Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I hope you had a great day walking with the Lord. I had a good day of evangelism, though I had a headache that wouldn’t give up and dragged on me a bit. I only got through the Gospel completely with 3 students in all the hours I was at school. Almost everyone turned me down. But Cindy, Julian and Thandi [pronounced ‘Tandie’] all prayed to receive Jesus today.
Cindy was sitting in the BIC Building in the hall on a bench by herself. Pretty Latino girl with almond shaped eyes, she had shredded jeans on (thread bare over most of her shins and her thighs) white tennis shoes and shoulder length brown hair. I asked her what was one thing she wanted to do before she died and she said “Go to Africa and teach poor children.” She seemed like a really sweet person and an introvert. When I asked her what she’d say to God if He asked her why He should let her into Heaven, she thought for a minute as if the question really threw her off. Kind of reaching for something she said, “Because I never killed anyone…” she paused and then kind of pleading her case she said, “I’m a good person.” She was pretty sure she was going to Heaven though and gave it 90%, and regularly went to the Catholic Church. She hadn’t been thinking in terms of the Gospel at all. When I asked, “What’s the big thing Jesus did back in the day to take away your sins?” I could tell she knew as soon as she heard herself say it that was wrong but said, guessing, “He was baptized.” But then I explained the Gospel and she tuned right in. I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven and right away she said she did and admitted, smiling a bit, that she had just been hoping she was good and religious and God would forgive her. She prayed to receive Christ and I realized I was running out of time as she had to get to class. So I quickly explained the work of the Spirit in the Christian life. I gave her a more remembrance view of the Mass, saying she could use that time to be grateful, knowing she was forgiven because Christ had died for her. I gave her a Bible Study, More Than a Carpenter to read and a Bible, telling her I would keep her in my prayers and giving her my email and she ran to class.
Julian was laying on a bench in the MAC Arts building, by the front doors, listening to his phone. He went to a community Church in town. He had a short brown beard and shorter wavy hair that matched. Dressed in jeans, white shoes, good lookin’ guy, bigger than average (he took up the bench, they are the best ones to sit on in the school and I have sat on them all.) When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “’Cause I’ve dedicated my life to actually doing good things. That’s really it, my family there, being with them. I’d hate to be alone for eternity.” He still only thought he had a 75% chance to go to Heaven. He listened to the Gospel and got it when I said, “You don’t go to Heaven because you are good. You go to Heaven because Jesus was good.” He realized he hadn’t been trusting in what Jesus had done for him on the Cross and prayed to receive Christ. He had his pride pricked a bit I think, as anyone’s could be, in realizing he cannot be good enough to go to Heaven. I explained the work of the Spirit to Julian and gave him a Bible study, but he did not want a book saying he had a lot of books. I’ve no doubt he does. Sadly many so called Christian books written these days are not worth reading. I will be praying for him. Please pray his acceptance of the Gospel truly sinks in.
I asked Thandi if she wanted to do a student survey and she turned me down so I said no worries and kept walking. But I was prompted to offer her a booklet to read on her own as I sometimes am, so I turned around and walked back to give her one. She accepted it, so I just began to explain the Gospel to her a bit. First how Jesus had died to take away her sins and God wanted to live inside her. Having already told her the answer, I asked why God might let her into Heaven. She said she thought because she was a good person. So I kept explaining things to her. I was going to keep preaching to her until it seemed like she didn’t want to listen. But she seemed to be getting more comfortable with me as the Spirit worked with the Word. She is a very pretty African American girl. Stick straight hair and jeans, white tennis shoes on, she’d done some cool stuff with her eye make-up. I got to receiving Christ and got out a booklet to show her some verses and told her how God turned even our bad stuff into good stuff, quoting Romans 8:28. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven and she said she would. I said, “Do you believe Jesus is God and has died for your sins and rose from the dead?” She thought for a second and said, “Yes.” So I asked her if she would like to trust in that and she nodded. I walked her through the prayer, offering it to her, saying she could pray it quietly and God would read her thoughts and to pretend I wasn’t there. She did. I gave her a Bible study and as I explained it I felt the Spirit. I explained how the Christian life was inside out, first being transformed by God on the inside by His Spirit and then it showing on the outside. I gave her my email, trying to be careful not to step on the good vibe God had created and left her in her new found faith.
Thanks so much for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.
In Him,
Bob
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