Battle Log

The Battle Log is the place where reports from each of the Operation 513 evangelism teams are posted.

It gives you a brief idea about what occurred during the outreach and some of the highlights.

Even though there is not a report from each team on the Battle Log every week, all these teams do meet according to the schedule (usually weekly).

So please keep them in prayer and consider joining one if it is in your area.

On Saturday the weather was beautiful and many people were out in the city compare to last week. As usual we met at the Starbucks shared the word and prayed for the evangelism, we also had few exciting news on new alternating time for Saturday evangelism and monthly practical session training night Praise God for His amazing work and faithfulness towards Melbourne team. 

By God's grace we had lots of interesting conversations. Sharindia was the lady that I encounter as I was doing the big flip chart in the city she was from India background, when I asked her if she wanted to take a A GOOD PERSON TEST she generously said 'yes' as I went through the flip chart I realised she had very post modernistic view on morality so basically 'what you feel is right then it is right or if you feel that is bad then it is bad' so in a way it was quite challenging for me to let her admit that she has sinned because GOD is the law giver and He is the ultimate stand of our morality although she stopped me here and there and showed that she does not totally agree with what I was saying she allow me to kept going with the flip chart as she was offended and convicted at the same time.

After I shared the gospel with her she told me that she was hindu and shared her polytheistic view so I had to share the exclusivity of Christ Jesus, Sharindia seems quite uncomfortable and even offended but I could clearly see that she was challenged. Please pray for Sharindia so that she may truly repent and put her trust in Jesus Christ. 

Second group of guys that I met were James and Sam. They were funny and honest with there stand point. I think it was James (I can remember the face but.. I am not sure if it was James or Sam but I think it is likely James !) that really show genuine fear as he was realising that he has sinned against King of kings and Lord of lords who showed him so much kindness and goodness. James expression often interchanged between smile and serious face in other hands Sam was quite against the message , opposing it and questioning it but they were genuine question that was driven from genuine curiosity. James and Sam both did not respond in a positive way to the gospel but I earnestly pray that they will repent and put their trust in Jesus Christ. 

From Huy Do :-

This Saturday’s evangelism proved to be blessed, as I was preaching, a crowd had gathered and afterwards, a lady stayed to talk with me afterwards. She was asking if it is possible to follow other religions and still go to heaven. I had to graciously and lovingly explain to her the exclusivity of Christ, that if there is any other way to be saved, then God would not have to come down Himself to pay for the sins of those who would believe.

She asked then again if there was any other way if she could just do good deeds to go to heaven, I stated that the scriptures testify of every man’s wickedness, that all of our righteous deeds are like filthy rags because our hearts are filthy and sinful. I explained to her how, similar to a leper corrupting every article of clothing placed upon him, all of her good deeds, because of her sinful deeds will be affected by her sinful heart as well. By the end, she was convicted, she understood her sinfulness and the message preached, I pleaded that she thinks about this.

Another conversation was with what appeared to be a lesbian couple, they were very cordial and attentive to the message of the Gospel. By the end they stated “we know that we are going to hell because we are lesbians”. This very much seems to be my experience in talking to homosexuals, many have come to me and have come to me to say that they know they are going to hell because of their sins, in other words, they know they are condemned already. Regardless, I addressed these 2 ladies, that liars will also have their part in the lake of fire, all have sinned and are under the condemnation of God, that they need to turn to Christ to have life and avoid the judgement that they know full well is coming.

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Battle Log For Toowong Village on Feb 25 , 2020 from 1330 to 1500

It was a cloudy day with cool temperature and light breeze best for Street Evangelism. With Johnny overseas till end of April, praise God keeps moving Col, Yueng Hang, Winnie and Hung to serve faithfully every week. Kenneth joined us at 1400 after he finished meeting near by. With the school terms having begun, we have many UQ student to approach. Though the success rate is not high normally below 50% in average, but it still enable most of us to have been fairly occupied for meaningful conversation.

One interesting instances was, God let the same person who claimed himself a Father of the Anglican Church met Hung first then Col later. That person got every understanding of the gospel and salvation right but erroneously thought that repentance is a work that we need to do in order to redeem the salvation prepared by Jesus. This interpretation of repentance of course is in sharp contradiction against the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith as per Eph 2:8-9.

I did not have enough time to correct this erroneous understanding as the bus came. It was funny he came off the bus as he did not have enough credit to buy fare. He had to walk all the way to the shopping centre to recharge his pass. In this connection, he passed by Col and was stopped for a chat. Col told me he got to the exact same spot of taking repentance as an action for some one to do to gain salvation. So these two encounters were no coincidence but a wake up call for that Anglican Father and perhaps for us too to grasp the limited time we have to correct wrong doctrinal interpretation when opportunity turn up. Anyway recap below are the 5 conversations I had.

1) Phoebe an UQ student from Redcliffe who is a local Aussie with some Christian background but is not yet a believer. She stopped happily to chat with me about the gospel and was in no hurry. So I share every ins and outs of the salvation of Christ and why we all even good persons all need Jesus. She was convinced and lament as a human we are all very weak at doing what is taught to be good and more often doing what is not right in flesh. So she admitted every one including herself needs Jesus and is willing to accept Christ. I anyway have given her the contact of power to change to get on her life as a Christian. (20min)

2) Bali an UQ student from Sri Lankan. He was receptive from the outset and is willing to let me share the Gospel. It is a pity the arrival of the bus cut short our conversation. So can only pray for God's follow up work. (5 Min)

3) Farren a father of Anglican Church correctly answered the question about salvation but still considers repentance is an action that we have to do to grasp hold of the free gift of eternal life. I was about to clarify but the bus cut our conversation short. Miraculously God stopped him from riding the bus away as his bus pass ran out of credit. He got off the bus while I was taking note of the conversation with him so when I noticed he was off the bus, but too late to stop him to continue with the unfinished issue. Yet God let Col stopped him as mentioned about. It was a pity their conversation also stop at the point of incorrect understanding of repentance and salvation. We can only trust God has His way after giving Farren these two wake up call. (10Min)

4) Indian aunty and nephew. The man claimed he is perfect and will go to heaven. Initially he did not want to talk but after my insistence the man started responding and got clarified no one is perfect. Pity the bus came and ended our conversation. (10 min)

5) Agatha is an UQ student from local Australia of catholic background. She is a fair dinkum Christian leading a devotional, prayerful and worshipful life style. She is sure about her salvation but has minor struggle to feel imperfect to deserve God’s grace. Happy to have my clarification that though safe as a Christian with 100 % assurance of salvation regaining our lost heavenly citizen identity through Jesus. We are still not perfect but will bound to be transformed back to perfection ultimately. But this won’t affect the saved status gained through Jesus.

She was brought up in Catholic Christian background but encountered some bad experience and developed some mental illness issues. It was the deep encounter and experience of Jesus salvation that helped her to get out from the bondage of mental illness. She knows God used her to minister to those who have similar issues so she is leading a life with God's mission entrusted on her bringing positive impact to many others. (25min)

 

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What a beautiful day today in the mall. God blessed us so richly! There are always many good things that God blesses us with but today it was almost like there was a flag flying in every window telling us of God’s great love.

The first part of the outreach was spent at speaker’s corner reading from the Word of God. Most of my reading came from Acts, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. During this time there were many that stopped to listen for a period and many nods and smiles.

It is always a blessing to read out the Word, but today there was a real sense of Grace that the team and I experienced in reading and hearing it. The blessing of Scripture is the twofold action that it has on the human heart. On the one hand there is great blessing to be had from hearing the words of our loving heavenly father that teach the entirety of our being how to live in the blessed way. On the other hand, there is the correction to sinful humanity that confronts us with the lies and sins of the past. It is an irrefutable condemnation of our wrong deeds and a powerful call to repentance and faith. For those who will receive the Word in humble faith and trust, both of these works act to build them up in Godliness and joy.

The other blessing was a long conversation with Mr Se:

He is a visitor to speaker’s corner several times but this is the first time that I have had a decent talk with him. He’s past and the wrongs that filled it are something that he repents of and fights against but as scripture says, “And such WERE some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor 6:11.  Praise God the life he once lead is now a witness to many people and he is able to offer grace and kindness to them in the name of Yeshua. As a Messianic Jew, he, Kieron and I all had a lot in common and the conversation flowed well. He encouraged us that there is a lot of common ground that we and others share in Hobart, not least a dislike of the radical progressive agenda’s that abound currently in the news and internet. While the things we talked about were very serious and important, there were lots of jokes and we parted company smiling and laughing. I hope to meet with him again soon.

At the end of the afternoon we finished in prayer thanking God for His love and kindness and the ongoing blessings as we seek to reach out to the city. We prayed that God would stop sin and the Devil from having their way in the hearts of the people of Hobart. We asked that God would convert even the hardest hearts and bring to salvation and joy sinners of every stripe. Finally, we praised God for all that He has done in conquering sin and death.

It is such a joy to serve God who fights on our behalf. Those who oppose the gospel should be intimidated when God’s people pray, for then the Lord of hosts goes into battle for them! How can unrighteous man stand against the maker of the universe and Lord of heaven and earth?

May He conquer all the more!

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Myanmar (Burma) Short Term Missions

Here are three videos from the February 2020 Myanmar mission trip:

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Sunday’s outreach to Cashel Mall was also the second “Outreach Sunday” for Redemption Church.  Over half of the church membership made it to this outreach - including all the Elders and Deacons.  It was so wonderful approaching people who had already been approached!  Because of this, the gospel was being shared with many.  What joy to the heart of an evangelist!

Some were boldly sharing for the first time.  Others were gaining confidence, bubbling about the opportunities they had, and wanting to know when the next outreach would be.

The two hours went really fast for me.  There were periods where I wasn’t in a gospel conversation - because there were so many evangelists out!  But that time was used in encouraging those around me.

Andy excitedly told me about the conversation he had with two ladies.  “It was better than any of the conversations in Myanmar” - and that is saying a lot!

I had two stand out conversations.  The first was with a young Christian who said he had to be a good person to go to heaven.  So I asked if he would like to try the good person test - he was keen.

Eventually he came to realise that his good works would not save him, so I challenged him on what God had done so we could be saved.  He then realised the answer was not good works, but Jesus.

In the checking questions, he got the “crossing the road” one wrong - very concerning, so I went back to explain the gospel again, and to clarify that if we are trusting the sacrifice of Jesus to pay the fine for our sins - that includes our future sins as well.  I then balanced that with the “fireman” question, explaining that there would be repentance that came with faith, and that would lead to good works - but the good works don’t save us.

I’m not sure how impacted he was by the conversation, but he took a tract, and I encouraged him to talk to his parents and pastor about this - it’s so important.

My second conversation is pictured, it was with two perceptive young people.  The lady made a profound statement: “how can God deal with bad stuff and still let people into heaven” (or something like that) - I said, that is a wonderful question, can I explain?  They were keen to talk.

But they struggled with the idea that they, themselves, were bad people, I had to spend some time labouring with them in that.

Eventually the lady received a phone call and had to go.  But they wanted to hear the good news, so allowed me some time to share - which I did.  They took tracts.

So, a very encouraging afternoon of outreach.  Thanks to all those from Redemption Church that joined us!  Keep it up!  Looking forward to having you with us again next month. :)

And to the other churches in Christchurch, a challenge to set up your own monthly outreach.  Operation 513 would love to help you with this - feel free to get in touch to discuss.
 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

After two weeks in Myanmar (you can read the reports here) I was back in NZ in time to make it to the Kaikoura A&P Show.

A team of five.  Two from Blenheim, one from Nelson, one from North Canterbury, and myself from Christchurch.

I missed this outreach last year, so it was good to be back!  It was great to be able to catch up with the other evangelists from up north, and discuss methods with them.

My first conversation of the day was with three teens.  My “do you ever think about what happens after you die?” line attracted their attention, and a conversation got started.  But two of the three of them quickly became resistant.  They didn’t want to stay to hear the gospel, and they didn’t take tracts - except the one who wasn't resistant - I hope he reads it!

The second conversation started really well.  The young university student was curious and engaged, and so I took the time he needed to work through the logic of the presentation.  He was following along, and I was just moving into sharing the gospel, when his brother stormed past and said “let’s go”.  His brother threw away a gospel booklet as he went - he had obviously been talking to one of the other team members.  The guy I was talking to complied and that was the end of that.  But, he did take a tract as he left, again - I hope he reads it!

Thankfully, I was able to have some conversations where I was actually able to share the gospel!

One was with a lady who was keen to know what the good person test was all about - when I said we were Christians and wanted to share good news, she was happy to try it out.  But after I made it through the law, time suddenly became short.  She wanted to hear the good news, but wanted me to hurry up. :(  She stayed to hear the good news and moved along.  But sadly she didn’t seem interested.  But God knows.

The best conversation came at the end of the outreach.  It was with four young adults.  Two were openish and keen to chat, One was resistant but keen to chat, and the last wasn’t keen at all - but ironically piped up at the end to express her disapproval of anyone who disapproves of her ways!

But I was able to explain the law and the gospel, and they all seemed to grasp it very quickly, clearly articulating the way to heaven in the checking questions.  The two openish ones took tracts, the other two refused.

After packing up, a song, and prayer, the team split to head back across the country to their homes.  Thanks to Scott Cameron from Blenheim for organising this one!

Such an interesting contrast to the many conversations I've been having with open hearted people in Myanmar.  Oh God, have mercy on our land!
 

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Myanmar (Burma) Short Term Missions

As I write this, I’m sitting on a flight coming home to Christchurch from Yangon. This report will cover the last three days of outreach for the NZ team (the AU team had an extra morning of outreach).

On Monday, my team was at Inya Lake. As I reflect back on this day, the highlight was the very last conversation of the day. My translator had to leave a little early, so for the last thirty minutes of the outreach I tried to find people that spoke English to talk with.

A young couple responded positively to my question: “do you speak English?”. They were both university students and were studying languages. She: English, He: Russian - but he knew enough English to follow along with the conversation, and she translated when required.

It was a long conversation, and so the outreach finished late, but it was so worth it. We worked through the logic of the mini flip chart, and the gospel message it explained. They were deeply challenged, and asked wonderful questions. They understood that salvation is a gift, but there is a great cost (in this life) in accepting it.

When the conversation finally ended, I could tell the guy was still counting that cost, but I was delightfully surprised to see the girl say she wanted to trust in Christ! I gave them gospels of John, and a tract each, and I asked her if she was serious to please get in touch via the contact number on it. I leave them in God’s hands.

Tuesday saw my team at the Dagon Center. My translator and I had some good conversations throughout the day, but there were a few translation issues which made many of the conversations difficult. But this was not a bad thing, it just became an opportunity for the translator and I to work through these issues. We spent some time working through relevant Bible verses; we learned from each other.

After this, we moved into a final conversation of the outreach. And it was a doozie! I ended up getting one of our other translators involved as well, and between the three of us, we were able to move through the mini flip chart, with a young man, smoothly. To my joy, the young man, even after counting the cost, expressed a desire to place his trust in the sacrifice of Jesus. He said, “Why would I turn down a gift like that?”. He also received a gospel of John and a tract, and was encouraged to get in touch. He is also in God’s hands.

Wednesday was the final day of outreach for me. I was torn, it is so wonderful being in Yangon talking to people about the gospel, but I so miss my family back home. Getting through the day felt like climbing the final mountain before breaking through to the valley on the other side… but we made it!

We were short by two translators, but this was not a problem, because the team members who didn’t have translators were able to have many conversations with English speakers at the university - they had a marvellous time.

The rest of us stayed at the Hledan Center. In spite of a man constantly blowing a whistle in his strange attempts to direct traffic, we were able to have many gospel conversations.

The highlight was a conversation I had to take over. There were two men involved. And they had both been through the flip chart but were very resistant in different ways. The first young man looked offended and didn’t say much. The second older man was doing nothing but talking!

I decided to get my translator to focus on the man that talked a lot, while I focused on the young man who was able to speak English. His issue was with evolution (he was a zoology major at the university). Science explained everything - so he said. I spend some time with him working through this, while trying to move the conversation to the gospel (more important!). Unfortunately, his friend turned up and needed to take the young man away - he didn’t want to leave, he wanted to work the discussion through, but he had to go.

I was now able to join my translator and work with the man that talked a lot. I managed to get this man to slow down a bit so that we could really start dialoguing. Usually when people talk alot, it means they are very resistant. But to my surprise, I was able to get the man to explain how a Buddhist gets to “heaven” (good deeds), and then explain why that is impossible to achieve. He stopped talking, and started listening (except to answer the questions I was asking him). I could tell he had been given information that he had to consider further. He gratefully received a tract and a gospel of John.

So that brings an end to the February 2020 mission to Myanmar. My reports have only been a glimpse of some of the many wonderful gospel conversations the team has had over the two weeks. All glory to God for any fruit. Thank you for praying for the team, and I hope you will be able to join a future mission with us.

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Bribie Island (QLD) Team

  As the team met at the Bongaree Jetty this afternoon, no sooner was the flipchart up than a large group of young people came to ask questions and go through the Good Person Test.  Between 2 and 4pm, there was a constant flow of conversations, mostly with younger people, but also with several adults who were interested in Gospel conversations.  A number of copies of Scriptures were distributed, as were many Gospel tracts.  We warmly appreciate the amount of prayer that has gone into today’s work for the Lord.  We certainly felt God’s leading and blessing on and in the outreach.

  One young man recognized and approached Michael to tell him that he was still reading his Gospel of John from last time they spoke, and that he was giving serious thought to the issue.  Pray that God would do a work in the heart of this young man, also named Michael.

  As usual, we were warmly greeted by the local train ride driver, whom we see at every outreach.  He has received a Gospel tract in the past, so we pray for his salvation.  May our frequent presence by the jetty be a witness and a testimony to him.

  One gentleman was speaking with one of the team members, a local pastor, and his question was, “What is the difference between spirituality(tarot cards, etc), and the work of the Holy Spirit(Pentecostal beliefs he had been exposed to)?”  While the conversation led to the Gospel, the man was encouraged to attend tomorrow’s church service, as one of the main points in the message was going to be the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation(Ephesians 1).  The man remained very interested and engaged throughout the long conversation.  He said he didn’t believe in coincidences, so he would think very seriously about what he had heard, and that he might come along to church.

  Jacob, Jack, and Co. went through the Good Person flipchart, and each of this large group had questions and objections.  “If murder is wrong, why did God murder His son?”  “What about the people before Jesus came?”  “What happened to the Crusaders?”  “What happens to babies who die?” And many others.  These young people are desperately seeking answers, so may we always be ready to give them.  We tried to answer their questions and went through the Gospel over and over again.  Others came up and joined the group, and they wanted to go through the flipchart as well, so another team member took them through.

  In the meantime, another from the team answered further of their questions relating to evolution, morality, and the authenticity of the Gospel message, and Maddy came over to the literature table.  She said she was going blind and couldn’t read, so she was given a DVD and the link to an audio Bible.  She apologized for the mocking behaviour of her friends, but she agreed that most of them would think more seriously when they were alone later that day.  She understood that we were sharing these things because we genuinely cared for her and her friends.  She thanked us and said she would be thinking about our conversation. 

  As we said repeatedly, as much as we wish we could, we can’t save them, and we can’t cause their eyes to open.  That is something only God can do, and something that must be personal for each of them, so we ask that you would pray for a great softening of hearts and a great turning to God.

 Lilly, Rachel, and Leah also went through the Good Person flipchart, with two of them claiming to be Christians.  They listened intently, felt the truth in all they heard, and asked serious questions.  They were each at a very difficult place in their lives, all coming from homes with issues.  They heard the Gospel multiple times, and all three seemed to be sincerely interested. Pray that they would find answers to the sincere questions they have in their hearts.  Please pray for these girls to find peace and comfort in God’s grace and forgiveness. 

  Pray too for Mark who also heard the Gospel, as well as for those groups who chatted to team members at the literature table.  Pray for those who passed through and took tracts.  May much fruit come from the seeds which were sown this afternoon at Bribie Island.

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This last Friday in the Hobart mall we had a wonderful time ministering for the Lord. The weather has been fine which always helps with gathering a crowd and encouraging people to stop and talk. A number of repeat visitors came to speak with the team:

Mr. O – a catholic student who has come repeatedly to encourage us in the face of opposition and to show solidarity on the issues that we agree on. He and I have a number of things that we disagree on but the debates are always congenial and end on a positive note.

Mr. B – a repeat visitor who has had many challenges over the years. He came to encourage us and to talk and be (I hope) encouraged as we share life together. In the face of many challenges God is moving Mr. B towards an affection for Christ and we continue to share Christ with him and pray for him.

Mr. M – an Italian gentleman who comes frequently to the mall to listen to the preaching. There are many different questions he brings and this week the consideration was geostationary satellites. He stayed to listen to the gospel preached and spoke with us a little afterwards.

Older gentleman – stood listening while I preached the gospel and afterwards when I approached him asking what he thought of the gospel preaching he simply said, “You preach it well brother.” I thanked him for the encouragement and after talking with him said farewell with, “God bless you brother.”

There were many opportunities to preach and pray and read the Word over the course of the afternoon and even when there were atheists using the area there were friends stopping by to fellowship and pray with us. So, God blessed us when there was time to speak at speaker’s corner and when there was no time to speak.

There are some who have treasured the hope that the preaching in the mall will be stopped. Days like today make me confident that God will continue to bless His people and add to His people regardless what form outreach in Hobart takes into the future. It matters not how the Word goes out, the gospel will conquer the world and draw countless people to Christ our Lord.

Praise to God in the highest!

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Dear friends there has been a busy couple of months that have flown by this summer. My apologies for not writing sooner, a number of you are probably wondering if I’ve fallen off the bottom side of Australia. No, the work continues down her in Tassie and there are many good things that have come from the work lately.

I have had the privilege to have the support of Kieron, Cynthia, Penny, and Monica over these last couple of months. They are a wonderful help and encouragement. Kieron has particularly been a great help and his ability to connect with others never ceases to amaze me. I have even petitioned him a number of times to step into conversations with hecklers and it has been great to see people opening up to him.

The work in the mall has continued in the signature manner that it has always, we have a big focus on preaching and reading the Word aloud and handing out tracts when we can. We are a small team and often need to focus on one or two things at a time. We have been able to have the Bible table out a little more over the summer with Kieron’s car’s help.

Also, we have had a number of great regular conversations, it’s almost like there is a scheme going to ensure that all sorts of wonderful people to come meet with us. Many of these folks are youth and it is good to see their passion and idealism, but there are also quite a number of older folks who come and seem to know just the right thing to say to encourage and help us along.

Needless to say, there are still quite a few opponents. Most of them come and then go again having said little. Some apparent opponents become opportunities to have some fun and joke around with people and turn opponents into smiling acquaintances. Sadly, there are also a number of people who can’t seem to keep the council rules for Speakers Corner. I’ve been forced to write to the council a number of times, asking that they would intervene. Thankfully the Hobart City Council has been very helpful and has often reigned in the worst of the bad actors.

In all of these things God is faithful and there is great blessing that comes from the work. We have lately seen a number of people find a church through contact with us and there have been a few conversions that have occurred praise God!

I will write again soon; God bless you each.

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