Persevering in Prayer for Others

A Making Disciples story from the Jersey College Ministry. If you or someone you know has a similar story, let us know for the benefit of others.

As I entered into the unknown world of college a few years ago, I prayed every day that God would be with me and work through me while I attended school. I didn’t really know what to expect from college, but I knew I would be surrounded by peers who
didn’t know the love of Jesus; so I asked God to give me someone to whom I could show His love. I prayed constantly and passionately throughout that semester for the person I
could witness to for God’s glory.

As the semester progressed a few classmates and I formed a study group. I met a girl in the group named Bekah, who was nice, but we didn’t become friends. She knew I went to church and was serious about my faith, but we never had any significant conversations about it and I never invited her to church. After that, I didn’t see her the rest of the school year. That semester ended and I felt defeated. I had prayed so hard for God to give me someone I could show His love to, but I didn’t sense any opportunities to do so.

The next semester I was still disappointed by what seemed like God’s lack of working, but chose to keep my head up and look forward. I continued to pray about any person God would put in my life, but I was much less passionate and trusting so I chose to focus
more on my studies. During the summer, I stopped by the local Kroger and ran into none other than Bekah, who worked there at the time. She asked me how school was going and what classes I was taking in the fall. Unfortunately, I didn’t really want to talk
to her since we didn’t become friends the first time.

When the first day of classes rolls around, I got to calculus class and Bekah rushes in and looks upset. She tells me she needs to talk to me. On her way to class she was in an accident and her car was totaled. She was really flustered by it and I felt sorry for her so
we sat down and talked for a while. After that she started sitting with me in class and we began talking more and more. Before I knew it we became good friends. We would look forward to seeing each other and would bring each other coffee to class. By the
time that semester ended she had become my best friend.

Previous to our friendship, Bekah had been in a dark place spiritually and emotionally. We had various gospel conversations about faith and God with each conversation getting more in depth. She told me she attended church with her grandma when she
was a kid, but had gone away from God when she reached junior high and high school. She was really curious about my faith and wanted to know more. So she began coming to the college Bible study at Jersey. My friends were very accepting of Bekah and she
quickly became one of the group.

After Bekah began attending our Bible study, we started having conversations about salvation and baptism. Bekah believes she was saved as a child, but wanted to be baptized. So on October 15, 2017 Bekah was baptized at Jersey. Friends and family attended and it was such a celebration of God’s love. If you had asked me that first
semester of college, why I was attending Ohio State, I wouldn’t have had an answer. If you had told me Bekah would be such an important person in my life, I wouldn’t have believed you. But now I can tell you I attend Ohio State because this is where God put
me for His glory, and God gave me Bekah because He loves both of us so much and had something to show us.

Tags: college, discipleship, perseverance, prayer