The church has many duties, responsibilities, and callings. One of the most important is taking the gospel to a lost world. Jesus said, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” He has told us to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” We are commanded to be His witnesses and His ambassadors. The question is not “Should we?’ hut “How?”

At the Lafayette RPC, we have been blessed by the addition of new believers. Some of these new believers have very little, if any, past church experience. We have seen fruit from relationship evangel ism and from the efforts of two minis tries.

Our congregation, under the leader ship of Chaplain Bob Bibby, has been ministering to inmates at the Tippecanoe County Jail for 20 years. Torn VanDrunen. David Carr, Scott Beaver, and Lee Klejnot are four men from our church who work alongside Bob.

Ministering to female inmates are Lois Long, Erin Phillips, and Jerri Faris. These faithful servants spend much of their Lord’s Day afternoons expounding on God’s word at the jail and a work release facility. All those involved spend considerable time writing letters to inmates, answering phone calls from inmates, and leading mid-week Bible studies.

Many who hear the gospel in jail never show any real interest. Several show initial interest, but after release begin to run with their old crowd and fall away. Most who truly convert move away after release and do not become a part of our congregation. Obviously, this is still a blessing as many of these believers will write or call to let us know how they are doing. However, occasionally, the Lord blesses us with new Christians from the jail who worship with us regularly.

One such believer is Kathy Stetler. The Lord has used the jail ministry to bring Kathy to Himself in the past few months. Here is her story:

Kathy’s Testimony

I am a 36-year-old, with four children from Lafayette, Ind. My testimony of the Lords work in my life actually begins just a few years ago, but I feel in order for you to understand a little better. I need to give you a brief look into my past.

When I was 13, my parents divorced. Then began years of my being away from home and trying to find things to fill the emptiness in my life. I turned to men, drugs, and alcohol. My mother raised my oldest daughter, I gave another daughter up for adoption, and when I was unable to care for my sons because of my repeated shoplifting offenses, I ended up in jail, and they were put in foster care.

I can remember hurting so badly while I was in jail and feeling so guilty for what I had done to my children. I was hurting very deeply and picked up a Bible at the county jail hoping for some relief from the pain I was feeling. The next morning, I remember feeling so much better. I knew then that God was with me.

I started attending the Bible study they allowed at the jail. Lois Long of the RP jail ministry was such a good teacher, and I found myself looking forward to the time with her on Sunday.

One day I got a letter from Lois telling me that my youngest son was in foster care with Bart and Melisa Saunders of her church. I broke down crying and thanking God for putting my son with Christians. God is truly good!

I was released from prison a year later and did what I had to do to get my children back. Once they were hack with me, or even before that. I was not doing what I needed to do to keep my focus on the Lord. I ended tip using drugs again and shoplifting. I was soon in jail again, and my sons were hack under the care of welfare.

My oldest son was placed in a group home because he had been in trouble. Because of God’s lovingkindness, the Saunders were eventually given the care of both boys.

While in jail this time, I met Jerri Faris, Lois Long’s daughter. She taught me a lot while I was in the county jail and wrote to me while I was in prison. With still one year to serve, I was released from prison last Sept. 7 to Trinity Mission, a Christian halfway house. Four months after being released, I took some pills.

During the two weeks that followed my relapse, the Lord brought deep conviction. On Jan. 7, as I sat in church, the conviction of sin that I experienced was like nothing I had ever felt. I had sinned against Jesus, not just my kids or friends!

A few days later, I was reading Psalm 38 and I realized it described exactly how I felt. Since then, I have been surrounded with God’s people. He continues to teach me through them.

I can say now that January 7 was the day that I personally accepted the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ and gave my heart and life to Him. I thank the Lord for putting Lois and Jerri into my life, even if I had to meet them through the jail.

God is good, and the work of the jail ministry of the church is of God. Since the clay of my conversion, the people of the Lafayette RP Church have been wonderful and forgiving. My boys still attend and are doing very well.

I want to thank the Lord for being so patient and forgiving. I have truly been reborn! I know the Lord has answered the prayer of Psalm 142:7 for me, both spiritually and physically: “Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name; the righteous shall surround me, for You shall deal bountifully with me.”

The Purdue CORPS (Collegiate Organization of Reformed Presbyterian Students) is the Lafayette RPC’s student ministry to Purdue University students. Our pastor, Dave Long, his wife Jenny, and many others in our congregation continue to spend much time and effort in training young Christian men and women in the basics of the Christian life.

One of these “basics” is how to present the gospel to their fellow students. Un like many larger and better known college ministries, we try to accomplish this in the context of the Reformed faith and in the local church. Many of our students are offspring from other RP congregations. Several, though, are the fruit of late-night conversations among our students and others on their floor, in class, or at outreach Bible studies.

Recently, several of our students were involved with a major evangelistic event on campus. Two of our students, Dan Long and Brandon Fisher, had a conversation with a young man. God used this conversation to change this young man’s heart. Here is Brad Thompson’s story:

Brad’s Testimony

I grew up in a church-going family. My parents always made an issue of going to church and getting there on time. That is about the extent to which religion impacted my life, For the last nine years of my life, we lived in La Porte, Ind., and were members at the Presbyterian church there. Every Sunday we would meet in the sanctuary to worship. We had Scripture readings, but little interpretation was given, and the sermon seemed more like a form of entertainment than a chance to grow and learn.

In middle school, I was part of the church youth group. We were mainly concerned with having fun. We did charitable activities, but we were never eager about it. Fellowship was just to meet friends and have a good time.

In high school I was in youth group and it was much the same. My life outside of church deteriorated too. I got good grades and was polite to the teachers, but did a few things I now regret.

Before I knew it I was off to college. I came with the hope of finding out more about Christianity, but I didn’t know where to start. Then people started putting “Do You Agree With Matt?” flyers all over campus. I had absolutely no idea what it was all about. I overheard some one saying it had something to do with religion so I decided to find out more.

The next week, there was a table set up with information and people around it who “agreed with Matt.” I decided that I would go up to one of them and see what it was about.

That is when I met Dan Long and Brandon Fisher. None of us had classes for a while so we went to eat at one of the dormitories. On the way there, they witnessed to me. The fact that they were asking very personal questions made me nervous.

After we ate, we went up to their room and talked. They both told me Jesus Christ was God, that He had lived a sinless life and was sacrificed for our sins. Their confidence helped me to believe. Brandon invited me to a college ministry event they hold every Friday. I went, still nervous to be surrounded by Christians.

I now knew that God wanted me in His family. I spent a lot of time surfing the net looking at Christian web sites, with many of them telling me how to become a Christian, and providing a prayer that I could pray. So I did it. I bowed my head, in front of my computer, and prayed that God would forgive me of my sins and I put my trust in Jesus Christ.

Since then, I’ve started a attending newcomers class at the RP Church. I am excited about that, because it seems like I learned so much just during the first class. I also started a Bible study with Brandon and I hope to become more acquainted with the Bible. I look forward to every opportunity I have to grow in faith and love for Jesus Christ and I want to help to bring others to the Lord. I know, even though I have never done it, that it will be one of the greatest joys I will ever experience.

Our congregation has always stressed relationship evangelism, along with a general openness to witnessing whenever and wherever we have the opportunity. Exemplifying this approach is Bart and Melisa Saunders. Practically since they were first married, Bart and Melissa have opened their hearts and home to foster children. Now with four of their own (and a fifth on the way), the Saunders continue to minister to foster children.

Currently, the Saunders have two teen age boys living with them. Neither of these boys had church experience prior to living with the Saunders. Both now show much interest in the gospel, are a major part of our youth group, and are a joy to be around. In God’s good providence they are both sons of Kathy Stetler. In addition, the Saunders are in the process of adopting a four-year-old girl who has been living with them as a foster child.

We are thankful to our Lord for these opportunities to serve Him. As time marches on, we become more and more aware of our dependence on His sovereign grace, and mercy. Evangelism is not always easy. Sometimes it can even be discouraging.

We are often reminded of Christ’s parable of the soils. We spread a lot of seed that falls on rocky ground. Perhaps even more discouraging is that seed that starts strongly, but is then choked out. However, God is sovereign and some times He blesses with fruit.

Please pray for the Lafayette congregation as we continue to spread the gospel. Pray that we will be even more bold and faithful in our witness. Pray that we will be faithful in discipling new converts, as they learn that Christ is not only a great Savior, but also their Lord and King. Pray that if it pleases God and is His will, He will continue to use us as He builds His Church and advances His kingdom.