Salvations on Campus; Reaching Catholics, Muslims, Hindus, and More at the University

This is the very first time I met Paul, a student I would end up speaking with many, many times. (I didn't know that at the time.) Paul has a strong Catholic background. I have 9 cards I use with Catholics. Each card has a photo and text of something they consider "good." One card says "Believe in God." Another says "Go to Church." Another, "Be Baptized." Another, "Revere Mary," and so on. I placed all nine cards on a table in front of Paul and asked him to pick up only the cards that he thinks are 100% necessary for salvation. I told him to take his time and think about it. Only pick up the ones that you NEED to get to Heaven. Slowly, Paul picked up every single card. I asked him if there's anything else you need, and he said "no." So then I took out the 10th card that says, "Believe in Jesus." Paul took that card from me, and said, "Yes, that too." But I explained that Jesus isn't one of 10 things you must do. Faith in Christ is ALL you need. It's Jesus and nothing else. This got us into a terrific conversation about Grace versus Works. The conversation was going so well when Jim the Buddhist interrupted and took over the conversation.

This is Jim, a self-professed Buddhist Priest. He hijacked my conversation with Paul. Jim insisted that we must be sinless to inherit Eternal Life. When I took him through some of the Commandments, he claimed to be guiltless. Jim says he doesn't lie, lust, covet, hate, get mad, or fail to love his neighbor as himself. And Jim was hostile in pointing out that if I do any of those things, then I can't be a true follower of God. I literally had Jim read aloud 1 John 1:8: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." But he dismissed it. He said I was of satan because I still sin. Jim emailed me a Bible verse out of context to show that we must be sinless, and I sent him an answer. When I saw him again, I asked him why he hadn't responded to my email, and he said he couldn't be bothered. We ran into Jim a number of times this semester. Please pray that God delivers him from the demonic influence he's under.

April tried to reason with Jim the Buddhist. He wouldn't budge. Definitely pray for this man.

This is Sambid from Nepal. His Dad is a Hindi scholar, but he himself doesn't follow Hinduism. He sees Christianity similar to mythology. Chris took him through "The Good Person Test" to explain Biblical Christianity. Sambid said he understood, but didn't like Jesus' claim to be the only cure to the disease of sin. Still, he took a Gospel Booklet and a Gospel of John.

This is Shuyan, an exchange student from Shanghai. Shuyan has zero religious background. April and Shuyan spoke for a long time, and started at Creation, and talked all through Heaven, Hell, sin, and redemption through the cross and resurrection! Shuyan said she wanted to know the One who created her. She wanted to repent and believe on the spot. April got Shuyan's email address, and we connected her with an International Campus Ministry on campus.

This is Aiden, and he introduced himself to me as a Noahide. Here's proof that we don't need to know about each and every religious movement to minister Jesus to someone. I had never heard of a "Noahide." So I asked Aiden questions about it. Questions like, what do you believe God requires regarding our sin? I named specific sins and asked if he was guilty of them. Aiden agreed that he was guilty of sin. Aiden is a very intelligent young man who had a TON of intellectual knowledge. But he didn't think sin was a big deal. He didn't think God really cares about our sin, which really means God is unjust. I opened the Scriptures with Aiden and showed him Jesus written in the Hebrew Scriptures (Specifically Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22). Aiden doesn't trust the written Word of God, but does claim to follow the Oral law (Mishna and Talmud). Aiden doesn't believe Jesus fulfilled prophesy, and doesn't believe His sacrifice was necessary because he doesn't think sin is a big deal. And that's always the problem. If we think we're a good person who deserves God's approval, then we're self-righteous and not humble. I begged Aiden to humble himself before God and see Jesus as his Savior. Ironically, Aiden wouldn't take a gospel booklet from me, but he DID TAKE my testimony, "A Jew and His God." https://mystory.luke-15.org/ Please pray for this thoughtful young man.

This is Nor, a Muslim student. Nor believes she's a good person, good enough for Heaven, and that Mohammed is a prophet. Ted asked Nor if she believed that Jesus is a prophet and she said, "yes." Ted asked her if prophets lie and she said, "no." So Ted presented to her what Jesus said, that none of us are good, and we all need to go through Him alone to get to The Father.

Little Jarvis was quite a good Evange-Poodle. So many students came up to meet him, and then talk with me. It was great!

This is Sathya from Chennai, India. He's a Doctoral student. But he had never heard anything about the gospel - nothing. He was intrigued and asked good questions. He even accepted a copy of The Gospel of John and agreed to read it!

And then get this... right at the tail end of speaking with Sathya, some friends from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship showed up. They run a Graduate Student ministry on campus. Perfect timing!!!

Cold and rainy day at the University, but a large umbrella and a doggie sweater made it okay. Samrawit, a student from Ethiopia came to talk with me. She was so kind and sweet! I took her through "The Good Person Test" and she was concerned that she has broken God's Law. I got to tell her about Jesus and His work for us on the cross. I gave her a copy of The Gospel of John and she was so thankful for it. Samrawit told me that she's been looking for faith, but not knowing what is true. She told me the that she was literally thinking about God when she was walking up the hill to where she saw the "Will You Go To Heaven?" banner. How awesome is that? It's especially encouraging because earlier, a young woman named Daria tried to discourage me from being out there. Daria said that nobody wants to talk to me. On a child rainy day Daria's words stung. So meeting Samrawit was especially encouraging, and like a "hug from God." Please keep Samrawit and Daria in prayer.

This is Pat, and we run into him regularly on campus. When I first spoke with Pat last year, he was a skeptic. But I've noticed a change in him as we talk about the Bible. Pat asks a lot of good questions. He's become a "believer" in a generic sense (but not yet a saving "Born Again" believer.) Pat has begun attending Roman Catholic Church because, as he explains, that's what he knew when he was a little kid. One must be sensitive and careful with Roman Catholicism. So rather than hit him over the head with anti-popery, I encouraged him to get to know JESUS in the Scriptures, and that salvation is by grace and not works. Pat asked me to explain more about that. So I said that the Bible teaches that good works are the "fruit" of salvation (or the result), not the seed (the cause). Pat surprised me when he came right out and said, "That's different than Roman Catholicism." He wanted to know more, so he asked me if I could recommend a good book for him to study the difference between being saved by faith verses being saved by works. I told him the Bible is the best book! I opened to Ephesians 2 and had him read verses 8-9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." I told him that sometimes Catholics think that Born Again believers are against works. We're not. We love works and expect the true believer to produce good works. It's just that works don't get you saved. I had him read the very next verse, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." And I kid you not, Pat said, "That's what you mean by good works being the fruit of salvation and not the seed." Here's getting it! Please pray for true salvation for this thoughtful intelligent young man who we seem to run into a lot on campus.

This is Ben. He went to Catholic School. He said he believes some concepts, but not sure. Chris took him through "The Good Person Test." Interestingly, Ben said to Chris, "I've seen you guys for a couple years and this is my first time interacting with you. It went better than I thought it would." Ben was very friendly. He took and evangelistic DVD. Chris exhorted him to read the Bible.

Double Evangelism in this shot! Foreground: Richard is talking with Mitch. Mitch claims to be an Atheist. They spoke and reasoned civilly for over 20 minutes! Mitch calls himself an Atheist, but he doesn't really know what he believes. Richard shared Christ with him. Background; Eric got into a conversation with Emily. Emily was a complete blank slate! She knew nothing about God, and hadn't thought about Him. Emily is part of a growing demographic in our country who has had no exposure to the Bible at all. She was very open and polite, and stayed for a while.

This is Alashia. She stayed to listen to my complete open-air message. Eric spoke with her afterward. He asked Alashia what she would say to God? Alashia said that she needed to work things better, to be better. Eric opened up the Scriptures to show her salvation by grace apart from works. Alashia was confused. She asked, "How can I do what I'm supposed to do?" Eric said she can't. She needs to be saved and have the Holy Spirit working in her. They spoke for a long time.

This is a brand-new Riddle Board we've been using to great success. For each line, you ask the student "what comes next?" Can you get the answers? Here they are... Red line: 4, Yellow line: 1, Orange line: 8 (this is called The Fibonacci Sequence), Green line: W (days of the week), Purple line: Earth (planets from the sun), and then the most important one... Life, Death, then Judgment. And we know this is true because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. It's a TERRIFIC lead in for a gospel conversation!

This is Charles. He stopped to try to answer our "Solve These Riddles" we had painted up on our sketch board. This got him into a fruitful discussion with Chris about why Jesus had to die on the cross. Chris explained the gospel message to him. Get this: just one month ago a woman shared her conversion testimony with Charles and it made an impact on him. Then just two weeks ago he was handed a Gideon New Testament. He had it on him! Charles said he was hoping for a sign from God and he said that maybe our painting sign was that "sign!" :)

The man on the right is David. He told me that he's BOTH a Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jew. David is a very thoughtful and intelligent young man. I shared with him my story of how I tried to disprove Jesus, but became a Jewish believer in the Messiah. He had tons of questions about that! He took a copy of my testimony on paper, "A Jew and His God." In this photo he's talking with Chris. David and I emailed back and forth a few times. Please pray for him. And if you'd like to see a copy of "A Jew and His God" you can at https://mystory.Luke-15.org.

A group of students gathered for Eric's open-air message around the paint board.

Steve and Trevor independently came over to try out the riddles with Ted. Ted took them through the riddles and explained the gospel message. Steve was very interested and seemed close to faith. Trevor is already a saved Christian, but he's looking for a church. We were able to recommend a great nearby Church to him. Both students took New Testaments. Praise God!

The young woman in the middle is Heather. She came over to pet the poodle, but stayed to talk about Jesus. Heather is a Jewish student. She told me she grew up in a "Reform Jewish" synagogue, which is one of the most liberal type. She told me she was more "Culturally Jewish" than "Religiously Jewish." She let me share with her my story, and I told her that when I was growing up, I knew for CERTAIN that Jesus was NOT for Jews! Heather lit up. "Yes," she said. And then thoughtfully, "I don't know why I believe that but I just do." I told her that I used to believe that too, that Jesus wasn't for Jews, until I began studying it when I was 20. She listened to me share that I learned that Jesus is the Messiah for Jews and Gentiles, and she took a copy of my written testimony, entitled, "A Jew and His God." Feel free to read that at: https://mystory.luke-15.org/ Heather thanked me and left for class. She wasn't antagonistic at all. Please pray for this young woman's salvation, that she will meet the King of Israel, Jesus the Messiah! The young woman on the right is Natalia, an unsaved student who stops to speak with me and ask questions just about every time we're out there.

Who could resist THIS FACE? Jarvis got quite a following during the semester. Every week more and more students would say "Hi Jarvis" as they walked by. One girl who worked at the coffee shop in the library next to where we setup always gave Jarvis a free cup of whipped cream!

This is Liam and he calls himself a Satanist. Liam and Ted spoke last year too! Ted encouraged Liam to read The Gospel of John with an open mind and have a piece of paper and write down any questions he has. They spoke for 20 minutes and Liam took a New Testament.

There's a lot of evil vying for the hearts and minds of the next generation. Signs like these are plastered all over the place on campus all the time. That's why it's vital that the Gospel of Jesus be available on campus too, and one of the reasons we go there.

This is Stella. She was very polite and very interested in talking with Chris, but she didn't know much about God. Chris took her through "The Good Person Test" and Stella was concerned that she's not right with God. Stella listened to Chris explain the gospel and gladly took an evangelistic DVD. Chris suggested she get to know Jesus by studying the Bible. He asked if she had one and she said no. He asked her if she'd like one and she said yes. She took a Gospel of John! I just LOVE "Divine Appointments" like this! Please keep Stella, and the other students God sends our way, in your prayers.

This young woman is from Malaysia and told Ted that her Mom was advised by the Doctors to abort her. Her Mom was 4-months pregnant and was told that her baby had Down Syndrome and should be killed. Her Mom refused. Now that "baby" is earning her Doctoral Degree in America, and a follower of Jesus. Chilling to think this amazing young woman was nearly murdered in the womb! Also, even if she did have Down Syndrome, that wouldn't have made her life less valuable and worthy of the death sentence. She told Ted that if we were doing what we do (talking to students in the open about Jesus) in her country, we'd be arrested. That makes me thankful for the freedom we have in this country, and prayerful that those freedoms remain.

This is Lola. She recently started studying the Bible with a solid local Church. She's not yet a Christian, but she's been reading through the Book of John. Chris encouraged her to keep seeking Jesus!

This is "Professor Billy." Billy believes that the Romans made up Jesus, that the writings of Josephus are fiction, and that the Dead Sea Scrolls can't be trusted because they're Jewish documents. (Antisemitism there?) Chris reasoned with him for a while, but when someone believes such non-historical things, it's best to share the gospel and pray for God to move. (If you look closely you can see the Professor took a gospel booklet from Chris. Yay!) We meet all kinds at the University.

This is Venith, from India. He has a Hindu background, but doesn't follow it. He accepted a Gospel Booklet and also a copy of The Gospel of John. He said he had never read any part of the Bible ever.

This is Blaze. He stopped at our "Will You Go to Heaven?" banner. I asked him where he thinks he'll spend eternity, and he said, tentatively, "maybe Purgatory?" Blaze comes from a large Irish Catholic family. I took Blaze through "The Good Person Test" and he was concerned. So I got to share with him the Gospel of Grace. I had him read Ephesians 2:8-9. I asked Blaze if he ever heard this before and he said "not like this. Not explained this way." I think God is working on Blaze because he told me he recently started attending a Bible study with Cru, a solid Student Organization on campus. Woo hoo! Blaze shook my hand and thanked me. I suggested he get to know Jesus by studying the Scriptures. I praise God for terrific opportunities like this.

This is Stan (on the right). He wanted to know why we are out here. It's because we care about him. He opened up. Stan talked about his Roman Catholic background and that he sees God as harsh and terrible. He wanted to know why would God make Hell? Chris (Center) answered him and pointed him to Jesus and the Bible. And, get this, Stan took a copy of the Gospel of John. :) But that wasn't good enough for Stephanie, another one of our volunteers. She whipped out a full Bible and gave it to Stan! And my favorite part was that AJ (left), a highschooler, was there with us and got to see first-hand that God does use regular Christians to reach strangers. AJ even participated in the conversation with Stan and did a super job showing the love and truth of Jesus. Praise God!

This is Sam. I handed her a gospel booklet and she asked me what it was about. Perfect segue to a great one-on-one conversation! I took Sam through "The Good Person Test" to illustrate that we're all sinful before God. Sam didn't argue at all. She admitted that she knows she's done wrong. She appeared to be very tender-hearted. Sam said she wants to try to be good from now on. I reminded her that none of us are good, nor can we be. I asked her if she knew what God has done so we could be forgiven? She didn't know. But she was wearing a cross necklace so I told her to look at her necklace. She was like, "oh yeah." She was very sweet about it. Sam didn't know about grace and atonement. I got to explain the complete gospel to her. It was terrific!

This is Emily and I think she might have gotten saved that day. Seriously! Emily was sweet and humble. I took her through "The Good Person Test" and she wholeheartedly agreed that she's a sinner and was really glad and interested to know about the substitutionary atonement by Jesus. She really wanted a Bible and we gave her one. Hallelujah!

Great Double-Evangelism happening here. On the left is Richard and Mara. Mara is a Muslim from Egypt. I "tested" Mara to see how devout she is. When I spoke with her, I looked to see if she would pet my poodle, and she did! A devout Muslim wouldn't do that. Even still, Mara got visibly emotional when Richard spoke to her about the importance of getting to know Jesus. Mara gladly took a DVD of the life of Jesus (based on the Gospel of Luke.) The DVD has a number of language choices, including English and Arabic, and Mara speaks both languages! On the right, Chris is speaking with Paul, who I wrote about before. Paul has walked by and stopped to talk with us a few times now. He's asking good questions and it appears Jesus may be working in his heart!

This is Andrew, a polite young man. I took him through our riddles, and they end asking, "what comes after death?" Andrew told me of his childhood in the Catholic Church, but that he hasn't thought of eternal things since. After reasoning with him, he said this is very important. I explained the gospel and he said he needs to consider this and thanked me.

This is D, and exchange student from China, and an Atheist. D knows literally nothing about the Bible, and he said he's never thought about it. After he and Chris spoke for a while, D told him that his Uncle is a believer, but doesn't say much about his faith (fear of persecution?). D took a Bible. Chris told him he'll meet God there.

This is Brendan, a polite and intelligent young man. When I was asking him about God, I noticed he kept using the phrase, "in my humble opinion, God is like [this] and God is like [that.]" Brendan clearly had invented his own understanding of "god." An example, Brendan said, "in my humble opinion, God brings everyone into Heaven." I asked him if he thought God cared about justice? Brendan asked what I meant. I asked if God received everybody, what about Hitler? Brendan thought about it and admitted that Hitler wouldn't be accepted. And he added Stalin and Mao. So, I said to him, you do acknowledge some standard. A God of justice couldn't let Hitler get away with his crimes, and a god without justice wouldn't be good. I suggested two things: 1) God is supremely good and completely just, so not only should Hitler and Stalin and Mao be punished, but every rapist, every thief, every liar, and everyone who has not always perfectly loved their neighbor as themselves. And that's us. 2) I told Brendan he's very intelligent, but nobody is intelligent enough on their own to figure out who God is accurately. We need God to REVEAL Himself to us, and He has done that through Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. Instead of following our own made-up god, Brendan could follow the real and truthful God who made Himself known to us. Brendan is concerned about suffering in other countries. He wants to alleviate that through Politics and Economics. I told him that's terrific, but even if he were to make this world a utopia, but we died and went to Hell, that would be horrible. Jesus said, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" (Matthew 16:26). Brendan took a copy of The Gospel of John. I told him this is God's revealed Word and not the opinion of man. Please pray for this nice young man. Thank you!

This is Kurt and he was quick to tell me that he is a "Eucharistic Pastor" in the Roman Catholic Church. Kurt is very respectful to the Bible. Sometimes he finds Bibles in campus that have been thrown away and damaged. He collects them and buries them. Despite his religious zeal, he sadly didn't know how to get to Heaven. He said "Be good and follow the 10 Commandments." I asked Kurt if he followed the 10 Commandments and he said he thought so. I took him through a few and he realized for the first time he was guilty. I had him read Ephesians 2:8-9. "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." I also told him that Jesus said "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Please pray for Kurt. He's a very nice young man but needs to be saved by faith, and not by religious works.

This is Esther. She was initially rude when I offered her a gospel booklet, but then came back to apologize to me. We began talking about eternal things and how one gets to Heaven. She said when people are really bad it's too late for forgiveness and they have no hope. I told her that we all need forgiveness and she said she didn't know; she wasn't sure. about that. She wanted to leave but she let me finish with the truth that we all need forgiving and God provides a way through Christ. And she took that gospel booklet that she initially scorned!

This is Amanda. She grew up in a Roman Catholic home, but attended one year at a Christian School. Amanda's wants to know God from the Bible without tradition. I took Amanda's through the "Good Person Test." Amanda was concerned about her sins and excited to learn about grace in Jesus. She was so open and wanted to be Born Again. I asked her if she had a Bible and she said no. I was going to give her a copy of "The Gospel John" but Stephanie, one of our team members, surprised both of us by pulling out a complete leather Bible! (Stephanie told me she stocks up on them when they're on clearance!) Amanda got noticeably emotional and told us how sweet we were and thanked us. She took info for Cru, a Christian Student Organization. Please pray that this sweet young lady puts her faith in Jesus to be Born Again!

This is Christian (and his friend Tony - not in photo). They're with a Cult called The International Christian Church, and they were on campus recruiting new members. Sounds like a safe name for a Church, doesn't it? But the ICC is far from safe. Their "gospel" is different than the Biblical Gospel. The great news is that they appeared to listen to me, and we read Scriptures together that contradict their teachings. I made an essay on the ICC and you can see Christian looking it over. Both he and Anthony took a copy. Yay! The bad news: they're from Boston trying to plant a new ICC chapter in New Hampshire, and targeting students. So please pray against the evil forces hunting our kids. If you want to download a copy of the essay on the International Christian Church, please feel free to do so at: https://luke-15.org/ICOC.pdf Many more FREE evangelism resources at https://resources.luke-15.org

Me and Paul. I've grown to love this guy. He would run into us nearly every time we were on campus, and ask some great questions that made it appear that the Holy Spirit was working in him. Then he made a profession of faith and things changed! After that every time we met he'd tell me about what he's reading in his Bible and how God is working in his life. Such a joy!!!