Monthly Archives: November 2017

20017 Fall campus/Salem evangelism

Englewood NJ abortion clinic


Newark NJ, Broad and Market St. Jim Hamilton shares the Gospel.


Professor brings out some skulls to make his case. eventually acknowledges they are only plastic


Southern Connecticut State students asked many questions


UMass Lowell


University of Missouri


VCU a small beginning


VBCU As the day progresses


VCU

Salem Mass , Oct 31


Children are often brought to Salem to participate in what some think as only fun and games


Southern Connecticut State


East Coast satanic headquarters located in Salem Mass,

Jersey City NJ. Luis Zapata shares the Gospel.


WVU. Mike Stockwell shares the Gospel.


VT. Jim Hamilton shares the Gospel.


Sharing the gospel at Princeton University after dark, outside the meal houses.


The Gospel was shared at the Philadelphia “Outfest”. However some local professing Christians enable those living godless lives


Even a local Jewish group advocate for sexual impurity


Purchase College in Purchase NY. Gospel preached by Robert Parker


Purchase college. Gospel shared by Tom Mammon. some students gathered to listen, even though there is a steady rain


UConn, Storrs Conn.


UConn crowd begins to grow


UConn crowd often gets quite large. many listen, many disagree, some stay all afternoon


University of Albany, Albany NY. At this college the administration erects  a barrier for free speech, which includes a podium for the speaker.


Robert Gray shares Gospel at University of Albany


Tom Mammon, youngest member of our group shares the Gospel


East Stroudsburg University


Sharing the Gospel in Happy valet before The Penn state Michigan game


Shawn Holes shares the Gospel, asking the students, ” if he was dying from a wound, how he be assured of heaven.


Black Hebrew Israelites on corner of Broad and market Street Newark NJ


UConn


Beaver Stadium Penn state. As we preach, 50,000 fans in white pass by


Shawn Holes shares the Gospel to a large crowd at University of Vermont


UMass Amheerst


University of Albany. Making use of the podium they provide for public speakers


Kutztown University, Kutztown Pa. Keith Darrell shares the Gospel.


East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg Pa.


UVM, University of Vermont, Burlington Vt.


A personal note one of the students passed to us. We hope that by the end of the day enough truth will shared that they come to understand difference in preaching and praying.


The ministry team after a day in Albany NY

The fall season, 2017 promised to be a busy time of sharing the Gospel and evangelizing in some of the colleges I am familiar with, and some that were new to me.  I had been invited to take part in our usual Northeast University tour, but a small group in West Virginia asked if we would come along side of them, on their first ever West Virginia/Virginia college tour. This meant we would not have the opportunity to visit some of the schools in Md. and Va. but there may be another time for them. So the 1st portion of this seasons ministry included the normal N.E. schools; Brown University, University of Rhode Island, UConn, and UMass Boston. September is a great time of the year in New England, but there were some bittersweet memories from previous years, due the loss of the love and hospitality we have always been blessed with in the past. A dear friend, evangelist, husband, and father had always invited to stay at his home in west Haven, Connecticut with his family. When we first met this young man, Cody May, he and his wife were parenting 3 boys they had adopted from Ethiopia. They subsequently adopted 3 more children and then his wife gave birth to a little girl. Last year after I  visited them in November, the entire family ( husband, wife, 4 sons, and three daughters ), moved to Texas, so I knew it was my final Conn. visit with them. Sadly, shortly after they arrived in Texas, and before they even found and purchased a house, Cody drowned in a lake in Texas, leaving his wife to care for their 7 adopted children. The circle of friends quickly  collected money for this young widow to purchase a house, and one of the things I look forward to this Fall is to pay a visit to Kimberly May and her 7 children. They are now living in Kansas; and that would  be a  different portion of this tour. During our time on the UConn campus, one student asked us why Cody had not been to the campus since the previous Fall. We explained to him the sad news of his passing, but we could also tell him of the promise of Eternal Life for those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Leaving New Haven on Friday, where we had preached at the entrance of Yale University, we went in different directions, but would meet by Sunday Afternoon in West Virginia with a family that would host us while we went to the different colleges near to them. Several of us spent Saturday in Carlisle Pa. which allowed for us to worship with the saints on the Lord’s day. Carlisle Pa. is where the U.S. office for “Banner of Truth” books is located, and many of the members of the church we attended are involved with the Banner organization. It also  meant I left with a stack of books, mostly Puritan preachers. On the way  to Pa. I was able to Spend time with some Christians outside of the abortion clinis in Englewood NJ, and afterwards we preached in the downtown area of Jersey City N.J. There is a huge population of Jehovah witnesses in Jersey City, and on Saturday they walk by in droves on their way to a very large kingdom Hall. Our host family had a nice cook out for us when we arrived at their place. Our host was a young man name Jason Saab. He has a burden for the students at the colleges in West Virginia, and has formed an Evangelism group and website. with the name Appalachia cry.com. Our plans were to spend the next week traveling and preaching at Marshall University, West Virginia University, VT, and UVa. He was most concerned about the students in West Virginia because he had seen some recent videos where some very hostile preachers had been on campus and had insulted everyone. This is sadly true at most of the Southern and Midwest colleges. Different groups come call all of the students sinners and tell them to stop sinning, and point to themselves as sinless. The early church would have called the Pelagians, and would have dealt with them as heretics. All we can do is share the Gospel, and we do so by faith, believing that when God saves someone, it will be a testimony of His great power, even over bad theology. Some at Marshall and quite often at other schools will come up and thank us for not being like the ones who are so harsh, but others would say that even we are too harsh. After all, to grow up in our society in which most everything is acceptable, for someone to quote the Bible as truth and speak of…. sin, is seemingly harsh. To speak of judgment or hell is often unheard of, even where there are campus ministries. Marshall was great. We could tell that many students were waiting around listening to see if we were like the other preachers who had come on their campus. This was also right on the heels of the tragedy in Las Vegas. Many students listened and countless Gospel tracts were distributed, and many many conversations took place. A day of ministry on campus is not just to preach or quote the scripture. Our hope is to get some good Christian literature in the students’ hands so they can take it back to their dorm or apartment, to answer questions, and to have personal conversations. And we pray that after the day is done that may students would be talking about spiritual things. West Virginia was also a good campus. On a previous visit to WVU the students were extremely mean, one young man destroyed a Bible, and a young muslim had to be physically restrained by his friends. This year the students were more apathetic, although one of the men in our group, Jim Hamilton from England ( born and raised in Scotland), preached on the golden calf of evolution and the crowd was awakened. The best part of our ministry there was to connect a WVY student Christian with the men who are in the Appalachian Cry group. We hope this will grow into a Bible study or some discipleship. VT was open for campus Ministry. Jason had called ahead and gotten clearance from the administration. Most of the Va, schools including VT had previously not allowed non-student ministers on campus. Several years ago, a young man that is part of our evangelism team  in Hampton contacted the Christian legal defense organization and asked for their assistance because even as a TNCC student, the college would not allow him to preach on the campus. In short order the ADF sued the Virginia Community college system and the policy was changed not just at TNCC but at all of the public colleges in Va. So at VT it was a new thing for a non-student group to come on campus and share the Gospel. The students there were mostly polite. Like most young people they are stuck in a relativistic, humanistic world view, can’t know if anything is true. The only thing they ware certain about in life is- that the Bible can not be true. UVA. was quite different. They have campus preachers, mostly preachers who  try to argue students into submission with no faith in the Gospel. The students there were apathetic until a homosexual group came out to have their say. Still the Gospel was preached, many heard, Christian literature was distributed. This was not long after the large riot in Charlottesville where one woman was killed in the protest to tear down the statue of Robert E Lee.

The second portion of this tour was to commence two days after we finished in Virginia, and we would meet Friday night in N.J. and stay with a friend and his family in Passaic N.J. For the next week we preached at the Englewood NJ abortion clinic, downtown Newark, Philadelphia, Purchase College in NY, Albany College NY, UConn, Temple University, and East Stroudsburg Pa. On Sunday we went to one of my favorite church families, Bread of Life Fellowship in Wayne NJ.

With the 2nd portion of the tour complete I returned home for just a few days, and by Thursday i was back in Carlisle Pa. to preach and minister at a small college there, Dickinson. While in Pa. a very nice family hosts. Joe Neccerato is a very dear brother to us. He does not feel called to preach, but he is an auto mechanic, and he feels called to work on our vehicles, and absolutely refuses to accept any payment. His work is his his way of taking part in the ministry with us. The team that was together in Pa. was most of the men who would travel to Salem with me. Salem is the one outreach where i get involved with details and lodging, and transportation. Before Salem we preached at Kutztown University in Pa. and finished that week back at East Stroudsburg Pa. Our plans were to meet in Burlington Vt. by Sunday night so that we could preach at University of Vt. on Monday. During that weekend I went with a friend to Penn State University where we preached with amplification to about 50,000 Penn State fans who entered the stadium right in front of us. There were 50,000 fans on the opposite side of the stadium, but we were stationary. The game was against Michigan and all of the Penn State fans were wearing white. In fact, everyone attending that day wore white, as far as I could tell. Worship again with the Bread of Life Fellowship in NJ., then I traveled east to Vermont and met the group there. A great day of preaching at the University of Vermont. May be the largest crowd we had encountered. Preaching on campus in N.E. is a rare thing and may students come to see  what it is all about. After Vermont on Monday, we preached at a small private college not far from Burlington, UMass Amherst, and UConn. On Saturday we preached outside at the Boston Commons. On Sunday I picked up the last member of the team, my friend bobby at the Boston Airport, then we went to worship at a Church near Boston I found using the Nine Marks website. The pastor there was Gordon Loop, and he had spent some time preaching  to the public with the Open Air Campaigners ministry. We had many mutual friends, and he was very happy to see evangelists come and worship with his flock. Sunday was the start of the outreach I had planned for. In Salem we are cared for by a Pastor from a NC Church plant located in Salem Mass. Steven Brock and his family have lived in Salem about 8 years. during his time there he has gone door to door twice. He also goes into the city and preaches during the month of October when thousands come to Salem to be part of the party that will take place there Oct.31 (Halloween). When I first started going to preach at Salem, we would stay in his church building, but the Salem City Council notified him that the building was not zoned for residents. Strangely, he was only renting the 1st floor and a non- Christian family resided on the 2nd floor. Now the pastor kindly blesses us with 3 nights lodging in a hotel not far from Salem. There are only 2 beds but we bring air mattresses and sleeping bags. The Salem event was tense because it took place right after a terrorist attack in NYC where 8 people were killed when a car drove through the crowd. Salem police were expecting 100,000 visitors in town on the 31st. Side streets were blocked off by dump trucks and fire engines. The crowd was in reality much smaller and more tame than previous years. Still, thousands heard the Gospel on a Tuesday. May God be pleased to use the word preached to bring about conviction and repentance and salvation! After Salem most of the team left for home. Bobby would stay with me till Friday and I would take him to the La Guardia Airport in NYC on Friday night. Wednesday and Thursday with a very small team we preached at UMass Lowell, and then Southern Connecticut State University. With a small team I believe we had the best crowds. God blessed us with good weather and good crowds. The students at UMass Lowell sat listening for most of the day, and asking questions. At Southern Conn. it appeared the entire School came out, even some of the professors came to join in. Many students were on our side and many were asking the others to quiet down so that we could be heard. Others were angry at our presence and the homosexual community brought out countless signs touting their acceptance. One professor brought out 2 skulls informing the students that one was “homo sapiens” and the other was “homo erectus”. When challenged he did admit they were only plastic, but he maintained that they were his proof of evolution. Another female professor came out to tell the students that she was sure that the Adam spoken of in Genesis was a homosexual. Most of the students did agree she was incorrect, since he had so many descendants, even all those on campus that day. After leaving the Connecticut school, it truly felt like God was working on the students at Lowell and Southern Conn. So many students came out and many  listened intently and were upset when other students would try to silence us. During the day in Connecticut a young woman ripped my friend’s Bible in half. she was reproved by the police, and almost all of the students were opposed to what she had done, and they said so. Our final day of ministry on this portion of the tour was in NYC. We spent Friday morning outside the abortion clinic in Jamaica Queens NYC. We were the only Christians that day speaking out for  life. Praise God, one young woman chose life. We had her speak on the phone with a Christian lady from a local church. Then we prayed for her and she went off to catch her bus. I continue to hope that her child lives to bless the Lord. Friday afternoon we preached downtown NYC at Union Square. There is always  a crowd there, and generally hostile, but this day many listened and one man asked us to find him a church, because, after he heard us read and preach from the Bible he knew he had to start reading and studying it. Then a bus load of students came and gathered around asking questions until it was time for us to depart. Taking Bobby to La Guardia Airport in NYC on Friday afternoon was the biggest challenge of the tour. But God was kind. I got him to La Guardia in good time and within an hour I had crossed the GW Bridge and made it back into NJ. Praise the Lord  For His Mercy endures forever. This portion of the tour was now finished.

The final leg of the Fall tour would begin in St. Louis Mo. on Sunday afternoon where we would gather with some saints to worship with them inn the afternoon because they share the building with another group which meets in the morning. Pastor Jeff Kirkland is the teaching Elder, and he is also an evangelist, sharing the Gospel at the local university and various other places where the people are. His church provided lodging for our team of 5. On Monday we shared  the Gospel at UMSL. On Tuesday and Wednesday we preached at University of Missouri, and were provided accommodations at the home of Pastor Nathan Rages. The Pastor accompanied us to the campus, and we were also joined by Pastor Charles Leiter and his wife. Charles is the pastor of Lake Road Chapel in Kirksville Missouri. University of Missouri is a huge school and many students stopped to listen although the weather was  starting to get cold. Wednesday night we stayed in Lawrence Kansas, where we met with our dear friend Kimberly May and her 7 children. We surely miss her husband, who perished in a drowning accident earlier this year but is a true blessing to be able to encourage her and to be encouraged by her endurance. Thursday we preached at Kansas University, where the sun was out but the temperature was frigid. This was the final day of this evangelism tour, and the students were not so prone to spend the day outside. But we had quite a few conversations, and we each shared the message that God had placed on our hearts. Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, is the message that commissioned us to share, as ambassadors for Jesus Christ, and to plead on Christ’s behalf, that all men must be reconciled to God. As the day closed, we prayed, and encouraged one another, and then I commenced driving East, and selecting the “home” icon on my GPS. Upon arriving at home and checking the weather and the college schedule, I was privileged to accompany some of the  local Christians nearby and preach at VCU in Richmond. This day started out shaky because there was a film crew at VCU, filming an episode of Showtime’s drama Homeland. We set up at an alternate free speech area, and had a busy morning preaching and conversing with students as they passed by. Later that afternoon when the film crew had departed, we relocated to the normal free speech area. This area is called the “Compass” and by God’s providence within a short while the area was packed with students. VCU is very diverse in culture and extremely liberal in worldview. This was a great conclusion to a season of preaching and sharing the Gospel. I continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will continue working in the thoughts and hearts of all those who heard the truth of the Gospel in these past weeks. I pray knowing that He is mighty to save and he saves to the uttermost. I thank God for these opportunities to share with the unconverted, to encourage the brethren, and grow in faith and love to Jesus Christ.