Saturday, October 27, 2001 - Today we enjoyed this verse: "For from you the word of the Lord has sounded out; not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place, your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need of saying anything" (1 Thes. 1:8).

Around ten this morning our crew of twelve left the Rock Springs, Kansas retreat camp and headed east for Manhattan, Kansas, the home of Kansas State University. We arrived around ten thirty, and began to distribute our literature at the student union. We didn't know then that tens of thousands of football fans were gathering there for the annual rivalry game between Kansas State and the University of Kansas.

We quickly realized that almost everyone was headed to the stadium, which was about a mile and a half away. We immediately made our way over there and found families and students having tailgate parties filling the parking lot. We went up and down the parking lot lanes passing out hundreds of invitations for free Bibles. The response was excellent.

A few of us positioned ourselves next to the student lines as they entered stadium and passed out small brochures as fast as we could. The student lines into the stadium seemed endlessly long. The number of those who accepted the literature was overwhelming.

After the student lines closed, we moved to another gate to pass out more literature to the general public. Repeatedly we heard comments of, "Thank you," and "God bless you." It was an unforgettable experience to give so many people in the heartland of America an opportunity to receive such a treasure. We were impressed with the great number of whole families who received our literature.

Seventy-five percent of the students we met took literature. At this football game alone, we passed out 4,700 pieces of literature.

Here are some experiences we had during this time:

• We met a young married couple from Beijing near the stadium, and they were receptive right from the start. We asked them, "Have you ever experienced the Lord Jesus?" They replied, "No." We preached the gospel to them and asked them to pray with us. The husband prayed and said, "I can feel Him now." The wife prayed that the Lord would be real in her heart, and tears came to her eyes. When we gave them a New Testament Recovery Version, the husband said, "This is so much better than the one I have." We told the couple, "God sent us here just to meet you."
• Right before the crowds started to come, the first six people one crew member met all wanted a New Testament on the spot. ·
• When two of us were leaving the stadium area, we stopped by a parking lot entrance and spoke with the gate attendant about the Recovery Version New Testament. She received one and enjoyed a verse in Philippians with us. Then she changed places with her partner so her partner could also receive a Recovery Version. While this was happening, another one of our crew was giving brochures to the drivers of the cars as they entered the parking lot.

After we left the campus, we drove east to Kansas City, Missouri, where we were graciously given hospitality for the night.

For the sounding out of His gospel,
The "Word of Truth USA" Crew