The Lord has many ways to present witnessing opportunities. Some are hidden and must be sought out, while others flash like bright neon signs in a dark alley. Witnessing is a concept foreign to most, including myself, and is believed to involve going door-to-door hassling homeowners until they invite us in. It is even sometimes more convenient to think of it in this manner in order to dismiss the witnessing opportunities that are right before our very eyes.

Not long ago I realized how blind I had been to the world. I had been receiving Bible studies from Steve Conway, director of pastoral resources for CAMPUS (Center for Adventist Ministry to Public Students) and Campus Hope Church pastor on the campus of the University of Michigan. Every Wednesday, at my request, we studied the importance of God’s law. Upon completion of the study, I was fascinated by what I had learned! For the first time in my 19 years as an Adventist, I was encouraged and excited about the Word! The thoughts and concepts I learned from the study continued to press on my heart and mind, and I had a burden to share it with another.

My University of Michigan roommate and I rarely get a chance to speak to one another due to our busy schedules. We both knew that the other attended church, and that was about the extent of what we cared to know. It was 2:30 a.m., and we both happened to be awake at that irrational hour. We had turned out the lights to go to bed, but I had a desire to share what I had learned just a few nights before. Without thinking, I asked him why he went to church on Sunday. He didn’t have an answer. I thought to myself, The Lord hath provided! I then proceeded to tell him about the Sabbath, and the reason I attended church on Saturday. About ten minutes in, I asked him if he wanted a Bible study on it. He said, "Yes." I jumped out of bed, turned on my desk light, and read him scripture about the Sabbath for about an hour while he sat in his bed listening intently.

My roommate did not give his life to the Lord that night, nor did he change his day of worship to the Sabbath. Instead, the Lord’s divine hand brought my roommate and me together that night to study His Word. It allowed me to instill a small curiosity, however minute it may have been, that generated a desire to learn more about what the Bible has to say. It brought my roommate that much closer to God, and gave me a greater understanding of the opportunities the Lord provides us with each and every day.

Justin Namm attends the University of Michigan. He is involved with CAMPUS, an outreach ministry which operates on several Michigan college campuses.