2 Corinthians 4...we are struck down but not destroyed!!

Tuesday: The second day on campus and Cari Keegan and I were rarin to talk to people and hangout with students! God had so something else in mind.

The very first group that we talked to was a group of four girls and two guys. A similar combination to a group we had talked to on Monday, so we decided to hangout with them to start and have an easy transition into the second day on campus. It was anything but that! After introductions and some small talk lasting about five minutes Keegan brought up a survey we had been given as a tool to initiate spiritual conversations. They answered honestly, and as we had seen before the beliefs ranged from not believing in God to thinking there was a God and heaven and hell but they didn't need to know anymore about it. The survey was over and there was not much more to talk about it seemed as most in the group did not desire to continue to talk to us, but one girl, Christina, challenged us about what we believe. She drove the conversation super deep. It was obvious by some others in the groups reactions that they had e same questions but didn't know how to ask. She asked why, if there was a God, why He would allow things like war. Our answer, relating to the fallen world and corruption of a relationship with God, was then met by another question and series of remarks about the selfishness of a relationship with God. "Why would we need a relationship with God, why would you tell us about this when we don't need it. Go talk to the people who are suffering, they need God." Her point was that the church, in her view does not do what it teaches, to love those who are hurting, instead it seeks to protect itself and enrich it's members only. We went back and forth for fourth minutes or so, Keegan shared her testimony about how a relationship with God, not the church changed her life and caused her to want to DO things for people (I was very inspired by the vulnerability Keegan showed). By the end of the conversation Christina was the only one talking, the others, including a guy named Dimitri, were deep in thought. We could tell that the gospel we had shared and the passion we demonstrated in talking about what we believed had an impact. Christina did not change her mind nor did anyone fall down in tears and repent of their sins, but all those students heard the Gospel. It was as we walked away that the devil started his work.

All three of us got super discouraged and tired, mentally, physically, and most of all spiritually. We took about 30 minutes to eat lunch by ourselves and process what had happened and then we began to talk it out. The devil was trying to convince us that our conversation with Christina was worthless and nothing came of it. Plus she raised some valid arguments and caused each of us to be convicted to not be double minded or two faced, but the devil was working to get us to believe it.

We talked to two other groups and got one guys contact information, but the rest of the three hours we spent praying together and encouraging one another as we worked through the conversation. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 opened to us as we were searching for another verse, but it applied perfectly. We have trials to produce eternal glory, and we do not focus on what we cannot see, but on what is unseen, what is eternal. We will probably not see Christina or her friends come to Christ while we are here, pray that we do, but even so, they now have an incorruptible seed of the Gospel in their hearts. Pray for Christina and Dimitri, that others would cross their paths to continue to answer their questions.