MY FIRST CAMPUS PREACH AS 8-32!

Today (Sept. 3) I took a step of faith and preached for about 2 and a half hours at a public university campus (UERJ) in a neighboring city (São Gonçalo). This is the first time I've preached at a university here as part of PEF and The 8-32 Movement (I felt led to preach at UFRJ in Rio de Janeiro the day after the Virginia Tech shootings while still with Campus Crusade. Some student even asked me if I was a Mormon!). Since September of 2009 all my preaching has been in downtown Rio de Janeiro or at public events, but never actually on a campus... until today!

To be honest, it was kind of frustrating because nobody tried to interrupt me by asking any questions or trying to refute what I was saying (which is normal on U.S. campuses). I think they just didn't know how to react to something like this, unlike the U.S. Campus preaching is just too new here still. When I finished preaching I went around handing out evangelistic tracts, which most took; one professor-looking lady didn't want one, however. I asked her if she had heard what I had been preaching, but she pretended to have been involved in a conversation the whole time. I do remember, however, seeing her sitting alone a good part of her time in that area - an eating area. In the spirit of Acts 18:5-6, I told her that her blood was on her own head while a girl at the next table started to argue with me regarding my motives and methodology, accusing me of breaking the law by discriminating against homosexuals. She even showed me in the Civil Code where I was supposedly being discriminatory. Well, that was just what some other cowardly students were waiting for - who didn't have the guts to raise any objections while I preached; suddenly I found myself engaged in conversation with 8 students - all women except for one rather large, effeminate male.  I was loving it!  Finally, some reaction!

After handling their questions and objections biblically and seeing them disappear one by one as they headed off to class, one female student was left. Based on a question she had raised earlier, I asked her if she was from an evangelical church (assuming that he might be a false convert). She informed me that she was into Candomblé, which is African Spiritism! I told her she was directly involved in a satanic religion and that the "spirits" they sought to "incorporate" (i.e., become possessed by) in their rituals were demons.  I showed her Lev. 19:31, which says, "Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God."

I'll never forget a former Spiritist-leader-turned-Christian who told me a few years ago that his wife had warned him that the Bible didn't approve of his being a medium. He challenged her to show him where it said that and, if she could, he'd stop immediately. She herself wasn't a Christian and didn't know the Bible, so he continued on as a Spiritist medium another 20 years before he converted! Hopefully God will awaken this student to the folly of her religious practices and convict her to the point of converting to Christianity [On a side note, most of the men who go through the Candomblé rituals become homosexuals, demonstrating a clear spiritual cause behind many homosexual lifestyles.]. At least I believe I gave this student something to think about.  Now she knows that the Bible prohibits what she's into, which most have never heard.

When I was leaving I was called over by a couple of campus security guards. They told me that there had been a lot of complaints to the administration - especially regarding the way I had confronted the homosexuality on campus, which is apparently rampant. I discovered that two professors in the School of Education are lesbian partners, while another lesbian professor recently adopted a child. Many of the guys on that campus look and act effeminate, while many of the women appear to be their "sympathizers." I preached that a "gay sympathizer" thinks they're being so loving by accepting their gay friends' lifestyles, but in reality they are being hateful towards them by contributing to their eternal condemnation! Hopefully God will use what I said to shake the "sympathizers" up a bit, not to mention the homosexuals and lesbians.

Back to the security guards: I was told that I could come on campus, but would need to get authorization to preach there in the future. I was thinking, "All I did was speak loudly (i.e., no bullhorn) and not near any classrooms. It sounds like, because they don't like what I said, I'll now have to get permission to 'speak loudly' on a public university campus that I, as a Brazilian resident, pay taxes to keep functioning." I decided to check with the campus administration to make sure this was the case and was told that I would need to submit a request in writing. So, I'm not sure if I'll be given permission to preach the next time, but I'll jump through their hoops and see what happens. I may need to line up a good lawyer if my request is denied. Or I may take a more low-key approach and hold a confrontational sign (vs. banner) to generate some interaction.  

Anyway, I just thought I'd share this good news. I don't believe God is leading me to travel around Brazil to preach on the campuses at this point, but the least I can do is get some good experience on Rio's campuses in the event that He calls me to go regional or national in the future. If He doesn't, the schools in the area will at least have the privilege of having a preacher visit them to preach, ideally, once a semester.