Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Well, I hope you are surviving the winter well.  The weather here has been windy and cold, but fortunately the buildings are all connected at College of DuPage, so I can shove my coat in the club’s locker and walk about.  Two prayed to receive Christ today; Ewelina (Evalena Polish pronunciation) and Quincy, an African American guy.

Ewelina was sitting, waiting for her boyfriend to get out of class in the Science building.  I don’t think the class was even half over so she was game to talk a while.  She was a very lovely brown-haired girl whose parents brought her here from Poland when she was 3. She was raised Roman Catholic, predictably enough, and went to church largely to please her parents, but she did pray each night. She seemed to be more attracted to the Gospel the more we talked, but said, “What you are saying does not sound that different from how I am now.  I feel like I have a relationship with God, I pray each night and confess to the priest @ church.” I said, “Well, everyone has a relationship with God [as He is their creator] but not everyone is in a relationship with God.” I explained the difference further by suggesting she and I could have a relationship were we to come to know each other better but only my wife Ellen is in a relationship with me.  I said, Heaven was like a good club, you have to know someone to get in, the bouncer the bartender the drummer in the band.  She said smiling, “So Jesus is like the bouncer in Heaven.”  I said He was and rejected religious people who did not know Him though they did miracles in His name and even cast out demons [Matt. 7:22].  She needed to enter in His name by His righteousness that was to her credit by faith.  I talked to her about the work of the priest suggesting he was like an insurance agent you buy car insurance from.  When you crack up your car, the company he represents pays, not him.  Similarly the priest represents God and must assume you understand the work of Christ forgives your sins and might give you some penance to provoke feelings in that regard, but no man can forgive your sins, only God could forgive you.  She agreed with this and had not prayed for forgiveness thinking about the work of Christ or really understanding it before.  The Holy Spirit seemed to move in our discussion. I told her (giving her a word picture about a relationship and a boyfriend) that what God wanted most from her was the same thing she would want in a relationship, “He wants to be believed.”  I asked her what she thought and she said , “Sounds good.”  And she decided to pray to receive Christ. I explained the work of the Holy Spirit to her and gave her a Bible study and she was looking forward to reading the Bible more.

I spoke with Quincy next.  He was sitting on one of the over-stuffed chairs at the top of the stairs overlooking the SRC revolving doors. He was looking at a laptop, but as I stood at the rails looking out he looked up, so I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey for a Bible Study group and he said ok.  He plays football, just an average looking guy, not huge.  He did not know how his sins were forgiven and the Gospel was all news to him.  He wanted to be forgiven for his sins and said he did believe Jesus had died for him to forgive them.  He prayed to receive Christ.  He did not like to read, but took a Bible study from me and gave me his email to send him something more.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you got a chance.  Please pray for Ewelina and Quincy that they might grow.

In Him,
Bob Bollow