Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope ya had a good day walking with the Lord.  It rained here, but I had a good day on campus. Though I could only get 3 students to talk with me in the course of over 3 1/2 hours or so, they all received Jesus as Savior.  I did preach to a few of the football players, so I hope that will lead to a longer conversation later in the year. One guy, named “Lucky,” might just have to move a bit more.  Thanks for your prayers.  Oscar, Heidi and Viviana prayed to receive Christ today.

Oscar was the first guy I talked to in the Lunch room, at the counter against the glass, and was named after the famous pugilist.  When he told me his name I asked “Like Oscar Robinson?”  “Like De La hoya,” he answered.  “Cool,” I replied.  He said he was born at the time De La hoya was big.  (Boxers had cache still in some subcultures when the sport had no mainstream names left for a lot of people in the US, so it was interesting.) He was smaller in size and height than his name sake (same ethnicity).  Had a little facial hair and wore dark-rimmed glasses that were taped together on the white side I could see.  He wore an orange shirt and jeans.  He hadn’t gone to church since he was young. That seems to be the more common story of those I’ve talked to this year, they don’t go to church anymore nor does their family.  When I asked him what he would say if God asked him why He should let him into Heaven he said, “I’ve always been an open person to You, I guess, and I’ve always wanted to be [there] after death.”  He thought he’d have an 80% chance of ending up in Heaven.  But he listened to the gospel closely.  He didn’t have any idea how God took away his sin and I explained the Gospel to him.  I told him what God wanted most from him was that he believe Him, much like he would want in a relationship someday with someone he would marry. “You want to be able to believe her and you’d want her to believe you.”  Then I asked, “So would you like to be forgiven, trusting in Jesus so God could live inside you? Or do you think something else?”  “Forgiven” he said.  I explained he could ask God for forgiveness and I walked him through the prayer. He read it (as I held it) and prayed.  I explained the work of the Holy Spirit to him, and gave him a Bible study and a Bible, as he did not have one.  I also gave him the book 20 Things God Can’t Do.  I told him I would be praying for him until a year from spring and he was really grateful. I said good bye and he said, “Thanks a lot!” I got his email to send him more stuff.  It was great to talk with Oscar because he had a heart for God. I gave him a card for the Compass church, suggesting he could watch some sermons online.

Heidi was sitting in the hall of the BIC, waiting for her class to start.  She was from Alaska and was living with her aunts (one of which, at least, was a nurse) and planning to become a nurse at another school after 2 years at COD.  She went to the “Christian” church in her small town “Everybody went to” and hadn’t really found a place to go locally yet.  She wore a black t-shirt and black nylon running sweats with stripes down the legs and I sat at her feet while she sat in a hall chair.  She’s a cute kid, kind of athletic looking like a softball player.  She was an outgoing person but self-described as shy.  She had long, dark-blonde hair, straight past her shoulders, nice kid.  When I asked her what she’d tell God to get into Heaven she said, “If He’s watching, He should know what I’ve done.  I haven’t done anything (not gonna say I’m perfect) that He wouldn’t let me in.”  In telling her the Gospel, when I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins, she said He, “Gave Himself up.” She liked the stories I told her to illustrate things, and laughed and wanted to be forgiven.  So said I knew she had known the story, but asked if she was “really trusting in Christ to forgive her”.  When she’d done something wrong, was she assuming she was good enough and God was forgiving? Or was she believing she was forgiven because of what Jesus had done.  That gave her pause and she thought and realized she hadn’t really been trusting in Christ, “Humf,” she said in realization.  And she decided to pray to receive Jesus and did.  I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible study.  I also gave her a card for the Compass Church since she lived locally.  She was grateful and happy when I left.  I invited her to Bible study. I hope she’ll think about coming.

Viviana was sitting at one of the tables in the big lounge where we have Bible study on Tuesdays.  She was wearing a dark-blue hoodie made out of velour with a zipper front.  She was cute, Latina, had long brown hair that was kind of wavy around her face, she wore black rimed Ray Bans and had a big smile, that let you see all her teeth all at once. They seemed perfectly straight.  She was nice and was interested in the Gospel, though she had not been to church since she was young and didn’t know how her sins were forgiven.  I asked her what she’d say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven, “I’d say… Because in my life I’ve tried to help as many people as I could. To help them to the fullest extent [of my ability].”  She listened to the Gospel and enjoyed hearing about what God had done and wanted to be forgiven. But she was a bit hesitant, so I asked her if she believed Jesus was God and had died for her sins. She seemed unsure.  I was praying in my heart as I spoke that God would move in her heart.  “Maybe this will help you,” I said. “Do you believe in God?”  “Yes,” she said nodding.  “Do you believe He can do whatever He wants to do? I’m not asking if He can to anything no matter how irrational, like making a rock so big He can’t lift it.”  She thought about it and decided He could do what He wanted.  “So could He become a man if He wanted to?”  “Yes,” she agreed.  “And if He did, would he tell people the truth?” “Well I hope so,” she laughed.  “Otherwise you are talking about a different God than you imagined,” I said and she agreed.  I asked, hypothetically, if she knew the truth about the presidential candidates, and could expose all their darkest deeds in Washington tomorrow, if she would live very long if she started finding a way to announce all of this stuff in Washington.  She thought she’d be killed. I agreed, saying some people close to Clinton had already died.  I explained that is part of the reason they killed Jesus and asked, “If God became a man and they killed Him, what would He do next?  He’d rise from the dead.  And He did.  So it all makes sense. It’s just that Christianity tells the story of why God would do all that. He did it because he loves you and had to pay for your sins.”  Viviana tracked with all I told her and I was still praying God would grant her faith as I talked. “You know how when you go to forgive someone, how it cost you something?” I asked. “Yes it does.” she replied.  “It cost God something to forgive us. There is a balance to the universe, and God paid for us by dying for us.”  At some point I explained the prayer to her, talking some more and she said, “I really like that.”  I said if she wanted and if she believed enough to ask, she could pray for forgiveness and ask God to give her more faith, as faith was a gift. But if she wasn’t ready to pray, she should wait and think about it.  She looked at the prayer again and said again that it was “A good prayer.”  “I haven’t prayed in a long time,” she said, looking down and reading. And then she prayed as I saw her lips moving and she slowly read the sections. So I looked down, letting her finish.  I talked to her about The Case for Christ and offered her the student edition of it, to help strengthen her faith which she took.  I walked her through the Bible study I had and gave her a book called Bible Basics.  At the time I had already given away the bible I had in my satchel.  She said she thought she had one at home somewhere.  So I gave her a Gospel of John.  We talked a bit more and I got her email.  “Thank you so much, I appreciate your time,” she said as I got up to leave.  “You’re welcome” I said.  And we parted.  Then I walked over to the science building and felt convicted I should get over to my truck and get another Bible, in the chance she hadn’t moved from the table.  When I got back she was there and was really grateful for it. So I was grateful God moved me to do that.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  God really blessed me today.

In Him,

Bob