The students need to know enough apologetics to reply to common misunderstandings which those in other religions may have about Christianity, and must be able to move on from intellectual argument to proclamation of God's love for them shown in Christ's work. If a person's intellectual arguments against Christianity have been exhausted, and he assents to the propositions of Christianity, that does not mean he has become born again. Only the Holy Spirit can do that to him, and He does it as the gospel message is heard. Evangelism and God's law. Evangelism is not telling someone that he must have faith.
Faith is a response to evangelism.
This happens as we get to realize that the object of our faith he is trustworthy. In secular life, we find that we start to trust someone after we get to know him and experience examples of his good intentions toward us. This does not mean that the exhortation to believe produces faith. Another way to say this is that the Holy Spirit changes a person's faith from whatever it was that he was trusting in to reliance on God, and this happens as the Holy Spirit reveals God's greatness and love as shown in Jesus dying and rising. Biblical evidences that the Holy Spirit has worked to bring someone to faith include conviction of sin, recognition of who Jesus is, and calling Jesus Lord.