Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope things were blessed for you today and you felt the nearness of God.  I didn’t plan to do evangelism today, as Ellen and I got together with 3 students who used to go to COD, whom we love a lot but have moved on (to DePaul and Nursing School respectively).  But I had a couple hours left in the tank late in the afternoon and dropped by COD to see what God might do. Bee, Javier and Xavier each prayed with me to receive Christ.  So that was a blessing.

Bee was sitting between the doors of the PE building with a couple of the pretty black girls I know who have prayed to receive Christ or know Him.  She is Latina and one of the girls wanted to do a student survey with her who had done it before, Tiffani.  It was a good refresher course for Megan (sitting near) who had a couple questions and had prayed last year.  Bee had naturally wavy curly hair, died a sandy blonde.  She had what looked like workout clothes on.  Said she’d be crying if she stood before God and were asked why He should let her into Heaven, and said she really wanted to go badly.  She listened to the Gospel attentively as some of the peeps came in and out. When I’d finished, I said since she hadn’t really known how to go to Heaven and have a relationship with God, she might want to pray for forgiveness and ask Him to live inside her.  By then Megan had gone off to talk privately with another girl who and showed up, and Tiffani was over talking to someone else.  A girl who did not give me her name and did not want to answer any questions was still there talking by then to Brionna, who had sat down on the floor with us.  I took out the booklet then and showed Bee the prayer for forgiveness, saying she could pray it quietly in her heart like no one was there and she said, “I’ll do it.”  So Bee prayed and I showed her some other things about the Christian life.  She had her own Bible and didn’t want anything else to read.  I told her I would be praying for her, and Brionna, who had sat down at some point said, “He prays for everyone.” And it did seem like I was praying for more and more of her friends.  The conversation picked up again between them and I slipped away.

Javier was sitting outside on a bench, waiting for a bus, but said he would talk as long as his bus didn’t show up.  He had a half-week growth of stick straight beard (like his hair), the sides of which were not going to reach his chin where he had a bit more, or his lip, where he had a bit more yet.  He had jeans on and tennis shoes that were a tan color.  He wore a gray zip up hoodie. He sat stick straight like he could not move his neck with his hands in his lap.  He might have had an injury as he only moved his eyes not tilting his head forward or it was just a thing.  It could have been a little off putting, but hey if you can’t do awkward moments, well, don’t do contact evangelism. I asked if he’d be ok with going through some verses about Christianity in this little booklet and he said “Ok.” I guess I should have held the booklet higher sitting by him on the bench, but it would have seemed odd to hold it in his face.  He turned out to be friendly enough.  As we went through the Gospel, Javier had short, quick responses of agreement.  He was also wearing sunglasses that I could just see under to see the movement of his eyes looking down, as I read a verse for him to follow.  Earlier he’d said he hoped to see Mexico someday since it was his “home country.”  I told him, “Yeah my family was from Sweden on my mom’s side, and I haven’t been there either.”  As to why he should go to Heaven he said “I’d leave that up to Him…regarding my position against others.  I wouldn’t say compare me to others, but judge me as He judged others.” As to if he’d go to Heaven he said, “I’d give it 50/50.”  He hadn’t been to church in a few months.  After explaining God loved him and wanted to live inside him with His Holy Spirit, to give Him Eternal life, I said He first had to take away his sin. “Do you know what Jesus did back in the day to take away the sins of the world?” I asked. “Honestly no,” he replied.  So I explained the Gospel.  I offered him the opportunity to be forgiven with God inside or conversely to have God on the outside of his life and he said, “The first one.”  So I offered him the prayer where he could accept God’s forgiveness.  All this time his head never moved his head, just his eyes, even when he responded verbally.  But I just went with it.  I read through the prayer and he did not say he’d like to pray. Watching his eyes and lips move just barely, I could tell he was praying it. And so I held the booklet for him to pray until he finished.  I walked him through the Christian life a bit by the power of the Holy Spirit asking him if he had a Bible. “Yes,” he said.  “Is it your own Bible or a family Bible?”  I ventured. “Personal,” he said.  I offered him the booklet and he said, “I’ll keep it.”  He wanted to read the longer version of The Case for Christ, so I gave him that and a Bible study, asking if he had any more questions.  He asked about the Bible study so I gave him a copy of the one we’d done last week on “Adoption as Sons”.  He didn’t have any connections at school (or an email) but being from Carol Stream he thought he might come to Bible study.  I got up to leave and said I’d pray for him. “I appreciate your talking to me, it really does help,” he said.  I said, “Sure” and walked down the sidewalk and inside the revolving doors of the SRC.

Xavier is African American.  On the short side with a short afro.  He was friendly and responsive compared to the others I’d spoken to today. Seemed quite intelligent.  He looked and talked suburban. I’d have pegged him for an accountant. He’d gone to Catholic school, but the one he attended is now closed.  He had grass-green skinny-legged slacks on and a nice shirt.  He was just sitting on a set of connected couch style chairs, kind of under the stairs as you walk in. He wanted to travel, and hadn’t been anywhere in the states.  When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “Oooo, tough question.”  He thought a moment more and said, “I’d talk about how I try to be the best person I can be. I’m not perfect or anything but I try.” So I began to go through the Gospel with him.  I explained eternal life was knowing God, being one with Him where He lived inside you.  “It’s like you’re the Energizer Bunny and God’s the batteries. You keep going and going, and when you die it’s like you don’t die ’cause God’s inside.”  “I like that,” he replied amiably.  I asked if he knew what Jesus had done to take away his sins and he said “No.”  So I began to tell him about the atonement and imputed righteousness of Christ and His resurrection.  When I asked him if he’d want to be forgiven by faith he said, “Definitely.”  So I asked if, when asking for forgiveness, he had been trusting in Christ, or in God being a forgiving God and his being good enough.  He agreed it was the later. “I feel like God’s forgiving and [would forgive] me.” He prayed to receive Christ after I offered him the prayer too.  I explained the power of the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life and offered him a book.  He took 20 Things God Can’t Do, so I handed it to him and he said, “For me?” in the way you say it being grateful.  I gave him a Bible study and got his email to send him more.  I said good bye and he thanked me 3 times, that was nice.  I was really tanked from several hours of talking today, so I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had an inclination.  God truly blessed and past prayers carried me.

In Him,

Bob