Clemson Conference Danelle and I taught a conference February 14-15 near Clemson, SC. Thank you very much for asking God to change lives! He did - including ours! What an inspiration for us to see college students give up a Friday night (Valentine’s Day!) and Saturday to hear what God says in His word about relationships and marriage. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6 Our theme, “Finding the Love of Your Life,” was based on material from Secure In An Insecure World. The truth resonated in their hearts, and then we had small group discussions to consider how to apply it to their lives. Brian and Miriam Bridgeman and Jean Wan did an excellent job organizing, recruiting, and preparing for the event. Thank you guys for your hard work! It was a team effort. Praise God! Here is a photo of most of the students.
A Personal Testimony As we stated last month, we are including a personal testimony tract in each of our newsletters for the next few months to inspire you to share yours, and possibly to even write yours. Let us know if we can help with a simple outline and ideas to get you started. It can be so much fun too! Just last week I gave my testimony in Russian to 80 year old Boris at the pool. I keep a copy of my testimony (Russian and English) in my backpack. I also keep copies of them in my wallet and in my car. I would have made a good Boy Scout. 
Enjoy reading this abbreviated version of how Danelle came to know Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord!
A Little Angel?
I grew up going to Catholic school and so I believed in God from a young age. In school and at home I was taught to be good and to have good morals. In my early teen years my family went through some difficult financial times and when my mother went to the priest for help, he was unkind to her. That was the beginning of years of questioning my faith. It culminated in a history class in college where I learned about man's inhumanity to man in a way that profoundly disturbed me. I began to doubt the goodness and power of God since there were so many evil people. I decided I didn't know what to believe but that I was going to live a good life and help others. And that is what I did. I went to college and studied Psychology. I worked with at risk children as well as needy elderly people. I volunteered at our college hot-line, spending sleepless nights talking with fellow students going through a crisis. I thought I was good little angel.
Interestingly enough, after a while my conscience began to bother me, because I realized that I wasn't doing all these good deeds from a pure heart - I wanted everyone to notice what a good person I was and I knew in my heart that that was wrong.
About that time some people began to talk with me about God and how He is not interested in people being religious. He is a personal God who wanted a personal relationship with ME! I had never heard of such a concept before and it was intriguing! I began to understand Jesus' death on the cross in a whole new light - eternal life isn't dependent upon me believing in God and doing my best. If that were true then there would be no reason for Jesus to die. Everyone can have eternal life and a relationship with God when they recognize that they have sinned against HIM. Amazingly, that same God loved each of us so much that He sent His Son to die for everything that we have ever done wrong. And if we simply confess that we are sinners and yield our life to Him we can have a personal relationship with Him.
This is so amazing that it sounds too good to be true! It’s also amazing that God knew I would cross paths with you today so that you could hear this. Maybe this is the first time or maybe this reminds you of something you already know. If you act on these truths you can have eternal life and a personal relationship with the God who created you, actually, who created the whole universe!
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Danelle
Prayer Requests
1. Ukraine. As you know, the protests in Kiev, Ukraine recently turned deadly, with the soldiers killing over 80 people. At this point, the president has left Kiev, and the people have new hope. All of our friends are safe too! Pray for the fighting to truly be over, and for Russia to stay out of it. Pray for godly leaders to fill the void. But more than anything, pray that the people of Ukraine would recognize the corruption in their own hearts, and turn to God. Pray for the Christians to share the gospel with courage.
2. Summer Plans. We are going to Pamplona, Spain the last two weeks of May to train college students at LINC. Please pray for our travel expenses, many to be saved, and the local church to be encouraged.
Yours in Christ’s unfailing love,
Steve and Danelle
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