Hey Brothers and sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was a blessed one walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Cam and LaShawn each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Their stories are below if you have some time and you want to read the exchange. Please pray they grow and a given the sanctification without which not one will see the Lord.

Cam was sitting in the PE building lounge on a couch just past the elevator doors. I went to the elevator and pushed the button. His brown hoodie was up. It was a crisp fabric and shielding his face and I thought he was someone I had talked to before. But realizing I really could not see his face I gave it a shot. When I got close I asked if he’d do a survey and he looked up and I didn’t know him. He agreed so I got his name and we started in. He had a roman nose, nice complexion, a mustache that stopped at his lips, which were classic looking for a black guy. He had some under chin hair beneath. I had to get his name twice he had a bit of a stutter. I asked one thing he wanted to do before he died and he said, “Make my mom proud.” I asked, “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?” He said, “I spread the word at times. I pray.” He thought he had a 70% chance of going to Heaven and had been to church. He listened attentively to the Gospel just checking the time on his phone once. Twice, Black guys who say hi to me regularly and are Christians fist bumped him as we talked. One gave me the nod and the other I missed looking at as I was reading until he walked off. I asked what the big thing was Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. “Not sure,” he replied after a moment of thought. He took in everything I said about the blood and righteousness of Christ. I asked him if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done, said the quick options of Islam and the Buddha and asked again if he’d want to be forgiven. He did he said nodding. I said there was a prayer he could pray and went through it but the end was broken by a phone call from his ride. His stutter kicked in on the second syllable so he spoke into the phone and said, ‘Come,” instead of “Coming”. I finished it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Sure,” he said. I said he could pray it silently. He took the booklet and said, “Appreciate it.” He turned the page to look at the booklet so I asked, “Did you pray the prayer?” He turned back to it and began out loud with a hitch so I stopped him and said, “You can pray it silently.” He continued in silence and prayed to receive Christ. When he finished I knew he had to run. I quickly explained living by the Spirit’s power. I gave him Bible Promises for You and I wrote his name and the date (asking him for it) and I wrote “forgiven!” “Appreciate it,” he said seeing what I wrote. And then I handed him the book. I gave him Strobel’s book and a Bible study and I quickly told him the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the Blood and righteousness of Jesus. He said, “Appreciate it,” again. He got up to run for his ride and said I would pray a Bible verse for him each night. He looked back and me and said for the third time, “Appreciate it.” And he was off down the hall out the east side of the building.

LeShawn was sitting under balcony that looks out to the stairs along the wall going to the exit near the bookstore. He had a black hoodie up over his head and black pants on. He was shorter and had a roundish face and cheeks, had classic black nose and lips. Dark complexion, though clean shaven but the shadow of where his beard would come in was visible. He was cheerful and upbeat. He wanted to get rich. I laughed and said takes a lot more money these days, you tell some you got a million dollars and they say, “So what.” He laughed. I asked, “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?” “That’s a tricky question,” he replied. “I don’t know, ask Him to forgive me.” He thought he had a 60% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him. He said he went to Church. When I asked him what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world he said, “He died.” He took it all in voicing agreement and saying, “Right,” and other affirming kind of words to the concepts of the blood and the righteousness of Christ as a payment for our sin. I told him he was saved by receiving Christ, believing on His name or His reputation; that Jesus was God died for your sins and rose from the dead. “Not that you just knew the story but that that’s what you put your trust in. So if someone would say to you, ‘why should God let you into Heaven?’ you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me. That would mean you had faith in Jesus.” He was saved by faith. So I said the last question is do you want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or do you think something else giving him the CliffsNotes version of Islam and the Buddha as well. And then saying, “When you are asking for forgiveness for your sins have you been thinking you are a good person and trying and hoping you’ll be forgiven or have you been thinking, ‘I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me.’ I know you knew the story but had you ever really put it together like that?” “Not like that no,” he said with a smile. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and asked if it was the desire of his heart. “Um Hum,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently would he want to and he replied, “Um Hum,” again also nodding. I handed him the booklet and he prayed n barely audible words. When he finished he said, “Can I keep this?”  I said, “sure.” And showed him the end of the booklet; going through the Christian life with him. I asked if he had a Bible and he said he did on his phone. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I told him Strobel’s story and gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I gave him a Bible Study and told him I would pray for him each day. “Have a good one,” I said, getting up to leave. “You too, thank you,” he said, gratefully. “You’re welcome Happy Easter,” I replied and he said “You too.” And I headed up the stairs.

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

 In Him,

Bob