I met Augustine a couple months ago as I was rushing home to prepare for one of the weekly Bible Studies I lead. I got to my apartment, out of breath and in a rush. As I made my way through a shower of Fall leaves, I found my roommate Jonah out front with someone I’d never seen. It turns out that Jonah had been inviting this man–Augustine–to my Bible Study for a few weeks and he was finally free. The three of us walked to Bible Study together and it became immediately apparent that Augustine was well read in philosophy and very thoughtful. I quickly learned that he was an International student [from the Middle East] and was working on his PhD. I was impressed to say the least.
During Bible study, Augustine quickly connected with the other regulars. From that point forward, each week he bombarded me with some of the deepest and most pressing questions any student had asked me. He was always engaging with Christianity’s relation to history, culture, and philosophical concepts–but he was also engaging with what it meant for himself. Early on I recommended that he begin reading through the Gospel of John if he wanted to get more familiar with the Bible and Christianity. That week he read half of John and the following week he was cross referencing our Bible Study with what he had learned in John.
Within a few weeks, Augustine came to church for the first time as well as our annual Fall Getaway retreat. At our retreat I noticed he was connecting to the wider community of our Cru movement and seemed to be compelled by the worship songs and messages. After the retreat we met to discuss how he was processing it. I was planning to challenge him with the Gospel again, but he beat me to the punch! He told me he was no longer ashamed to call himself a Christian. I was caught off guard, here I was planning to evangelize to him and he was sharing with me how everything in the Gospel of John was true and he was convinced that Jesus Christ is Lord. Eventually the conversation pivoted to Baptism–it turns out Augustine was waiting for me to bring up Baptism. Our church was preparing for our next round of Baptisms so I began to meet with him and help him prepare for Baptism, making sure he understood and was fully convinced in his faith.
When the time came, Augustine shared one of the most extraordinary testimonies to God’s faithfulness and transformation in his own life. In his own words: “as I begin to feel the presence of Jesus in every aspect of my life, I stand here ready to be bold and ambitious in my faith. Through baptism, I want to publicly declare that the old Augustine—the one bound by resentment and despair—is dead. I want to be washed clean of the false beliefs that once enslaved me and to fully receive the grace of the Lord. I want to welcome the Holy Spirit to guide me as I follow Jesus.”
*Name changed for privacy purposes.