It was a cold and rainy Thursday, and I had been in meetings all day. The afternoon yawns were setting in, but I was pumped because I had the next four hours set aside to do evangelism on campus at The Ohio State University, where I serve as a campus missionary. See, one of my favorite things to do with the guys I’m discipling is contact evangelism (approaching strangers on campus and having spiritual conversations with them). This is a great catalyst for character growth and faith. When we do it together as believers, we create community around the mission of Jesus Christ and boldness to share the gospel with people we already know.

I was meeting Joe, one of the guys in my small group, to do contact evangelism in one of the newer dining halls on North Campus. Right away we noticed a guy eating by himself, and we approached:

Me: “Hi! I’m Kyle, this is Joe. We’re Christians, and we’re hoping to have conversations about what people believe. Would you be up for chatting with us for a few minutes?”

Random guy: “No thanks…”

Alright, no worries…the first “no” is out of the way. After looking around and seeing no one by themselves, we decided to go upstairs. That’s when I realized most of the seating in this building was reserved as “quiet” study space. This was a less-than-ideal location for evangelism. Admittedly, I panicked a little. What were we going to do?  We had set aside two hours for evangelism, and five minutes in we’re seemingly out of people to talk to here. We could go to another spot on campus, but I don’t want to go back out in the freezing rain! If I wanted to sound more spiritual, I’d tell you we went back downstairs because I realized we serve an awesome God who can use impossible circumstances for His glory, so we weren’t going to be deterred by the “less-than-ideal.” However, if I am being honest, it was really because I didn’t want to get wet. (You are probably starting to pick up on my mild obsession with my own comfort and my disdain for being damp. Don’t worry, God is still doing work on me!) Nevertheless, we walked downstairs hoping for just one person sitting by themselves who we could talk to, and sure enough there was.

His name was Louis. Not long into the conversation, he told us he was an operations major (what I studied as a student at Ohio State) and was Greek orthodox. We asked him what he thought the purpose of life is, how you get to heaven, and how confident he was about going to heaven when he dies. Like many people, Louis believed that getting into heaven was all about being a good person. Unlike most people, after every question he would ask us what we believed. That’s when I realized that God was doing something special in this conversation.

As we shared the gospel with him, it was evident that Louis was engaged and excited to learn what the Bible says. You could almost see the scales falling off the eyes of his heart as he realized his guilt before the Lord and the opportunity for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. After we finished sharing, we asked Louis where he stood with God. Louis told us he was separated from God and understood that there was nothing he could do to earn eternity with God; he needed Jesus, he wanted Jesus. Joe and I had the privilege to see Louis confess his sins to God, ask for forgiveness, and begin his new life in Jesus! After we exchanged numbers and bid farewell to our new brother in Christ, Joe and I walked in the rain back to his dorm, celebrating God’s goodness and his sovereignty. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news” (even if they get a little wet in the process)!