This month the outreach in the student dorms was very fruitful in terms of sharing the Gospel. We went for four evenings before Christmas in the student dorms of “Leu” to do questionnaires and to ask the students questions like: Who is Jesus Christ, why did He come to earth? Do you read the Bible? What do you think happens after death? We also invited them to the concerts that were taken place that week. We were very encouraged to see that many students from these dorms were very open to talk about spiritual things. They were unusually open to talk to us. I was also very encouraged to see that many Christian students from our group and many young people from my church came to share the Gospel. We went two by two and every team had long discussions about God with the non-Christian students. Some of the students came to the HeartCry Conference and the Caroling Concert we had on December 15. I had discussions with about 20 students and shared with you a few of them for your encouragement and prayer.

The first evening I remember the discussion I had with two students Andrei and Radu. Radu especially had a strong Orthodox background. He knew lots of things from the Bible and from Orthodoxy. At the end of our discussion he showed me they had the Orthodox yearly calendar on the back of their door. They told me that God forgives sins because He is a loving God, and that salvation is by good works. I asked them: If God is a just Judge, how can He forgive sins, and remain just at the same time? Then I explained the Gospel to them. They were very attentive, asking questions to better understand what I was saying. They thought the Gospel made a lot of sense, but they were reluctant because I was evangelical and I might twist the verses my way. Please pray for them as they seemed to understand the Gospel and think about it.

The second evening I had a long discussion with Razvan. From the beginning he declared himself agnostic and he thought Jesus was a philosopher who brought back justice and ethics. He was also relativist. We touched on many subjects together, including evolutionism, the authenticity of the Bible, and of course, the Gospel. He knew many things about different topics. In the end I challenged him to read the Bible and seek for the truth.

The third day I talked with many students, including Bogdan. He saw us talking on the hallway with others and when we finished, he asked us, "Don’t you want to talk to me too?" Then we had a long discussion. He had all sorts of ideas about God and spiritual matters. He loved our discussion even though we didn’t agree on any point. He came to the concert we organized at the very end and then he came with us to sing carols at the subway. He liked our group very much and he expressed his desire to meet with us again.

On the fourth day I was especially encouraged because of the discussion with Dany. It seems that this student was especially prepared by the Lord for our arrival. When we knocked at his door and we asked him if he wants to do a questionnaire about Christmas, he widely smiled and said a loud, “Yes!!!” I was very surprised by his reaction! Then he told us that a few days ago another team had a long discussion on his floor with some students. He longed to be part of the discussion, but for some reason he didn’t join them. He was probably the most open unbeliever I met in my whole life! He shared things about his life and then he listened carefully to everything I said. I read to him many Bible passages from Romans, Ephesians, Corinthians... He said he never heard the Gospel before. He was full of questions. He also came to the HeartCry conference and he loved it. He said he wants to come again to our events. I connected him with a Christian male student from our group who stays in his dorm and he will keep in touch with him. Please pray for Dany’s salvation. Please pray for all the other students who heard the Gospel this month. Please pray that we start an evangelistic group in the dorm where we did questionnaires this month.

This month I was also encouraged to see that Linda, who came to the summer camp, and her boyfriend, came to the HeartCry Conference on the theme of relationships. Please continue to pray for her salvation.

In December we organized the Caroling Concert, an evangelistic event downtown Bucharest, at Sala Dalles, very near the University and other faculties. We invited the Bucharest Evangelical Choir who sang wonderful carols. The Gospel was presented by a leader from my church, a friend of the student ministry. We were greatly encouraged that many non-Christian students came to the concert. Some were the colleagues of our students, others we met when we did the questionnaires in the dorms, others came because of the many flyers we spread in the facilities. Their feedback about the concert filled our heart with joy because we found out that they really liked the concert! After the concert we went caroling at the subway and we enjoyed seeing the smiley faces of the people who were listening to us. All of that brought a lot of enthusiasm to our hearts and we praise God for the joy He brought this month!