Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Brisbane (QLD) Team
• Page 2

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Brisbane Team (Night) (QLD)

Meets Fridays (7-10pm) & Saturdays (6-9pm) & Sundays (7:30-9:30pm) in King George Square.

Contact Ryan Hemelaar for more information.

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Friday night in Brisbane City was greatly encouraging! It always is, you should join us sometime!

The first conversation of the evening was with Pravish. He'd chatted to the team a week earlier and not only was he able to explain the way to Heaven and how a Christian would live in light of that he also said he was trusting in Jesus! He had a Bible and said he'd had a little look at reading but was pointed specifically to John's gospel and was encouraged to check out a local church! What an exciting start to the evening!

The following conversation was with Josh. Who right off the bat shared he was very interested to talk and shared about his Christian upbringing and shared that he has aspergers syndrome which caused him to reason a certain way. After an almost one hour conversation he came to clearly grasp the gospel and was able to articulate it back and was mind blown at a God who really is God! He had always heard of God as puny, reactionary and limited by our "free will" and said it made sense that God really would be all powerful and incontrol! He was really excited, was so thankful for the chat and said he would read the gospel of John on his plane flight the following morning!

There is a very sad and continuing to unfold story with one of the other "evangelists" who comes out on Friday night. May you uphold this lady in your prayer! She once lived a life doing whatever she wanted, in total rebellion against God and His rules but upon her "conversion" a little while ago she has now jumped to thinking that cleaning up her own life, asking for forgiveness for all her sins, stopping sinning entirely and other scatterings of good works are the reason that God will accept her into Heaven. She thinks she earns Jesus' sacrifice by all these works. The problem, not only is she in grave danger of judgement, she is telling other people of this as well. Please be praying that God would change her heart. That He would not allow her to continue to spread lies, in His name but instead would cause her to become a great witness for Him!

Last conversation was with three drunk young adults. They were a little all over the place to begin with but by God's kindness they actually came to see that God exists, they are guilty and deserving of Hell and therefore that Jesus taking the punishment for their sin is the only way for them to end up in Heaven. They were challenged by this and said they'd never heard it before and said they really would have to think about it. One was more interested than the other two but they each took tracts and popped them in their pockets.

It was a wonderful time out with many other conversations. May you be encouraged by this report and it is our prayer that it would spur you on to want to come and join us yourself! Why not this weekend?

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Friday night in Brisbane City again was a wonderful outreach. The team spread around the area, some in pairs, others on their own. It was as always a great night of reaching the lost with the gospel!

The first conversation of the evening was with Luke and Sid. Luke sadly was very hard hearted, proclaiming that it was "facts" that stopped him believe in God, when it was continually displayed that not only did he have none to support his claim but rather on the flip side all of the information considered pointed toward God existing, having acted in history and Jesus Christ being the only way of salvation. His friend Sid on the other hand was open, he intially said that he didn't think God exists but upon consideration he acknowledged that He must and wanted to hear the way of salvation.

Sid ended up taking a tract and Luke continued to reject it, without basis. Praise God for enabling Sid to hear, even when Luke was so hard hearted.

The next conversation was with an African man and he was really open to chatting! He knew God existed and thought that trying his best would be the reason that God would "hopefully" let him into Heaven. He saw his guilt and upon realising how seriously God takes sins exclaimed, "That's means everyone is going to Hell". It was clarified that everyone deserves Hell but there is good news and a way to get into Heaven. He then heard the good news and was so thankful he said, "You've really made this make sense. It has changed how I view my whole way of living, no longer do I have to obey in fear, I can serve God in love!"

He took a tract and said that he would open up the gospel of John and take a read tomorrow morning! What an exciting encounter!

A third conversation took place with a man named Ryan who ended up chatting to three different team members. At the beginning not sure what was happening he came to understand the gospel relatively well but needed some clarification and by the end seemed to have a solid grasp that his goodness and future obedience contributes nothing to his right standing before God but it is simply reciving the gift of forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ that He lived the perfect life and took the punishment we deserve.

Ryan was encouraged and went on his way with some very good news to consider!

Please be praying for the conversations that took place that God would have used them to pierce hearts and draw people to repentance, a renewed understanding and therefore that they would believe in Christ as the only reason they are going to Heaven!

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Saturday night in Brisbane city was an absolute blast! The evening started with a conversation that left a Muslim challenged and hopefully realising that he should be an awful lot less sure about what he proclaimed, seeing many arguments that show his current belief to be problematic and hearing the good news that Jesus has to offer.

There were a scattering of conversations, a few people hearing the good news, others rejecting it outright but the night finished with three awesome conversations in a row!

The first was with two PNG men, Emmanuel and Andy who said they hoped they were going to Heaven but weren't sure if they would based on how they had been living. (This initial answer was a good sign that the didn't really grasp the gospel). When asked the way to Heaven sure enough they talked about the things they think they must do to be forgiven.

Over nine minutes, they were asked some checking questions, saw their predicament and came to understand the good news of the cross and Emmanuel was on top of the world in fact he said, "This conversation has absolutely made my night! Thank you so much!" For the first time in over twenty years of attending church he actually came to grasp the good news and was blown away by it!

During this conversation a group was standing nearby and seemed interested to talk. It turned out that three young ladies had been out with the desire to share the gospel themselves and had started talking to a man who they didn't feel adept enough to share with so had bought him over to engage with the team.

The man, Drew, turned out to be very hard hearted. He declared that he prays to Jesus every night but had very wrong ideas of the gospel and had basically made up a god of his own design that doesn't judge and really is much less like a god and a lot more like a squishy childs toy. Drew was left with a tract and challenge to read the gospel of John as he was quite offended at the thought that he could be on his way to Hell.

This turned into getting to hear the girls share a bit and they were so encouraged. One had run into the team on the Gold Coast around two years ago and at the time was professing to be an atheist and had just yelled things instead of engaging. The others had seen the team around at times as well!

They wanted to join again and were excited to hear some encouraging stories of evangelism, mentioning that they would like to come back sometime in the future!

This also lead into one final gospel conversation with Pedram an Iranian man who was on drugs but in less than 5 minutes grasped the gospel! He saw God's existence and at hearing his guilt and that simply asking for forgiveness won't fix it he was stunned and silenced responding, "Tell me there is a way to Heaven!?"

He then grasped the good news, understanding that trusting that Jesus has paid for his sin is the only way to Heaven and grasping that this will cause his life to drastically change. He saw that he'd made decisions for himself up until this moment but that upon trusting that Jesus paying for his sin is the only thing getting him into Heaven he'd desire desperately to honour Jesus with all that he is and has.

Please be praying for those who heard the good news tonight that they would respond in faith to the gospel and for those who at this stage had rejected that God would be kind and not leave them in that state! Praise God also for bringing other Christians who are keen on evangelism across our path and be praying that God would encourage them, embolden them and equip them to be greater witnesses for Him!

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 On Friday night the team headed into Brisbane City again with the desire to preach Christ to those who otherwise would perish. The night started with the encouragement of having many labourers out and people joined in pairs or on their own and went out into the CBD. 

The first conversation was with a man named Michael, he excited said that he was sure he was going to Heaven and that he knew the way but when he was asked what he was trusting in as the reason God would let him into Heaven he said, "I repent for all my sins". When asked to define what he meant by "repent" he went on to explain, that he would ask for forgiveness, try not to do it again and feel really sorry for it. In other words, Michael had said basically, "I am trusting in what I can do to be the reason that God will accept me". Although he had used a Bible word he'd been taught a faulty definition and one that showed he was actually trusting in his goodness to be the reason God would let him into Heaven.

He was shown the law and the seriousness of his predicament and then when the gospel was explained and he was shocked and exclaimed how surprised he was by it. He said he would have to think about it further and said, "Do you have anything I could read and check out! He was left with a tract and the gospel of John and said he would read them!

The last conversation of the evening was with Braydon a man who had some experience with Christianity but had substituted God for his own ideas in pursuit of living his own way. It was pointed out to him continually that this conclusion he'd reached wasn't an intellectually based position but simply not want God to be God and instead wanting to live his own way. He did acknowledge this and he did come to grasp the simplicity of the good news of the gospel and was glad for the conversation.

Late in the conversation Andre, a man who had previously been spoken to (a proud JW) came over and interrupted. Then monologued for around twenty minutes and left with a scathing rebuke, "Anyone who preaches a false Gospel will be condemned". The irony was astounding as he had declared that it is the feeling of guilt and shame that saves someone and their desire to fix it, not trusting in Christ alone.

Braydon was shocked at this display and it further confirmed the kindness of the 513 team who had spoken to him in comparison to the pride and disrespect of Andre. Please be praying that Braydon would take the challenge to consider what God has actually said, to read the Bible for himself and that God would humble him, show him that his desire to live his own way is unwise and that instead he would trust that Christ taking the punishment for his sin is the only grounds of his right standing before God.

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On Saturday night the team headed into Brisbane City and again (as I hope you've noticed if you read this battle log reports regularly) it was a great night! It's always a great night! Every single attempt to opens one's mouth to talk not just about morality and policitcs but to consider God's law, man's sinfulness and guilt and the good news that God Himself entered history taking the just punishment for those who believe, is a great conversation!

At the beginning of the night the first hour flew by, it was filled with five conversations in a row where either the person or the couple spoken too saw God's existence and their guilt and when asked the question, "So how do you not end up in Hell?" they left. There was a moment of reflection upon this and a moment of mourning, people who would prefer not to hear the solution because that would require them to acknowledge their problem. As this was being considered a timely reminder came from a team member, "Knowing how few people are out to proclaim this good news, it is not possible that God in His providence would cause any conversation to be a waste"!

Following this, there was a man who had been dawdling around most of the evening. A quiet prayer had been prayed earlier in the night that an opportunity would arise to be able to converse with him, as he had walked past around 6-8 times with different people. He was asked, "What do you think happens after we die?" and he stopped and engaged. As he was beginning to comprehend the gospel two of his friends stopped by and tried to drag him away but he even said to them, "Nah, you go on, I want to hear this!" In the next little while Jonathon came to understand the good news, saw that it was a free gift and therefore as a result he would desire to obey God out of gratitude.

Jonathon was grateful for the conversation said that he would really think about this and took a gospel of John saying that he would read it for himself! This was backed onto by a conversation with Ahmed. When he was first approached it was expected that he would be a little more argumentative but in less than ten minutes, he came to grasp the gospel, said he was thankful for the chat and said that he too would check out a Bible sometime. This was then followed by a conversation with Raat and Nepalese man who likewise grasped the good news and was challenged with the importance of the timing of the response, not knowing when would be his last day.

The finale conversation was with Andre a professing Christian who was struggling to articulate the gospel clearly but came to be able and was warned that his previous profession was a false one on the basis that he wasn't trusting in Christ alone for His forgiveness. He also shared that he isn't really attending a Church and has just sort of finding his "own way with God". He was challenged about what a Christian life will look like and was shown the seriousness, that anyone who professes to be a Christian will love Christ and obey Him.

Please be praying for those who heard this good news tonight, that they would respond in faith to the gospel, trusting that Jesus taking the punishment for their sin is the only reason they're going to Heaven. Please be praying for those who heard of their guilt and ran that God would cut them to the heart, leaving them feeling guilty, desperately looking for the solution so that next time God provides an opportunity for them to hear that they would listen, hear and believe!

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Outside Christmas outreaches and a few random other events, this is the beginning of Friday nights in Brisbane city. It was an unusual experience, compared to the normal numbers of people on a Saturday, there were many many people out! This meant that the twenty six team members that were there for some or all of the night were able to engage in conversations! Many paired up, others went out on their own but they spread generally over the heart of Brisbane CBD!

The first two conversations were a little tough, two very hard hearted Muslims, who were willing to believe in their inconsistencies as they didn't have to acknowledge that they were morally bankrupt. A man who heard the gospel and said, "I don't want to believe that, I want to live my own way".

Then was an exciting conversation with Camila and Valentina. These two came to have real clarity on the gospel, they came to understand the good news and they were challenged greatly by it acknowledging that this very day (after having professed to be a Christian for much of their lives) that they would be trusting in Christ alone as the reason they were going to Heaven. Then they were encouraged in evangelism. As they were shown the seriousness of someone who is trusting in Jesus and their own goodness as the reason they are going to Heaven, is actually someone who is on their way to Hell. They took this seriously and said that they would start seeking to share the good news with their Spanish speaking friends who had been influenced by the teachings of the Catholic church.

The next conversation was with Ezekiel. He at first had some good things to say but wasn't really clear on the good news. He had the right pieces but had mixed it up a bit, referencing his goodness and actions as the primary reason of his acceptance, not Jesus taking the punishment for his sin. When he came to grasp the gospel he said two things. Firstly he commented that this has really clarified it for him and he was so thankful for the conversation! He was excited that he had had the chat then he said, "Just as I was walking over there (he gestured to 50m away), I paused and asked God to help me. I realised that over these past three months, I had gotten so far from God. I had been in isolation, living my own way, totally distracted from God and so I made a silent plea to Him. I didn't even know what to pray but I asked for his help. Then I paused here and less than 30 seconds later you walked over and started this conversation and I knew it was from God!"

What an encouraging testimony. God is the one who answers prayers, the one who draws people to Himself. He is sovereign over the means and the ends. If Zeke had never prayed that, God couldn't have answered his prayer. If the team wasn't in the city, he would never have been approached. God in His providence, provided the means and the ends and from the outward appearance of the conversation, a very different eternity for Zeke as a result!

It's moments like these that are such a strong reminder as to why evangelism is so critical! Especially that in the public sqaure! Why not schedule a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night to join the team in Brisbane city, that God may use you to draw a lost sinner to Himself?

The finale of the evening was a 6 minute conversation with a young couple who had their minds blown at the building builder analogy, saw the law and their guilt and had said that it made sense to trust that Jesus had paid for their sin this very day, knowing that it would impact how they live in the future (even though Heaven is free).

Please be praying for all those who heard the good news, that they would consider it and that God would stir their hearts a love for Him and a desire for them to share the good news with others themselves!

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Saturday night in the city was a thrill of an outreach! The levels of people out are basically back to normal and the result is lots of gospel conversations! The team of fourteen met up, prayed together, and spread out through King George Square and the nearby areas, seeking to engage people with the gospel.

The night was a whirlwind. In fact, after ten conversations, almost without a pause, the night was over! What an exciting three hours!

It all began with a man named Etchie. He is a Pastor's son and yet didn't know the gospel. He came to see how desperate his position is before God and that he was definitely on his way to Hell but when asked for the solution suggestion only "changing his life". He came then to hear the good news and was surprised by it. But was struggling with the challenge as he knew he wanted to hold onto his sin and the pleasure that it brings. He saw that God's rules are for his good and that no pleasure in this world is worth going to Hell for and was left with the sobering reminder, that death could come at any time and only those who trust in Christ alone, as the payment for their sin will enter Heaven.

There were six people who saw God's existence and that they were heading to Hell and then for one reason or another left. First were two guys who were trying to justify their sin and kept being shown how we know God exists and at one point, upon realising how serious this rejection was they left. Next was a "Mormon" girl and her bf who saw the gospel in part but said they preferred to live their own way and last was Jack and Jay, two Aussie guys who were a little intoxicated and ended up leaving without the answer to their biggest problem.

A brief chat with four teens, enabled them to piece together the good news of the gospel for the first time and ended with them being challenged to consider the seriousness of this response. But this was followed by a conversation with three Muslim men.

The first was a professing Christian, who went asked could not explain what Jesus said the way to Heaven was. The next was an immensely proud Muslim who had many words but every time he was scrutinised it was shown that all his bold claims were based on very little. He also kept trying to avoid the most important question, "How can someone who is guilty and deserves Hell not end up there".

He kept attacking the Bible as reliable but was constantly shut down with simple questions about it. The first time he raised it, he was asked if he'd read it? He said no. It was pointed out that it was unwise to criticise something you haven't read. He raised it again, he was asked what language it was written in. Again he didn't know. It was pointed out that it was probably unwise to criticise something he knows very little about. This repeated itself. At one point he said, "I know the Bible more than you". He was asked if he could summarise the main point of the Bible, how a guilty person gets to Heaven and again he had no answer. It was pointed out, that making claims, regarding something he knew nothing about was not a wise idea.

Finally as it came to a head, the trio was shown, that God declare Himself as just and yet they believed that He wouldn't uphold justice. They declare God as merciful and yet they argued that God would "let people off" based on merit. And lastly, they had no answer to how God paid for their sin, so that He could forgive. They were too resistant and would constantly avoid the question and sadly they didn't get to hear the good news.

But the finale was intense. The "leader" declared that Jesus never claims to be God. He was challenged, "If I can be demonstrated where Jesus claims to be God, would you at least listen to what He declares is the way of salvation?" He agreed begrudgingly and then the group listened to John 10:27-33.

The first two verses were read, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand."

They were asked, "Who gives them eternal life?" (Jesus, and it was pointed out that only God has the power to give eternal life) and "Whose hands are the sheep in?" (Jesus' hands). Then the next verse was read, " My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."

It was re-iterated, "Whose hands are the sheep in?". This time it says, "The Father's hand". The point, Jesus and the Father have the same "hands". They both together have the sheep in their hands because as Jesus says in the next verse, "I and the Father are one". At this moment, their anger was rising but to emphasise the next two verses were read, with the question asked, "How did the hearers of this respond?"

"The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The final nail in the coffin, "Why did the Jews try to stone Jesus?"

The final verse was read, "The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”"

They had no argument, they had no answer, the only thing the ringleader could get out of the overflow of his heart to his mouth, "That is utter #$^%%#$".

He had nothing. The text was clear, Jesus declares Himself as the one who gives eternal life, one with the Father and they left in anger, cursing the God who gave them life, pursing an idol who cannot save. It was made clear to these men over the course of the discussion that the desperate desire for them was that they would not end up in Hell. Please be praying that would be the case, that they really would consider the fatal flaws of their idol and come to the true and living God who is able to uphold justice, give mercy and forgive sinners based on His own righteous work, in the person of Jesus Christ!

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Saturday Night in Brisbane City there were people everywhere! The outreach came after a long day of protestors had been in the city and the area was buzzing, more people than a normal Saturday night. This meant there were many more people with which to engage, regarding their eternity and the gospel!

The first convesation of the evening was a sad one. A man who was shown the flaws in his own arguments and given a very clear explanation of how we know God exists was absolutely adamant that it couldn't be true. It was pointed out that it was his desire to live his own way that had caused this. He was shown his guilt, via the law and left with the seriousness of his eternity in Hell that was coming because he was unwilling to even hear the gospel.

The next conversation was with Addy. It was exciting and enlightening at the same time. At one point whilst she was coming to saw God's standard of perfection and the gospel she asked, "What type of Church do you go to?" She was told baptist and then she clarified why she'd asked, "I thought you might be part of a cult because I have never heard this ever before! In fact I have never heard anything like it".

As the conversation continued she came to grasp the simple message of the gospel and she was shocked and overjoyed. The implications of the effects it would have on her life were already on her mind before she was even asked and she could not stop saying, "Thank you for sharing this with me". She was blown away by the good news and also noted, "I was always worried that I couldn't get to Heaven because I feared God's judgement but now I know that I am forgien because Jesus has paid for my sin".

This was followed by a conversation with a Sikh. The sad part was, once he saw that he was guilty, heading to Hell and that the punishment is eternal and the he deserves to pay his pride came out loud and clear. He didn't want to trust that Jesus Christ has paid for His sin, he wanted to keep living his own way. He was so adamant that he even proclaimed that he would rather go to Hell than to trust that Jesus paid for his sin.

Last conversation was with a couple, the girl professed faith in Christ and had a clear understanding of the gospel, the guy was totally out of it. When asked the way to Heaven he had no idea. When taken through the gospel he was quite lost and ultimately he took offense a little at the challenge being bought to him because he attends Church every week. After a few explanations of the gospel he still didn't seem to grasp it and was warned desperately that he cannot stand behind his girlfriend on judgement day, he will enter Heaven on Hell based on who he is trusting in to pay for His sin.

Please be praying for those who heard the good news tonight, pray for those who were open and willing to engage and those who were hard hearted and resitant to God's free offer of forgiveness.

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Saturday night in Brisbane City was very exciting!

The first conversation of the evening was with Kristen and Dexter. Kristen had spoken with the team on three prior occasions over a year ago and remembered the content of the gospel. Sadly it seemed that although she knew the gospel it hadn't changed her life (which means she probably doesn't really believe it) but she was happy to converse about it anyway.

On the other hand her friend Dexter was a very exciting conversation, he mentioned that his family is Buddhist but he doesn't really believe. He came to see God's existence, his guilt, that he is heading to Hell and that in his own ability he could never make it to Heaven. Then grasping the gospel he noted that it was good news and he would really have to think about it.

It was then mentioned that as a team we had spoken to a love of Buddhists in Myanmar and Dexter mentioned that is where he is from! He shared that he had been training to be a monk in Yangon near the Hledan centre AND had even received a tract and had spoken to a team member at the Hledan centre around 12-18months prior!

How crazy is that! God had bought him, 8,000km to hear the gospel another time! This time it had impact and he said he'd consider it! Contact details were exchanged with the desire to discuss further.

There were two conversations with men named Lucas from Europe! Both rejected God's existence, saw that He must exist but said, "even if He exists I want to live my own way". They both saw they were headed for Hell and left with gospel tracts.

The finale of the evening though was with Tavis, a young man who had some initial arguments against God's existence even saying that he wanted to go to Hell but with some simple arguments and explanations Tavis came to see that it wasn't information or knowledge that was causing him to reject God's existence, it was the desire to live his own way.

He too came to understand the good news of the gospel and although hesitant accepted a tract and said he would consider it, knowing full well that it would turn his life upside down!

Please be praying for these people that the gospel would not just be a message but would take root and be transform their lives. Not only that they would trust that Jesus paid for their sin and therefore be on their way to Heaven but that it would effect them so greatly that they would live differently and desire for others to know this same Jesus!

Now that lock-down is slowly easing, why not join us sometime?

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The Brisbane team were very excited to head back out into the city once again for outreach! It is wonderful to see the excitement as the team gets to pray together in person and then evangelise together! The hours race by as the gospel goes forth and men and women come to grasp the good news of the gospel!

The evening started with a lengthy conversation with Paul and Maddi. They professed to believe in God but it became apart very quickly that it wasn't the God of the Bible, rather the god of the watch tower (JW's). They started sharing things that were seriously problematic. They would say things like, "forgiveness is a free gift" then in the next phrase say, "beneficial only for those who work". Paul could see the problematic logic with what Maddi was saying and yet Maddi seemed blind to it. They also would argue against the apostle Paul in Romans 3:10-12, in declaring that we aren't all bad infact, we're actually good we just make mistakes. The conversation came to a close but not before their preconceptions were challenged by the word of the living God! They were encouraged to read Romans 3-5 together and see what Paul says about how someone is made right before God.

Another conversation was wtih Joshua and his friend who shared that they were homosexuals but upon seeing their guilt and hearing the gospel rejected it out of what they called, "honour". They didn't want someone else to pay. It was shown that this was their pride, not really thinking they were helpless but they insisted that they did not want to be saved. A similar conversation also took place with David who declared simply that he "doesn't believe in a god like that". He has fashioned a god that he likes and to his own peril!

Then an encouragement came, Uma from last week was walking by again and was clear on the gospel! It had sunk in and she said it had been a blessed week full with rejoicing at the good news! Another man from her friends group Andre though was in the same predicament as she was. He professed to be a Christian but when asked, "Why should God let you into Heaven?" He had no idea, when pushed a little he shared that it was because he prayed, asked for forgiveness and the like. He was taken through a simple gospel explanation and came to grasp it quickly and said, "I am going to start trusting that Christ paid for my sins now!"

The evening finished off with two drunk girls who saw God's existence and their guilt but ran off before comprehending the good news.

Please be praying for those who engaged in conversations tonight that the words they heard would not be meaningless but that they would be the fragrance of life! Pray that God may be gracious to the hears that they may become believers!

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