This month the Lord gave me many wonderful opportunities to share the Gospel. I am really excited to share with you a few of these encounters. One day I met on the street an ex-colleague of mine whose name was Alberta. I was in a hurry so I only greeted her and then ran to my duties. That evening I had a meeting that was canceled and as I was heading back home I met my ex-colleague once again. We haven’t seen each other in the last 10 years. We had a long talk and shared about our lives. I found out that she is very faithful to the Orthodox traditions as she goes to monks and priests for advice. She even goes to some tombs in a cemetery in Bucharest because a woman had taught her that they are holy tombs and if she follows some rules, her desires will come true. I couldn’t believe my ears. I was so sad and shocked to hear all of this. Poor girl! Living in such lies and darkness! I told her the Gospel, especially that Christ is the only mediator between man and God, and we don’t need to go to priests or tombs or icons, but trust in Him alone. She asked me, "what is your religion?" And when she found out that I’m a Baptist, she said, “that’s why we don’t understand each other!” She was very honest and passionate in her beliefs, and therefore reluctant to everything I said. I would like to talk to her again. I called her but she gave me no answer so far. Please pray.

Doing outreach in the student dorms, while giving out free New Testaments, books and brochures, was full of opportunities to share the good news. I talked for hours with the students. One student, Leonard, had an intriguing testimony. He received a Bible in his high-school years, started reading it and was utterly amazed about the biblical facts, that were not even close to the stories he knew from his childhood! (I couldn’t believe the false stories he believed before reading the Bible!! Pure fiction!) He was changed for a while and attended a Seventh Day Church. He had powerful experiences with God. Then he started studying medicine and went back to the old life of sin that ruined him and his studies. After many years he returned to the faculty to study something else. “Now I am again with one foot in the Bible and one in the world”, he said. He didn’t know the Gospel and was very shocked to hear that our soul will never die and hell is everlasting. He thought we would suffer in hell for a little while and afterwards our souls will be annihilated. “But why does God want to punish our sin for ever?”, he asked. I told him we are made in His image, and sin is an infinite offence to an infinite glorious, good and holy God. The punishment has to be infinite. Please pray for the salvation of this student. God is surely drawing him to Himself once again.

This was the third person that I met in the dorms that used to go to a Seventh Day Church. All of them were not saved, as they clearly didn’t understand the Gospel. I wonder if the Gospel is preached in the Seventh Day Church. Last week I had a discussion with a lady who strongly believed in salvation by works. She thought I was doing outreach in order to get saved. When she heard that salvation is by faith alone, in Christ alone, she couldn’t accept it and she left with some of our booklets. However I was very encouraged to talk to a nine year old boy who was also attending a Seventh Day Church with his family. He had knowledge of the Bible and he was very happy to talk to me about God. The Gospel was very new to him and he received it with great joy. Lets pray for this little boy.

Another student, Simona, who also stopped at our book table, was full of questions about God and salvation! She was so excited she could ask questions and was eager to hear the answers. “I have so many questions, but I wonder if there are answers to my questions?”, she said. She needs to study the Bible. I would love to start a Bible study with her. We exchanged phone numbers and will meet again next week. Please pray for her that the Orthodox bias, ever present in our culture, won’t turn her against the Gospel. I saw that over and over again and it just breaks my heart.

I feel more and more burdened with the prayer request that the Lord would remove the Orthodox prejudices that Romanians have against Evangelicals so they would be willing to hear the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray! Please pray also for a freshmen student, Irina, who asked me many questions about life, the Bible, and God. She said she very much wants to discuss God, but at present she doesn’t answer my emails. I’m quite sure she’s afraid to meet with me because of the Orthodox prejudices that stand between us.

There are still a few students who are open to all ideas and religions. Today I had a long discussion with Iulian and Robert. Iulian had some philosophical ideas from Hinduism, but he also believed some biblical truths. It was interesting to hear his mixed world view, even though I couldn’t really understand him, as I felt he was contradicting himself. He thought there is no such thing as guilt, no good and evil, no judgment, but when I told him the Gospel, he said that he agrees with it. They actually didn’t understand how serious their sin is and their need to repent and believe. Iulian was also open to continue our discussions. Please pray for these students' salvation.

Every week this month we studied some chapters about regeneration from brother Charles Leiter’s book, Justification and Regeneration, at our student weekly meetings. Our Christian students found these truths very encouraging and liberating! Praise the Lord!!! The truth that our enemy, sin, was defeated at the cross is incredible. We are freed from the power of sin and, therefore, we have a new identity. We just have to live it! May the Lord make these truths a reality in our lives each day! We are also thankful to the Lord for His answer to our prayers. We already have may freshmen students joining our group. This fall I started a discipleship group with two students and I intend to start another one. Please continue to pray for more students to join us who have a passion for lost souls. Thank you. God bless you!