Campus tour leads inquisitive seminary visitor to Christ

A visitor who came to Southwestern for a tour of the Fort Worth campus received an introduction to more than the seminary’s programs. She came not even knowing what a seminary is, but she left as a follower of Christ.

As Trey Holmes, associate director of recruiting, spoke to a campus tour group on Dec. 8, Amy, a single mother with two children from the College Station area, raised a question. When Holmes mentioned evangelism as one of Southwestern’s priorities, she asked what the Gospel was. He gave her the “short version” from 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

When the tour group later came to the Welcome Center for a presentation on financial aid, Holmes bumped into Amy and her children in the foyer and began asking them about school, home and church. “She told me they had never been to church, but she wanted them to experience church,” Holmes says.

“She also mentioned she didn’t own a Bible,” he continues. “So I grabbed a few from the Everyday Evangelism shelf in the storeroom, sat down in the foyer, and began to witness to her and the children.”

Holmes turned to Romans 10:9-10. He asked her if she believed that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins and was raised from the dead. She said “yes.”

Holmes then asked if she had ever cried out to God for salvation. She answered again in the affirmative, explaining that she had just done so the night before.

“Last night, we stayed in the Riley Center,” she said. “I watched a David Platt sermon and realized that I needed to be saved, so I told God I was a sinner and asked Him save me.” Holmes recalls of that moment, “Needless to say, we all celebrated!”

After answering some of her questions and helping her understand the decision she had made, Holmes encouraged Amy to become involved in a local church near her hometown. He and a fellow seminary staff member looked up a number of churches to recommend to her, and she affirmed her intention to attend a church that weekend. 

“She came to Southwestern not even knowing what a seminary is, but knew she wanted to know more about Christianity,” Holmes says. “How awesome is it that the Holy Spirit is drawing people to our campus to be saved through the ministries of the Riley Center and Student Services? Disciples are made in many ways, and I’m ecstatic about not only recruiting people to enroll in classes, but also into the Kingdom of God.”