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Mark said they did, but since it was the end of the school year, they were all ending. Instead, without even knowing her name, he invited her to a week of summer camp at Cedar Campus in northern Michigan. To Mark's surprise, she responded, "That sounds great!"

It wasn't until the next day that Mark heard Bea's full story. Her life was difficult and depressing, and she was at the end of her rope. Her mother suggested she pray, but "I felt like I was talking to the ceiling, not to God." But right away Bea met Christians who gave her a Bible. She began reading it immediately, eager to find Jesus.

A few days later, Bea again found herself among those listening to the dialogue in the Quad. She told Mark, "People made fun of you and asked hard questions, but I knew that I wanted to believe the same as you."

Mark recognized God's fingerprints all over Bea's life. He explained the gospel, and prayed for God's presence in her life. The pieces were coming together for Bea.

A few weeks later, at camp, Bea wrestled with the Lordship of Jesus. She had picked up a rock earlier in the week which symbolized control of her life. When she was ready to give complete control to God, she threw her rock deep into Lake Huron as a symbolic gesture of giving herself entirely to the Lord. Standing on the shore as witnesses were forty excited chapter members, waiting to welcome her into the family.
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Source: Mark Ashton

 
2. HOSTAGES & COOKIES, PART II
God often uses tragedy and crisis to bring people closer to him. That was the case this past year for Natasha, Liz, Katie and Nikki who have been meeting Jesus through a Bible study at the U. of Colorado--Greeley. A year ago, after a gunmen took hostages in their dorm, I-V staffer Kari Jacobsen and a student, Rachel Statta, delivered home-made chocolate chip cookies to the shocked and grieving dorm residents. Soon after, they began a Bible study to help their new friends understand God's love and purpose for them (see Student Leadership journal, Winter 1996).

At the end of the school year, Nikki told Kari that she had grown in faith. She said she never really knew who Jesus was before, but now he is real and tangible. Liz, who had never opened a Bible, is now confidently navigating her way through the Bible Kari gave her and really enjoys the Bible study times.

Katie went to camp with others from the chapter and made a decision to follow Jesus as Lord based on who he is, not just because of a desire to live happily ever after in heaven. She told Kari, "I feel like a different person." Both Kari and Rachel have seen evidence of God working in their new friends this past year. God has clearly answered their prayers for his healing presence in the lives of the residents in McGowen Hall.
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Source: Kari Jacobsen