Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed in the Lord.  I had a good day on campus sharing the faith and Yunik (yo nick) Austin and Vanessa each prayed with me to receive Christ as their savior.

Yunik was sitting by the doors checking his phone on his way out after class out the back of the BIC 2nd floor. Most students are never sitting around school. They get their classes done and leave. He had a minute and decided to do a survey for our Bible study group. He went to a catholic church and had a slight accent, though his family was from Mexico he didn’t look Latino in coloring, fair skin scarred on his cheeks, lighter brown stick straight short hair. He has a slight build and was wearing sweats and a t-shirt. He actually look pretty tough. I asked him what he would say if he died and God asked him why he should let him into heaven. “Because I always believed in Him.” He thought he had about an 80% chance to go to heaven. He was engaged with the Gospel as I went though it saying, “I see” and when I described Christ’s righteousness imputed to him he said, “My shield” acknowledging agreement. (Like the scripture “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” Proverbs 30:5) I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven and have God live inside him or if he thought something else and he said firmly, “I want to be forgiven.” I walked him through the prayer and he said that expressed his desire so I asked if this was something he had done already trusting in Christ for forgiveness or something he still had to do. ‘Still have to do that,” he replied and so I said he could pray it silently and God would hear him and live inside him and forgive him and he prayed as I held the booklet. I said he could keep it and he was anxious to hold on to it. I explained the Christian life to Him living “inside out” the fruit of the Spirit and trusting in Christ’s righteousness. I explained how when he took the mass at church he could think of it symbolically and be thankful to God that he was forgiven remembering Christ had died for him, “That doesn’t seem like too much to ask,” he replied saying he’d do that.  He did not want a Bible study but took a Bible from me so I put his name in it and the date he had gotten things right with God. He did take the book 20 Things God Can’t Do and I wrote By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I shook his hand and said “Nice to meet you.” And he said “Nice to meet you too sir.” Then speaking about the Bible Study group, “Maybe I’ll check it out tomorrow.”

Austin was sitting down the hall in a lounge against a wall by himself. He said he’d answer some questions. He had strawberry blonde hair, short on the sides with a little more on top. He wore a white sleeveless shirt and navy blue shorts, white sneakers. He had wire rimed square glasses and a couple days growth of beard, friendly face, tall. When I asked him what he’d say to God if he died he said, “I’ve done more things to help others than I’ve done to help myself.” He went to a catholic church too. He thought he had a 50/50 shot to get to heaven. He listened to the Gospel closely, with some acknowledgement, staring ahead without looking at me much. But he took it all in and I asked him if he would like to be forgiven. He thought for a moment almost taking a breath and then said, “I would like to be forgiven.” I talked him through the prayer and asked him if he’d been trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins and he said, “I haven’t embraced it [up until now].” But he wanted to receive Christ and prayed silently to do so.” I explained the Christian life to him to living “inside out” and the fruit of the Spirit telling him he could ask for more love and faith which is a gift. I said, “When I screw up I tell God I’m sorry and ask Him to make me a different man so I’ll change on the inside and be better able to not do the same thing again.” He caught that and liked the idea.  I gave him a Bible study and 20 Things God Can’t Do to read writing the date in the front. He shook my hand and said, “Thank you sir.” I patted him on the shoulder and said, “I’ll see you in Heaven,” and he said with a grin, “Yeah, see ya around.”

Vanessa was sitting in the Science building in the Northwest corner lounge on the second floor. Nice looking, she was wearing a black V-neck blouse and black slacks and shoes wore black framed glasses. She had long brown hair and said her family was from Mexico. She lived in the city and was commuting out for the criminal justice program she was in, she wanted to be a police detective. She somehow looked the part. She said her grandmother was religious but her mom wasn’t so much and she was not really sure what she thought but that there was a higher power. I asked her what she would say to get into heaven and she said, “God would probably look upon the fact that I’ve been the rock of my family. It’s a good aspect of my personality.” I asked her what the percentage was she would get to heaven and she said, “50/50, I think I got a fair shot. My whole thing is to be good, good to people, I think I got a fair shot.” So I began to explain the Gospel to her and that God wanted to live inside her with His Holy Spirit but first had to make her His type by taking away her sin. She loved hearing the Gospel and it clicked with her and said she’d never heard it put that way before. When I explained the imputation of Christ’s righteousness she was amazed by God grace. Which is of course amazing. I explained How God could turn even bad things we had done and make them into Good and was watching out for us even sending angels to do so and she talked about a wreck she was almost in, “My mom just said it wasn’t my time.” She felt like God’s hand had been on her life. She wanted to be forgiven and I asked her if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. “There has to be something that paid for my sins, I’m not perfect,” she said and said she had done some things wrong. “Something has got me here.” She decided to believe in Jesus. (I imagine her grandmother prays for her.) I walked her through the prayer and she prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her living “inside out’ and she really liked that perspective.’I have a book you’ll really like, do you like to read?” ”I love to read,” she said and gave her, The Case for Christ because she was interested in investigative research and it has cases at the beginning of each chapter. “Do I need to give this back to you?” “No you can keep it, free book.” I replied happy to give her something to shore up her decision. She said she had gotten a Bible from a chaplain when she was in the military in North Carolina. I gave her the book Pocket Prayers and a rose publication hand out, “100 Promises for Hope and Courage” somehow thinking she’d need it if she was going to become a cop. She gave me her email to send her some stuff. We talked some more and that is when I found out she was coming in from the city so told her about my friend’s Joyce and Don and their church and told her I’d send her a link. It’s Harvest Church right off 290 near Oak Park. “Thank you so much!” she said to me as I got up to leave, she was really happy. I told her I would keep her in my prayers for the next year. I know Strobel’s book will secure her faith.

I talked for a long time at days end with Alex who had come to Christ a few years ago when we’d last talked and was in sleep science at school. He had a friend Lisa in the program who slept only 3 hours a night. Her father had been in the occult and she and her sister and mother had seen dark presences around the house they used to live in before he left them. I talked him through several verses and things to pray and gave him a couple promise books one for her and my contact info. I think it was of great help to him and he was really moved and even gave me a hug.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God really blessed it was a great day.

In Him,

Bob