Students from Multnomah Bible College have been using their Friday nights to spread God's love in Portland. The ministry started the second week of the semester. Some of the students felt that God wanted them to go downtown and witness. They prayed about it for a few days and shared the idea with others. That Friday night about 30 people entered Pioneer Square and downtown Portland with a message of hope. People accepted Christ. Every Friday since then, a group has witnessed downtown.

Some weeks more than 20 people participate. Sometimes fewer than 10 go. "Every week is completely different. You never know what to expect. When you are serving God, crazy things happen," freshman Jessica Raymond said. Dave Selle, a freshman, recalled a time when a fight broke out among the people they were talking to. He had to help break it up. Meanwhile, students kept witnessing. Another time, a man was reading a Dungeons and Dragons book on the MAX. Selle asked him what he was reading. When the man showed him, Selle held out a Bible and asked if the man had ever read it. When the MBC students left, the man was reading the book of John.

Raymond said the best part of this ministry is seeing the power of the gospel and how God changes people's lives. In November, God used her to lead someone to Christ. She had talked with this person a few weeks before. "He was so ready; it was like he was ripe and ready to fall off of the tree," Raymond said.

Freshman Melody Starsel said, "Going witnessing gave me a whole new perspective. I realized that I know the Creator of the universe, the only one who can give peace and joy. Why would I not want to share that with a world who is desperately looking?"

About four weeks ago, students started gathering on campus every Friday to pray for the students witnessing downtown. "Prayer is such an important part of any ministry. There is definitely a need here," Gabe Mensinger said. Mensinger is responsible for putting together the prayer time. All students are welcome to participate. Students meet in the prayer chapel at 8:30 p.m. on Friday nights to pray. They go downtown about 10 p.m. The students split up into pairs and spread out all over the MAX, downtown and Pioneer Square.

The students rely on God to bring people across their paths and then strike up conversations with them. "You end up talking to all kinds of people: the homeless, Mormons, new agers, drug dealers .... It's really neat because people start to know you, and they see you week after week," Raymond said.

This ministry was started by students. They receive no student ministry credit. "We come because we want to serve God. It would be great if more people would get involved. We are here at Multnomah learning all this stuff. We should be applying it. 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,'" Raymond said.