Several years ago I worked with Pastor Cline in a Christian college dormitory. It was a blessing to work with him again as the pastor at First Baptist Church. This is the third time the team has had the privilege to come and we have been blessed each time!
On Friday, many of students responded to the invitation and we had a good prayer meeting with them. Several had made and were making decisions based on God’s dealing with them through the preaching of the Word of God.
One young man got right with his dad. He talked about the “freeing feeling” and how now he was “ready to serve God.” Another young man got right with his parents after hiding “stuff for three years” from his parents. Another young man made a decision about social media. He was spending too much time. He felt the need to get rid of his accounts.
We also were grateful for the testimonies. Below are a few edited portions!
It “was really pressed upon me . . . that I needed to step out in faith and be courageous for Him and not to think about what other people will think of me . . . but rather let God’s Will in my life be the determining force of my actions. I also realized that I could only do that through Christ’s strength.”
“Many times we always get so worked up about what people think about us instead of what God would think of us. And I know I’m speaking from experience. This happens to me all the time! And I get so afraid of what people will think of me. But the thing is that we shouldn’t be. We have the God of the universe on our side and if we are afraid of what PEOPLE will think of us, we should be afraid of what GOD thinks of us, not people! It doesn’t matter what THEY think! It matters what GOD thinks about us!”
“This week God has really worked in my heart on how I’m very selfish and how I like to do things my way. I don’t like to do things God’s way. And this afternoon He pushed me out of my comfort zone. . . . and I went to a prayer meeting with Mr. Van Gelderen and his team and Bethany, she worked with me. And it’s really helped me through just the few hours since that.”
One young man came all three nights. On the first night he responded to get saved. At that point he was trusting good works. He clearly got saved and was unashamed when he came out to his friends.
One unsaved girl came Wednesday, but did not respond to the invitation. After the competitions on Thursday she came to Bethany, one of our co-captains and, referring to the invitation, said, “At the end, when they pray, can I talk to you?” She heard the message and responded to the invitation on Thursday and said to Bethany, “I just feel like the things I have been doing are wrong!” Clearly she was under conviction of sin and Bethany was able to lead her to the Savior.
We are thankful for all the Lord did in NY!
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