At Lincoln Park Academy, Crisman Koechig, our Assistant Director for the Treasure Coast, presented the gospel during club, and eight students said yes to Jesus. But the moment that followed was just as powerful.
After club, a student named Roman came up to Crisman with a burden on his heart. He was worried about a friend who is Catholic and wasn’t sure how to talk to him about faith. Crisman encouraged him to use one of the diagnostic questions we teach students to help them start meaningful conversations:
“If you were to die tonight, do you know for sure you would go to Heaven?”
Before asking his friend, Roman paused and answered the question for himself: “I’m not sure I’m in the faith enough.”
Crisman gently explained that our assurance doesn’t come from what we do or how strong our faith feels but it is Jesus is the One who gets us there 100%. That’s where our peace and confidence come from.
In that moment, everything shifted. Crisman said Roman’s whole expression changed; a smile broke through, and understanding settled in for the very first time. The worry he felt for his friend led him to discover the assurance of salvation for himself. Crisman wiped away his tears witnessing an 8th-grade boy realizing the beauty of grace, maybe for the first time.
It’s stories like these that remind us why we do what we do.
