HOME
CONTACT INFORMATION
|
|
GTCA Update Blog
day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4
Day 1 - Sept 24, 2008
Our God is living! Say Hallelujah! Today was the first day of class at the Ohio State University and we set up a Bibles For America table in the campus to distribute the recovery version to the seeking ones there. Our sense today was to NOT deliberately engage people about the Bible in an aggressive way, but just to wait on the Lord and only talk to the ones who asked for the Bible or the ones who are intently looking at the table. As a result, we were able to hand out 38 recovery versions today. Even though this number may seem small, we were able to engage most of the Bible recipients in some good conversation and out of the 38 recipients, 28 of them requested more contact with us to read the Bible!! 18 males and 10 females wanted further contact to read the Bible. Also, 3 of these 28 are students from China who are not yet saved, but are very open to know God and the Bible. One brother was even able to eat lunch with one contact who eventually opened up his whole life story to the serving one and has indicated a desire for more future appointments with him. The overall atmosphere was very peaceful and restful and enjoyable. We were definitely riding on the prayers of the whole Body.
In addition to the field team manning the table, at least 9 local saints came out to join the enjoyment. Some came to sit at the table, others brought water and some brought food, while others just stopped by to see or to have fellowship with each other. Even a BFA contact from last year came and helped us set the canopy in the morning. The Lord's blessing, presence, and smile were surely upon us today.
top
Day 2 - Sept 25, 2008
Praise the Lord! The Lord continues to rain His blessing at OSU. It was another glorious, restful, and enjoyable day on the campus distributing the gold bar to hungry seekers. We continued a similar way of NOT aggressively contacting people for the Bible, but waiting for the students to come to the table. The result is 32 Bibles distributed and another 18 students desiring to be contacted (13 males, 5 females). This brings the total for 2 days to 70 Bibles distributed and 46 students desiring to be contacted (31 males, 15 females). The Lord continues to impress us with how many open seekers of the Lord there are out there. One recipient told us to contact her ASAP saying "Please don't forget about me." Another seeker who is the president of 2 Christian organizations was so touched that we would not only give him a great study Bible but that we would get together with him to study it. This brother spoke with the saints at the table for about 30 minutes. Another recipient came and asked if he can pick up enough Bibles for his entire fraternity. The Lord continues to answer our prayers of bringing the real seekers to us during these times. 6 local saints came to participate in the BFA distribution.
We just had a sense of resting and enjoying the Lord and each other during this time. The field team will go through all the names in more detail tomorrow and begin the follow-up calls. All the saints, especially the ones who participated in the distributions, are welcome and encouraged to join in the fellowship and coordination for the outreach to these students in the coming days. We will have 2 more days of BFA distribution next week on Tuesday and Wednesday (9/30 - 10/1) from 10 AM to 2 PM. Continue to pray for these times and for the follow-up contacts and for the saints who are doing the follow-up. Praise the Lord for what He is doing at OSU.
top
Day 3 - Sept 30, 2008
Praise the Lord for His continual blessing upon His move at the Ohio State University campus! We set up another BFA table today at the same location as last week to do direct distribution to the students passing by. Through the fellowship and coordination, we felt that instead of being passive and waiting for the people to approach the table, this week we would be more aggressive to greet the people passing by and to offer them the free study Bible. We did this with the goal of hopefully reaching some who may not yet be saved but may be interested in God or in the Bible. 35 Bibles were distributed today and 20 of the recipients want to have further contact with us (16 males, 4 females).
The Lord answered our prayers concerning the contacting of some real seekers, some of whom are not yet saved, but are very open for more contact. One young man came to receive a Bible but was asking some very thoughtful questions such as "how does God deal with the poisonous nature of man?" One of the sisters led him to the passage in the gospel of John concerning the Lord becoming the brass serpent lifted up to deal with our sinful nature. The young man was quite impressed and wants to have more fellowship. Another young seeker of the Lord joyfully received the Bible and is planning on starting a Bible study at his dorm. Before we even offered to contact him in the future to study the Bible, he asked "maybe you all can join us in our Bible study at the dorm." The openness of the ones we met today can only be attributed to the unceasing prayers and petitions of the whole Body for us.
Even though our strategy was to be more aggressive in our approach, all the saints who participated just had the sense that we are resting in the Lord. 9 local saints participated in the table in one form or another. Even 3 of our BFA contacts from last year stopped by the table for fellowship and mutual encouragement. We will have another table set up tomorrow at the same place at the same time. Afterwards, we will shift our focus to the follow up of all the ones we have contacted so far. Please continue to pray for the openness of these students at OSU and for the crucial time of follow-up afterwards. Continue to pray for all the ones serving and the joyful participation of the whole church in this move of the Lord.
top
Day 4 - Oct 1, 2008
Praise the Lord for another wonderful day at the OSU campus doing BFA direct distribution of the Recovery Version. The weather was cool for most of the day around 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit. But the Lord's sovereign hand held back the expected rain showers until right after we pulled the table and canopy down in the middle of the afternoon. We continued the aggressive approach of engaging the students as they walk by the table. We were able to distribute 29 Bibles today. 20 of the 29 Bible recipients requested to be emailed or contacted again in the near future (4 females, 6 males). The total Bibles distributed in these 4 days is 134 Bibles. The total number of Bible recipients who requested follow-ups and further contact is 85 (23 females, 62 males)! Praise the Lord for such an incredible response.
We were able to meet quite a few freshmen students today who took the Bible and who were open for further contact. One of the brothers approached a young man sitting in a bench nearby and for the next hour and a half they were immersed in some wonderful fellowship, Bible reading, and even prayer. This young man then came to the canopy and met the rest of the saints manning the table. Another student came by the table and asked for a copy of the Old Testament Recovery Version. He said that he had received the New Testament Recovery Version last year and had enjoyed reading it so much that he just had to approach our table again to see if we were giving out the Old Testament as well. We will contact him again to show him how to order the Recovery Version of the whole Bible for himself. Praise the Lord that so many typical Americans are desirous and hungry for the unlocked and interpreted Bible!
Three local saints joined the field team at the table while other saints were praying at home or at work. When the saints were not talking to students at the table, they spent some time at a local cafe just to have wonderful fellowship together with each other. We are now finished with the BFA direct distribution of the Recovery Version at the beginning of the fall quarter. We will now shift our focus to emailing, calling, and setting up appointments with the 85 contacts we have.
Please continue to pray that these contacts will remain warm toward us and that the Lord would manifest to us who the main ones we need to spend our time with. Also pray that the Lord would have a practical way to involve all the saints as the team to pray for these contacts, to open their homes, and even to set up appointments with these young seekers of the Lord. Hallelujah!
top |
