Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with all good things. I had a good day on campus and Melissa prayed to receive Jesus. I also went through the Gospel with Aisha. She took a copy of The Case for Christianity Answer Book and said she needed to think about it more. She was going through the Bible Thursday each week with her Egyptian Orthodox Uncle. She lived with him presently while going to school. Her dad was a black African Muslim and her mom (whom she mentioned was very light skinned) an Egyptian. Her parents had split and her mom was back in Egypt and her father up in Wisconsin. She had curly hair down to her shoulders and pretty sharp features and a gold ring in her left nostril. Please pray for these girls. I also bumped into Sam who told me last semester he would pray that night and it turned out he did and he said he was getting more into his faith. Melissa’s story is below if you have time.

I found Melissa in the cafeteria, having just finished eating a subway sandwich at the counter looking outside. She had dark hair she’d tinted with some highlights throughout, lighter hair framing her face almost gray in shade. She had pastel (pinkish) framed glasses that were round, a cute frank face with a pretty birthmark/freckle whatever you call it. She wore a brown rough fleece vest made to look like sheep skin and was otherwise dressed in black, looked really healthy and happy. She reached out and shook my hand telling me her name. She thought she’d like to travel to Jerusalem. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven and she said, “I would say I would have to pass right away [I think she might have been thinking she’d go to purgatory]. I’ve done some things I need to reflect on. But I really haven’t done what would reflect me not going into Heaven.” She thought she had an 85% chance of going to Heaven when she died. I began to go through the Gospel and explained that God wanted to live inside her but would have to take away her sins first to purify her and I asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins. “You confess,” she said. I said that was true we confess our sins “but the standing doctrine of the Catholic Church is only God can forgive sins. So what happened so that God can forgive your sins?” She said well the priests were connected to God. I said that was true “they are God’s crew” but they know something that tells them you’re forgiven when you confess. I said the Bible says we are to live a perfect life, but we can’t (Matthew 5:48). But Jesus is perfect. I went on to explain how Jesus had died for her and that His blood cleansed us from all sins. That really God gets paid, that the infinitely valuable blood of Jesus (because He is God) pours out in His death and pays God back for all the imperfect things we did that we owe God something perfect for to pay Him back for wrecking His stuff. “Oh I’m learning so much,” she exclaimed. I said the priest knows God was paid for our sin and so being just He can forgive us. Jesus lives a perfect life for us and His righteousness is to our credit. I explained all God had done could be hers and God wanted to adopt her and give it to her if she believed on Him. In the end, suing the two circles in the booklet I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done and then have God live inside her. I explained a couple words about what Islam taught also and she cut me off and said, “This side!” pointing at the circle with Christ inside on the throne of her life. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and explained it. “I’m going to pray it every day,” she exclaimed. I said she did not have to but it would be a good prayer to ask for forgiveness with each day. If she wanted to she could pray the prayer right now, I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. She agreed and took the booklet and silently prayed to receive Christ. When she finished I said she could keep the booklet and she said, “Thank you.” I said now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She did not have a Bible so I offered her a study Bible with cross-references and devotionals and notes in it. It lists 99 essential doctrines and where they were found in the Bible, has some maps and things in the back. She was really grateful to have it and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet that introduces the apologetics Strobel writes and a Bible Study and Bible Promises for You and she said, “This will be very useful.” I said I would be praying for her each day through spring and one year after. “Thank you sir,” she replied so realizing she’d forgot my name I gave it again and shook her hand and said if I saw her I’d wave. “See ya around,” she said, and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all god things from above and you had some Joy walking with Jesus by the Spirit. I had a good day on campus and Taron and Shanice prayed with me to receive Christ. Please pray this couple grows in their faith in Christ. Their stories are below if you have a moment to read them. Thanks for your prayers.

Taron was sitting on the last chair in a row of sofa chairs with armrest tables built in. He was right around the corner from the hall that leads to the cafeteria. He wore a red and white hoodie and jeans. He had a rough top afro his hair shaved shorter on the sides, a hair cut I don’t remember seeing before this school year as much. He had a wider nose and classic black features. Good lookin’ guy he seemed like a genuinely warm person. I walked up asking if he wanted to do a survey. He kind of looked at me like he didn’t want to but he thought he should, like he was under some conviction. So I asked him the main question to see if he’d be interested: “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead and you stand before God and He says why should I let you into Heaven? What would you say?” Saying then, “So it’s basically the answer to that question, so do you wanna know, already know or you don’t care?” “Ok,” he replied and I asked if he wanted the answer or would do a survey. “I’ll do the survey,” he replied. I asked him eventually what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into heaven?” “I feel like He should already know,” Taron answered. I asked, “What is it you think gets you into heaven?” He replied, “Get yourself into Heaven? You do good, be genuine.” He thought he had a 100% chance of going to Heaven. I asked, “You ever go to Church, like when you were a kid or something?” and he said he had when he was about 6 or 7 but “I pray a lot—often.”

His girlfriend, Shanice walked up then just as we were finishing the survey. She had a pretty oval face, petite facial features. Her hair was pulled up over the top of her head and came out like a fountain. Her body was proportioned in the idealized manner of the present times in the black community. He reached out to touch her hand acknowledging her, as she stood beside him, a bit past him, facing sort of down the hall away from us with the body language, I’m here time to go. So I gave up my seat and asked her to sit down, she resisted saying she could stand but I asked again and she agreed, seeing I was trying to be polite. I then was kneeing at the side of his chair on the other side where she’d stood asking for just a couple more minutes of their time. I slowly worked her into an illustration towards the end before getting her name. But I could tell she was listening so I tried to speak to both of them. And then she began to look at me as I spoke directly to her. Then I said to her, say you have a boy friend for about three weeks, before you guys were dating. You thought he was pretty cool but then you find out he was cheating on you and stealing your stuff. So you cut him loose and he comes around in about a week and says, ‘I know I did you wrong, I was even stealing your stuff and selling it for drugs, but I just want you to know I’m gonna be nice to my next 3 girl friends.’ You’d say, ‘That doesn’t help me at all.’” Because you can’t do good stuff over there to fix your bad stuff here. But some people think it works that way. But God says He has to turn your bad things into good things.” And then I quoted Romans 8:28 saying God controls the future and can make all things work together for good. I asked him if he would want to be forgiven for his sins. He said, “I would want to be forgiven.” So I said there was a prayer he could pray and I explained the prayer trying to include Shanice, having gotten her name. “Can I keep this?” he asked taking the booklet. I said he could but he could pray silently right now if he wanted and he would be forgiven and know he was going to Heaven. He took the booklet then and leaned toward her as if to ask her to read it with him and I said, “Would you like a booklet of your own? She said they could share but I gave her one and she finished praying a moment before him as they both then prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to them living by the Spirit’s power.  I said “Let me give you some books” and I wrote in each; of a couple of copies of Bible Promises for You  writing their name and the date and ‘forgiven.’ I gave them each a bible study saying they could do it together. I gave them each The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I explained I would pray for them a blessing from the Bible each day from now until Spring and then one year after asking God to blessed them and they really seemed to like that. I said I would see them in Heaven and they both returned a big smile. I thanked them for giving me their time and they said no problem and they headed around the corner toward the cafeteria as I headed off the other way down the hall. I realized later God’s perfect timing that Taron wanted to talk and Shanice was willing to let us finish but that she came just in time to hear the Gospel all the way through. God just worked the conversation out. Who knows if she would have been willing to listen otherwise, she held a very stern expression right up until the end. But they both prayed to receive the Lord so I hope they will now be led by the Spirit to a closer walk with Him.

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a moment, God truly blessed. I had a long discussion with a young blonde bearded guy who was an orthodox Christian and we plan to talk more. He is focusing on Muslim apologetics and has had at least one on-line debate about 2500 people saw. He has my Email and was going to send me a paper and try to connect with his other friend.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope ya had a great day walking with Jesus. I had a good day today and Aaliyah and Sydney prayed to receive Jesus as their savior. I also went through the Gospel with one Muslim girl Faizah. Please pray the Gospel begins to affect Faizah and these other young women grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you have time to spend that way.

Aaliyah was sitting on the second floor overlooking the doorway by the bookstore. She was a pretty black student with high cheek bones, straight black hair past her shoulders. She had long eyelashes, her bangs on her forehead were 6, inch long, half circles taking up 2 inches on either side of her forehead. Looked to be in her early 20’s. She wore blue sweats her hoodie said GAP in white letters and she wore a cross around her neck. She had some large books open for study but was willing to do a survey. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She repeated the question thinking and then said, “I don’t know. I feel like all my life I tried to live by the Bible and if I didn’t I would repent, so I would try.” She said she went to a couple different churches and a Christian school attached to one when she was younger. I asked her what the likelihood was she would get into Heaven and she said, “I think I got a shot.” I went through the Gospel with her and she knew Jesus had died to take away our sins. She listened to the Gospel and the blood and righteousness of God by faith and finally I said, “So would you like to be forgiven for your sins trusting in what Jesus has done or do you think something else?” “Be forgiven for my sins,” she said seriously. So I said there was a prayer she could pray to be forgiven and talked her through it. “It says here: Is this prayer the desire of your heart? So if it is you could pray it silently now. I wouldn’t hear but God would hear and then you would know you were forgiven and going to Heaven. Would you want to do that?” “Yeah,” she replied and she prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living inside out by the Spirit’s power. “It says in James 4 ‘You do not have because you do not ask,’ so Just ask. God wants to help you and guide you and He will give you as much success as will not hurt you in life.” I gave her Bible Promises for You and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I told her I would be praying for her a line from Scripture each day through the spring and through next year. She liked that. She said then, “My new year’s resolution was to try to go to Church once a month and I think it was last weekend the pastor said what you said, ‘Just ask.’ I didn’t feel like it really applied to me because I pray (often). Then we went to sing at the end and there had been a song I was listening to (that week) that no one really listens to, and at the end of the service that was the song we sang and I felt like that was a sign. And then you came along to talk to me today.” I agreed that was God speaking to her and God had sent me to talk to her. I then said she should hold on to those things because sometimes we go through stretches when God is not giving us those kind of signs but He wants us to hold on by the Spirit’s power and rest in Him. We talked some more and I got up to leave and she said, “Thank you so much,” she said. “Thanks a lot for talking with me, God bless you.” “God bless you too,” she replied. And I headed off.

I was over in the MAC arts building later in the day. Sydney was sitting in a step down area by the student theatre door. There is one counter height table and a couple chairs there. She said she’d do a survey. She had a grey knit headband with a snowflake pattern on it covering her ears, straight light brown hair pulled behind her head, she wore baggy grey sweats and a black and white turtle neck with thin horizontal stripes. She had a pretty oval face, small nose, didn’t seem to be wearing makeup. She was filling out 3×5 cards studying for something. She was a musician. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. She said, “I try my best to bring Joy to those around me and live my life in a way that benefits me and also them—collective society, friends and family.” She thought she had a 98% chance of going to Heaven. She said she’d gone to a Baptist Church. When I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins she knew He had been a sacrifice. She listened closely to the Gospel and I explained that she would not go to Heaven because she was good but because Jesus was good and she was connected to Him and God adopted her into His family. I explained believing on Jesus, that He was God and had died for her sins, rose from the dead and that this was by faith. I offered her the 2 circles in the booklet asking if she would want to be forgiven with God living inside her trusting in Jesus or thought something else. “I’m this kind of person,” she said pointing to the circle with Jesus on the throne of her life. “I tell people God made everything even when they say God didn’t make a building or something like that that came from them, that it all came from Him.” I agreed using Bob Dylan saying if you sampled a line from one of his songs he would sue you. Everything is sourced from God. He makes you who you are in your mother’s womb so He gives you the gifts and talents to think up the things you create. She agreed. “Well,” I said, “this is asking if you would want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in Jesus and I walked her through the prayer saying it seems like it lines up with what you believe it’s just a bit more to the next thing trusting in Jesus. I asked if she would want to be forgiven then she could pray quietly right now, I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven and going to Heaven. “Yeah,” she said taking the booklet. “Out loud?” She asked. “No silently, it’s just between you and God it’s not my business.” She silently prayed then to receive the Lord and finishing handed the booklet back and seemed to be moved. I explained the Christian life to her living inside out saying she could ask for God’s guidance and even creative inspiration. She didn’t have a Bible so I gave her one, writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I showed her the, “Where to Turn” section and marked it with the ribbon and said there was a messianic passages section there too. I gave her Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I said I didn’t know if I would see her again but if I did I would give her a wave. “It was nice to meet you,” I said. It was nice to meet you too, thank you,” she replied. And I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with life and peace and ya even managed to keep warm or got rained on in California. I heard Lake Shasta is filling back up. I had a good day on campus and Andrew prayed to receive Jesus. Please pray he grows in his faith his story is below if you have time.

Andrew was sitting at the counter in the seating area of the cafeteria and said he’d do a survey. He had sharp narrow face and features and shorter hair up and swept to the side. He looked a bit like Martin Landau from Mission Impossible on TV when I was a kid. Andrew’s hair was dishwater blonde and he had hazel eyes however so Landau could have been an uncle. He was dressed completely in black clothing a zipped up coat black pants. He had a slight build. He seemed to be a science guy studying physics (based on a guy who asked him to study as we began). But he was genuinely interested in the things of God. I asked him one thing he would want to do before he died and he said, amused, “Go to confession,” saying he had not been in a while. I asked what he would say to God if asked why should I let you into Heaven and he said, “I would say, hmmm” and took a while to think. “I was devout through all of my life.” Then thinking more he added, “You could also say, ‘I accepted You as my Lord and Savior.’” I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven when he died and he said, “Probably 50/50 it’s been a while since I went to confession.” I said, “The last part of this is what you think of Christianity in this booklet, you’ll probably agree with it I don’t know, 4 quick points say what you think.” He was very attentive as I went through the Bible verses I go through and being Roman Catholic might not have heard many of them before. He knew Jesus had died for his sins. He leaned in from his seat as I leaned in on the counter standing and listened, interested. I talked about the blood and righteousness of Christ and salvation by faith. When I asked him at the end if he would want to be forgiven for his sins and have God live inside him or if he thought something else he said, “Well I’m catholic.” Meaning he’d want to be forgiven. I know this is probably stuff you agree with but have you ever asked God to forgive you trusting in what Jesus had done for you, as an adult or have you kind of just been going through the motions or what they say to say and do at Church?” “Probably the latter,” he admitted. Well if you would want to be forgiven for your sins telling God that is where you place your faith there is a prayer you can pray. I walked him through it. “It says here is this prayer the desire of your heart?” I asked him if that was something he wanted to do if he hadn’t done it. He decided to place his trust in the Lord then and prayed. I explained living inside out by the power of the Spirit. I gave him The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front of Bible promises for You and I gave him a Bible study. I asked if he had any questions and he said, “I feel like I would but I have class soon.” I gave him my contact number then and told him he could text me any question he might have or flag me down if he saw me. I got up to go and shook his hand; he had one of those great firm handshakes. “God bless you,” I said. “Thank you,” he replied and we each headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. There are not many students at school sitting around but God seems to be leading me to someone each day this semester.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a great day and the Joy of the Lord was your strength. I had a slow day the first 90 minutes I could not get a conversation going except for briefly talking up a X-Muslim guy (now agnostic) I bump into once in a while that I am friendly with. Finally up on the second floor of the BIC I came across Daisy sitting in the southwest most lounge on that floor, who prayed to receive Jesus. I spoke with an older student Samantha who appealed to her good works to get into Heaven but in the end said she had already been trusting in the Gospel. So I’m hopeful that gave her something to think about. Please pray Daisy will grow in her faith. Thanks for your help in prayer.

Daisy was sitting in the second floor lounge as I mentioned. She was willing to do a survey. She had on a black fleece hoodie, it was long enough to be a skirt but she was not very big, black pants were tucked into brown winter boots. She was a real cute kid, Latina, kind of a pug nose and had a pair of long thick dark braids that both went up onto the top of her head. She said she went to a Christian Church. She was close to her family, just her parents and one sister. When I asked her what she would say to God if He asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” she said, “Because I do believe that God exists.” “I just talked to a girl who said she didn’t,” I replied—mentioning a girl who’d turned down doing a survey 5 minutes earlier. I asked what she thought the likelihood was she would get into Heaven, “10% is low, 100% you’re sure, 50/50 you got a shot.”  “I think I have a shot,” she said. “I guess no one’s perfect so no one can be sure.” I began to go through the Gospel with her and when I asked what Jesus had done to take away her sin she said, “He died on the cross.” I explained the blood and righteousness of Christ then and that she could know she was going to heaven not because she was perfect, but because Jesus was perfect and His righteousness was to her credit. I explained salvation by faith and asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done so God could live inside her or thought something else. “God inside,” she replied. So I said if she’d want to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart. She nodded. So I said she could pray it silently, “right now, I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and then you would know you were forgiven and going to Heaven. Wanna do that?” She nodded again and taking the booklet prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her then asking if she had a Bible and she said she’d just gotten a Bible. I explained living Inside out by the power of the Spirit. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. “Thank you,” she said taking the book. I gave her a Bible study and The Case For Christianity Answer Booklet. I said I would pray for her each day through spring and for the following year. She thanked me again. Getting up to go I said I would see her in Heaven and she could tell me how things went. “Have a nice day,” she replied. And I said, “Thanks,” And headed out. She was a sweet kid and I felt blessed.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a good week and the Lord has made His faithfulness clear in your heart. I had a goof week as 5 students in total prayed to receive Jesus. On Thursday, though delayed again by clearing my driveway of snow, Sabas (Sebastian), a semi-pro soccer player prayed to receive Jesus. I also had an hour long talk with Abbey.

Abbey’s mother had died when she was young, leaving her an agnostic, sexually active and denying the Christian values she grew up with. When we parted I had given her The Case for Christianity Answer Book she was touched to get and a side-by-side hug. I gave her my contact info if she had any questions. She had auburn colored hair an oval face and was a bit heavyset. God helped me make many points with her. As we got up to go another student walked up and asked me for my card to talk sometime. She talked then about her mother and he said, “She’s still with you.” I said the Bible says “there is a great cloud of witnesses watching us in the Book of Hebrews”. “I just got chills when you said that,” she replied. She’d been looking for something miraculous to tell her there was a God and I think God was beginning to answer. I told her I often asked God to say hi to my dead father and mother or to tell them thank you for me for something. I said we were told not to talk to the dead because we could not be sure if we were talking to a loved one or an evil spirit impersonating them. But we can talk to the dead in Heaven through God. I told her what Jesus had said about Him being the God of the Living. I felt directed to that lounge and went there expressly looking for someone to talk to in the computer center. When I arrived she was the only one there and was willing to talk. Please pray for her and Sabas. His story is below if you have time.

 Sabas was sitting in the cafeteria eating area when I came across him. I’d prayed for God to lead me to someone a bit after I had arrived and felt a nudge to go to the cafeteria. I’d been headed the other direction toward the Book Store and turned around and headed to the cafeteria seeing it in my head sort of. That happens sometimes.  Sabas was a good looking guy, slight build and had two tone hair sort of a mop with bangs, otherwise classically Latino in hair coloring he had light brown tints that seemed random. He had a pencil thin mustache and a bit of chin hair, a narrow handsome face with sharp features. His left arm had two dark bands of tattoo making stripes around his arm (possibly it covered something he no longer wanted seen. Closer to the wrist there was a cross on an angle, 2 by 3 inches. He wore a white T-shirt with some printing on it and blue nylon sweats with stripes down the sides. He sat at a table alone. He said he’d do a student survey. I asked what he would say to God if asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?”  “Not only [because] am I Catholic,” he replied, then thinking a second he added,  “I know going to Church and praying does not make you go to Heaven… but I pray.  I do a couple prayers before bed, before I eat as well.” I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven when he died. He at first said, “I’m not too sure, I’d confess first… 60-70%” then said, “I didn’t really do anything that would be [sic] going to Hell.” Then he added its 70%, the high 70’s” he said changing his mind a bit. He listened to the Gospel and when I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins he said, “He died on the cross.” “Right,” I said and then explained the way Christ blood was how God got paid so that He was just to forgive us. I explained that it was by grace we are saved by faith not by works so no one can boast. “So we should do good things to please God, I’m sure God is please that you are praying to Him, but the good things you do don’t fix your bad things.” He shook his head in agreement to that. “Say you got a girl friend for about 3 weeks, you thought she was pretty cool but then you find out she’s cheating on you and stealing your stuff. So you cut her loose. Then she comes around in about a week and she says, ‘Sabras, I know I did you wrong. I was even stealing your stuff and selling it for drugs but I just want you to know—I’m gonna be nice to my next 3 boyfriends.’ You’d say yeah that doesn’t help me at all,” and he agreed with a grin. “But some people think that way but God says he’ll turn your bad stuff into good stuff.” And I quoted Romans 8:28 to him saying God controlled the future. I asked then if he would want to be “forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done so He could help you with everything in life” or thought something else. He leaned in and pointed at the circle with God inside. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I read it through asking if it was the desire of his heart. “What?” he asked. I repeated is the prayer something you would want to be forgiven. He paused and read it through again and said, “Yeah.” So I said he could pray it silently if he wanted to and He took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I talk through the Christian life with him explaining God giving him power to live by the Holy Spirit. I explained that he could pray for God to help him see the field in Soccer or anything else he needed to do. Then if one day he won a championship and someone put a microphone in his face and said ‘how’d you do it?’ you can tell them it was Jesus and God will get the glory.’ He nodded in agreement. I said God would give him as much help to succeed as would be good for him and that some people were destroyed by success so God could only give them so much of it.  I gave him Bible Promises for You and I wrote his name and the date and forgiven. Also I gave him The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a Bible study and told him I would be praying for him. I also pointed how the Mass was symbolic of what Jesus had done and so when he took it he should just say thank you. I got up to go and he said, “Thank you very much.” “Oh you’re welcome,” I replied. “God bless you.” “God bless you as well,” he said and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you are tucked in somewhere warm and comfortable if you’re in a cold state. I had a good day on campus and Kelly prayed to receive Christ. The other students I spoke with were Christians. Thanks for your prayers. Please pray Kelly grows in her faith.

Kelly was sitting in the southwest corner lounge in the west science building, on the ground floor. She had stick straight black hair that went well past her shoulders. She wore a pink sweatshirt and had a black winter cap that had square a Carhartt label on the forehead. She had braces on her teeth and an oval face. She was pretty had blocked end eyebrows. She said she’d do a survey after asking how long it would take I said 5 or 6 minutes. I asked her the questions I always do but when I asked what she would say to God she thought for a bit and said, “I wouldn’t know what I would say.” I asked if she went to church and she said she went to 2 different Catholic churches. “What would they say at church was the way you get to Heaven, did they ever talk about it?” That didn’t help any and she said she didn’t think so. I asked the likelihood she would go to Heaven and she thought she had a 50/50 chance. “Would you like to hear some Bible verses that tell you how you get to Heaven?” I asked. “Yeah,” she said nodding. I began to go through the Gospel with her then and asked if she knew what Jesus had done to take away her sin. She did not know so I explained the blood of Jesus as payment for her sins, the Robe of Righteousness of Isaiah 61:10 fulfilled in Jesus as we are clothed with Him Gal. 3:27. I recapped what I said and while repeating Jesus had died for her she said, “a sacrifice.” I think she was remembering some of what she might have been taught in Church (as I had not used the word sacrifice) and I agreed. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus so He could live within her and give her strength. “Yeah” she replied. I talked her through the prayer and asked if it was the “desire of her heart”. She nodded in reply again and so I said she could pray it quietly and only God would hear, would she like to “Yeah she said. She took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living “Inside out” trusting in God’s transforming power by the Spirit. She did not have a Bible. So I gave her one and wrote her name and the date and  “forgiven” on the inside, after I showed her some content in the back. She thanked me liking the bible. I gave her a Bible study and Bible Promises for You.  Then her friend Jackie walked up as I gave her The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I asked Jackie if she knew Jesus died for her sins and she said, “Yeah I go to Church all the time?” So I said, “Well Kelly can explain to you what we were talking about would you like a Promise book?” I showed it to her and she said that that would be nice to have so I wrote her name in the front (they had similar coloring Jackie had browner hair and a longer face. Then, having taken far more of Kelly’s time than I’d said, I said I was sorry to have taken so long. Telling her I would pray for her I headed out and they seemed happy.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things from the Lord and you had Joy and Peace and Believing. I had a slow day on campus only finding 2 students to talk through the Gospel with. But Carissa, a pretty blonde girl with an oval face who had gone to church when she was younger took a copy of The Case For Christianity Answer Book saying she was leaning there but not quite there yet. And Osvaldo prayed to receive Christ. Please pray they are both lead into a closer walk with God in Christ. Osvaldo’s story is below if you have the time. Thanks for your prayers.

Osvaldo was sitting in a lounge on the first floor of the BIC just beyond the northwest stairwell. He had a plaid shirt on and jeans and a short flat wavy mop of brown hair on his round head. He was a really friendly amicable guy, friendly face, wide smile.  He accurately described himself as short. He had a slight hearing problem and said it made him loud. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven he said, “I don’t feel like I should have to plead my case. It’s God he’d know if I should be here or not.” Then pausing while I wrote that down he said in a light hearted way, “It’s God I’m not gonna tell Him He’s wrong.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sin and he said, “He was a sacrifice.” I went through the Gospel with him explaining that Jesus was a payment and that His righteousness was too his credit. Saying that God wanted us to have faith in him I asked if he would want to be forgiven. “Yeah who wouldn’t?” he asked. I added if they had faith and he agreed. I asked “do you believe Jesus was God He died for your sins and rose from the dead. “Yeah. Well I’m Catholic.” So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it and said he could pray it now, “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven.” “Hmm… sure,” he replied and he prayed to receive Christ. When he finished he said, “That’s a nice prayer I like it.” I told him now, “Trusting in Jesus righteousness to be your righteousness the likelihood you will go to Heaven is 100%.” “Thanks so much,” he replied. He said he had a Bible but I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You and saying the Bible was a big book he thought that it would be a good way to find some verses. I gave him a Bible study on the Deity of Christ and explained to him living Inside Out by the Spirit’s power. He said He’d been in the military and preferred the Bible studies there to the services because they “broke it down more.” I told him I would pray for him each day asking God to bless him with one of the verses from scripture through the end of this spring semester and one year after. He said, “Thank you so much,” for the third time. I also gave him The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I shook his hand and getting up to go I said, “I’ll see you in Heaven.” “See you up there,” he replied. “I’ll try to keep it up until then.” “You’ll be fine,” I said. “God does all the work.” And he smiled and I headed out feeling grateful such a warm hearted guy had come in.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today with good things from God. I had a good day on campus and Allison and Ishani each prayed with me to receive Jesus. I got a couple of seeds planted with an Asian guy Steve, who wanted to “know the secret wisdom to life” and a guy who seemed to have one foot in the door with Islam, a former Christian, Deagan. Also Alyssa a girl who looked Native American. I gave them all The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. Please pray Allison and Ishani will grow and the others come to know Him.

Thanks for the blessing and power of your prayers. The stories of those who believed are below if you wish to take the time.

Allison was sitting in the hallway outside the bookstore in an overstuffed chair with a cushioned circular ottoman in front of her. She had a white sweater on and faded light blue jeans. She had straight dark long hair and a round face and wider pug nose, cute. She said she came from a Mexican heritage. I asked her what she would say if God asked her: Why should I let you into Heaven? “I would say… I haven’t thought about that before,” still thinking. In a moment or two she just said, “All I can think to say is to see my family, past family that I lost.” She was kind of answering the question: Do you have a reason to be here? Like who invited you to the party? She thought she had a 67% chance of going to Heaven. I went through the Gospel with her and I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sin so God could live inside her. She had no idea. She had said she’d been to Catholic Church some. I explained the blood of Christ as a payment for her sins and His righteousness. I said that the real meaning of what was symbolized in the mass was that the wafer represented Jesus Body and the wine represented His blood. “It is commemorating that Jesus died for you and so you are forgiven and should say thank you.” “Wow,” she replied, having never thought about it before. I came to the end of the gospel. I said the last question was would she like to be forgiven trusting in what Christ had done on the cross with God living inside her. I pointed to the circle with God inside. Or did she think something else? I began to explain another option but she cut me off and said, “I believe that, I wanna be that!” Pointing at the first circle with Jesus on the throne of her life. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart saying, “So you wanna do it?” “Yeah,” she replied and I said “Just pretend I’m not here,” and she prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front.  She said something like, “Oh this has all these topics this is helpful, thanks,” flipping through it. I also gave her a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet.  I explained living the Christian life, “Inside out” asking for God to change her and give her strength. “Thanks you so much Bob, I feel so light and warm inside right now.” I told her that was the Holy Spirit letting her know He was in there and she enthusiastically agreed. I told her I would pray for her until a year from spring. We talked some more and she thanked me again and I said I would see her in Heaven though hopefully not too soon and she laughed and I headed out.

Ishani was sitting in the hallway as you turn the corner toward the student services offices on the ground floor. She at first said she had done a survey, so I said it was different and answered the question “So you are walking down the road and you get hit by a bus and you stand before God and He asks: ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say? So it is basically the answer to that. So do you have any interest in that answer or do you already know or maybe don’t care?” She said she would like to do it so we began to talk.  She said her mom was from Burma and she thought she’d like to visit there. She was small wearing black leggings and an oversized blue Northern Illinois University hoodie. She had tinted her hair light brown, which came over her shoulders and had lovely brown skin and a small nose, full lips, very pretty. She said she had gone to Church with her Godmother and X boyfriend each Wednesday and Sunday for a while. When I asked her the question she said, “That’s a tough question.” Then thinking some more said, “I don’t really have the answer to that.” She thought she had a 78% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sin. She said she didn’t know. So I explained the Blood of Christ to pay for her sins and the righteousness of God to her credit. She listened attentively to all I had to say and smiled just a bit here and there. She was pretty meek. I asked her at the end if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done so God could live inside her and give her strength or thought something else. “So would you like to be forgiven?” I asked again, “Yes,” she replied. I explained there was a prayer she could pray to be forgiven and have God inside, giving her strength to live. I walked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she replied and so I said she could pray it now and “I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and forgive her, would you want to do that?”  She nodded so I gave her the booklet and said, just pretend I’m not here. She prayed then to receive Jesus. When she finished I said now trusting in Jesus righteousness to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She did not have a Bible and so I gave her one showing her the “Where to Turn “ section and the messianic passages section and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave her a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I gave her my contact information and encouraged her to ask God for guidance. We talked about the shortages of food and the price of eggs, the Tonga volcano and she said she had some fear about that. I said she could ask God for guidance but he did not guide us with fear but would care for us. She thanked me and I said she was welcome and headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you’ve been blessed this Christmas season with every good and perfect gift coming down from the Father of Lights. We love driving a round seeing all the lights this time of year. My last two days on campus were blessed. Ozzy committed to Christ on Wednesday and Ashley prayed with me to receive Christ Thursday. Their stories are below. If you have some time, please say a prayer for them to grow.

I gave Brad a Bible who I talk to periodically having gone through the Gospel with him earlier in the semester when his hair was shaggy. Clean shaven guy with short dishwater blonde hair. We talked a long time about culture and comics and superheroes last week. I talked about the moral grounding Spiderman has because of the death of his Uncle Ben. If you know the story Ben is like a Christ figure. In as much as Ben’s death becomes the thing that changes Peter Parker into a Superhero dedicated to fighting crime. He off handedly said, “I’d read the Bible if somebody gave me one.” “You don’t have a Bible?” I asked. He said he didn’t. “You want one?” “Sure,” he replied. I explained I had some really nice studies Bibles this year that my friend Pete bought the ministry. I showed him the cross references and the devotional pages and told them there were 99 doctrines listed and where to find them in the front. He said, “Tell your friend Pete I said thank you.” He was pretty disappointed with his Catholic upbringing and I explained he could have a relationship with God by faith and the Church did not have to be a part of that. “If you met the perfect girl and she had a crummy family you’d still marry her. You’d just figure out how to avoid her family as much as you could.” I’d been praying for Brad so I will keep that up in the hope he will decide to have a relationship with God in Christ. I’ll be writing a yearend letter tomorrow. Thanks for your help in prayer this semester.

Ozzy was sitting in the hallway I think waiting for some kind of review or evaluation with his professor. A guy sitting next to him went in while we were talking and another girl walked out as he walked in as we finished, we didn’t have much time. He was a small guy (freshman in high school size) and looked Filipino or Mexican in heritage. He went to a Spanish speaking Catholic Church. He had glasses and a square jaw, good-looking kid, hair swept back on his head short on the sides, wearing shredded jeans patched on the inside and a tan hoodie. He wore black frame glasses, a mini Clark Kent. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven if he’d died. He thought for a while and finally said, “I guess I tried to do things best for myself and everyone else.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. He listened to the Gospel and he knew when I asked that Jesus had been sacrificed for our sins. I finished explaining the blood of Jesus to cleanse him and His righteousness to his credit that he could receive by faith. I also explained his good things couldn’t fix his bad things but God could turn all things into good for them that loved Him. I asked him if he’d like to be forgiven or thought something else like what other religions taught. “I don’t know, that’s a lot to take in,” he replied. I said it was but it was really similar to what he had been participating in his whole life at Church. If he thought of the mass as symbolic the wafer was symbolic of Jesus body and the wine of His blood. He agreed. I don’t often find a student who believes the body and blood of Christ is changed by Transubstantiation. He said he was not sure how to say it because it is always said in Spanish but that the priest says that in taking it they are one with Christ. I said that you can only be made one with Christ if you have faith in His works. I explained the prayer to him and he said he usually prayed on Sunday. So I asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the Dead?” “Yes,” he said. “Do you trust in that to be forgiven?” “Yeah,” he said nodding. So I said then that he was forgiven he could just tell God that Sunday. He did not have a Bible in English so I gave him a compact one showing him the “Where to Turn” section and another on Messianic passages. I told him now he could say “thank you” in talking the mass (thinking of it the way Jesus presents it in the Gospels) because he has faith. I gave him a Bible Study and then told him I’d be praying for him. He got up and headed into the classroom.

Ashley was sitting in the hallway just around the corner of the BIC building as you head toward the bookstore. She had long dark brown hair, parted just off to the right, pretty features and a small diamond on her nose. She wore ha hooded coat with faux lamb skin in the hood and a long sleeve white t-shirt with a multi colored logo on the front. She looked like a bit Latina in coloring and said she went to a “Christian” Church. It seemed like she was struggling with her relationship with her family. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and she said, “Hmm,” thoughtfully. “I don’t know, that’s a good question.” She thought some. “I honestly don’t know,” she replied. I asked her then if she went to Church. Saying she did I asked, “What do you think they would say at Church gets you into Heaven?” She thought and said again, “I don’t know.” She said she thought she had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. So I began to go through the Gospel with her. I explained that to know God was to have Him live inside her. She knew Jesus had died to take away her sins. The story seemed familiar to her as I explained Jesus blood and righteousness to her credit. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done and have God live inside her or thought something else. I compared what I’d said to an Islamic god who can’t be known, is not a Father, does not have a Son; forgiveness is arbitrary as there is no sacrifice for sin. A different god. Or the Buddha, the nearest writings to his life are 2400 years later so we don’t know for sure anything he said. But he was not looking for God but for enlightenment.  “God live inside,” she replied. So I said there was a prayer she could pray to be forgiven and talked it through asking if it was the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she replied. So I said she could pray right now, I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven? She nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I said, “You’re forgiven.” She had a Bible and so I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I gave her a Bible study explaining it. I gave her The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet, saying she might have time to read it over break. In reaching for it I took out a similar sixe book, Pocket Prayers by mistake and put it back. “Do you sell those prayer books?” she asked. I said she could have one and that God was probably trying to tell me to give it to her when I took it out by mistake. It is a Bible Verse and a prayer following using the verse. The author of it has identified with some false teachers lately but the book was written years ago with his wife and is orthodox. We talked for a while about families and the problems of living at home after becoming an adult. I told her I would keep her in my prayers until next spring and then one year after praying a Bible verse for her and she was grateful.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism this semester. I’m truly grateful for them. God blessed and 80 students prayed with me to receive Christ. I got a bunch of seeds planted and in addition 5 students committed to Christ saying they would pray later.

In Him,

Bob