Witnessing team enlightens and wins souls for Christ

On a sunny Friday afternoon, Christ’s light shone down on two people that they might more clearly see the path to salvation. Taking advantage of the striking early spring weather, three seminary students, along with missions professor Mike Morris, ventured out to share the Gospel near the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary campus.

They first approached Jose, who was sitting on a bench near the basketball goal at nearby Rosemont Park. Morris told Jose that they were from the seminary, and the group sat down with him as Morris made small talk.

Then Morris asked Jose how he would respond at the gates of heaven if God asked him why he should be allowed to enter, a question that Jose could not answer. Morris asked Jose if one of the students, Sydney Sexton, might tell him what the Bible says about the pathway to heaven, and he agreed.

“I went through my Gospel presentation and asked if he wanted to accept Christ today,” says Sexton, a Master of Divinity student. “To our surprise, he said ‘yes’!”

“I followed up after Sydney finished and made sure that the man understood the key points of the presentation,” Morris says. “He then surrendered his life to Christ in repentance and faith in his prayer.”

Later, the four spoke with a student, Ariana, who had just gotten out of school and was on her way to meet her parents. (In fact, the team had unknowingly shared the Gospel with her parents just moments before.) Team member Mindy Bartells, a master’s in biblical counseling student, asked Ariana about heaven and then shared the route to salvation with her.

“She was surprised to learn that all of us fall short of deserving heaven, and was very responsive to the Gospel,” Bartells says.

“It was exciting to see Ariana’s reaction, because she was following the story really well,” says Sexton. “When Mindy told her about her sin and that it leads to death, she said, ‘Oh no! That is not good.’ Then, when Mindy told her about God’s grace, she was surprised and elated that there was a way that didn’t lead to eternal death.”

“Once Mindy asked her if she wanted to accept the free gift, she quickly said ‘yes,’” Sexton continues. “… It appeared as if this was the first time she heard the Gospel, and she accepted it with joy!”