Hey Brothers and Sisters and Christ,

I hope you morning was blessed so far with good things from above not merely leaves from above, my yard if full of them. I had a good week on campus and Ethan, Justina [Hustina], John and Thursday London all prayed with me to receive Christ on campus. London’s story is below if you want to spend the time. Please pray she grows in her faith.

My first conversation was with a girl who did not want a booklet I had gone through with her saying it did not sound Catholic enough. I asked her if she believed Jesus was God and had died for her sins. She said she did not know. I asked if she had had her first communion. She said she had. I pointed out the symbolism in the Mass was the blood and body of Christ. That was news to her. She did not seem quite capable of participating in college course work to be honest. But I had filled out all I usually say in the booklet and used it later with London reaching over a table where it would be difficult to write.

London was sitting in one of the recessed alcoves cut into the wall along the third-floor edge of the SSC lounge. She sat beside Daisha who had trusted in Christ in about the same spot on October 1^st this year. They sat in stuffed chairs with a coffee table in front of them. I did not recognize Daisha who had long light brown straight hair last I saw her and a winter watch cap on her head. She now wore long straight black braids. London is African American and had long braids past her shoulders that kinked in bends as they cascaded down out of squares on her head. She had a diamond shaped cute face and a button chin and wore the butterfly wing shaped lenses, now popular, they were clear plastic. She wore a black hoodie with lines of rhinestone bling on it and leggings ending in caramel and black faux fur boots. I asked if they wanted to do a survey, Daisha said she already had but went along at first so London (who had left the decision to her) would do it and then backed out. I had asked London as I stood before them “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I have been an upstanding citizen,” she joked. “I never sin,” she added. I asked if she ever told a lie. “No, well maybe a fib,” she replied. “Those are called ‘white lies’,” I replied. I sat on the floor on the other side of the round table. As she then did the survey she said the citizen line again and added, “I’m selfless.” Not repeating she hadn’t sinned. Possibly a few lies had come to mind. I asked her the likelihood she would be let into Heaven when she died and she said, “60-40.” I began to go through the Gospel with her. I wanted her to listen and she was a little less than serious so I prayed in my head as we spoke and as I began reading the Bible she became very somber and began to listen closely. It seemed God was working in her. I said God had to take away her sin to live inside her. “OK,” she said seriously. So I asked what the big thing was back in History that Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. She leaned back and spread out her arms as Jesus might have nailed to a cross and searched for the word and finally said, “Crucified.” It amused them both that she had dramatized it in response and Daisha smiled at her and she said, “Yeah that’s me being crucified.” But she stayed with me as I read the Bible verses. I quoted some to her about the blood and righteousness of Christ. I read that he rose from the dead and the only way to God was through Him. “God adopts you and makes you His child and gives you the blessings of His family. He gives you the sacrifice for your sins the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness of God that surrounds you. So you got someplace to go, Heaven, and something to wear when you get there, the righteousness of God.” I said all this was hers to receive by faith. If she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead, not that she just knew the story from growing up with it but that that’s what she placed her trust in as an adult. “So if someone would ask you, ‘Why should God let you into Heaven?’ you’d say because Jesus died for me,” I said. “Ohh,” she said as if someone had just given her the answer for the test question. Grace by faith saved her. Not her good works. “Say you had a boyfriend for about 3 weeks. You thought he was pretty cool but then you found out he was cheating on you and stealing your stuff. So you cut him loose. He comes back in about a week and says, ‘London I know I really did you wrong. I was even stealing your stuff and selling it for drugs but I just want you to know, I’m gonna be nice to my next 3 girlfriends. You’d be like, ‘That doesn’t help me at all.’ Because you can’t to something good over there to fix your bad stuff here.” I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done so God could live inside her and give her strength or if she thought something else giving her the CliffsNotes options of Islam and the Buddha. Then asked again, “So would you want to be forgiven?” She nodded really quick short little nods. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I read it through for her and asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. She nodded really quick short little nods again. So I said “Ok and I handed her the booklet and said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” That made her laugh and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I began to go through the Christian life with her. Her mom had a Bible but she didn’t so I gave her one. It was the same one I had given Daisha and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front which she really liked. I gave her Bible Promises for You and also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told her Strobel’s story. I gave her a Bible study and I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. I explained the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside out”. She asked me to pray for her math class she was doing poorly in. I said I would. She thanked me and was happy and I headed out.

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

 In Him,

Bob