Thursday was our last day of BfA tabling and gospel strolling. We also had a few appointments with some of the students that we met this week who are very open. The very last student we met at the BfA table was a believer and was seeking Christian fellowship, so we invited her and another student to a saint’s home for dinner and singing with the sisters. She thoroughly enjoyed the time, took a songbook home with her, and came back on Saturday for another dinner and fellowship. Please pray that she would continue seeking the Lord and fellowshipping with the saints!

The saints in Columbia recently started a weekly Saturday dinner and fellowship for the students. Three new ones that we contacted, as well as one of their mothers, showed up this past Saturday. We had already left Columbia by then, but the saints in Columbia reported that it was a sweet time. We were all very encouraged that a few open students were able to experience the enjoyment of the Lord in an open home so close to campus. The concluding feeling of our time at the University of South Carolina is that there are many students who are open and seeking to know God’s purpose that will benefit from getting connected with the saints, the Word, and the ministry. There is a great need of a full-time team to be raised up here to continue the labor on this campus.

On Friday afternoon, our gospel team traveled from Columbia to Conyers, Georgia for the Southeast College Conference. One hundred twenty registrants from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina came together for the weekend to see “The Vision of the Church.” It was an encouraging time to see students from all different campuses blending together and corporately pursuing the Lord’s purpose. On Lord’s Day morning, three students were baptized into the Body of Christ!

Statistics:

• Bibles: 394
• Tracts: 610
• Contacted: 144

Prayer Burdens:

• For a full-time team to be raised up to continue the labor on the University of South Carolina campus.
• That the three students that came to Saturday night dinner in Columbia, including all that were contacted last week, would be connected with the saints and continue to receive care.
• For the propagation of the Word in Athens through the Bible distribution and the ministry.

Sister's dinner and fellowship in Columbia

Georgia-related College Students

With the Athens college brothers after the conference at one of their favorite local restaurants!

On Tuesday we split up into twos and threes and also set up a table in front of the student center: Russell House. We were able to give out 57 Bibles and 214 tracts, and 12 people signed up for further contact in the span of 2.5 hours. The Lord sovereignly arranged 3 very positive second appointments for Tuesday and many meaningful conversations. The response has been very positive on the USC Columbia campus with many open and seeking students. What we have seen and felt is that the fields are white, and the campus is just waiting for the workers to come. In the evening we were able to blend with some of the local saints at Lake Murray and have dinner at their house. It was a very wonderful and sweet time of singing and getting to know each other.

On Wednesday we did not set up a table on campus but instead took a “gospel stroll” around campus and had 3 second appointments arranged from Tuesday’s tabling. We separated into 3 main areas around campus and walked around with Bibles and tracts. We were able to give away 93 Bibles and have 23 meaningful conversations. The response was very positive and the feeling was that little to no effort on our part was made. Instead, it was the Lord who was operating and blessing. We are seeing more and more that the Lord has wonderfully prepared everything for us, and we are just presenting our bodies to be one with Him for His work.

Today, the trainees were dropped off at different locations around campus with boxes of bibles. Praise the Lord, very few boxes came back!

Statistics:

Bibles: 342
Tracts: 516
Contacted: 127

Prayer Burdens:

• That the Lord would open up MORE second appointments and there would be at least five solid contacts by the end of the week
• That the Lord would release FOUR students to come to the Thursday dinner.
• For more saints to be added to the church in Columbia through migration and local increase.

The gospel trip team arrived Saturday afternoon for lunch and a walk at Conagree National Park with some local saints. We concluded our first day with a bbq dinner at the home of one of the local families, followed by singing and enjoying the Lord. On Lord’s Day we broke bread with the church in Columbia. In addition, there were some saints blending from Augusta, GA. Our prophesying meeting was abundantly rich with members from many places sharing their portions. We enjoyed the love feast after the meeting. We were able to blend and get to know not just the saints from Columbia, but those from Augusta as well.

In the afternoon our team toured the University of South Carolina (USC). We scoped out the campus for our Bible distribution that starts today. For dinner, we ate in the home of another local family, and we ended the evening with some singing and prayer. Prior to our Bible distribution at USC, the team met together to enjoy the Lord and coordinate with some singing, prayer, and truth pursuit; we, along with the local saints, started reading The Age of the One New Man.

Some of us had a meal at Waffle House earlier in the day. One of the brothers decided we should come back and give them the real waffles, the wonderful Word of God!

On the USC campus, we spent three hours tabling outside the student union (the Russell House) and walking around in pairs to pass out Bibles and to meet students. We were able to distribute many bibles and even arranged some second appointments with students.