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.
Battle Log of Operation 513 at Sunnybank on Wednesday Sep 20th, 2023 from 1300-1500
Praise be to God, the Street Outreach team from Sherwood Methodist Church has grown from strength to strength with 3 persons joining including Johnny, then Qin Hao, the Bible College student and pastor reserve joined us 3 months ago and today their sacred music choir pianist Siste Li Su Yi joined us during the school holiday. Both are very gifted evangelist making numerous fruitful gospel chats. Recap below is the Battle Log of Hung
1) My first target was a lady migrated to Australia from Shanghai. ????. I was only able to kick off the conversation but no time to share too much before the bus arrived, but she delightfully took a tract?? to read. At least she was open mind to the gospel.
2) Then Qin Hai collaborated with me to approach a group of Filipino of three youngsters. I focused in chatting with the youngest girl. She was receptive and took a tract to revise on what I shared with her.
3) Then I caught up next with a lady from Henan Changzhou????. She is a UQ student and was still open enough to have a chat though she did not take a tract at the end.
4) Then I noticed a Japanese cross breed boy was reading the tract Qin Hao gave him. I waited until he finished reading the tract and chipped in to ask for his understanding and impression of the rationality of the Gospel. He fully get the real meaning of the tract and agree everybody good or bad, are all imperfect as such we all need salvation offered by Jesus. His sister was also pleased to hear the good news of God.
5) Then I turned to an UQ student Mao? from Beijing.?? who majors in IT. He was the first one I can shared the full gospel with his bus still not coming to take him away. He might not be fully open but still was polite enough to listen to the full gospel and took a tract afterwards.
6) Then, I caught up with yet another person from Shanghai ??. She study at Griffith but our conversation was interrupted by a phone call.
7) Then I bumped into two girls one looks like cross breed with Chinese blood but actually is a Japanese and the other a Thailand girl. They listen just in time for the full gospel and delightfully took a tract to revise on the message.
8 ) Then I caught up with a Local Aussie girl. I spent some time for ice breaking talking about fair dinkum. She appreciated for my knowledge input but then I only have time for half of the gospel message when her bus arrived.
9) Next God brought a girl from Shenzhen?? by the name of Ln?who studies at Griffith. She was unwilling, if not reluctant to hear the gospel claiming it was fine she does not need religious message. Nevertheless, I put aside the tract and from friend point of view to share about the common thing we know as a Hongkonger and Great Bay Area residence. It ended up she listened up to the full gospel and became soften, if not receptive to the message about the salvation of Jesus. I was able to establish with her that as an imperfect person, we all need Salvation of Jesus.
10) Then a couple from Shanghai ????, both listened to the gospel one after the other ??? and both showed openness to the message with appreciation.
Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday September 19th, 2023 from 1330 – 1500
Chi Ming could not join us in his last week in Brisbane. We apprecuate his faithfulness to joined us without fail in the past 4, 5 weeks. So today again only Johnny and Hung teamed up to serve at Toowong. Despite it is the beginning of school holiday, yet the Uni is in its normal term period. So there were plenty of students around at the Bus Stop. Hoever, it was not a good day for us, at least for Hung. I had up to 12 conversation opportunities, but only a few last long enough for me to share the full gospel. Nevertheless, we still felt our effort was not in vain. God will be responsible the outcome and follow up in His way and in His time frame. Recap below is the Battle Log of Hung.
1) I met an ABC girl whose parents was from DaLan??, when she realized I was to share the gospel to her, she immediate indicated she is a Chrisitan. I switched to test her assurance of salvation which is 100% correct. It is really rare andI had no time to check her denonimational adherence.
2) Then I was led to approach a youngman from Shenzhen?? who greeted me in Cantonese but just the greetings. He was keen to listen to the Gospel but I could just manage to share the nutshell.
3) Then I caught up with an Indian young man. He was proud to tell me he had visited HKG for 2 months and his favorite spot in HKG is ???Lan Kwai Fong. This ice breaking catching up had taken much time as such I could not even start to share so could just give him a tract to read.
4) Then Yvvone of CCCB St Lucia flashed past giving me a sign of get going for the street outreach mnistry before she rush to catch the bus.
5) Then I caught up with a mainlander girl who claimed she had a caht with Qin Hao (not me or Johnny). I still felt moved to follow up on her understanding of the gospel and the impression about the tract. It was a pity she was interrupted by a phone call that cut an end to our conversation.
6) I instead switched to chat with another mainlander girl, who was willing to listen but the bus arrival end our conversation and I could only end up handing her a tract.
7) Then I was led to catch up with a mainlander girl from Shandong?? who had a long chat with me. She actaully recognized me so I follow up with her by a revision of the gospel. This time she was really impressed and actaully took the initiative to take a tract again to read and seriously ponder for the making the step of faith.
8 )Then I was led to catch up with a Japanese student from Tokyo????. He was amazed I could speak OK Japanese. Again the bus came too quick so I could only leave him with a tract.
9) Next I was led to catch up with an Indian middle age man. His perception of region is just a cultural expression to find peace in our life. I drew him to the awareness of sin and what we need to face in addressing the issue of sin which cannot be resolved by religion but salvation. He could not deny my asseration and pray he would really make self awareness of our sinful nature that needs redemption by Jesus.
10) Next was Zhu ?from Taipei ??who is 4th year student of Economic ?????which was also my major in Chinese University that gave me the edge to identify with him. Again , it was a pity his bus came too quick that I could only leave him a tract.
11) Next I caught up with an Aussie girl who is not a student. She was very open tochat but time was limited so again handing out a tract to her.
12) Finally, I had a long chat with Bella from Surrey of UK. My extensive stay in UK in the past for business and for study earned the rapport with her as such she was keen and drawn to the sharing of gospel together with my life witnesses.
A warm, sunny spring day in Christchurch today (Sunday) - although it was windy, so didn’t bring the flip chart. My daughter, Julia, was with me, and Susan joined as a bit later.
Julia’s getting practice for the upcoming evangelism trip to the Philippines. And she did a fantastic job. Before Susan arrived, she did walk up with me.
Our first chat was with 4 Filipino girls! It was a short chat, but Julia got some practice in, they heard the law and the gospel, and they all received tracts.
Next up we encountered a deep thinking young man who was rejecting religion based on grounds of logic. I fielded most of this chat, although Julia handled the main points (building builder, law, gospel). It was a good chat where we were able to reason with him based on logic as to why religion (specifically Christianity) is true. It was a great chat, he certainly had a lot to think about, and left with a tract.
Next up were 4 young men from the local Catholic High School. It was a good chat in that it was fairly standard script wise. When we got to the ‘false ways to heaven’, they naturally went to “reconciliation” which they defined as “asking for forgiveness”, and then “do more good than bad”. Julia was able to address both of those with analogies explaining why they won’t work, and then we shared the gospel.
We took a few moments to discuss ways of sharing the gospel, and it was at this point that Susan joined us. I noticed a couple of girls doing a survey, and suspected they were from the World Mission Society Church of God. I was right. I asked if I could do the survey, and they came over and let me. It led to a good conversation, where they told me that we must ‘obey’ to get to heaven, esp. Keeping the Sabbath (Saturday) and passover. I was able to show them how it’s impossible for us to obey, and then the truth about Jesus. It was encouraging seeing how challenged they were. Not surprisingly, they didn’t take tracts when I gave them back the survey clipboard (I’d only made it through the first few questions).
But at this point, and now that Susan was here, it was time for Julia to get some practice without me. She was keen! And so she paired up with Susan for the last half hour. They managed to get into 2 conversations (pictured). Well done! The more we practise, the better we get!
I handed out tracts, and managed to get into another short conversation at the end of the outreach.
Yesterday (Saturday) I decided to work online in the morning to try to keep on top of the TikTok messages. My wife, youngest daughter, and myself were also able to attend the local ‘March for Life’ in the afternoon. It went really well. It was good to hear the gospel preached!
Friday was also windy, but I brought the flip chart anyway, as I’m testing out Mike’s new stand.
We had a team of 5: Roger, Dom, Mark, Andy and myself. Roger found a sheltered spot for his flip chart, Andy paired up with Mark, and Dom paired with me.
We used the flip chart for an initial chat with a couple. He was barely engaged, but as we made progress she became more engaged. She ended up asking about a church, and so I gave her a contact card for mine.
That chat led straight into another chat, but the flip chart had to be packed away - just too windy, even with Mike’s sturdy stand! That gave Dom an opportunity to lead the chat while I did the pack up. They guy was pretty resistant, even though he was friendly. We did our best, and were able to share the law and the gospel.
We then headed down Cashel to find people to talk to. We had a long chat with a young couple, and that went well. And then a short chat with a young man who took my mobile # (he hasn’t messaged yet).
Dom had to leave at this point. I had 2 more chats, but I was so tired, I wasn’t really able to engage well. But who knows, God can still use those conversations for his glory!
Now, Tuesday’s outreach was amazing. Roger and I in our usual spots. I remember being busy for the whole outreach. The 2nd to last conversation was memorable, because it was with 2 young ladies who denied God was real, for emotional reasons: evil and suffering. I was able to reason with them: 1) empathy, 2) God doesn’t do evil, people do. I decided not to go to the 3rd point: why God allows evil in the first place - I didn’t think it would help. But I hoped they saw my love and concern, which is a reflection of God’s greater love and concern for them. The first girl stuck to her guns, but the other girl seemed to be listening. Sadly they didn’t stay to hear the gospel, and refused tracts.
By this stage I was noticing an older guy in a suit down the road, but not far from me. He was making phone calls while drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. I assumed he must be rich! I only had 5 tracts left and made a comment across the road to Roger about needing to hand them out before we finish up. Well, I turned and noticed this guy, he was looking at me. So I offered him one. He was keen! We only had a short chat, but in that time he really opened up about trials in his life. I felt honoured that he felt safe enough with me to do that. He had a Catholic background. I was able to touch on the law and the gospel with him, and he shook my hand firmly as he moved on with his tract. I felt elated for some reason. I’ve got the best job in the world, being able to minister the truth about God and the hope of eternal life. All glory to him!
Please keep the team of 10 flying to the Philippines from Australia, NZ and the USA 20th till 30th of September to partner with Rock of Refuge Church (and other churches) in Manila for evangelism. I hope to write a few reports about it here. Thank you!
Battle Log of Operation 513 at Sunnybank on Wednesday Sep 13th, 2023 from 1300-1500
Today, again only Johnny and Hung teamed up to serve at Sunnybank while Qin Hao still could not come due to heave assignment work load. Most of the chats were short. But for both of us, we got some long chat which is extraordinary in Sunny bank. Recap below is the Battle Log of Hung.
1) It took me a while to be sure that God led me to chat with Friday from Sudan despite he is a smoker. Sudan is an Islamic country with 90% are Muslim and 5.7% Christian. Friday is non-religious and is from the Zulu tribes. He told me Johnny had spoken with him before, so with the Gospel message readily heard, he appeared very open and even receptive to the Gospel. He showed good manner stop smoking immediately when I started to chat with him. Basically, he shared my view that the adverse impact of sin is evidenced affecting all aspects of our life. So it is without doubt that all people need to repent and accept Jesus as savior. Hope next time we meet; God may have moved him to make the last step of faith to Christ.
2) Next, I connected with a Mainlander from North Easter Region. Just started and shared the nutshell of gospel and passed him a tract when the bus came ???????
3) Then I approached a Malaysian Chinese ?? from KL who can speak multiple languages so we ended up talking in Cantonese. He is 76 years old but too secularized and opined he is smart enough and do not need Gospel.
4) Then I met a Mainlander Chinese whom Johnny has chatted before and was rejective??. But today, he appeared more opened and was willing to chat but the bus again hinder me to have time for revision of the full gospel.
5) I then was rejected bluntly by a Chines couple. ??????
6) Then I bumped into a Filipino Chinese look young lady. She was pleasant and open for the gospel but I just started and the bus arrival cut my conversation off.
7) Then I caught up with a Mainlander young man from Fuzhou???, he is studying aged care and readily has practicum at aged care home. He is a willing learner but our conversation was cut short by the arriving bus.
8 ) Next is a Korean young men who claimed to be Christian and I was glad to tested him with 100% assurance of salvation.
9) Ryan an Australian born PNG young man. He claimed to be Christian but has a lot of queries on the Bible. This skeptical view of the Bible was caused by his personal viewing of UFO and ET life. I drew his attention back to the Bible and took over 45 minutes to go through all useful verses to affirm the existence of the triune God. I chatted till 1505 as such Johnny left first. Our conversation ended only because of the arrival of Ryan's friends who are Christians and Shannon, one of Ryan's friend was happy I have such a long apologetic conversation with Ryan.
Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday September 12th, 2023 from 1330 – 1500
Today, we had Chi Ming joining Johnny and Hung for the last time before returning to Taiwan. We are thankful for Chi Ming to join and humbly learning to approach people of different cultural background with different attitude, both welcoming and rejective inclusive which have become good training for us the evangelist to trust in God be bold always to share the gospel irrespective of the circumstances. So, as usual there were mixed results of our outreach work , but in majority, they were fruitful and impactful. Recap below is the Battle Log of Hung.
1) Caleb an UQ 2nd year Aussie student who claimed to be non-religious but have a religious biblical name. Despite of initial reluctance, I just was in time to share him the nutshell of the Gospel and he appeared turning soft to admit it is logical and reasonable for all good person but not a perfect one. Jesus is the only measure to help us be set free from the bondage of sin.
2) Next, I was led to approach Shawles a tall young man from India. He was a good listener and appeared very receptive to the gospel as well. His willingness to take selfie with me was a proof that his appreciation for the message and the tract.
3) Then I caught up with a young man from Beijing. He was surprised I have been there three time and already climbed up to two out of three sections of the Great Wall. The ice breaking chat took up some time, so I could only finish the nutshell of the Gospel but he was all willing to take a tract to read.
4) Then I was led to approach an Indonesia girl who was playing game on her iPhone. She appeared open and interested to the gospel message I share without using Islamic doctrine to debate. Basically, she admitted the gospel is all logical and sensible for any good person but not perfect.
5) Jack was another Aussie I approached but kept rejecting me initially. I persisted to keep the dialogue on with some non-religious matter of common interest, like what is the meaning and origin of dinkum. At the end, I did not earn the time for a full gospel, but still the nutshell of the gospel and his willingness to accept the tract.
6) Patrick is a tall guy from the Sunshine Coast. Again, he initially claimed no interest to religious thing, but through chatting I identified with him by naming all the neighbourhood of his home in the sunshine coast that I once treaded on for gospel outreach. And eventually, I barely gained the time for the nutshell of the Gospel with handling out of tract. He also was appreciative to take a photo with me.
7) Then Ring nose lady bluntly rejected me just kept saying she is d alright. I tried to explain it is actually not all right but in vain.
8 ) Then I approached a girl from Henan Changzhou?????who studied a Master Degree of Finance????. I spent some ice breaking time to earn the right to share her the nutshell of the gospel with handing out a tract.
9) Then I approach another Aussie young man ???but only have time for half gospel message with handling out of a tract.???
10) ????? not willing still shared the nutshell
11) Then I connected with a girl from Guangzhou???so we could chat in Cantonese???, but the bus came too quick and she still happily accept a tract.
12) Jade a political science UQ Aussie girl. She is non-religious and showed no interest in life in the future or in the past. She asserted to care only for living a full life in the presence. I change the tactic, to ask for someone who has no perfect crime free record, breaking local law then they will be liable for jail term punishment. But if we human being are not perfect in our human character record, sinning against God, destroying balance of the nature and sin against each other, will we be free to go without being held responsible for our sin? So the lawful mind compelled her to admit there is a consequence for our imperfect human character that keep hurting each other and destroying the environment despite we offended no law. She turned very receptive and was happy to take my tract to read.
13) Finally, Chi Ming and I approach a couple of males with Zhu?from Xiamen???and another guy from the North East region who appeared less friendly. ????????For me ,I focused on chatting with Zhu who went to study in Taiwan then coming over to Australia, he looked more open because of his wide exposure to the international open world. ???????????????????. Thus, he appeared very open and receptive to the gospel and took my tract.
Another wonderful week of gospel outreach. I’ve just got back from Sunday afternoon’s street outreach in the city. So I’ll start from there and work back in time.
So, today’s outreach was busy. And we had a small evangelism revival with a team of 5 out! Andy, Mike, Susan, Binu and myself. So I praise God for that to start with.
So yeah, many chats are tough. Most people ignore you. Or if they engage, they are resistant in various ways. But when you are prayerful, patient, polite and persistent (hey, Jason, look I got 4 P’s!) then you will get into amazing gospel chats. (Jason is one of my pastors - hey, pastor starts with P too! Haha).
And so, my last chat of the week was one of those. Binu had handed a tract to a Muslim lady, and her daughter (they were wearing head coverings and she later confirmed that she was a Muslim). When they came past me, I said, “Hey, that comes with a question if you have a moment”. To my surprise she came over and was keen to chat (Susan was with me). And so, I started by finding out where she was at. She thought there was a heaven, but no hell. And so, going from there, I was able to gently work them through how we know there must be hell, the bad news of the law, and then into the good news. I was expecting her to buck when I explained about Jesus - but she didn’t, she was very interested. At this point, Susan pulled out a gospel of John with the fireball pictures on the cover. We used that to go over the gospel again. We offered it to her to keep, and she said she would read it. It was an amazing chat! We exchanged names, and found out about where they came from. I could tell she had many questions, but now wasn’t a time to start addressing them. But I invited them to my church (I gave them a contact card with my details), and I explained that she would be welcome to listen and ask as many questions as she liked. As they left, I turned to Susan, and we prayed for them. I felt so honoured to be able to share the wonderful news of Jesus with them. God is so good!
I had two other great chats. Both of them were with groups of teenage girls. Sadly I was reminded that it was spring (it was a lovely warm day), because these girls were really not dressed appropriately. As I spoke to them, I had to keep my head up and my eyes fixed on their faces.
One of the girls was an atheist, “because my Dad died”. It turns out he died in the Canterbury earthquakes, in a building that collapsed next door to the building I was in! I was able to identify with her in that I’ve lost my Dad too. And so going from there, the conversation was able to progress. She was suspicious of me, and asked if I was paid to do what I do - which I am. And so I was able to honestly address that. Slowly she started to open up, I guess she could understand that my motives were right or something? She came to understand that just because there is evil and suffering, that it still makes sense that God is real. And then I was able to explain why we can have hope for eternal life. She also accepted a gospel of John, as did one of her friends. As they left, I prayed for them also.
The other chat was with 2 girls holding hands. So I wondered, and yet that issue never came up. It was a fairly textbook gospel chat. They came to understand the gospel after a couple of checks. At one point there was some gentle resistance, but it went away as I continued to work through check questions.
On Saturday, although the weather was good, I decided not to go to Riccarton for my usual street outreach, as I wanted to catch up on the TikTok direct messages. I had a great chat with someone who would grasp the gospel, but kept slipping back to ‘works’ as I went through the checks, because “It’s too good to be true”. I had to slow down to labour with them. I ended up by getting them to read Romans 3, 4 & 5. I’m looking forward to continuing that conversation.
On Friday, we were in the city as usual. Roger, Andy, and myself. I had a great chat with 2 guys, one of whom was French. But the main speaker was a Kiwi. He was resistant, and so I spent a fair amount of time talking about ‘who is God’. I could see that he was following along with the reasoning. And I didn’t give him an inch - it would only reinforce his suppression of what he knows about the God that he knows exists. It was interesting watching his French friend, who I could tell was seeing clearly what I was saying. They both heard the law and the gospel, and checks. It was great seeing the Kiwi grasp the gospel when he said, “but then someone could then just go out and sleep with prostitutes”. And so I was able to follow up with the fireman analogy and why the gospel actually has the opposite effect. I pleaded with them to repent. They are in God’s hands.
I also had a great chat with a young man who had atheist parents, and yet went to a local Christian school - actually, the same school where my local church meets. I can’t remember the details of that chat (it was fairly standard), but at one point I remember him exclaiming (positively) as the meaning started to sink in. Great chat.
On Tuesday, Julia (my daughter) and Roger were with me in Riccarton. Before Julia and I had even finished setting up the flip chart, we were into a great chat with 3 people. And it was really busy for the next 1.5 hours. But it was cold, and so the last half hour was slow.
Julia had a great opportunity to share the gospel with a couple of girls (pictured).
Ah, I love my job! I would gladly do this for free. The gospel blows me away, firstly that I’m saved from hell, and 2ndly the privilege I have to see the power of the gospel in action with those I talk to.
Oh, I just remembered another great chat I had with 2 guys today. They both made professions of faith. One of them in particular, looked at me and thanked me, as he grasped the simplicity of the amazing message I was sharing.
All glory to God alone. Oh, how I want Jesus to return today, and yet how I am so glad for God’s patience and the privilege in being able to proclaim his mercy! Long may it continue.
Join me! Join me! It’s so good!
Battle Log of Operation 513 at Sunnybank on Wednesday Sep 6th, 2023 from 1300-1500
Today, again the Sunnybank team reduced to just having Johnny and Hung to serve. Basically, both of us had many long meaningful and fruitful conversations. I had an over 45 minutes chat with a Korean Chistian lady. She received Christ here on Brisbane and is pursuing her spiritual growth by associating with Power to Change in UQ. Her understand of faith is spot on that we are saved by grace through faith, but her understanding of assurance of salvation was off the mark having only 95% instead of 100%. It triggered a series of Q & A in theology and surprisingly she is well verses in many theological propositions. She was appreciative for having such a deep chat of the Bible and asked for a selfie with me in hope that God may lead us to meet somehow, somewhere in the future. Apart from this climatic divine encounter, I had other fruitful gospel sharing with non-believers especially those from mainland as recap below in the Battle Log.
0) Before we started at Sunnybank, I caught up with Sammuel a Chrisitan lay worker of BCCCC and has started his business to run a Japanese style Cafe at the Sunnybank Hill. Pray for Chrisitan witness in his secular work.
1) God moved me to catch up with Jenny from Korea and is a student of UQ having affiliation with power to change in the Campus. Pray that our apologetic discussion on many theological issues would help driving her to dig deep in her understanding of God's Will and Calling for her.
2) Hassel is an Australian born young girl with mixed blood of Greece and Spain. She was very friendly and showed willingness to listen to the gospel message. Pray that the tract she took will help her to revise the message leading her a step closer to final conversion as Chrisitan.
3)Two Mainlanders rejected politely
4) Repeatedly rejection by green lady and man in blue.
5) Roy an European look Filipino, thought I am a JW but seemingly his theology is not sound enough to discern the pure Christian faith. He anyway claimed he only uphold teaching in NT but not OT. I barely had time to follow on and clarified that it was not the problem of OT, just The Sect of Judaism that still denied Jesus is the Messiah.
6) Then I had a long chat with a Hkg’s lady who has come more than 30 years but still has no time to hear about the gospel. She has very few if not non-Christian friend. But she was very polite to hear the full gospel.
7) A young lady from Jiangxi ?? who is an UQ student of Finance. Perhaps because she was in full mask and with sun glass as such she was basically not recognizable. She listened to the full gospel with great interest which again was rare in mainlanders. Pray for God's follow up work in her heart.
Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday September 5th, 2023 from 1330 – 1500
Today we again had Johnny, Chi Ming and Hung to team up to do street outreach at Toowong despite Chi Ming was not in his best shape. At the end, he still stayed for the whole time demonstrating his faith and love of God could help overcoming his unwellness.
It was also an eventful day with mixed experiences of very open and receptive smooth & fruitful sharing, but in the meantime, there was also blunt rejection or even self-righteous intervention by some bystander, attacking my gospel outreach work and PUA my gospel target to reject me. In flesh, I of course felt outraged, but in Spirit, I must repent and pray for that ignorant self- righteous guy that God will still not give him up and send someone else to reach out to him at another better time. Recap below is my Battle Log.
1) I was moved to approach two Indonesian UQ students from Surabaya. I was mistaken they tried to refrain from talking to me to clear some room in the shaded area behind the bus stand. They actually welcomed me to squeeze in sharing the shaded. So, once this was clarified, we clicked well and they appeared friendly and open to the gospel. They took tract to read to show they are not hardliner Islamic advocate. Pray for God amazing work to move their hearts.
2) Eclipse an Indian UQ student doing IT study. He also was very open and receptive to the full gospel I shared with him and took a tract to ponder for his next step of faith.
3) Then I was moved to approach a young man Huang??? from Guangzhou who recognized my accent and asked me to switch to Cantonese. Actually, his initial attitude was not to bother him by showing the budda necklace. I first acknowledge that all religions are good but not addressing the issue of sin. I further pointed out to him that Buddhism is actually not a religion as it does not have a God head to worship. He was amazed to learn such thing from me as such I earned my chance to keep sharing to him the full gospel. I anyhow chose a winding path to start sharing my salvation testimony but it works good to get him identify with my past as a non-religious and self-righteous good person. He took both English and Chinese tract to read.
4) Then miraculously God led an Aussie girl. I thought she was waiting for the bus , but actually she got into the shaded area for texting after she got off the bus. She also appeared very delighted to have a chat with me and at the end, could not agree more about the gospel that she is good but not perfect as such she need Jesus. She only sought to leave for the Toowong village, after I finished the chat.
5) Next, I was moved to catch up with Cliffe from Townville. He also showed great openness and receptiveness to the gospel message and promised to ponder for the next step of faith to accept Jesus. I took a photo with him hoping I can recognize him in future to follow up on his decision.
6) Then I approached a Chinese girl with hair dyed completely gold in colour. She was a bit shy but dis not reject me to chat with her. But after a long while, I was interrupted by possibly a Malaysian English-speaking self -righteous young man to threaten me to stop otherwise he will call the police. He also PUA the girl to ask her if she still want to continue conversation with me. I just told her, if you really did not feel good to have a chat, you simply told me and we did not need a third person to interfere our normal friendly chat. That certainly is part of the spiritual warfare we will face for serving God.
7) Then I turned to another Chinese student who said he got a tract before. ????. I anyway still revised the main point before his bus arrived.
8 ) Redelbel is a lovely local Brisbane girl with sunshine on her face. She is all good for the gospel message and thanks for my sharing ending our joyful conversation with a selfie picture.
What a wonderful week. There is limitless gospel opportunity on the streets of Christchurch. And if you live in a city, I’m sure it’s the same for you! Can I encourage you to join me, or, if you don’t live in Christchurch, start a street outreach where you are. Just pick a street corner that has a flow of people. It doesn’t have to be super busy. Smile, and ask people as they go past: “Hey, I’ve got a question for you, it’s a deep one. What do you think happens after you die?”. Sure, it’s direct, and some people might be a bit shocked. If they don’t want to talk about it. All good, just wish them a good day and let them move on. But, you’ll be amazed at how many people actually do want to talk about this important question. Here is how my week went.
So, all four usual street outreaches went ahead. Julia (my daughter) and Roger were with me in Riccarton on Tuesday afternoon. Andy, Dom, and a newbie Mark joined me on Friday in the city. I was in Riccarton again on Saturday lunchtime. And finally, I’ve just come from the city where Susan joined me.
I’ll start with Tuesday. Julia is going to join me on an evangelism trip to the Philippines in a couple of weeks, and to get back up to speed she joined me for this outreach. We got there early, and the outreach was so busy we ended up leaving late! At the end, I was packing away the flip chart, when yet another person wanted to engage, and so I put the flip chart back up again! It was worth it.
After the outreach, Roger sent me this comment: “Was so good today. So much fun it should be illegal!”. That’s right, evangelism is fun! We can’t let Christians have fun now, can we? NOT! Let’s get out there and enjoy sharing the wonderful good news of the gospel!
Anyway, Julia was paired up with me, and I ended up needing to control the conversations, and I didn’t want to drop her in the deep end, so I fielded the first few chats. But eventually Julia got into her own chat (pictured). She was doing well, but ended up pulling me in. The guy had atheistic parents, but there was a hunger in his eyes for truth. The building / builder analogy made sense to him, and opened him up to hear the law and the gospel. He made a profession of faith, and so I gave him a gospel of John, which he gladly received, and a contact card for my church with my contact details on it. Sadly, he didn’t get in touch, and yet seeds have been sown!
Friday was hot! The first day of spring, and there was enough intensity in the sun that I didn’t need my jacket or jersey on, and I even applied sunscreen! Andy was paired with Mark initially, and then he was paired with Dom later. I ran a flipchart.
The stand out conversation of the day was with a couple of Chinese girls. One had okay English, the other not as good. But they both became engaged. So much so that the one started translating for the other. Eventually they pulled out phones and started using Google Translate. I did the same. The first question was: ‘there must be aliens’ (or something like that). I responded with: ‘where did the aliens come from?’ Answer: ‘planets’. Question: ‘where did the planets come from’? Answer: ‘big bang’. Question: ‘where did the materials for the big bang come from?’ And that made them pause, it made sense, there must be a universe maker. I then transitioned to take them through a few simple law questions. And at this point we moved back to speaking instead of Google Translate. They agreed they would be guilty, and so at this point I pulled out my gospel of John with the fireball pictures front and back. Using these pictures, and a couple of easy questions, I was able to communicate the gospel. Suddenly one of the girls had a visible penny drop moment. She said, “Ahh”, as the message hit home. And do you know what her response was? “I live in Auckland, is there a group I can join?” I was amazed, she was articulating a desire to join the church! I got her to message needgod.net7 on Instagram “Church in Auckland”. And then on Saturday morning I was able to respond by pointing her to a church in Auckland that’s close to her (central Auckland). Attached is a picture showing her response.
I will continue the conversation with her via Instagram DM, re-checking her gospel understanding and working through the checks. But I really hope she reaches out to the church! Evangelism apart from the church makes no sense. You 2 things go together (the church reaches out to make disciples).
What a joy! It’s so much fun getting to bring the message of life!
I had a number of other chats: including with another couple of Chinese girls - these were tourists.
Saturday’s outreach was good, again good weather. I had a young man remember me from the recent Malvern A&P Show outreach. I was able to have a follow up gospel conversation with him. And that reminds me, one of the chats on Tuesday was with William. I first talked to him at the Ellesmere A&P Show. It’s so good being able to follow up with people!
Saturday’s outreach ended up finishing with a discussion with a Christian couple. I was able to encourage them in regards to assurance. It’s possible there wasn’t 100% clarity on the gospel, and so I was able to share it, and many check questions by talking in the third person. I encouraged them to join the evangelism training I’ll be running in October.
Sunday was cold, and yet there was no lack of gospel opportunity. Once Susan joined me, we did some walk up. One conversation in particular was very special. I noticed a lady sitting eating a pie. She obviously worked in the city and was on a break. For that reason I didn’t think she’d want to talk. But it doesn’t hurt to ask. Well, to my surprise she did want to talk. She completely forgot her pie (looked like she had only had one bite so far) as she became engrossed in the conversation. Her question was around the issue of ‘evil and suffering’. I could tell the question wasn’t intellectual, and so I didn’t give an intellectual answer. Instead, I let her talk as she processed some hard things in her life. By God’s grace, I was able to communicate the law and the gospel (that there will be justice for evil, and yet a sure hope of mercy). She asked for a pamphlet, and so I could tell the conversation held a lot of meaning for her (she opened up about some difficult stuff). I even gave her a church contact card, with my contact details. I’m hopeful that she will get in touch, and even if she doesn’t, some powerful seeds were planted. Pray that it has found good soil! She had to go back to work. But after she left, Susan and I prayed for her. I was so touched by that chat. What an honour! What an honour to be able to minister hope to her and others. I’m in awe of our great God that involves us in what he is doing! Join me. The harvest field is limitless.
I’m totally out of time. But the only work is amazing as ever. We have up to 1800 unread messages on Instagram. And we have well over half a million followers on TikTok. We are hearing wonderful testimonies of what God is doing through the power of the gospel. All glory to God. May we stay humble and dependant on him, open to correction, and faithful to continue the ministry. Please pray for us!
Battle Log of Operation 513 at Sunnybank on Wednesday Aug 30th, 2023 from 1300-1500
Praise be to God that Edwin Qin Hao could rejoin us after his past busy week in completing assignments for his Theological study. It was a pity Pastor Amy Yao could not join us due ad hoc illness of her son. The team of three worked productively reaching to many people with divine guidance of team work to follow up on some of the keen pursuer of faith. Recap below is the Battle Log of Hung:-
0) Today outreach actually started at the swimming pool with Adrain, a lap swimming mate. I shared a lot of the gospel and my testimony with him lately and he obviously has been moved to identify with the Christian faith more firmly. Another common thing between us is our younger looking appearance despite we are both 71 years old this year. Apart from regular sport to keep fit, my action faith is a major cause accountable for the ageless spirit to keep myself active in serving God. It gives Adrain a very valuable example to follow.
1) First I approached a Han Chinese with look of minor tribe from Henan????, we engaged very well on thing lately happening in his home town???He was opened to chat about religious thing but time was too short due to his bus arrival. He took both Chinese and English tract anyway.
2) Then I Followed up on a lady who was approached by Edwin and received a tract. Since she was still waiting so I reinforced for her the nutshell of the Gospel before her bus really arrived.
3) Then I connected with a Bolivia young man with limited English. I still managed to shared the nutshell of the Gospel and gave him the tract to read.
4) Jesse is an ABC girl not so sure about her family's country of origin though most possibly is still mainland China. Only shared half of the Gospel with an English tract.
5) Then I bumped in a young man Zhang ? from Hangzhou??, he also got a tract from Edwin????but I was moved to reinforce the gospel message to him before the bus arrived.
6) Kue, a rare Vietnamese Christian, who has 100% of assurance of salvation but she could not give clear reason just claiming her assurance is from her personal relationship with God which is not wrong. I anyway articulated the simple reason is that eternal life has been liked a free gift from Jesus not earned and deserved by us. Because of His atoning grace, we are saved by grace through faith to be able to reconcile with God receiving the heavenly citizenship right away the moment we accepted Jesus as our Salvation.
7) Cross cultural girl with blood of UK Germany, France. She comes and goes to have family reunion with other relatives at each other’s home on rotation. She is very open and clever but not time for a chat just passing her the tract.
8 ) Then Johnny referred to me a woman from Guangzhou ?? to have a long chat as we switched back to Cantonese. I shared my testimony of salvation ???? to her that had drawn great interest in her heart to pursuit the best free gift of eternal life.
9) Then I bumped into the girl from Jiangsu, Nanjing ????????for the 3 third time lately. We recognized each other and I still endeavored to revise ??the Christian redemptive grace to her despite she is still hanging on to Buddhism mixing with local religious legend like MaZhou ??an goddess of the Ocean.
10) Then I came across a Vietnamese who did not want to chat but the Spirit moved him to take a tract and look at it right away. It gave me reason to briefly share about the content and purpose of the tract.
11) Then I met two Nepalese girls, who were open to the Gospel. It was a pity the bus cane too quick but they still managed to get a few tracts.
12) Daniel a young man from ?? doing Environmental Science at Nathan Campus of the Griffith university. We clicked because our Hong Konger identity. He is not religious, but he showed good interest to listen to the gospel and agreed that the sin of human, out of selfishness has spoiled and contaminated the natural environment of the earth. So, the need to erase sin and defeat Satan is the same goal of Evangelist and Environmentalists. He was happy to take a selfie with me for possible future catching up.
13) Lastly, I tried to approach a Taiwanese but he was busy in making business call. But he was polite enough to take tract to read in His past time.
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