From there we went back to the house for a bit, then we made our way to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville – about a 2 hour drive. Part of our group set up at the outdoor amphitheater. The guys took turns open air preaching. Paul and Don set up not too far from us – Paul is with Open Air Campaigners and uses visual aids to engage the students. Several one-to-one conversations sprung from this presentation.

Ham speaking with a young lady.

Tuesday and Wednesday we spent the day at Virginia Commonwealth University. The Lord opened the hearts of several students to pay attention to what was being said (Acts 16:14). Many one-to-ones took place. There is a large Christian presence on this campus – which was very refreshing! A group of Christian students meet at the compass every day at noon to pray for their campus. Two of the groups I spoke with were familiar with The Way of the Master and witness to their classmates on a regular basis. Praise the LORD! May the glorious truth of God’s Word continue to spread at VCU!

The student in the striped shirt had his Bible handy and started
to share scripture with one of the hecklers.

TRUTH

There were several Muslim students on Wednesday.

After dinner on Wednesday we made our way back to NC – home sweet home we were at 10pm.

As the proverb says, “Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks.” This is exactly what George and others, who faithfully preach the truths of God’s kingdom, are doing. I picture King Solomon writing this proverb as he hears prophets of God warn Israel and sojourners in the markets, streets, and city gates of Jerusalem. What a blessed thing to hear truth proclaimed outside the 4 walls of a church building.

From there we joined four others at the St. Patrick’s day parade. Many gospel tracts were passed out to the people along the parade route. May hearts be changed by the preaching of the glorious gospel.

“I’m going to give away $20 to whoever can prove to me that they are a good person. We’re going to use a good standard that most everyone agrees with, the Ten Commandments ….” By this time I had a few takers to the challenge. Just that quick … it’s amazing how money instantly draws a crowd. I chose a participant from the crowd and began to ask 3 simple questions to find out if she was a good person. “Chelsea, the first is question is, have you ever told a lie?” “Yes.” “What does that make you? What would you be called?” “A liar.” “That’s correct. Second question, have you ever stolen anything?” “No.” “Even it its small, something from a brother or sister. Something you’ve taken without asking?” “Yes.” “What does that make you?” “A thief.” “Third question, have you ever disobeyed your parents?” “Yes.” “Chelsea, by your own admission you are a liar, a thief, and a rebellious child at heart. You’re not a good person according to God’s law. Chelsea, if you were to stand before God would you be innocent or guilty of breaking His laws?” “Innocent.” “Why is that?” “Because I believe in God.” “Imagine this Chelsea, you are standing in a courtroom, all the evidence is laid out, you are guilty and in a lot of trouble. And you say to the judge ‘your honor, I believe I’m innocent because I believe in you.’ Do you think he is going to let you go Chelsea?” “No.” “It is the same with God; He can’t just simply let you go. The fine for breaking the law must be paid. Chelsea, would you be innocent or guilty of breaking God’s laws?” “Guilty.” “Do you deserve to be punished in hell or rewarded with heaven?” “Hell.” “Let’s go back to the courtroom a second. You’re guilty and a fine of $100,000 has been placed on you, and you don’t have the money to pay for your crimes. Without the money to pay your fine, you are being led off to jail, just then someone that you do not know rushes in to the court room and pays your fine. You are free to go, not because you earned it, but simply because of pure grace. This is what God has done for His people in Jesus Christ. You broke the Law and Jesus paid the fine. Now, it is evident who are God’s people, because they will bring forth fruit of repentance. You must repent (turn from your sins) and trust in Jesus for forgiveness of your sins. Chelsea, you did not prove to be a good person according to God’s law. No one is good but Jesus. As a demonstration of grace, something that you do not deserve, I’m giving you this $20. In the same way, God gives saving grace through his Son Jesus Christ. Folks, there is no hope in yourself. You must repent of your wickedness and hope only in Jesus Christ. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Repent and trust Jesus . . .”

It was a great day. Tracts were passed out, the gospel was preached, and the fellowship was sweet.

We met Nathan, Mary, Don, Marcus, Raul, and Tom at the local Shoney’s for dinner. When Tony & I pulled into the parking lot we noticed two preaching stools strapped to the top of Raul’s van. Apparently, they were the only things that wouldn’t fit in the van… it made for a good laugh!

After a time of prayer, we made our way to the festival. And we finished the night/morning off at Denny’s.

Saturday we went to the nearby abortion clinic to minister to the people there. From there, Tony & I had plans to go take a nap at the hotel for a few hours and then join everyone else at the festival. Well, that plan didn’t exactly work out. Tony recieved a phone call saying that he needed to confirm some things online regarding his school loan. So that’s how we spent our “nap time”. Oh well. We met everyone at Trinity Baptist Church for a time of prayer and then spent the remainder of the afternoon/evening at the festival (with the exception of a dinner break).

(As Marcus was proclaiming the glorious gospel,
the guy in the white shirt just knelt down in front of him
with tears streaming down his face. Pray that Jerald
will be strengthened in the faith.)

(The older gentleman you see above is named Frank.
He has celebrated 87 birthdays and is a local to Asheville.
He has joined our group each year at Bele Chere
to proclaim the everlasting gospel. He is such an
encouragment to us younger folks and I praise God for him!!)

(Tom was able to catch this picture of me. Since I am usually
the one behind the camera, it was neat to see a picture of one
of my encounters. The two ladies were Christians and offered
a lot of encouraging words. It is always nice to have encouragers!!)

Sunday morning, Tony & I joined the VA clan for a farewell breakfast at IHOP. It is always sad when it’s time to go our seperate ways again.

(Marcus found this picture of us on Flickr.com.
Apparently some random passer-byer snapped a picture
of us and uploaded it onto the world wide web. I tell
you, Tony & I have grown so much closer to our LORD
since we started sharing the gospel with people on
a regular basis. And our love for one another continues
to be strengthened each and every day!
I love my husband so very much!!!)

One guy had walked up to Tony, took hold of the sandwich board and read it out loud to himself a couple times. “I believe in Jesus”, he said. He had obviously been drinking. His sober wife walked over to apologize. She took hold of her husband and told him to leave us alone. He still stood there. Tony began to talk with him and encouraged him to read the book of 1 John sometime soon. The Bible says that we are to examine ourselves to make sure that we’re in the faith(2 Corinthians 13:5). It was pretty much left at that. His wife was so grateful and thanked us for being out there. We gave her a gospel tract written by J.C. Ryle, titled “Are You Born Again?”.

A young guy could not give account for his moral standards with his atheistic worldview. If he truly believes that everything happened by random chance, then he has no reason to be nice to others. As a Christian, we believe that God created everything and he gave every person a conscience – that tells them right from wrong. When asked his name, he responded “Oh, funny you ask. I don’t go by Christian anymore… my name is Chris.”

We also spoke with a Muslim man, his Christian wife that went to Bible college, and a friend of theirs. Most of the conversation was with the husband, but the wife and friend stood there nearly the whole time listening. His name was Muhammad, he speaks fluent Arabic and pretty good English. He admitted that as a Muslim, no one can be assured that they will end up in Heaven when they die. Our friend, Fareid had given us some Arabic gospel tracts a while ago. At first I thought that I didn’t have any with me, but when I began to look through my purse I found one. (Thank you Jesus!)

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