During the month of March we started going into the dorms with questionnaires about the meaning of Easter. In the last three years we have been doing this before Easter and Christmas, and the Lord gave us many opportunities to share the gospel with the students. This time I felt more than ever before how the Lord orchestrated everything and sent us exactly to the students He had prepared beforehand. When we made our first visit we had a hard time getting into the dorm. Usually there is no security guard, but this time there was one and at first he did not allow us to get in because we wanted to give away invitations for the evangelistic Easter celebration. We told him we had some questionnaires for the students and then he let us in. The first students I talked to were completely disinterested, and I felt tired and it seemed I could not think of any good question to start a conversation. I was already discouraged and ready to go back home, but the Lord had other plans. I knocked at one door and the girls inside invited me in, offered me a chair and told me they all wanted to do the questionnaire. They were studying sociology. When I started asking questions the first two girls were laughing and not taking the spiritual things seriously. Nevertheless, there was another girl who seemed to be very serious and even rebuked them at some point. She knew a lot more then the others and seemed very interested. We started a conversation and I began to share the gospel with them. The Lord was helping me so much that I couldn't believe the difference between this discussion and the previous attempts. I could feel how the Holy Spirit was working, giving me words and making them listen!

I think we talked for about one hour, and after I shared the gospel, they started asking questions! Laura especially seemed touched by what she had heard as she gave me her phone number and told me she wanted to come to the Easter celebration. I gave them New Testaments and brochures and encouraged them to read the New Testament. This discussion was very encouraging to me. May the Lord work in their hearts!

During the second visit several other girls and I had a long discussion with a guy who was very rebellious against God (he said he did not believe in Him) and had created his own world view and philosophy about life. It was a very difficult discussion as he barely gave us room to say anything, but eventually we shared the gospel and challenged him about his sin and rebellion against God. He did not seem to receive anything. May the Lord have mercy on him!

On the third visit I had a short discussion with a guy who said he did not believe in God or any spiritual world. After that I had a one hour and a half conversation with a girl, Alexandra. At the beginning of the discussion she said she did not believe in God or in life after death. I kept telling her what the Bible says about God, man, Christ, salvation, and I challenged her with the question, "what if all these things are really true?" As in the discussion with the three girls I felt the help of the Lord. He gave me what to say and made her willing to listen, even though from time to time she would say, "oh, but I think that the Bible was written by people - meaning that it might not be true or it might have errors". At the end of the discussion she told me that she grew up next to an evangelical church, and as a kid she went there several times and liked the songs very much. She studied religion in school and has been wondering whether all these things were true or not. After growing up she started thinking they are all a myth. I encouraged her to read the New Testament I gave her and invited her to the Easter celebration and to my church. She said she wanted to come visit my church (this is very uncommon, when most people hear about evangelicals they are very scared). Please pray for all these people who have heard the gospel that the Lord would draw them to Himself!

Our fourth visit in the dorms was very blessed by the Lord. I was so encouraged to see the Lord answering our prayers in sending us to the students whose hearts He had already prepared beforehand. The second girl who answered our questions was very opened and I got to share the gospel with her at length, even though at the beginning she asked us how much time will the questionnaire last. She did not ask questions, but I felt she received everything I was telling her.

Please pray that I will be able to keep in touch with her. The second girl we had a discussion with was very suspicious at first by asking who we were and why we were doing that. But after we started talking about the gospel she listened very carefully. She asked questions when something was not clear enough and when we talked about faith she even asked how can one know that they have real faith! These girls said they would attend the Easter celebration. May the Lord bring them and touch them!

After the ski camp we tried to follow up with the non-Christian students who have been there. We got together two times for games and looked at the camps' pictures and videos. Then we invited them to a Bible study group. Four of them seemed more open and interested, but only two came to the first meeting. We studied the first chapter of John. One of the girls who came, Cosmina, is studying philosophy and is extremely stuck in all the concepts and ideas she reads about. She was very impressed with our community in the camp and told us she could not believe that such wonderful relationships could exist between people. Still, she does not believe what we tell her that it is Christ in us who changed our lives, that He is real and alive and one can know Him and have a relationship with Him!

The other girl whose name is Bebe who attended the Bible study had very good questions and seems to be thinking about these things. The sad thing was that Miky, a student who was in the ski camp with us and who has been very open and asked many questions about the gospel after the camp, went to discuss all that she had heard with an Orthodox priest. Many times this happens after students come with us and hear the gospel. The priest is the "religious authority", and they go there to check what they have heard. I called her to invite her to the evangelistic Bible study and to the Easter celebration, but she did not tell me very clearly whether she would come or not. Soon after that she talked to Ioana, her colleague, that had invited her to our camp, and told her that the priest warned her not to come to any Bible study, not to enter an evangelical church, and to be aware of cults. She started telling her all kinds of things such as the "Holy Tradition", infant baptism and other things, and it was very clear that the priest had taught her all this. I was very sad to hear this because after the camp, Miky and her boyfriend, Alex, seemed willing to start studying the Bible with us. Please pray that God would reveal the truth to Alex and Miky and that they would attend the Bible study. We want to continue studying the gospel of John. May the Lord use this study for His glory and the salvation of these students!