Later, on the van ride, I got to share with a guy named Anthony from Prairie View A&M. He was already a believer, but was drinking and partying with his friends. We talked about faith, he felt that he was not "doing enough" of what he should be. I prayed with him that God would just renew his passion to seek after Christ. He didn't make a decision, but I think he was starting to feel convicted about the drinking and partying he was involved in. Pray that God would keep working in Anthony's life and that he would begin seeking God again.
Towards the end of the night (around 3 AM), it was starting to get pretty crazy. We kept picking up groups of girls walking alone because we knew it wasn't safe for them to be out on the street. One group we picked up was 4 Hispanic girls from Fort Worth. A girl named Marisol sat next to me. We started talking, and I asked her if she knew why we did the free van rides. I got to tell her that we were showing Christ's love to them in a tangible way by giving them a safe ride back to their hotel. Then, I asked her if she had any spiritual background. She said that she grew up in the Catholic church, and had taught a communion class for 2nd graders at one point. She has not been going to church since starting school at Tarrant County Community College.
I asked her how her faith has changed her life outside of going to church. She didn't really know, and didn't have an answer for me, so she asked me that same question. I had the chance to share with her how I am imperfect, and that after accepting Christ, he has transformed me from the inside out. I got to share how Christ was a perfect, sinless sacrifice that took care of all of our mistakes, and allowed us to have a personal relationship with God by offering the free gift of grace.
I went on to describe how that relationship looks in my everyday life. We talked about the difference between religion and having a relationship with God. This whole idea of having a personal relationship with God seemed like a new concept for her. I explained how I have surrendered my life over to God, and I believe that he will take care of me and will always work everything out for good in my life, even if it is not easy or doesn't make sense at the time.
I then just asked her if she had that kind of relationship with God, and told her that she could have the same kind of relationship with God that I had. I asked her if she wanted that, and she said yes! So we prayed together, and she accepted Christ into her life and surrendered control to him. At the same time, my teammate Rachel had been sharing the gospel with Marisol's friend in the seat in front of us. They both accepted Christ!
Afterwards, we talked about how to seek God. We talked about the fact that prayer is a 2-way conversation, and that God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit by prayer, the Bible, other believers, and the church. We also talked about baptism, and how it is a public statement of the decision they have made. We got their contact information and are going to meet up with them tomorrow morning at the pancake breakfast. We are going to make sure they get connected with Christian community in their area, which shouldn't be difficult since our college pastor Ben Coleman is from the Fort Worth area and has a lot of connections.
Praise the Lord for these three people that were brought to Christ! Pray that each one of them would continue to grow in him. Pray that God would protect them from Satan's attacks, and that their hearts would be guarded against anything that would prevent them from growing in their faith. Pray that we will be able to stay in touch with them and that they will be able to connect immediately with Christian community that will encourage their spiritual growth. All glory be to God!
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