Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you felt the nearness of God today. I had a good day on campus and thanks for your prayers if you had a moment. Kaitlyn committed to Christ today (she said would pray later) and Christina and Aliyah each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Kaitlyn was lying flat on her back on some of the cushioned benches in the science lounge and said she’d do a student survey.  She was really friendly, had blonde hair pulled up in a bun with no make-up on, blue eyes. She wore some kind of print powder-blue yoga pants and a maroon fleece zip neck pull over. Cute kid. She was raised Roman Catholic but her parents are divorced and it seemed she had not been to Church in a while. She said her mom and stepdad traveled all over the world but never took her, and that she’d like to travel.  I asked her what she would say if God asked why He should let her into Heaven. I joked, suggesting she could say, “My parents never took me on vacation anywhere so I was hoping I could get in here.” She laughed and she said, “Because I am a good person, I desire to go.” She thought she’d have about an 80% chance to go. When I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins, she could not remember. So I said that’s OK and told her there were some Bible verses that explained it. She was interested to listen and followed closely everything I said.  She looked me right in the eye when I spoke directly to her. When I explained she needed to believe Jesus had died for her and rose from the dead, she said “So when I sin I’ll just think Jesus died for me.” I explained she could ask for forgiveness, and she said she’d like to be forgiven but quickly said, “I’ll pray later.” But she took a Bible from me, so I wrote her name and the date in the front and gave her the Book 20 Things God Can’t Do and also a Bible study on the claims Jesus makes to be God in the NT.  She gave me her email to send her some stuff. We talked about the confessional and how God alone forgave sins. “Yeah, Catholics,” she said smiling. I asked in leaving, “So do you believe Jesus is God, that He died for your sins and rose from the dead?” and she said she did. “And would you want to trust in that to be forgiven so God could live inside you?” She said she would. So I said, “The Bible teaches if you say with your mouth Jesus is Lord and Believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead you’ll be saved. But the prayer is important, God likes to be asked.” She accepted that and since I had her email I said I’d check with her later.  So I hope later I’ll discover she has definitely asked for forgiveness. She shook my hand as I left and said, “Thank you so much.” She was a great kid.

Christina was on the phone as I walked up and started the survey with her ear piece in. But the other person dropped off after Christina was too distracted to talk to her.  She was Greek Orthodox and went to church every few weeks lately. Christina looked like a stereotypical pretty Greek girl with very curly brown hair past her shoulders and black rimmed glasses. She wore jeans and a black leather jacket over a button front shirt. She spoke with a slight accent and her family was Italian and Greek from “the mountains”. We talked for a long time. She’d grown up with some severe health problems and had a few operations. She parted her hair to show me a scar. This had led to depression and other struggles. “Life is a lesson,” she said. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, “I know I’m a sinner, and Adam and Eve sinned (making things the way they are). But I tried to live my life to make the best of what He gave us. To be happy, to forgive other people, try to do the good you can.” She believed the purpose of Religion was to “spread good, to reinforce it”. I asked her how likely it was she would go to Heaven and she said, “I struggle with that, I don’t do bad things, but where is the [line you] cross… the point you are done and you don’t get in anymore.” She settled on 60%.  I said I could tell her what the Bible said was the way to Heaven and asked her if she’d like to hear some Bible verses. She said she would. She kind of marveled at the imputation of Christ. She knew He had suffered, but she did not seem to have understood blood atonement. As I finished explaining the Gospel, she said she’d want to be forgiven and then told me more of her life. I talked her through the prayer she could pray, but she did not like the idea of reading other people’s words. I said sometimes we quote people to make a point and said, “We love Him because He first loved us.” I can tell you that, but those are actually John’s words in his letter in the Bible. She said she had asked God to begin to change her, and I explained the way God changed people was first to live inside them with His Spirit and that she needed to ask for forgiveness based on what Jesus had done for God to live inside saying, “Maybe he sent me here to answer that prayer.” I encouraged her that she could pray her own words like I was not there and begin a relationship with God. “Get on the train,” she said in response and I agreed. She bowed her head and closed her eyes and prayed for a bit to receive Jesus. I explained the fruit of the Spirit to her and living inside out. I gave her a Bible, putting her name in the front and the date.  I also gave her the book 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible study. I told her I would be praying for her over the next year and she said “Don’t spend too much time on your knees.” I smiled and I said I’d pray for her sitting up in a chair. As I left, she shook my hand and said, “Thank you.” I said she was welcome.

I was pretty shot after several hours of witnessing, so I thought I’d say hi to some friends and head home. As I headed out, I walked past a girl on a couch I thought I should ask.  I stopped past her, almost thinking I was too tired to talk any more. But I walked up to her and she was really happy to talk.  I think I got a bit of energy off of that. When she said her name was Aliyah, I thought it might be Muslim, but she was just a cute bubbly kid from a Roman Catholic background. She said she had been forced through CCD and confirmation but had been to some Christian camps and was looking for “something between Kumbaya and Roman Catholics”. She had perfectly straight teeth and a bright smile, with long, straight, light brown hair and had on jeans and a jacket. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven and she said, “That’s hard. OK well, I would… ask for forgiveness and say that I want to be in the Heavens. I guess I would… ask for help to come to peace.” (An African girl who prayed with me to receive Christ a couple years ago and sometimes stops by the Bible Study plopped down next to me as I went through the Gospel so I greeted her warmly and kept on with the story. Felicia gets pretty focused on her phone sometimes and immediately did as she waited, so somehow did not matter.) Aliyah knew Jesus had died to take away sin and wanted to be forgiven. I asked her if she trusted in Christ, saying I knew she’d know the story. She said she thought she’d believed God was forgiving.  I explained how she could take one more step to ask Him to forgive her, trusting in what Jesus had done.  I explained the prayer to her and she decided to pray to receive Christ saying “Yeah sure.” She visibly brightened after she finished and I gave her The Bible Promise Book and she also took the student edition of The Case for Christ, saying she thought there was someone she wanted to give it to. I suggested she could look through it a bit first.  I gave her a Bible study and explained living “inside out” to her and “By the Spirit”.  She was happy and gave me her email and I said I’d pray for her. She thanked me and I left with Felicia to give her a ride to where she works.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob