In the month of April as the weather became warmer, we started again going into the dorms with our small Christian literature table. We usually wait for the students to stop and take a New Testament or a brochure, and in many cases the Lord gives us the opportunity to talk to these people about the Lord and the gospel. The first time I went this past month it was raining, so the other student and I had to find a sheltered place, which was not in the way of the students. Not many of them stopped. But something surprising happened ....

as we were standing there, we saw a little boy (about 10 years old) coming with his mother. He saw us, turned towards us and came to the table. He immediately took a New Testament, even though there were other colorful booklets, shouting, "mommy, mommy" while showing her the New Testament. He took nothing else, turned back to his mother and they continued on their way. This was very unusual, and it gave me great joy to see this kid's joy of receiving a New Testament!  May the Lord use this New Testament to save this child! While standing there a lady came and told us that she worked there and asked us what was our religion. When hearing we were evangelicals, she told us she was advising us to leave since there were many theology students there were orthodox, and in the past, there were violent conflicts. She said that those of other religions were badly beaten up. The following week when my coworker went there the lady asked if they had permission to be there and told them to leave. We pray that the Lord will keep this door open for us in the dorms and they will not forbid us to be there with our literature table.

The week before Easter we had an evangelistic Easter celebration. We put posters in the facilities and gave away fliers. We expected more non-Christian students to come. Most of them are scared to attend an evangelical event and enter any church which is evangelical. We are thankful though for those who came and heard the gospel. May the Lord have mercy on them. One of the students brought a non-Christian colleague, but the poor girl was so scared and kept asking, "why are they taking pictures? What are they going to do with them?" In the middle of the gospel presentation, a homeless man entered and interrupted the meeting. The pastor who was preaching kept very calm and had a wonderful attitude towards this man. Our guys took him and sat next to him. Every now and then he would say something out loud. I was very concerned that he would do something wrong. But the Lord was gracious to us and nothing bad happened. At the end of the meeting the man who was in charge of the building told us he was very impressed to see how the guys dealt with the man. We were glad as this was a good testimony for him!

We have been meeting almost each week with the evangelistic Bible study group, and we are glad that the girl who is attending asks very good questions and is very interested in the discussions. We have been studying from the book of John and had very deep discussions, and especially at the last one from John 11 as the Lord blessed His Word. We talked about Jesus being the Life and receiving the Life only by believing in Him. We also talked about life and death, about heaven and hell, as two of the guys attending were coming from a funeral. May the Lord bring the girl to a personal and saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!  In the two discipleship groups we have been studying the book of Romans and we try to go deeper into the gospel. I am especially encouraged by Cristina, one of the girls. She has been raised in a Christian home and about three years ago she was converted. But her church did not emphasize the Word much, so she really started to read consistently and to study the Word since she came to Bucharest and began attending our student group. It is a joy to see how the Lord is teaching her and growing her! She tries to be a good testimony for her non-Christian roommates in the dorms, while they give her a very hard time because she is a Christian. She shares with us all her struggles and we pray together. I am also very encouraged to see that it seems that the Lord is calling her into missions. She keeps thinking and praying about that, and now she is attending a mission course. She has an opportunity to go to Africa in the summer, and now is seeking whether this is the Lord's will for her. Praise the Lord for His work in and through His people!

One of the tools we use to teach the students the gospel and train them in evangelism is a evangelism and discipleship course. Last month we studied about the true gospel, and Cristina was amazed how much she had learned about it, even though before the course she had been thinking, "but I already know the gospel, what can we learn new?" The Lord has been using this course a lot in the lives of the students and we are very thankful for this!

Lately, I realized how great is the need for good teaching about spiritual warfare among believers and I am so glad brother Paul Washer will teach on it next month! During the last month I talked to three girls and a guy and they shared with me some of their struggles and battles. I was thankful for a very good book by Spurgeon on spiritual warfare that helped me tremendously and other good teaching I have receive in the HeartCry conferences. It has enabled me to give them good advise. There is such a great need for this kind of teaching that would show the believers how Christ's victory gives them everything they need to fight against the evil one!