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.

Christchurch (NZ) Team

It’s been a wonderful week of gospel ministry.  I have 3 standout gospel interactions to share from this week.

 

As a team, we were out on the streets 3 times this week.  Graeme & Roger were in Riccarton on Tuesday afternoon.  Andy & I were in Riccarton on Thursday afternoon.  And Roger, Andy & I were in the city on Friday afternoon.  The included pictures are from those outreaches.

 

The first interaction I want to share was from the Friday afternoon outreach.  Roger and I were between chats and were touching base when a young lady from Christchurch Girls' High walked up to us.  She was interested in the tracts in my hand.  I gave her one, and we naturally fell into a gospel conversation (Roger moved on and ended up in his own chat right beside me).

 

From our conversation, I could tell she had a Christian influence in her life, but she didn’t have gospel clarity, and she had a lot of questions.  She needed some grounding, so I started at the beginning of my presentation and walked her through it.

 

It became clear that she was subtly thinking her works would save her.  And so I used the analogies for the ‘false ways’ to explain why works can’t save.  I then moved to the gospel.  I was using the speeding ticket analogy when, all of a sudden, she had a click moment.  “Oh, I get it now”, she said excitedly.  I asked her what she ‘got’.  And she said: “Jesus died for my sins”.  Bingo.

 

But I didn’t leave it there; I immediately explained how we accept the gift (trust) and then moved into the check questions.

 

The most powerful check was “Before this chat, what did you think would get you to heaven?”  The reason was that she had previously said, “But I already believe this”.  When she thought about my question, she had another ‘aha’ moment; she realised she was trusting in her works, rather than in Jesus.

 

It was at this point that she decided to move on.  It was like she had enough to chew on for now.  I challenged her to trust in Christ and to start reading her Bible for herself, starting in John, to check what I was saying.  She also had the tract I had given her at the start.

 

I didn’t have to do anything to start the chat; she walked up to me.  And she walked on when she was ready.  But I had the wonderful privilege of sowing the gospel seed into her life!  It’s the power of God for salvation.

 

The 2nd interaction was from an online chat on Saturday afternoon.  I connected with a guy, and he immediately informed me he was drunk.  He had a Christian background, but had sadly never understood what it meant to be a Christian (because later he articulated that works would save).

 

He said he had a respect for Christianity, but he would never be one.  Not being put off, I followed the ‘script’, and when I started working towards explaining the true gospel, a ray of light started to dawn in his thinking - and it seemed positive, but then he suddenly said something like, “Oh, you are not going to get me going back to church”, and he skipped me!

 

It was like he was being convinced, but he realised he would have to forsake his sin, and he didn’t want to.  And yet, I rejoiced!  Another seed had been planted.  May God bring a conviction for sin that would lead to conversion, to the glory of God alone.

 

The final interaction was not ‘work’-related.  A year or so ago, Roger had encouraged me to find a hobby to balance my work.  And so now I often go down to a local game store to play a card game that I enjoy.  Well, on Friday night, after finishing my last round, I stood up, and I heard a guy playing at the table behind me say, “I’m not religious, so I’m probably going to hell”.  It was a perfect-timing thing, and I had a choice: say something or stay silent.  I knew it would be a bit awkward, but I went for it; I simply said, “Well, there is a way to avoid hell”.  The guy was a bit surprised by my sudden comment.  I then turned back to my bag, wishing I had a gospel tract.  Suddenly, I realised I had stashed a couple of tracts in my bag for such a moment as this.  I pulled out a “How we know God is real, and why it matters”, turned and said, “If you want to learn more, have a read of this”.  Again, the guy was surprised, but he took the tract, put it down on the table next to him, and continued playing cards.  It was a very brief interaction, and any more than that would have been going too far.  But if he decides to read it, and if God wills it, then he has the opportunity to understand the gospel!  I was super encouraged by this, because I sometimes wonder if I’m using my time wisely in this way.  But it’s so wonderful to be able to rub shoulders with people who might never otherwise have an opportunity to interact with believers.  I can be salt and light in that way.  The key is taking the opportunities when they come up.  So, be encouraged to take those opportunities you get too!

 

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Battle Log of Operation 513 at Sunnybank on Wednesday September 2nd, 2026 from 1030-1130

Today was a rare jubilant day of Gospel outreach with near full team turn out, 3 out of 4 from the Joyce Meyer Ministry ie Jason, Sue, Errol, Team CFC ie Hung and Peace, freelancer Ann and a newcomer Kuda from zimbawee.

God moved Kuda to come to the OPN 513 advertise Wednesday outreach spot and successfully catching up with the team. She has not prior experience of gospel sharing. I anyway took the trouble to demonstrate how I do gospel sharing and then she really venture oof by faith that God will be with her.

Peace was also very courageous to approach people irrespective of their nationality. Eventually God also created a divine encounter to move me and Peace to approach the son and mom respectively. They have just arrived in Brisbane with the mother accompanying the son to do high school study. And God elected them to hear the gospel in the first instance both the mom and the son. Pray that these seed sowing work will bear fruit in his time.

All other team members had their own personal encounter moment with the presence of God when they step out to preach the gospel.

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Battle Log of Operation 513 at Toowong on Tuesday Sep 1st 2026 from 1030-1130

A solo outreach today again with all regular or ad hoc team mates not yet available. God is good, I was connected with a non-belivers from another big city of Sarawak, Eastern Malaysia that I went in mid July for a CCCOWE conference at Kuching. So it is not a big coincidencd that God move me to approach that young man. CHrisitan ration inf Saravah amongst Malaysian Chinese is high, but this guys is yet to be a belevers though he admitted he also has been led to pursue Chrisitainity. So we had a very nice and open chat praying that God will do the rest after this divine encounter

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Due to the weather and tiredness, I only made it out on the streets once this week (for the rest of the week, my focus was online).  On Friday, Roger, Andy & I were in the city in nice spring weather.  I’m going to have to start thinking about sunscreen again!

 

The first chat I want to talk about was one with a young father down by the Avon River.  He was sitting on one of the benches while his daughter was collecting sticks.  I offered him a tract.  He took it, and so I quickly followed up with, “It comes with a question, if you have a minute”.  He was keen to talk, and so I took the bench next to him.

 

He had had a Christian background, and after a few questions he didn’t default to works for salvation, but to the gospel.  His time at university had challenged his faith, and it was clear that he had never resolved the questions he had faced.

 

Most of my time in this chat was spent listening and addressing some of the apologetics he had needed when he was at university.  But I also sensed that he didn’t have an appreciation for the serious nature of sin, which is the horse that needs to go before the cart of the gospel.

 

I felt a need to cut this conversation short, not because it wouldn’t have been useful to continue the conversation, but because it was clear that his daughter needed his love and attention at this time.  I decided to disengage, but not before pointing him to the Scriptures.  He also still had the follow-up tract.  I left him in the sovereign hands of God, and I was grateful for the opportunity to minister into his life for as long as I did.

 

Due to the warmth, I decided to head for the shade of Cashel Mall.  I found myself at the corner of Cashel and Colombo when I had my next significant chat.

 

It was with a young man (late teens to early 20s) who also had a Christian background (later he mentioned that his grandparents were leaders in the church he grew up in).

 

Sadly, this kid didn’t have the gospel in short-term memory, if at all.  He felt the burden of sin, but didn’t know how to lift it.  So, the chat involved me training him to articulate the gospel well.  If it can touch his mind, then it can be the power of God to change his heart.  He seemed deeply appreciative of the chat.

 

Later, I was back at the sun-drenched Bridge of Remembrance end when I had a fascinating chat with a guy from Germany.

 

This guy claimed to be a Christian, but after a brief time it was clear he thought he would get to heaven by being good.

 

The point I want to make about this conversation is that we never really connected in the conversation.  Anything I said seemed to bounce off his hardened mind; he seemed blind to simple logic.  Eventually, he revealed his real philosophy: happiness.  Happiness was his god.  And in light of this, he considered himself to be a good person.  I spent some time trying to reason with him about how we know what is good and bad, but I didn’t seem to make any progress.

 

Eventually, his friend arrived, also German, and joined the conversation.  But I sensed I needed to let the conversation go.  In the end, I warned him that it wouldn’t be himself judging himself when he died; it would be the perfect and holy God of the universe.  We parted on good, if not slightly tense, terms.

 

I had some wonderful chats online this week too.  But the one fresh in my mind is the one I had earlier today, with a guy from the UK.  It went for 30 minutes.

 

Most of the chat was in the building/builder part of the ‘script’. This guy struggled to see the simplest concepts, and would simply repeat the opposite of the truth like a robot. But I gently laboured with him, with God's help. I think things were dawning in his thinking, so I went to the law. He thought he was a good person, so I had to labour on that for a bit. He was starting to see the point, and so I raced to the gospel! Not that I thought he was ready for it, but because I wanted to leave that seed with him. Why is he not ready? Naturally, I could see layers of resistance in his thinking that need to be broken through. God can do that in an instant - and may he do so! This was his last chat before bed. I pointed him to John in the Bible and warned him not to ignore what we were talking about (for him, he enjoyed the intellectual activity but didn't seem interested in his soul at this time, sadly).

 

It’s a pleasure and privilege to be basking in God’s grace!  I’m looking forward to some rest and then getting into another week of ministry.  Thank you so much for continuing to pray for this labour.

 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

A slightly delayed report.  Better late than never!  We were on the streets on Thursday (20th) in Riccarton (Andy & I) and Friday (21st) in the city (Roger, Andy, & I).

 

I turned up early on Thursday, and I knew Andy would be there because I walked past his car on the way to the outreach spot.  And yet, he wasn’t on the corner of Riccarton and Rotherham.  I figured he would be on ‘the loop’, so I decided to go find him.  I completed the loop: no Andy.  Yet, there was a huge stream of high school students heading towards Riccarton Road, coming down Rimu Street.  So, I perched myself on that corner and started handing out gospel tracts.  My stack depleted quickly!

 

I got to have some short but wonderful interactions.  One was a follow-up with a young man who thought the “good person test” was associated with Scientology.  In this interaction, he came to learn that I wasn’t a Scientologist, and he warmed slightly to me.  I hope to see him again and be able to share the gospel with him.  But he wasn’t ready yet.  After he left, his friend apologised for him - it turns out his friend is connected to a large local church, but sadly, he wasn’t able to articulate the gospel to me.  I hope to get more opportunities to talk to him too.

 

Later, on a subsequent run of ‘the loop’, I noticed some ripped-up tracts at the bus stops.  So, as part of my practice, I clean up and place them in the bin (pictured).  Sadly, they are rejecting gold and can’t see it.

 

Back at the corner of Rotherham and Riccarton, the standout chat for me was with a guy from China, who defaulted to atheism with a mix of reincarnation.  He was very open to logic and the gospel.  After a short chat, he readily accepted a copy of the Gospel of John.  Very encouraging.

 

By this stage, Andy had appeared.  It turns out that he had gotten into a good chat with a Muslim from Saudi Arabia who had just moved to NZ; they retired to a coffee shop to continue the conversation there!

 

And speaking of Islam, on Friday, Andy had a chat with another Muslim for at least an hour and a half (pictured).  Andy said he deployed the Islamic Dilemma in that chat.

 

Roger also had an outstanding chat (pictured).  That picture has a rubbish bin theme too.  It makes me think: we are rubbish (I don’t mean that negatively) sharing gold!  2 Co 4:7 (esv): But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

 

Thank you for continuing to pray that God’s strength be shown through our weakness!  All glory to Him alone.

 

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Battle Log of Operation 513 at Sunnybank on Wednesday August 19th 2026 from 1030-1130

Initially, I thought I was to do outreach alone but Ann turned up a bit later to team up with me after a good chat amongst oirselves.

My stand out chat today was with a mainlander from Da Lian but already migrated to Australia for 20 odd years. His adaptation and integration to Austrlia life makes him a more relax and open minded person to chat along. More so, his wife is a Chrisitan and he claimed himself a Buddist. However, he show receptiveness to the gospel message especially the point that doing more good deeds can never be enough to offset or compensate for the transgression we have done and that good person is not good enough for heaven but perfection is God's requirement. As an imperfect fallen human being, he admitted we all need salavtion of Jesus to set our record of sin straight again to return to zero. Pray that this conversation will trigger him to ponder the ultimate need to accept Jesus as his saviour and lord of his life.

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Battle Log of Operation 513 at Toowong on Tuesday August 25th 2026 from 1030-1130

This week perhaps I can only do one day outreach at Toowong as I need to undergo a Biopsy procedure that would cause me not able driving with9in 24 houtrs after the day surgury.

Today, I had short and incomplete chat with a mainlander from Xiamen with his mum, a bit shy but still polite and welcoming for achat. Then encounter seve3ral rejection till I got connected with an Middel East perosns hwo however lived in HKG for 2 and a half year plus his NZ friend. Both are very open as well for a gospel chat. Then I was led to approach an Indonesia girl who surprisingly is a Christian and more so a genuine world Christan with full assurance of salavation. This perhaps is the bonus for today to see God's work gradually in many youger genetration of the Indonesians.

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Battle Log of Operation 513 at Toowong on Tuesday August 18th 2026 from 1030-1130

I did my solo street outreach again at Toowong after resting last week to take care of my HongKong visitor friends. The weather was not stable with intermittent rain. But as usual, God withold rain while I was doing outreach in open air and let rain fall again after I was done.

The special chat today was with a 2nd year politcal Science UQ student. He is non-religioujs but God might have softened his heart to have a long chat with me and appeared very receptive to the Gospel.

It was a pleasant to do outreach despite of unstable weather but God showed His presnece with me throughout the time at the Toowong bus stop.

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

It was nice having a week off!  But also good to get back to it this week.  There were 3 street outreaches this week:  Roger, Graeme, and Sam were out on Tuesday in Riccarton.  Andy, Sam, and I were in Riccarton on Thursday.  And Roger, Andy, and I were in the City on Friday.

 

It was a busy outreach on Thursday.  Sam and I ran a flipchart while Andy was mobile.  One standout chat was with a young man from Africa with a Christian background.  He had to get going, but he was able to stay long enough to hear a brief gospel presentation.  He was very encouraged by the way we were doing evangelism.  But later in the outreach, he came back.  He had had a job interview, but now that that was done, he wanted to have a proper chat with us.  I was able to slow down and bring precision to the presentation. When I got to the ‘sin again’ check, he gently resisted and quoted Romans 6 in response.  This was great, because we now had a chance to really wrestle with this biblical tension: we are saved by grace, for good works (and not by good works).  He let me explain the ‘sin again’ check (Jesus pays for our future sins), and then, to balance it, I gave him the fireman analogy (out of love for Jesus, we don’t want to commit future sins).  And then we stood back and considered both sides of the tension in harmony.  We considered Ephesians 2:8-10 and Romans 1 to 6 in this conversation.  He even pulled out his phone to write the passages down so he could “check it with the Bible” for himself later.

 

After working through all the checks, I challenged him: “Before this chat, why exactly did you think you’d go to heaven when you die?”  He had to admit that he was partly trusting his works, and so I challenged him to change his mind and to search the Scriptures till God gave him an assurance of his salvation.  It was such a great chat!

 

Another standout chat from that outreach was with a tall young man.  At the start of our conversation, it was clear that he never thought about what happens after life, and he seemed a bit perplexed at the concepts I was explaining.  But something in him seemed to wake up and engage in the conversation.  So much so that I was able to slow down and really go through it - I knew I wasn’t going to lose him.  By the end of the chat, he was articulating the gospel clearly.  Sam gave him a Gideon New Testament, and he had a gospel tract summary.

 

The standout chat from Friday’s outreach was a chat with a young couple from India.  They were both nurses, and having just arrived in the country, they were currently searching for jobs.  My daughter has just graduated with her nursing degree, so we were able to talk naturally for a time before I gently steered the conversation to deeper things.  They had a Hindu background.  I don’t get to talk to a lot of Hindu’s so I led the conversation by asking questions about their worldview.  When they made statements, I gently challenged them to understand how they knew the things they were saying were true.  And I had to ask a lot of “what do you mean by that” questions so that we had the best opportunity to understand each other.

 

Through this process, I think they started to see holes in their worldview.  Eventually, the guy had had enough.  He handed me back the gospel tract I had given them at the start and said, “Thank you for your time, but we need to move on”.  That was fine; I didn’t insist they take the tract, and I didn’t push further.  Ploughing had been done.  May the soil be better prepared for the next Christian to come along and continue that conversation.  And maybe share the gospel.

 

Thank you for your continued prayer for this feeble ministry.  May God’s strength be shown through our weakness.  All glory to God alone.

 

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Battle Log of Operation 513 at Sunnybank on Wednesday August 12th 8th 2026 from 1030-1130

I still managed to do solo despite a exhausting few days taking care of my HKG spoiritual family freinds. The Filipinno youngster claimed to be from a Catholic Chrisitan family but appeared not fully understanding gosdpel and salvation at all. Did my job to first check his assurance of salvation and then simply shared him the full gospel from scratch. It was a hectic day of Ekka holiday for Brisbane.

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