Tonight after our Thursday Night Talk, Leeanne and I took two of the students from Cal State East Bay to a tapioca drink place nearby to celebrate one student’s birthday. We met these girls at the start of the school year. They are international students who’ve been regularly coming to our TNTs and have shown a lot of hunger to know God and study the bible; we’ve been able to build up good relationships with them so far. On the way to Tapioca Express, one of the girls asked me if I think she has more knowledge about God than before; I told her that I did because she had no Christian background before coming to America. Then in turn I asked her, "Now that you have learned about God a little bit, what do you think of him?” She thought a moment and answered, "He is good, kind and loving." Surprised but thankful, I asked, “How did you come to that conclusion?” And she answered, “Through studying the Bible,” and the other girl added, "We learned that God is a loving God through you guys at Koinonia!"
Their responses blew me away! I can’t believe they are the same people who couldn't even grasp the concept of sin or the existence of God just a couple of months ago. Truly, this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Thank God that he first loved me through Jesus on the cross, and that he is zealous to love the students at Cal State East Bay by revealing himself through the bible and through our fellowship.
1 John 4.11-12, 19 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We love because he first loved us.