Spring 2007
Dearly Beloved of Our Lord:
Grace, peace, and mercy be multiplied to you in the mighty and wonderful name of our Lord, Savior, and King – Jesus! We have had the privilege of bringing the gospel of the kingdom to PSU during this Spring term and want to share some highlights using brief testimonies and some photos.
We are so very blessed to be able to meet so many people from so many walks of life as we share Jesus in downtown Portland. Last summer we met Jean from Birmingham, England who heard about us and called us on the phone and asked to join us in Pioneer Square, Portland’s Downtown Living Room. She and Karen prayed together with many women and gave their testimony to many. Jean was able to join us at PSU as well. She is visiting Portland while her husband works on one of Portland’s many engineering projects.
We are very thankful for the relationships we have been able to develop with several younger believers in their twenties and early thirties. Some, like Will, Jen, and Abe, work with ministries on the PSU campus and others are students who participate in these ministries. Peter is a young student who works with Jen and Abe in EPIC, a branch of Campus Crusade focused on Asian students. Will is on staff with Chi Alpha which has a large ministry with international students. Peter and Will are both gifted in worship music, working with their campus ministries at PSU.
We have also been developing many relationships with students who do not yet follow Jesus, both young and old. One student wants to interview Ron for a video project concerning people who have faith-based lives. Another has taken photos of Ron preaching open-air and encouraged him to continue. We have students who encourage us or thank us for “being here” almost every time we go to the PSU Park blocks, whether we preach open-air or not. One day a young nineteen year-old student asked Ron how to get started in sharing the gospel with his classmates. Ron gave him some suggestions and then prayed together, planning to stay in touch. Another answer to praying for laborers for the harvest!
One day a young woman walked up to Ron and complained about His emphasis on Jesus over other religious leaders. She had grown up a Christian and her husband is Christian. But she had been wounded in a fundamentalist-type church and felt condemned and rejected by family and friends. Ron talked with her about twenty minutes focusing on the love of Jesus and the importance of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus said that we would know the tree by the fruit and true followers of Jesus release the fragrance of love, joy, peace, kindness, humility, etc. – the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit touched her deeply during this time as she left thanking Ron for giving her his time. It is so important to “stop for the one” – to love the one in front of us.
A Saudi student spoke at a forum where he said that his nation has sent out about 25,000 students to universities throughout the world. About 200 are registered at PSU and they must hear about Jesus and God’s personal love for each one of them, something not believed in Islam. Ron encourages all students to read the New Testament, especially the gospels about Jesus. Many religions can be found at PSU so there are many versions of “Jesus” so we want students to know the real Jesus who has died for our sin and is raised from the dead so that we all can be with God forever in the new heaven and new earth. Every university is a mission field and we have some really good news and we want everyone to hear it.
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY ~ Spring Term
PSU Team ~ Stephen (behind woman in blue), Morris (blue coat), Marty, and Ron (with signs)
Above: Karen and Jean stand with Marty and Jean talks with Will who works with Chi Alpha on
campus while Marty and Karen make themselves available to talk with those who pass by.
Thank you for remembering us in your prayers and for your prayers for University, Community College, High School, and Middle School students throughout the Pacific Northwest. We ended one day at PSU with a prayer meeting in the Park Blocks where several of us, including students, stopped to thank God and to pray for awakening among all students on all the campuses of our region. Please join us in this prayer for awakening among the youth of our land..
~ Ron & Karen
E-mail: awakening1s@comcast.net
Home Page: awakening1s.net
church @ 24/7
Ron & Karen Rohman
PO Box 14292
PORTLAND OR 97293