Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Hope your day brought you peace in the Lord. The world is in turmoil but God is in control. At least it seems so to me on campus as He continues to lead me to people who trust in Him. Chelsea and Maria each prayed to receive Jesus today.
Chelsea is African American. Her straightened hair was pulled back into a medium-length pony tail. She had jeans on and a hooded sweatshirt, no makeup, slight features, attractive and she is studying to be a nurse. She was raised in a Christian environment and said God had been a big part of her life growing up. When I had gone through the Gospel with her, much of it seemed familiar. But I asked her if she had truly been trusting in what Jesus had done for her on the Cross to forgive her or in that she was religious and good. “I guess. I’ve been baptized… I’m not really sure if I ever did.” She thought about it some more and so I said, “Well if you wanted to be sure, there is a prayer you could pray.” And I walked her through it, asking her if it was the desire of her heart. She said it was and decided she wanted to pray. And she did. It seems like if you are not sure you ever asked God to forgive you based on what Jesus had done for you, you should. She had to run to her class but I had a chance to explain living by the power of the Holy Spirit to her and gave her a Bible study and More Than a Carpenter to read. I asked her to email me if she’d like to learn more. She seemed to be in a worshipping church. Hopefully now she will be worshiping in gratitude that her sins are forgiven.
I talked to a black guy earlier in the day whose name was Cozing, similar thing though I don’t think he knew the gospel. He thought he would like to pray later so I hope he will.
Maria was sitting in the Cafeteria and after a couple peeps had turned me down she made eye contact so I asked her and she wanted to answer some questions. The Lord seemed to be moving in her heart as she sat looking out the window at the counter against the glass. She was a bit on the heavy side with a sweet, nice face and very curly long brown hair. Her background was Spanish speaking and she went to some kind of Roman Catholic Church downtown that she sometimes attended, though the services seemed somehow nontraditional. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked why He should let her into Heaven and she said, “If I’m worthy–to let me in.” So I went through the Gospel with her. I asked her in the middle how God, with Jesus, took away her sin but she just said, “I’m sorry I don’t know.” So I explained to her His death and imputed righteousness, dying in her place and she said she would want to be forgiven. She explained though her family did not always get to Church she felt like God was with her. I said, “God is with you, but this is more a question of if you want Him to be in you with His Spirit helping and guiding you. Say for some reason we took a class together here and a guy in it decided he liked you and he asked me if I knew you and I said we’d talked. Then he asked me to give you his number. So I give his digits to you and we all get to know each other and even study together but you never call him and he never calls you. Well, you have a relationship with him because he is your friend but you are not in a relationship with him.” She understood the difference and I asked her if she would like to be in a relationship with God. I explained a prayer she could pray and she decided she wanted what it expressed. After she had prayed I gave her a Bible study on the Deity of Christ. I explained again the righteousness of Jesus to her credit, that she did not go to Heaven because she was good but because Jesus was good and died for her. And that trusting now in that she would go to Heaven. She looked at me and earnestly said, “Thank you.”
So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. I’m truly grateful for your help.
In Him,
Bob Bollow
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