had 1inch bangs in front. He had a rounded kind face with a mustache and goatee. He wore blue jeans and a reddish shirt. He gave me his name and later said his real name was the Spanish pronunciation of Jesus (hey-sues). His father and grandfather had the same name so he went by Jesse growing up to limit confusion. I asked him what he would say to God if he was killed by a bus and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I been… I guess… that’s a good question,” he replied. Then thinking a bit he said, “I’m not worthy but if you have compassion and understanding.. to forgive me, forgive my sins.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of getting into Heaven. He said he felt like he should go to Church more. Sitting across from him at a table I began to go through the Gospel with him. When I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he remembered that He had died. He began agreeing then with everything I said about the blood of Christ being a payment for his sins to God for what we owed Him. I explained the righteousness of God Christ earned for him that was to his credit when the Father adopted him. I said he could hook up with all God had done for him by receiving Christ. If he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead, not that he just knew the story but that he put his trust in this to be forgiven. That would mean he had faith in Jesus. And, by Grace he was saved through faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done. “Do you think you have ever asked God for forgiveness knowing you would be forgiven because Jesus died for you?” I asked. “I have asked for forgiveness before but…” he replied and paused looking for words for a second. “But you never knew how it was done?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied. I said then if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I read it through for him asking if it was the desire of his heart. He said it was so I said he could pray it silently, I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he would know he was forgiven. He agreed and said, “Thank you.” He took the booklet then and silently prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished I explained that now trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. “Thank you,” he said again. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him a Bible study and The case for Christ Answer Booklet I explained a bit of Strobel’s story. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after. He thanked me again and I said “You’re welcome,” and I headed off.

Jocelyn was sitting on a set of chairs outside the glass walled lounge on the NE corner of the 2^nd floor of the BIC. She had long brown hair, a petite Latina. Her face was pretty, a diamond shape with pronounced cheeks, long eyelashes. Her mouth looked like a kid’s doll, her top lip making an edge and the bottom full beneath it. It was a-typical so I hoped it would help me remember her if I ran into her again. She wore a brown t-shirt and stretch pants with bellbottoms. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and stood before Him and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She thought for a min, “Um… I probably would say… I don’t know how to put it into words. I don’t have hate in my heart.” She thought she had a 70% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and right away her face had a look of real interest so I hoped the Lord was moving her. She smiled and was engaged all the way through. I explained that God wanted her to know Him and this was eternal life. This meant He lived inside her with His Holy Spirit. I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins so she would be made perfect inside and God could live there. “He died on the cross for us,” she replied. I said that was right and I began to explain how it all worked. I told her of the Righteousness of God Christ earned for us and said God gave her these when he adopted her. When I had finished going through the details I asked her if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done? Then He would live inside her and give her the strength to live the Christian life. Or did she think something else? “Definitely forgiven,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it. “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ Would you say it did?” “Um Hum,” she affirmed. So I said she could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. “OK,” she said. “Just pretend I’m not here,” I said and that got a light laugh from her and she prayed then to receive Jesus. I explained then that now trusting in the righteousness and blood of Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100% and she was happy hearing that. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and forgiven in the front and she was grateful. I gave her a Bible study on passages where Jesus claimed to be God. And also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would pray for her from now until Spring and one year after. “Thank you, God bless you,” she said as I got up to go. “Thanks God bless you too,” I replied and headed off.

Andrea was sitting on a bench seat on the edge of the west atrium lounge on the ground floor of the BIC. It’s the North side across from some administrative offices. She was a pretty Latina girl with several thick braids coming off her head. On the front edge of her forehead her bangs were in flat swirls, her face was a bit round she had a tiny nose. Her jeans were ripped at the knees and she wore gold necklaces and earrings. She had on a black hoodie over a dark blouse. She said she’d do a survey and as she did some black guy (I later found out was named Koran) called to her and she waved him off with a hand signal we were talking. He later interrupted her using her girlfriend as a beard to get her Instagram. He then coat-tailed that conversation saying he did not mean to interrupt. “And yet you did,” I said. “You’re on the make.”  He shook my hand grinning and he left recognizing I was dismissing him. The delay unfortunately kept me from getting a bit of the explanation for the righteousness of Christ in as we ran out of time as she was already late for class. (I get interrupted that way by guys I think they figure, “If that girl will talk to that old man she’ll talk to me.” But these girls might also talk to Santa at the Mall so hey.) Andrea was out of his league but flattered by the attention. I asked her one thing she’d like to do before she died. “Get baptized,” she replied. “I’ve been wanting to do that soon.” I said Jesus said to do that and told her about Ellen being baptized in the Jordan River. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “That’s a question for sure,” She replied. “I’d want to say more than just I’m a believer.’ She though a second and said, “He has changed my life in a lot of ways. Even if I’m not accepted by others, I’m always accepted by Him. I can’t give one reason exactly.” She was 100% sure she was going to Heaven saying something about being raised in the Lord. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she tuned right in. I said knowing God was eternal life and that meant He would live inside her. I explained that in order to live inside her God had to take away her sins and asked what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. She could not think of anything saying, “Didn’t you just say it?” I said that know I was asking how He did it. I tried prompting her but she had no idea. So I began to explain that God became a man, Jesus, had lived a perfect life and died as a payment for her sins to God, the real reason God forgave her was He got paid. I explained that she had to live a perfect life but because she could not Jesus lived this for her. His righteousness was to her credit. I explained this with a story and Koran interrupted. I got him to move on and I recapped it and said Jesus earned the righteousness of God. She said she only had 3 minutes until class. So I stopped saying Jesus rose from the dead and said a couple Bible verses and explained that she needed to receive Jesus; to believe Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. Her good stuff could not fix her bad stuff. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. She said she did. “Well it seems like you didn’t put all this together before right?” I asked. She nodded. I said then that if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it. She seemed to be reading it closely with me and I asked, “Did you pray it?” “I can,” she said. So I said great and she silently prayed. I asked again and she said she’d prayed. I quickly gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and also gave her, The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told her I would be praying for her each day until Spring and one year after. “I see God in people like you, like a sign,” she said. I said I was sure God had led me to her because He knew she wanted to be baptized and said, “There’s one thing you need to know first.” This put a big smile on her face. She got up and said, “I gotta go to class.” “OK. Love ya,” I said. “Love you too,” she said. “Have a great day! Keep spreading the word!” “Yes mam,” I replied as she ran off.

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

In Him,

Bob