Battle Log
Tuesday 2 June 2009
Posted 2 June 2009, 9:45 PM by Josh Williamson. PermalinkIt begins! Last week I finally completed all my classes for my Bachelor of Ministry, but upon completing college I had to face the question of “now what?” After, spending some time in prayer and seeking advice I decided that I would commit myself to full time evangelistic ministry, both here in Australia and internationally as God provides. This decision was made easier by the fact that I am now working two days a week with Evangelist Bill Newman at his ministry Bill Newman Ministries. Being able to work with Bill has been great, as I get to learn more about evangelistic ministry and I also get paid for it. But, most of all this line of employment allows me to focus on reaching out to the lost on a full time basis.
Since, I now have more time to devout to outreach, I thought it to be a good idea to spend more time on Queensland’s largest university, just handing out tracts and having one to one conversations with the students. So, today Ryan and I both made our way to the campus with a certainly level of excitement, but also with an amount of concern as it had been raining all 
morning and it looked like it was about to rain again. Ryan assured me that there still would be plenty of people to witness to even if it was pouring with rain.
Upon arrival we immediately began to hand out to all the students we walked past, this resulted in many people sitting around reading the gospel of Jesus Christ. It didn’t take long for Ryan to engage in a one to one conversation with a young Jewish man who was trying to disprove Jesus, by stating that He couldn’t have been crucified with nails in His hands, and that Jesus was black. Ryan, stayed on course and presented the Christ who is able to save that man from his sin.
By now the heavens had opened up and the rain was pouring down (although Ryan kept saying “look blue sky!”) So we made our way to an undercover area near where all the students buy their lunch. As we walked into the undercover area we were approached by a student from the socialist alliance, he handed us a flyer which was advertising an upcoming rally on global warming. As he gave me the flyer, I thought, this guy would be interesting to talk to.
At this stage Ryan was sitting down engaging a Muslim man in discussion so I walked up to the socialist student and asked him for an interview. He quickly agreed so I proceeded to talk to him for some time. His name is Ewan and he was very pro-environment and very anti-Christianity. For some twenty minutes we discussed different things and I found it very hard to swing to the gospel with him, as every time I did he would try to rabbit-trail. However by the end of our 
discussion I was able to present Christ to him.
I noticed that Ryan was still engaged in discussion with the Muslim, so I looked for someone else to talk to. A few people I approached were in a rush to get to class, so I gave them a tract and they continued on their way. Eventually I ran into Ali, who is a business student from Pakistan, his religion is Islam, however, he said he is not a radical. I spoke to him for about twelve minutes and I stressed to him how as a Christian I have assurance of salvation. At the end of the conversation I pleaded with him to trust in Christ alone to save him, as his good works will never been good enough to get him to heaven.
It was now lunch time, so Ryan went to grab some lunch while I spoke to a young adult from my church. After Ryan finished eating he jumped into a conversation with two young students. From all accounts it went very well with them both acknowledging that they needed the Saviour and saying they were prepared to lay it all down for Jesus.
After this we began to make our way out of the campus, however, Ryan managed to get himself into a conversation with a group of students. The group loved the discussion and they were pulling phones out and calling friends encouraging them to come listen to Ryan. By the end Ryan was talking to a large group of students about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. During this time I was handing out tracts, and I managed to get a one to one with Richard, who believed himself to be 
good enough for Heaven. So I quizzed him on this point and the moment he realized his sin he turned and ran away. I was disappointed I couldn’t present Christ to him, but I rest in the fact that God is Sovereign and He will allow Richard to hear the good news of sins being forgiven.
The day overall was brilliant. There is a great need to evangelise the university so I am keen to put one day a week in on UQ campus, and it is my prayer that God will save His people. I would ask that you keep me in prayer as I evangelise in a full time capacity and also pray for Operation 513 as we expand and reach more people for Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Below are two audio recordings of witness encounters from today. The first one is with Ewan the Socialist. And the second is with Ali the Muslim.
1. Ewan the Socialist
2: Ali the Muslim
View previous Special Outreaches report (3 May 2009)
Special Outreaches (QLD, Australia)
Australia Day (26 January)
Easter Monday
ANZAC Day (25 April)
Labour Day
Riverfire Outreach
Queen's Birthday
Halloween
Schoolies
Christmas Outreaches (December)
New Years Eve (31 December)
Contact Ryan Hemelaar for more information.