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Sally Barrett – Crossroads Student |
It was a sunny Thursday at about noon. I (Rachel) was walking with a Crossroads student named Sally to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The Chicago Summer Project (CSP) provided childcare every Thursday so the moms could go on campus with students and do ministry.
The previous week was the first time I had been on campus in two years. I hadn’t had an opportunity since we had 2 children in less than 2 years and I was feeling rusty. Thankfully the first week I had some really good spiritual conversations with a couple students and it reminded of how much I love students and the Gospel.
Sally is going to be a senior and is experienced in ministry, so I was mainly there for moral support and the extra experience to help her learn more. We stood in the quad, and surveyed the handful of students sitting around reading or eating lunch. Sally picked a girl who was sitting in the shade eating lunch.
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We found out her name is Natalie and she is an architecture student who commutes an hour by train, one way, to school every day. She has a church background and had faith in God. She also hoped to pursue that more, but really wasn’t sure how. So I asked her if we could share our booklet with her, Knowing God Personally. It’s a four point outline of the Gospel, filled with Scripture and diagrams to make the Gospel clear. She agreed and we walked through the first 3 points rather quickly, as she was familiar with and agreed with them.
The fourth point talks about individually receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and includes Ephesians 2:8,9. We talked about the chances of someone getting into heaven with and without Jesus. She said that the chances of someone getting to heaven with Jesus in their life was about 70%. She described the things that one would have to do to earn their salvation.
I talked her through a couple verses and explained to her that no matter what we do, it isn’t good enough because there is always sin in our lives. That salvation is a gift to receive, not to earn. As this new information settled in, Sally and I could feel the weight lifted off her shoulders. She truly understood that there was nothing she could do except receive the gift! Before we left, we pointed her to a few resources and planned to meet with her next week. She told us, “Thank you so much. That was wonderful.”
The next week we met with Natalie again, prepared to go through 1 John 5 and talk some more about the Gospel in a deeper way. We discovered that she had read some of the articles that we had pointed her to and signed up for a Spiritual Starter Kit. Sally walked her through a mini Bible study and Natalie followed along and even verbalized to us that she was still trying to let go of the idea that she has to do anything to earn her salvation. Every time she mentioned Jesus, her face would just light up. Once again, she thanked us and made plans to meet with us again.
This ministry experience was a major highlight of my summer. I was sad to leave Chicago and miss continuing to meet with Natalie. Sally still meets with her and hopefully she will connect her with Hope, one of the staff that works at UIC during the school year. During the 5 weeks that the staff were in Chicago, 12 other students also trusted Christ.
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Braden and Grandpa going for a ride |
Thank you for being a part of seeing this student grow in her faith and begin a new relationship with the Lord. We are so grateful for your prayer and financial support!
