How Chocolates & A Break-Up Letter Proved God's Faithfulness

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In this episode of Unwritten, a podcast dedicated to sharing stories of the movement of the Holy Spirit in the world today, host Trevor Barreca welcomes Ryan Noll. Ryan discusses his experience working in campus ministry at NYU and the difficult lesson he learned about control and faithfulness.

Whether seeking stories of God at work or evidence of the movement of the Holy Spirit, this conversation demonstrates what happens when a campus minister believes that people's encounters with Jesus are "solely dependent on whether or not you are a good instrument in the hand of God". Ryan shares the story of Nick, a new student with blue hair, who found the Catholic Center via a quick Google search and seemed highly intrigued by the faith.

Ryan invested five months into discipling Nick, only to be heartbroken on April 27th, 2017, when Nick delivered a "breakup" gift of chocolates, a letter, and his grandfather's Catholic Bible, deciding instead to join a non-Catholic ministry.

Ryan believed he would never see the "fruit of the work" or know the rest of Nick's faith journey. Ryan's struggle reveals how God works behind the scenes. After a year and a half of silence, Nick reappeared at Mass and asked Ryan to be his sponsor into the Catholic Church that Easter. This powerful encounter affirms that God is faithful and loves people more than we do. Ryan realized he had been entrusted with Nick and with Nick's family heirloom—the word of God—until the right time.

The story encourages listeners to never give up hope on those who seem closed off, reminding us that Jesus is still doing and saying many things in the world through the power of the Holy Spirit.

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