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, by God's the weather was beautiful and we had 10 Labourers to share the gospel. And we had really interesting God glorifying chats. As usual we gathered at Starbucks and shared the word and prayed. It was our first time to have a table with the free gospel tracts and bibles on it.  As we were setting up the flip chart and tables, there was fear, trembling hearts but lots of joy. 

As Huy Do and I started open air preaching by using flip chart, God drew many people and of course, few angry hecklers which drew even more people. There was one gentle heckler whose name was Scott (who claimed to be Christian but I think he meant that he is believes in god). He began with softer voice asking “why do you think God will send people to hell because of our sin ? How come looking at someone with lust is sin? God’s standard is not like that” and I had to explain that, that’s what we as a human likely to think, we are very good at making our own god that is comfortable with our sins but bible describe the real GOD with perfect justice and holiness. And Scott was constantly asking questions that are filled with “I don’t think God thinks like that” and started to raise his voice so I had to constantly go back to bible and share the gospel and raise my voice to the max as there were around 20 - 30 people in the crowd. I was thankful that those people heard the gospel. Praying that Scott and other people who were angry about this glorious Gospel will repent and put their trust in Jesus Christ.

As we were open air preaching, one lady stole whole bunch of million dollar gospel tracts which was displayed on the table and by God’s grace when I was on my way to the toilet I met her as she was holding onto the tract so I asked her what she thinks about the message and she asked me to sit down with her and talk to her about it. Her name was Zippy, 19 years old. she was on drug but quite sober to have a conversation. She told me her life story beginning from her childhood, how she was abandoned by her mom when she was 11 and how she became homeless when she was 14. And I had privilege to share the gospel with her she did not like it but she listened and praying that Holy Spirit will work in her to regenerate Zippy so that she can put her faith in Jesus Christ and be saved!. 

From Huy Do:- 

An interesting highlight was when I was sharing the Gospel with a small crowd, in which there were two ladies that were together and had decided to stay to go through the flip chart. They heard the law and the condemnation of God but before I could get to the Gospel, they left and on their way out. When I had finished, I thought that my labor was in vain but a fellow worker, Daniel told me that he heard them as they walked out that they said "this is very offensive". This shows that their heart was pricked and the seed was shown, for those who are offended tend to think about that which offend them more. Praise God that the seed was sown and His Word was proven that it will not return in vain. 

From Daniel :- 

There was a man who was yelling at Martin while he was preaching I was chatting to someone at the time and after a few minutes I couldn't take it anymore when he said " I believe in science" I approached the tall man and asked him. Sir, do you believe in truth, absolute truth? He said no. I replied, you sure about that? Is that true? He was put up in a corner. Then he proceeded to ask me how do you know your religion is true? Allah or Christianity? I replied because Jesus rose from the dead therefore He is God. He went on to his next argument and asked if Christianity is true why is there evil and hatred done in its name? I replied hatred according to what standard? The man noticed his worldview of atheism was bankrupt and walked away and said he needs to catch his tram. The atheism is self refuting Intellectually he has no reason to reject God but he doesn't want to be held accountable before God for his sin , pray for this man for God to save him.

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Well, the NZ Summer Mission is complete. It was, by far, the best one to date. This is mainly due to the trip to Dunedin, the first time we have ventured past the borders of Christchurch.

The people in Dunedin were friendly, open to receive tracts, very interested in the big flip chart, and happy to chat about the deep questions of life.

The christians and churches we worked with in Dunedin were extremely hospitable and seemed very encouraged through the week we were with them.

I’m just in awe of God at what He has done through His church.

And to think all this was initiated through needing to find a church recommendation in Dunedin for someone who had followed up after a gospel conversation at the Canterbury A&P Show 2019.

This report covers the final two days of outreach in Dunedin: Thursday and Friday where we spent all of our time in the Octagon and the surrounding area.

On Thursday morning, I was manning the big flip chart and got into a conversation with an interesting lady where it was very hard to reason with her because she just kept contradicting herself making it hard to know how to proceed! I just so happened to be on the “Jesus fireball page” when a man stopped to comment on the amazing artwork. Seeing that it was obviously Christian, he decided to get in on the conversation - he being an atheist. His first port of call was slavery. I was suddenly overwhelmed trying to address two people! Thankfully, someone else on the team took over the conversation with the lady, so I could focus on the atheist.

So I addressed his slavery questions and worked to calm the guy down (who was in attack mode) so we could have a conversation. After about five minutes, I’d had success! We had exchanged names and shaken hands and were able to engage in reasonable debate.

There was a focus on apologetics. At one point he was talking about a book written by Lawrence Krauss that supposedly explains how something can come from nothing. After listening, I eventually stepped back, gave him a look and said “really?” He looked at me, and said, “yeah, I know, it doesn't really make sense”! He was being forced to hear arguments from the other side and it was making him think - I was very encouraged. Through the conversation I was able to share the law and gospel and he was happy to receive a follow up tract before he moved on.

To my delight, I met the same man on Friday too! I was able to remember his name, and we quickly fell into a warm, yet deep conversation again. He had read the tract and the discussion started there. Again the conversation had a focus on apologetics, but there was a point where I had my Bible open on my phone and we were discussing scripture (on how we know God exists). But I was also able to keep coming back to the law and the gospel. Eventually he was satisfied and about to move on, when I asked him a final question: “What is the way to heaven?”. He was able to articulate salvation by grace alone through faith alone, in Christ alone. I was encouraged. May he be saved for the glory of God alone!

The next conversation I’ll mention was amazing. Back to Thursday morning I approached a young man. He believed in Heaven and Hell but then he said he had already heard the way to heaven. I figured one of the team had already approached him, but to my amazement he said he was from Brisbane. He said a guy with a camera had already shared with him there. I turned and pointed to Matt and said, “are you talking about him?”. He looked shocked, and then quickly decided that he needed to get going. Soon after, Matt approached him to say g’day. What are the chances!? This is actually the third time Matt has been able to talk to this guy: 1) Brisbane, 2) the Gold Coast, 3) Dunedin, NZ. You can watch Matt’s first gospel conversation with him here: https://youtu.be/WhaJS4p2wjU

The last interaction I’m going to mention was really funny. I was explaining some of the pages of the flip chart to Bronya. We just so happened to be on the “Fireman” page, when a fire truck drove through the Octagon and stopped right in front of us (due to a red light). I looked at the fireman page then at the fireman in the truck that was looking at it. I smiled, he smiled. And then Bronya took the opportunity to run over and give him a tract. He accepted it. A memorable moment that hopefully made him curious enough to read it!

We were sharing the gospel right up till 4pm on Friday. So many wonderful conversations. And over the week, hundreds heard the gospel. Over the whole mission, hundreds and hundreds of precious people heard the hope of eternal life found only in Jesus. And many, christians and churches have been encouraged. Please keep praying that the Lord will continue to raise up labourers for the harvest. May the Lamb that was slain, receive the reward of His suffering!

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Day eight of the NZ Summer Mission is complete. Two days to go. Today we spent the late morning and early afternoon in the Octagon (it has quickly become a favourite outreach spot!) and then we had another evening outreach outside Otago Museum. I love Dunedin! So much opportunity to talk with lovely people. And the flip chart has been a hit. It turns heads, and people are keen to try it leading to wonderful gospel conversations.

In my last report, I mentioned that two overseas Christians who heard the preaching on Monday were keen to join us for outreach today. True to their word they joined us! Estelle and Laura. The team was greatly encouraged.

Estelle was paired up with me, and is in some of the photo’s sharing the gospel via the big flip chart. We were having a harder conversation and the big flip chart had the “Jesus fireball” page open. A young lady stopped and her eyes turned to saucers! Estelle didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity and cut across to talk to her while I continued on the big flip chart. I quickly pulled out my mini flip chart and passed it to her and she was away on her own! Well done! She had two gospel conversations with the mini flip chart while I had two on the big one before we teamed up again.

Some cruise ships were in port today, and so there were lots of people around. A funny conversation that occured started when a man from a cruise ship came and stood right next to the flip chart while I was talking with someone else. It was going to be too hard for me to interrupt the current conversation, so I passed him a gospel tract. He took it, but wasn’t satisfied. He then interrupted to ask the way to Larnach Castle. It was then that I realised he thought I was a tourist information stand! 🤣 I couldn’t point him to Larnach Castle, but I could point him to the way to heaven: Jesus! I hope he read the tract.

The evening outreach again started with plenty of people around, but the numbers soon dwindled. But, same as the previous evening, there were enough people to keep us busy.

My first conversation was with an Asian family: Dad, Mum, and a young daughter - maybe seven years old. The thing that stood out in this conversation was some absurd arguments the Dad was making. Three times in the conversation, I addressed the daughter to get her thoughts and she gave the logical and obvious answer - showing up her Dad! Eventually, the parents stopped to listen. Tonight all three heard the gospel and took follow up tracts - they all seemed to appreciate the discussion.

In search for people to talk to, I ended up on the University campus and encountered an Atheist. We had a lovely conversation about the gospel, which he thanked me for - but he wouldn’t take a tract. But he did see the “Jesus fireball” page of the tract, and he said he had seen it before. He asked if we were in the Octagon earlier! He had seen the big flip chart there! We are reaching people - be encouraged.

On my way back to the Museum, I noticed a bird that had lost all the feathers on its head. I was looking at it, it was looking at me, when a lady walked past. So I asked her about the bird, and from there we got into a conversation. She had a Catholic upbringing, but had rejected it when she read the new testament. But now she seemed in a bit of a limbo: believing in God, but denying hell (as an example). So today she heard the gospel, along with a good discussion about what hell was and why it logically must exist.

The last gospel conversation I’ll write about was the best one I’ve had in a long time. It was with a young couple that were extremely postmodern in world view. It’s hard to pinpoint why it was so good, but I seemed to have the right response at the right time to the objections they raised. And I became quite passionate. And yet, as I think back on that conversation, I realised that it wasn’t a technically ideal gospel conversation: e.g., I didn’t ask checking questions. I guess it’s a good reminder that even what we think is our best is nothing compared to God and what He can do in our weakness. This work is not dependent on my ability, but God. Our job is to share this gospel message, no matter how weakly, and God can use that mightly. So be encouraged to step out. You can do this. Be encouraged. Join us.

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The first two days of the second week of the NZ Summer Mission, in Dunedin, are now complete.

It has been testing coming out of our usual environment (Christchurch) - but it has been so worth it in so many ways.

It has been testing because we have had to adjust to so many things: meeting the elders of the local church we are serving and getting to know each other, being hosted in strangers homes for the week, finding the outreach locations, parking, the list goes on.

But so worth it because we are getting to know wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ in Dunedin: Elders, hosts, and others - the support has been amazing! And the people we have encountered on the streets to share the gospel with have been so open (compared to what I’m used to in Christchurch). Nerves about being in a new place for outreach have been quickly forgotten, as we have started conversations and shared the wonderful gospel of Jesus with many people in this city.

So a big thank you to the Christians and Churches that have welcomed us, are hosting us (strangers no more!), praying for us, and supporting us. Thank you!

As well as the many open hearted people we have been able to share the gospel with so far, there have also been many cults and false teachers out and about. We have had interactions with:

* Jehovah's Witnesses

* people who believe Baptism is required for salvation
a family teaching that we need to become perfect (in our own effort) to be saved (the father wore a big sandwich board and they had some kind of pre recorded preaching running through an amplifier). Matt engaged him with scripture and wonderfully he ended up leaving. We haven’t seen them since. But in the meantime, I had an opportunity to engage with his son and show him that it is impossible for us to be perfect in our own effort, but the only way to become perfect was through the imputed righteousness of Jesus that is received by faith alone. He was open until he was told by his mum that I was sharing a “false gospel”, he quickly shifted into a pre programmed mode and started quoting scripture at me. Sad.

* I had a guy who seemed to know scripture well and was saying the right things, but he was desperately looking for something to be divisive with me over. Once he knew I was a Calvinist, I was considered a heretic to be attacked. Sadly, this man is not connected with any church - a lone ranger.

And yet, we love all these people, we want them to understand the good news of the gospel, and we have done our best to respectfully do that.

On the Monday, Andy and Tom open air preached in the Octagon. There was an openness to it. People didn’t scatter, many were listening. People even asked questions of the preacher. To my amazement, two Christians (from overseas) who listened to the preaching were so encouraged that they are going to join the team for outreach on Wednesday!

Also on Monday, Nikos and Bronya ended up having a long gospel conversation with a young man. And I was able to follow up by taking him through the flip chart. He really appreciated the visual aids - he said it helped him to understand the gospel. And yet, counting the cost, he wasn’t ready to believe in Christ as Lord.

The next morning, he came back to the Octagon with his friend and found us. He wanted his friend to hear the gospel too! And so Matt and Emma were able to do that. Praise God. May they both come to know God’s grace!

Tuesday saw the first evening outreach outside the museum. As the evening progressed, there were less people around to engage with. But still there were enough to keep the whole team busy in gospel conversations for the whole time. We thanked God for answering our prayer in that regard.

So I’m amazed at how God has gone before us in so many ways for this trip to Dunedin. May people be saved, the church grow, and the community be changed for God’s glory as a result. Thank you keeping us in prayer!

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Battle Log For Toowong Village on Tuesday January 21st 2020 from 1330 to 1500.

It was a scorching hot afternoon that might have deterred some people from stopping to chat. But the heat did not stop the six of us to commit ourselves for His work. We praise and thanks God that He has moved and led yet another new blood Ryan Leung to join us the old team mates including Col, Gary, Winnie , Yuen Hang and Hung. Co-incidentally all four Chinese are Cantonese speaking person. Yet it did not deter us to proclaim the Gospel in other languages including English and Mandarin in His Strength.

As said , it appeared a more difficult day to get long conversation under the scorching sun. But by grace each and every one still got opportunities to share or just to serve handing out tract. Knowing that not our effort and skill but God's Sovereign Power and Will counts. They will supplied to me their short reflection not for the day later.

I got five divine appointments as led by the Spirit from different spot of or mission stripe along Banson Road as recap below: -

1) First at the traffic light, two Asian girls pretended not Chinese speaking but gave up admitting Chinese and submitted to listen to my sharing of the gospel. I walked them across the road to the bus station on the other side. From initial reluctant, the Spirit somehow helped to have removed their fears and ended up with sound understanding that we are not good enough for heaven and need Jesus to take away the punishment of eternal death for our sins.

2) Then I chatted with an UQ student Chiang from Taiwan at the bus stop in the shade behind the Bus platform Shelter. He was happy to let me share before the bus arrive. He has fragmented Bible knowledge because his parents are Christian. He of course never has a full understanding of salvation but found my sharing of God's way of redemption is sensible and logical. He felt it is time for him to take the Christian faith seriously so let's pray for his final step of faith be made at the earliest instance by the grace of God. 蔣,台,父母基督徒,合理,願信

3) I returned to the traffic light and left Winnie and Yuen Hang at the bus stop to get more opportunities to share. Then I saw two Indians coming up along the road from the footbridge. Ryan was there to greet them and passed them a tract. I thus followed up on giving them another "Good Person tract which again was well received by them. So I asked if they mind to let me share even if I had to walk some way with them across the road. The man called Shekish appeared more friendly and receptive then his friend. Although they claimed they do not need religion but they could not deny we are sinners that need salvation from Jesus.

4) After coming back to where Col stationed. He just stopped a Chinese girl whose English seemingly was not good enough to understand the gospel in English. She actually was greeted by Winnie and or Yuen Hang at the Bus stop but she did not stop for a chat and walked up to the traffic light to be approached by Col. He then referred the girl to me. She obviously has just newly arrived at Brisbane from Shandong China. Her name is 張悅怡，山東, she tried to discouraged me to share claiming she is a Buddhist. I anyway affirmed her that all Religions are not bad but just calling on people to be a good person. None has addressed the issue of sin and there is no solution to deal with the righteousness requirement for sin to be punished.

She was amazed to find out that Buddhist has no God head but just a way for self-perfection towards a peaceful status of our mind called Nirvana. Hopefully, my sharing have removed some of her labelled opinion towards Christianity that it is not in conflict but supplement the lack of all religion to give us human the sinners a perfect solution for the redemption of our sin so that we are right with God again through Jesus Christ.

5) Next I saw Col sharing with a Chinese girl giving out English Bible the Book of John to her. So I supposed she is a non believers who has no Bible but is earnestly hoping to get one, so I gave her a Chinese NT bible. Pray that the words of God will take life changing effect for her to come to Christ in His time soon.

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From 1 month ago - You who are alert will have noticed that I should have included another clause. I am sure you will agree that
Jesus  return will be far better than any present day service we may do.

     There were not the usual number of tourists today and many God did not want us to converse with today. As always, God gave us the ones He wanted spoken to.  

      Fynn had 2 groups of his former school acquaintances passing by. The 3 young men had forgotten what they had heard at school earlier and were quite careless about it all. A larger group wanted to go through the flip chart. 2 of them appeared to be 'counting the cost' after a thorough chat.

          - Fynn also took P., a young woman, through it all. She stated that she would get 'a round toit' So she was asked, "If you were offered $1000000 and told this condition: "When you die you will go to hell", would you accept the money? She got the point. Pray she receives God's only Saviour & Lord in saving faith.

     Ryan was able to help a Dutch lady rightly divide justification and sanctification in her understanding.

     He also had 3 children seem eager  to receive Jesus. It appeared from conversing with their  parents that they had a Pentecostal church background. The mother, E., had a shallow knowledge of the gospel and apparently did not teach their children at home. He would not engage with us. Sad!!!

     I met my former J.W. door-knocker and his new co-worker (they sit in deck chairs?!?) . No apparent progress today but God works while we sleep.

To Him be the glory and praise. We went home thankful and rejoicing.

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On Saturday, It was our first time that we used ‘good person test’ flip chart, by God’s grace we had a lot of people engaging with the chart. Overall, It was such a joy filled day to see many people paying attention to the glorious gospel and that glorious gospel been proclaimed loud and clear at the centre of Melbourne CBD. 

I encountered ‘Woo Hyun’ he was from South Korea and he showed interest to ‘Good person test’ flipchart so it was good chance for me to share the gospel with him. As I was going through the flip chart he constantly smiled and laughed as he was realising that he was not a GOOD PERSON and when the gospel was shared about the death on the cross and the resurrection, he said ‘wow.. I am getting goosebumps’ I urged him to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Please pray for Woo Hyun as you read this. 

As I was handing out gospel tract, a man showed interest and starting to show genuine interest to the message but he gently asked me to share it bit quickly as he is waiting for the tram to come however, as the gospel was shared he decided to stay bit longer and after the gospel was shared he commented “It is too easy, just believe and be saved??!” So I told him that’s why it is ‘grace’ and ‘free gift’ from God but I had to emphasise as well that If someone truly believes their ways will change out of thankfulness and love for Christ and shared Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 36:26

From Huy Do:- 

This day’s evangelism was quite productive, thanks to the grace of God, thanks to His mercy and grace and faithfulness, the glorious Gospel of salvation was preached to many. During the entirety of the evangelism, I had shared the Gospel using the new flip chart that brother Martin graciously acquired, but only to groups of 2, 3 or 5 people at a time, yet the highlight came at the end. It was 21:00, nearing the end, and a Muslim couple with their child had come to take the good person test, it was late, and I had thought about not getting up on the soap box, but proceeded anyways, I thought that I was just going to share the Gospel to the couple and that would be it, but it was not so. As I got up and started to go over the commandments, the couple became a group of 4, the group of 4 became the group of 6, and then a little while after, a heckler came and started to object to the preaching, to which I graciously engaged, yet with his presence, more people came and a crowd gathered, by this time, the flip chart had already been fully finished, so then I proceeded to continue to preach about the Gospel to the crowd. I then ended with a plea for them to flee from the wrath that is to come and flee to Jesus Christ, and that whosoever believes in Him shall not be put to shame. By the end, several people came forward to take the Gospel tracts that I offered at the end of the preaching. PRAISE GOD for His faithfulness, only He can miraculously draw a crowd and cause them to listen, please pray for those who heard, that God would by that Gospel save them.

From Mai :- 

I met a Hindu man who had never heard of the gospel or the Christian faith before. After presenting the gospel to him, he saw the beauty of God and His love and said that it will make him think more about eternal life. 

From Daniel :- 

There was a woman from French Polynesia, who I approached and said she didn't know much English but she knew enough for us to have a conversation. She thought herself to be a good person, so I went through the 10 commandments with her, showing her she is not a good person, she is a sinner like the rest of us. She said she doesn't believe in heaven or hell but she believes in God, I challenged her theory by asking her since God is Holy and Just how can sinners get justice? Sinners would get away with their sin. She noticed her problem, since God exists there must be heaven and hell. I told her what Christ did for us on the cross, that He died for her, absorbed the wrath of God for her and that Christ loved her that He died for her. I told her she must repent of her sin and trust in Christ alone.

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We learned some very sad news while we were in the city on Thursday morning. And this report will focus on that, please keep reading.

The first week of the NZ Summer Mission, in Christchurch, is now complete.

On Thursday morning, we were back in the central city (team of six) - and in the afternoon, we were at the Northlands bus stops (three). On Friday we followed our usual schedule: with a gospel + abortion outreach in the morning (team of seven), preaching in Cathedral Square at lunch time (seven), flip charting and walk up conversations in the afternoon (seven), and an outreach to the city in the evening (four).

On Thursday, while I was in Cathedral Square, I noticed two construction workers sitting next to some flowers. So I approached them asking if they were selling them! 🤣 Of course they weren’t, but they said that someone had died and the flowers were there in respect of them. 😢 I was sad to learn of this, but it opened up an opportunity to talk about death and then share the law and the gospel with them. One was resistant, the other was open.

Afterwards, I was walking with some of the team towards Cashel Mall, when one of them informed me that Kelven had died! I was devastated. Kelven was the blind busker who was always in Cathedral Square. We had a friendly toleration of each other. He would stop busking to allow us to open air preach - but he didn’t agree with our views.

I remember at Christmas time, on a rainy Friday Kelven requested Andy & I sing a Christmas carol with him. We obliged. Even though we disagreed on religious matters, we could be nice!

In my last Christchurch report I mentioned how difficult the open air preaching had been (last Friday). I was on my own, and I had a lot of hecklers who were mocking. Sadly I remember Kelven laughing while this was all happening.

Here is what I wrote:

"I felt quite grieved at how people were mocking God (I don’t care if they mock me). God is not mocked. And one day they will face Him. But I’m thankful for the patience of God! I hope some heard the gospel and will be saved from His wrath."

I also specifically remember declaring that, although they are mocking now, there will be a day when they face God, and they won’t be laughing. I pleaded with them to accept the mercy of God while they can.

And tragically that mercy is no longer available to Kelven. Did he repent before the heart attack struck on Tuesday? Possibly, but all the evidence points to his rejection of the gospel. If so, Kelven will face a just God without the mediator: Jesus.

So it was with this in mind that I preached with a fresh passion and love for the lost of Christchurch today (Friday). I talked about the things I’ve mentioned above, I proclaimed the law (the bad news), and the wonderful good news of the gospel. And I afresh pleaded with people to repent and trust alone in the free gift of forgiveness found only in the sacrifice of Jesus paying the fine for sin.

Kelven heard the gospel many times over the years we have known him. What about you, have you heard the gospel and not responded so far? We don’t know when we will die - this is so important. Please understand and respond to the gospel today. You can read about it here: https://www.needgod.net/

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Day three of the NZ Summer Mission is complete. Today we focused on outreach at the beaches in Christchurch. In the morning we were at New Brighton, and in the afternoon we were in Sumner.

We were slightly late getting over to New Brighton, but it was providential that we were. When we arrived, the location was dead. We peered over a low wall to take a look at the beach, and the only person I could see was someone surfing! But then I turned around and noticed a young lady walking past, I mentioned to her that there weren’t many people around, and from there I ended up having the best gospel conversation of the day (for me)! If we had arrived earlier, I may have missed her. It felt like one of those divine appointments, and I knew I needed to focus on the conversation rather than getting the team organised. At one point, Andy tried to call me, but I ignored it. Eventually the lady said, “I think your phone is ringing”. I just responded with, “I know, but this conversation with you is more important right now”.

After that conversation, the team (of seven) gathered (in the meantime, some had distributed tracts to the people fishing off the pier, and others had gospel conversations with those they could find), and we prayed together before pairing up as usual. And by now, there were more people appearing - not too many, but enough to keep the team busy sharing the good news of Jesus for the morning!

And this just caused us to be brave and bold, and approach everyone we came across. This led to many surprisingly good gospel interactions.

At lunch time, we bought cans of soft drink and some ice to fill a chilly bin with before moving over to Sumner. The team enjoyed lunch together before we headed onto the beach for round two of the day armed with the chilly bin as a means of blessing people with a free cold drink and starting gospel conversations (that is, if they wanted to talk - some took a drink but didn't want to talk, which was fine, but most would at least take a tract).

A highlight conversation for me was with a family of four from the Philippines. They were very grateful for the drink, and were keen to chat about what happens after life. This was a great opportunity for Julia to try using the mini flip chart for the first time. She did a fantastic job! Well done Julia! She got stuck a few times, which was fine as I was there to help her through. It turns out that this young family had a Catholic background, and so the conversation focused on salvation by faith alone (not works) - and what the right motivation for good works should be (not trying to earn salvation). I gently challenged them to trust in Christ alone for their salvation, and to come away from the Catholic church. Their young son, engaged in the conversation very well. I was surprised that when the conversation ended, he gave me a hug! How precious was that!

But the afternoon had it’s trials as well. One lady was so offended at us giving away free drinks to “dupe” people into a conversation that she made a bit of a scene about it. This was out of the blue and I wasn’t prepared to deal with it. I could have handled the situation better, and it was a good learning opportunity for me. Unfortunately it spoiled the conversation that had started but, praise God, another team member was able to share the gospel with one of them later in the day. And it certainly didn’t stop our efforts to continue the mission! It was a reminder of the battle we are in, and the desperate need to have our armour on and to be in prayer. We need your daily prayers also - thank you!

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Battle Log for Toowong Village on Tuesday Jan 14, 2020 from 1330 to 1500.

I was seriously held up by traffic jam caused by a serious accident on M3 as such I arrived only after the team started. There were five persons serving today, namely Capetian Johnny, Col, Kiateck , Yuen Han and Hung. Johnny chose to go to the main entrance side of Toowong Village and served at Sherwood Road while all others still took our position on the Benson Street front with Kiateck later changed site to the Eastern corner of the Toowong Village.

No matter how, we all were still blessed with significance conversations with our Gospel sharing targets. Our fresh blood sister Yuen Han was doing very good since day one. Today was her 2nd participation and she could still mange to get many conversations though many rejections as well. She will have a separated post of sharing later.(*)  Col got three consecutively long conversations particularly the last one with a young Aussie girl. As for me, despite my late arrival, and walking around to check on team mates status, I still got 5 divine appointment to chat as recap below: -

1) While checking of the status of Yuen Han, with her haring with other person at the bus stop, I took the liberty to share with two young Aussie Girl Seth and Natalie. They looked a bit funky but turn out to be two willing listeners. It was the first time for both of them to hear the Gospel and they find it sensible and logical to get saved through Jesus and Him alone. Pray for God's continuous work on them.

2) Then I caught up with another local Aussie Steve. He is a rational man who knows the Bible a fair bit but missing the point of salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ. Through his fragmented understanding of the Bible, he has utterly no assurance of salvation and wonder how the sins of every one can be forgiven. It was a pity that I could only rush to explain that only through the atoning death of Christ that the punishment of our sins can be taken over by Christ as such we are all pardon to become right with God again regaining our lost heavenly citizenship right away with 100% certainty through accepting Christ as our Savior and Lord of our born again new life.

3) After that I walked up to look for Johnny with Kiatecj who felt like switching place across the road back to the Shopping mall side. On the way, I handed a tract to An Aussie skinny lady. She accepted it with reluctance and hurried off to her errands.

4) Afterwards, when I returned to check on Yuen Han, I followed up on Matt an old Aussie man who had received a tract from Yuen Han but did not stop. Again I got his permission to walk him to the Shopping mall across the foot bridge. He walked very fast despite of his heavy body, so I had to speak with faster pace to finish the gospel sharing just upon our entering to the shopping mall. He anyway still thanks for my message and hopefully it will has God's impact in his life.

5) Finally, Han a Malaysian Chinese old man was first rounded up by Col. But Mr Han speak no English, so Col refer him to me despite it was already time for us to go to do our closing prayers finishing for the day. I chose to stay behind and quickly found his family has Christian background in the older generation. And Mr Han appeared very interested to start pursuing God even as this old age. He recognized the CCCB St Lucia Church which is close to his home in St Lucia. I pointed at Kiateck across the street and took a photo with him so that Kiateck know to follow up on him when Mr Han really plan to attend CCCB St Lucia. So God timing is always the best, not too early and not too late for us to get connected with needy lost souls.

(*) Yuen Hang Tsui  14/01/2010

This time I could only share the good news with two people, few of them were happy to receive the tracts and some of them even refused the tracts. I thanked God that I could have the chance to be involved in the Street Evangelism.

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