Two Surprising Baptisms!
TWO SURPRISING BAPTISMS!
I (Jesse) had the pleasure of getting to mentor a brilliant international PhD student who was studying in Madison for several years. We would meet regularly for conversation, talking about our lives, Scripture, ministry, our relationships with Jesus, plus countless other topics. It has been a wonderful friendship, but I was slightly disappointed that this friend always seemed too busy to get involved in leadership in our local International Fellowship and serving in our evangelistic Bible discussions with other internationals. I wondered if our conversations had been fun, but unfruitful as far as broader ministry impact…
Fast forward several years and several moves to different cities and states in this young man’s life. We were having a conversation over Zoom recently catching up and sharing our lives when he casually mentioned something: In his last city, he had led two international students from his home country to Jesus! I was blown away! I asked, “How did the Lord use you in their lives to lead them to Christ?” God used his reply to bring perspective to me: “Oh, I just had lots of conversations with them... We read and discussed Bible passages together...” It sounded remarkably similar to our conversations together. His two friends were eventually baptized in a local church! The Lord used this to greatly encourage me that our time together had never been in vain, and that God had used my investment in his life to encourage and grow him, which he then did likewise for others.
NOTE: Often our photos don't match the testimonies. This is purposeful, and done to protect identities of our friends from areas of the world which require special sensitivity.