Salvation!
Early
this semester I met Brandon while I was talking to another student. I felt a
need to engage him as he had a fresh tattoo only days into his freshman year,
while wearing camouflage, which he has wore in some way every day since. He
just seemed like someone who I would enjoy connecting with.
As
we started talking over the next couple days, we connected on fishing,
outdoors, similar senses of humor and I steered the conversation to the
spiritual. He had a curiosity about it and I wasn’t sure where he stood, but I
offered to meet with him one on one and discuss Scripture, whatever area he was
most curious about.
He
seemed embarrassed to admit that he really didn’t know anything and had never
really read the Bible, so I suggested that we go through John. As we started
working our way through, he would ask questions like, “Is Gethsemane a place or
a person?” This was really refreshing for me to walk through someone who was so
new.
By
the time we got to chapter three, I talked about being born again as a new
creation. After working through the chapter I told him the old creation is like
a hammer, it’s designed to put a nail in the wall (sin nature). The new
creation is like a saxophone, you can use it to put a nail in the wall, but
that isn’t what it’s designed for, it’s meant for something different (serving Christ).
Then I told him he should pray and figure out if he was a hammer who wanted to
be a saxophone or a very new saxophone.
He
came back the next week after going through chapter four and said that he was a
hammer who wanted to be a saxophone. He prayed to accept Christ right there in
the ASU Downtown dining hall.
We have now gone through sixteen
chapters of John and he is preparing to go back to New Jersey for the spring
semester because of his mom’s health. Please pray that he will be like the seed
in the parable of the sower that produces 100 times what was sown. It’s a
little scary the release him so soon knowing how common it is for birds to
steal or the weeds to choke out the seeds, but we are working hard to get him
into another ministry with his camouflage Bible we gave to him.
A New Opportunity
With Brandon leaving, we have
another student who knows more about Scripture, but is less willing to follow
Christ now. We have built a relationship with him over the course of this
semester and as we were talking about Brandon leaving, I told him that my
Fridays are opening up to disciple another guy now and told him that I would love to go through some
Scripture one on one with him.
He
is thinking about it, but I’m pretty sure he will be the next Brandon. He needs
Christ and prayer and discipleship. Pray that he will really desire a
relationship with Christ because I think he is close and God has moved
already.
Powers Update
Giving that doesn’t
cost a penny…
AZ Partners:
Instead of paying State Tax to the State, you can donate (for a dollar for
dollar tax CREDIT) that money to be used for Christian education, specifically
to benefit a missionary family (even if it was already taken out of your check).
You can bless us tremendously by using some of your owed Arizona State income
tax dollars to donate to ACSTO (Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization,
Inc.) designated for Dallas, Hendrix and Colton Powers at (Please email for school)____ school. for the Original Tax Credit and Hendrix and Colton Powers at (Please email for school) ____ school. For the Overflow Tax Credit (Dallas is not eligible). You will receive a tax credit dollar for
dollar against AZ State income tax. Pls. call me for more information or
there is lots of information on their website: ACSTO.org . Donations for 2015 tax year are not due until April 15, 2016!
God has led us to send our children to Christian school
and where He leads, He provides. Thanks to donors for us to ACSTO, Dallas’
kindergarten, first, second and third grade were paid in full and we praying
for fourth to be as well! Praise the Lord, the twin’s Kindergarten is paid for!
Thank you for your help. This school has been AMAZING! The boys are learning
and growing academically and Spiritually.
So
again, it’s money that has to be paid either way. It can be paid to the State or donated to a School Tuition Organization
and used for Christian education. The tax form(s) used to get the credit are available at
ACSTO.org.
Please tell us if you do, because we
would like to thank you and they cannot tell us who donated (Taxpayer Privacy).
