Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Hope your day was blessed. I had a good day on campus, though for the first few hours I felt like I was simply gonna set a record for the most times in a row students did not want to talk about God. I spoke with several Christians (some friends, others new to me) and at the days end, Chris prayed to receive Christ.
Chris was laying down on a couch in the 2nd floor lounge on the Northeast corner of the BIC. I looked in through the glass walls and could only see his legs and the round coffee table that comes out of the arm rest he was spinning casually with a water bottle on it. I more commonly talk to people in the hallway, but he was back in the corner, sitting next to a guy who looked Pakistani. Chris looked like the all-American boy, had his cap turned backwards with jeans, tennis shoes and t-shirt. Sohail had a full lap with a textbook in a ring binder and was writing notes or doing homework of some kind. He had a short growth of beard but without the typical thinned mustache (it was the same growth as his beard) and longer beard growth I often see on Muslim guys. Wavy hair, olive skin, nice looking and friendly. I had walked into the lounge as much because it had been so hard to find people to talk to as anything else. I was glad Chris wanted to do a survey and his friend, Sohail, next to him was fine with it. Though he was studying hard, he did the survey too. Sohail was not interested in Islam though his dad was Islamic. He wanted to concentrate on his studies and thought he would decide on religious things later in life. He thought he’d go to Heaven because he was very friendly and kind to people in his life and had given to charity. “I’ve done sins but I repented of them. I would tell Him all my sins and ask to be forgiven.” Chris said, “I believe in God. I go to church every Sunday. I guess he’ll probably let me in…” He thought he’d have a 70% chance. Sohail was at 80%. The last question of the survey is ‘What you think of Christianity?’ so I asked Chris if he knew how God had taken away his sins. “Confession?” he proffered. “Well, the priest tells you that your sins are forgiven because God forgives your sins and the reason he can say that is because of what Jesus did” I replied. They both were attentive to the Gospel as I dove into it. I was a little surprised, as it seemed like two different worlds sitting in front of me (Chris had moved his feet to let me have the end of the couch against the wall). Possibly Sohail was being courteous. In the end, both said they wanted to be forgiven. But Sohail maintained that he believed you just need to be good. I asked Chris if he believed Jesus was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead. “Yes” he replied. I explained that he could ask for forgiveness based on what Jesus had done for him, and God could live inside him. I walked him through the prayer, suggesting he could pray it silently like we were not even there, and he did. He was grateful. I explained more to him about the Cristian life and forgiveness saying, “The priest is like an insurance agent when you get insurance for your car. When you get in an accident, the agent doesn’t pay, the company pays. The priest can’t forgive your sins, he is just a guy. Only God can forgive sins. But the priest can reassure you your sins are forgiven.” I told him that, “Sometimes early on a Sunday, you fog over and might not get much out of church. But when you take the mass, the wafer represents Jesus’ body and the wine is symbolic of his blood. So when you take it, you can take a moment and remember and thank God, knowing Jesus has died for your sins and so you are forgiven.” I explained that Christianity is the inside out not the outside in. That repetition allows you to learn an instrument like the guitar. “You do the chord over and over until they are memorized and the outside becomes the inside. “Christianity is the opposite. You ask God to change you on the inside and you become that person by His power and it works out eventually on the outside.” I explained the Fruit of the Spirit that way to him. “When you go to church they tell you ‘you should do this and you should do that, and you’re like, ‘this is great but I’m gonna forget this by Wednesday.” But if you feel convicted about something you hear [at church] you can ask God to begin to change you on the inside and He will begin to work.” He took a Bible and a Bible Study and the Student Edition of The Case for Christ. Sohail did not want a book and said his studies were more important. In response I said, “Well, in Christianity God lives inside you and can help you with that as well. But he had heard my explanations. We parted amicably and he took a copy of the booklet “Would You Like to Know God Personally”. I got Chris’ email to send him more information.
I bumped into Kendall, who prayed to receive Christ Oct 8th, who was doing really great – going to good Church with his dad and had just been on a retreat. I gave him The Bible Promise Book and told him I had been praying for him. So that was great to see someone thriving at church.
Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God blessed.
In Him, Bob
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