Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 34

Toowong (QLD) Team

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday June 20th, 2023 from 1330 – 1500

The Toowong Team remained to be reduced to two persons with Winnie staying at the Gold Coast to do her own street outreach at the same time. It was a comparatively quieter day as term breaks has just started. Nevertheless, we still managed to have non-stop opportunities to share the gospel both to same and cross cultural people. Battle log of Hung is recap as below: -

1) Korean, just only had time to hand out a tract when the bus arrived after a short briefing of the nutshell of the gospel.

2) The next was a postgraduate in Commerce from Shandong, Jinan We had a good start but our conversation was interrupted first by his friends greeting him across the main road, then he was complete occupied in a phone call. It was good It was good I still managed to leave him a tract.

3) Then I caught up with Georgia an Aussie girl originally from Carine but already settled down in Brisbane. She has not heard of the gospel before. And she found it rational and credible.

4) Next I connected with an Indian girl. She was polite and remained open to chat and listen to the Gospel though not too keen initially. At the end, she showed receptiveness, so pray that the tract will help her to capture the key gospel message.

5) Burk a Canadian born Chinese who preferred to chat in English. He is not religious but also showed reasonable receptiveness to the gospel message. He had no objection but his heart seemed not fully touched yet by the Spirit.

6) Lisa another Indian girl who showed great receptiveness to the Gospel message. She was very assertive on the idea that no human in the world is perfect as such she easily buy in the idea that we all need salvation by Jesus from the punishment of our imperfection in our life time,

7) Then I caught up with a girl by the name Zhang ?from Shanghai . She is OK for a Chat but you could feel she was keeping a distance from me.

8 ) Finally I chatted with the 3rd Indian girl Pussin today and she also appeared very open and receptive to the gospel message.

 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Only one street outreach this week: Friday afternoon in the city.  I decided to let Riccarton lay fallow for another week.  Roger should be back next week and looking forward to joining him on Tuesday, God willing.  The weather wasn’t the best today, and so I decided it would be more fruitful to work online - we are really busy on Instagram.  I spent a whole hour this morning just processing new message requests!  Every single request (generated by the online content we produce mainly on YouTube and TikTok) is a gospel opportunity, which is amazing, but please pray that we would have wisdom, as always, in ministering to these people.  That they would be saved and knitted into a local church!

Anyway, this should be a short report, as I only have one street outreach to write about!  I was with Andy on Friday.  We go back a long way now, and have been working together in evangelism to God’s glory alone.  We are so different, but we compliment each other.  I am so blessed by his friendship!

We prayed together before getting into it.  As we were praying, I noticed two people who I thought would be open to a chat, but I know how important prayer is, so I let them pass.  God is sovereign.  Once we had finished praying, I looked up, and I noticed an interesting young man walking past, he looked like a busker - a juggler.  I instantly took the opportunity to engage him, he responded and came over and the 3 of us fell into an easy chat about his interest: juggling.  Andy can juggle too as it turns out!  So they took turns to demonstrate their tricks.  I asked about his day job, and then he asked what we were up to.  That was my opportunity to swing it.  I took the direct approach (it’s always best to be upfront and not beat around the bush), “we are Christians out to share about Jesus”.  He had suspected as much, he figured we were either Christians or JWs.  He said he was a Christian himself, and even mentioned the local church he was at.  I kept it light, because I didn’t want to come across as the ‘Christian Inspector’, so I was just honest in saying, “Hey, I talk to a lot of people who say they are Christian but who are subtly missing the main point, please allow me to check, why do you think you’ll go to heaven when you die?”.  He thought about it for a second and his natural response was to go to his good works - not the right response.  But just because they don’t give the right response initially isn’t an instant red cross!  I gently tried to probe, after about 30 seconds, he went to the right answer: Jesus.  We were then able to discuss it, between the 3 of us for the next 15 minutes or so.  After teasing out the details, he agreed that he was subtly trusting his works for salvation.  He seemed to have a couple of penny drop moments as Andy and I worked through some check questions with him.  He seemed to really appreciate the chat.  We parted ways with handshakes and pointed him to Romans 3, 4, and 5 (to go to the source of what we were talking about, not as a reason he is saved! ;) ).  He walked off, in the sovereign hands of God.  Our job is to share the gospel - it’s the power of God for salvation.  But it’s God’s job to actually save - he is the power!

What’s interesting is, if I had broken out of our prayer time, and engaged the first 2 people, then I wouldn’t have engaged this guy.  Who knows… God does.  Don’t worry about what you can’t control.  Just do what is in your control: step out and share the gospel!  Leave the rest to him!

But, the other thing that is interesting is this: we are so prone to forget the gospel!  We need to preach it, not only to others, but to ourselves: all day, and everyday.  Why do we forget it?  It’s so natural to think about performance: most things in life are oriented around it.  It’s so easy to slip back to “I” rather than “He” when it comes to salvation.  But, we don’t only slip into this individually, but also as families and churches.  We can become so focused on ministry that we lose focus on the main point.  So this is not a rebuke, but an encouragement.  Preach the gospel to yourself everyday.  Don’t lose sight of the wonder and grace of the forgiveness of our sin found in Jesus.  Don’t forget to preach this from your pulpit regularly.  Jesus is the foundation and the anchor!  Amazing grace!

To emphasise this point, I ended up having a similar conversation with a second person later in the outreach.  Going to a good local church, but just missing the basics.

Andy and I had other good conversations through the outreach.  I got to minister Christ to a young couple, and an older lady from Japan.  Andy is pictured in what was a long conversation.

Earlier in the day, while I was online, I was able to share the gospel with someone who claimed to be streaming our conversation to about 4,000 people (if I heard him right).  If that was true, who knows, maybe some of them will come to Christ as a result.  It’s the simple message of the gospel that God can use to save someone.  Be faithful in small things, and who knows what opportunity will come.

Thank you for your support, in prayer, for this street and online ministry.  We really appreciate it!  Glory to God alone.
 

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Battle Log of Operation 513 at Sunnybank on Wednesday 14/6/2023 from 1300-1500

Today, still only Johnny and Hung teamed up to serve at Sunnybank. There was equal chance to chat with Chinese and people of all culture. Today I met a very rare African from Djibouti. I had to even look up the country name after going home to be sure this is where that two African guys are from. So, God does lead and guide us to meet randomly people of all nations though with His predestined Will. We simply just follow and serve whoever God led us to approach with boldness and courage and in His strength. Recap is the Battle log of Hung.

0) Approached first a Filipino New Zealander. He Claimed himself an Atheist. Tried to have a friendly ice braking chat first but still being declined with the excuse of listening to learning stuff over the earphone. Irrespective of this polite but disheartening rejection, God rewarded me with a long and fruitful chat as follows.

1) I was led to approach Zhu from Hangzhou , because he seemed not waiting for bus but friend. When I was about to make my approach, he suddenly took the iPhone to shoot shot video over people on the pedestrian bridge which I learned later was his girlfriend. We connected because I was a visitor to his city in 1973 before he was born. God let us have a very long chat allowing me to share the full gospel with many testimonies. Even this is the first time he heard the gospel; his heart is very softened and ready for it with high degree of receptiveness. I gave him non pressure, but ask him to share the tract or my message to his girlfriend after she came back. Both are very pleasant polite and friendly persons. I reckon Mr hu is just a step from accepting Jesus Christ as his Saviour. I left him a lead to look for Power to Change if he finally receive Jesus as Saviour or he want to learn more from other Christians at the UQ Campus.

2) Next I approached a Korean Atheist not willing to chat, but I still managed to share the core gospel message to him.

3) Susan Zhang a Logos Church member of the Mackenzie Congregation. Johnny has chatted with her many times though not me, but Susan also recognized me as the Gospel outreach partner of Johnny. We witnessed her journey of faith from non-believers met us on the street and finally joining Logos Church and be baptised. We pray that our life witnesses will move her to be mobilized to assume more active gospel outreach work.

4) Then I was led to approach two African guys from Djibouti . Because of their limited English level, it was very hard to communicate with them. I took some time to get his country name right which I have no knowledge of it before. They are a comparatively newly independent country with Islamic as their National religion. Possibly for this reason, Johnny's first approach was rejected. I any way still tried to make friend with them first knowing they came for English study. So it was definitely helpful to have a good chat in English with them. Limited gospel message was shared as their bus came quite quickly. Nevertheless, he voluntarily asked for a tract be given to him by putting in his shopping bag. Pray that this iota of action pathed by God will bear fruit eventually.

Djibouti[a], officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area of 23,200 km2 (8,958 sq mi).

5) Then I was led to approach a Filipino of Catholic Christian background. I connected with him through a Chinese Tattoo on his fore arm which he thought is Japanese. I went straight to test for his assurance of salvation which was obviously in lacking. Only had time for a quick clarification before the bus arrived.

6) Then God let me had another long Chat with a Peru young man from a Catholic Christian family background. He admitted he is not religious or literally not yet a believer. He came for English study at the school at Kangaroo point that was possibly the reason he was moved to have a long chat with me. I shared him the full gospel and guided him to ponder if he and everyone else all agree we are not perfect having all sort of shortcoming and weak point in our human characters, will there be no need for us be held accountable for our imperfection aka sins in God eyes. His heart was softened to accept this fact as such this needs for all good person to seek Jesus as our Saviour. We were too carry away with our deep conversation as such he missed his bus that he had to wait for another 11 minutes for the next bus. But he deemed it is worthy for having such chat. We took a selfie and he was still looking at his smart phone to look for the next bus. Pray for his ultimate salvation by faith through grace, not by family inheritance.

7) Then I caught up with a young girl Li ?from Tianjin who is an UQ students. Our ice breaking chat was interrupted by the arrival of a bus which was not what she want. So, God gave me a 2nd chance to share the full gospel to her with good receptiveness.

8 ) Finally, I had yet another long chat with two HongKong girls, one studies at Griffith and the other at Bond. They quickly disclosed they are Christians so I jump right a head to test their assurance of salvation. Their answer to Q1 & 2 were all good and correct but with a very hesitant tone. This I still went through the explanation for them to become firmer and more steadfast in term of their Christian faith. We took a selfie quickly when the bus came and I asked which church do they attend in Gold Coast and Hurrah it is GCCCC. So pray that they now know that their church has a Street Gospel outreach warrior team serving every Thursday afternoon at Southport and hoping that one day they will join us there.

In antiquity, the territory, together with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somaliland, was part of the Land of Punt. Nearby Zeila, now in Somaliland, was the seat of the medieval Adal and Ifat Sultanates. In the late 19th century, the colony of French Somaliland was established after the ruling Dir Somali sultans signed treaties with the French, and its railroad to Dire Dawa (and later Addis Ababa) allowed it to quickly supersede Zeila as the port for southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden. It was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas in 1967. A decade later, the Djiboutian people voted for independence. This officially marked the establishment of the Republic of Djibouti, named after its capital city. The new state joined the United Nations. In the early 1990s, tensions over government representation led to armed conflict, which ended in a power-sharing agreement in 2000 between the ruling party and the opposition.

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday June 13th, 2023 from 1330 – 1500

Today, Winnie was not available again as such only Johnny and Hung teamed up for the Toowong outreach. God was having a very different path for Johnny focusing on one Chinese UQ student chatting for 80 % of his time and for me, in contrast I had 12 divine encounters though in majority were with Chinese people. Alex a local Aussie recognized me first sight and told me he was almost convinced and ready to make his last step of faith to accept Jesus. Recap is Battle Log of Hung Kwan.

1) Approached a couple of boy and girl friends from Wuhan the man was interested to chat while the girl kept a distance. Just finished the nutshell of the Gospel and gave away a tract at the end,

2) Then I approached next two tall guys from North eastern Province. Again, one showed interest to listen while the other kept a distance. One was ok

3) Then I connected with Cheung from HKG who had to rush for an appointment with friend at the Toowong Shopping Village. I volunteer to walk him to the pedestrian bridge and finished the nutshell of the Gospel, earning a selfie. ?

4) Then Alex a local Aussie recognized me and indicated he was very convinced by the message of the tract. meaning he is just a step away from final salvation.

5) Rejected by one lady but I was then led to the next Chinese girl.

6) A Chinese girl from mainland China, wearing mask because of sore throat had shown openness and finally receptive to the Gospel.

7) A mother visiting her UQ daughter from Mongolia. Both were opened to gospel and took tract afterward.

8 ) Two Filipino UQ students of Catholic background. They seemed to have no assurance of salvation.

9) Sri Lanka mature middle age man was a local staff of council here. He was happy to listen and took a tract.

10) Then I reconnected with Shroud from Brazil who claimed we chatted many times but seemed not yet catching the message. Gospel revised again.

11) Then I caught up with Zhang from Suzhou who was willing to listen.

12) Last but not the least, A young man from Beijing is a Biology under-graduated. . He showed good understanding of the gospel though hearing it for the first time.

   

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Another week of God’s patience has passed.  Another week of gospel outreach is complete.  This week I decided to let Riccarton lay fallow.  I would have been on my own on Tuesday and Saturday, and so I decided to work online instead, for various reasons.  But Andy was with me for Friday afternoons outreach in the city, and Susan and Binu were with me for the Sunday afternoon outreach in the city.

I had two very poignant online conversations on Friday.  You can actually watch them on YouTube here.

The first was a fifteen minute chat with a guy from Canada.  Early in his life he had been very scared of death - but no longer, he had reconciled it.  I thought he was going to say he had reconciled it by pretending that God isn't real.  But to my surprise he said he became a Christian!  But sadly he was pointing to his works as the reason he was saved.  It turns out he was Orthodox.  It was a very profitable conversation in the sense that he seemed to be engaged in the gospel clarification I was bringing.  I think he was challenged, as part way through the check questions, he skipped the conversation.  Oh well, I was very grateful for the opportunity to plough and sow into his life.

The second was a 30 minute chat with a guy from Saudi Arabia.  I don’t often talk to people from there, and I again have the wonder afresh of the fact that the Holy Spirit can beam me into someone’s life for a moment to minister the gospel and then beam me away again.  Online evangelism is a neglected harvest field of the church.  It’s a gold mine of opportunity!  What’s even more amazing is that I can stay in contact - via Instagram messenger.  Not surprisingly he was a Muslim.  Now, I talk to a lot of Muslims, and I’m familiar with the ways they usually resist the gospel.  So, it was to my surprise that he didn’t resist in those ways.  At one point he even seemed to concede to what I was saying.  I was very encouraged.

The afternoon street outreach with Andy was wonderful.  No flipcharts.  We just paired up, prayed, and moved down the street to engage with people walk up style.  We took turns leading the conversation.  There were many opportunities.  I’d guess that we had about 15 conversations in total.  We ended up in Cathedral Square, and then headed back to the Bridge of Remembrance.  Some of the chats went well in the sense that people engaged naturally.  Some of the chats were awkward.  Some of the chats involved resistance.  In most of the chats, both the law and gospel were ministered.

Andy ended up getting a chat started with a lady from France (she had been in NZ since January, and was heading back in a few weeks).  I decided to leave him to that, and went off to have my own conversations.  I got into a very interesting chat with a couple of construction workers that came from Chile.  It was an interesting chat because the one who denied God seemed to be convicted (& resistant) and the one who believed in God became thoughtful.

The outreach ended with two great short conversations.  One with an atheist who quickly backslid to agnosticism and heard the law and the gospel.  He stayed resistant but seemed to appreciate the chat.  The other was with two young ladies: one with a Mormon background, the other who “loved Christians”.  They both heard the law and the gospel, and left with tracts.

Sunday was a sunny but cold day.  I saw TK (one of my regulars) and his dog, called boy, and so I went to say hello before getting into the outreach.  The JWs were set up in my usual spot, and their sign said, “when will suffering end?”  And so I decided to go and ask them why they thought God allows evil and suffering.  I didn’t spend much time with them, but it was an opportunity to get to know them.

I started handing out tracts and was quickly into a conversation with 3 young lads.  They were keen to engage, in fact, one of them pulled out their phones to record.  It didn’t seem like a set up, but I didn’t have any problem with it.  I have nothing to hide.  One of them took point and did most of the talking.  It was clear he was keen for an apologetics battle - I was happy for that, but I didn’t let it distract from getting to the law and the gospel.  My check questions revealed that 2 of them just weren't engaged (not surprising because I wasn’t focusing on them).  But the main talker came to understand the gospel, even if he is rejecting it at this moment.  They all left with tracts.

I then had a lot of encouragement.  A guy that I’ve been talking to, on and off over the last 5 years, came past.  He was in a cult that accepted all the books of the Bible except Paul’s letters.  He was very much a legalist and proud of it.  Our discussion times in the past were often a bit heated.  To my surprise, he said that he has had a change since we last talked (about 6 months ago).  He is now out of the cult and going to a local church!  We ended up sitting down and having a long catch up.  He is still not articulating the gospel clearly, but there is a change in him, and he is open to discuss and learn.  He is serving in the church, and he’s doing a bible study course that is helping him sort through all this stuff (I’ve done a quick Google search, and no red flags jump out).  We have exchanged phone numbers, and I hope to see him again.  I’m just rejoicing that God is sovereign and God can save and change us for his glory.
 

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Battle Log of Operation 513 at Sunnybank on Wednesday 7/6/2023 from 1300-1500

What a pity, Amy was still sick with coughing that even her son Joshua had placement for pre-school, she still could not join Hung and Johnny. Nevertheless, ministry had to go on irrespective of any sort of hindrance or spiritual warfare. Both of us had consecutive divine encounter with both non-believers and nominal Christians. Many had led to fruitful result. Recap bellow is the Battle Log of Hung:

1) First approach was with an Aussie girl but just enough for a conclusion and handing out a tract.

2) Then I caught up with a 50th to 60th Chinese lady but in her handy man uniform taking call form workforce partners. She anyway was vert opened to the gospel and took both the English and Chinese tract to revise on the full gospel message I had shared with her.

3) Then I had a chat with an English-speaking Malaysian Chinese. Time was a bit short but still managed to share the nutshell of the Gospel.

4) Next was with an Indonesian old lady, despite of her Muslim faith. She was opened to the gospel and appeared receptive to the message.

5)An elderly man Liu from Chung Shan, China, claimed himself a Buddhist?. God let me had more than average enough time to stress the point that being Good alone is no use to offset stain of sin from our imperfected or corrupted human character. Both good and bad guys all need Jesus as Saviour and Lord of our born-again life.

6) Then I chatted with Mummy Lin from Guangzhou. She is the first and only on deem that there may be perfect person in the fallen world. . But she was actually referring to Jesus who was the onlyborn perfect person that has the capacity to save us by his atoning death.

7) An UQ Uni student by the name Li ?is from Xiamen, Fu Jiang , just got into gospel but not yet mentioning the Cross . Pray for follow up chat in future.

8 ) Ethan a half Chinese father and a NZ Mori mother has never heard of the gospel. It was great that he could hear the full gospel for the first time. Again, he took both Chinese and English tracts.

9) Declined for a chat by a Chinese couple but took a tract anyway.

10) Then I picked up a South African who was waiting to be picked up. Just managed to pass on a tract as the pickup car arrived in no time.

11) Kiresa an and John, Filipino Catholic Christian couple, were friendly and open. As a Catholic Christian, I jumped forward to test their assurance of salvation which surprisingly almost zero. They were appreciative for my clarification and teaching of BIBLICAL basis of doctrine about salvation.

12) Had a long chat with Xu who was born in Guangzhou but parents were originally for Changsha, Hunan. . We clicked because I take Hunan as my second home town with Changsha the most visited city in China. She appeared opened and receptive to the gospel.

13) Then I was led to chat with a Filipino Christian also lacking completely assurance of salvation.

14) Another long long chat with Tang? from Tianjin She is in third year of her Simultaneous translation at UQ . She also was frank , open to discussion on salvation and the Bible. She also took both Chinese and English tract to read afterwards.

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday June 6th, 2023 from 1330 – 1500

Today Winnie was sick so only Johnny and Hung did the outreach. More students turned up after the end of the 2 study weeks. Even though there were rejection cases. It was either with a empathetic reason i.e. under panic state struggling deadline for assignment submission, or the rejection was later softened to become a successful gospel sharing occasion. Intermittently, Johnny curiously asked again about the Turkey mission that without good Turkey language and no interpreter, if I can shared the gospel clearly. My answer is definitely a big YES. It it s climax of the manifestation of the mission power of the Holy Spirit. In His strength, all sorts of barriers can be broken to achieve His Will and Plan. Comparatively, the city street outreach is of a lesser degree of challenge, though we still face many opposition and rejection from time to time, which actually is part of the growth training for mature and committed apostolic Christians. Recap below is the Battle log of Hung.

1) I was led to approach first an Arabic from the Middle East. I could not recognize the name of his country but anyway the gospel was shared and a tract was taken when the bus came.

2) Then I was moved to approach a girl from Beijing She was originally very reluctant to have a chat with me as she said she had enough chat with us before and read the tact but found it not that appealing and important for her in the present stage of her life. The Holy Spirit however let me stay put and focus stressing if she find herself perfect , if not her acknowledgement of her imperfection readily verify that she like all good persons must have the need of Jesus as her saviour. Her attitude remained arrogant and indifference but I chose to let go and leave her along to deal with the questions I imposed to her.

3) A Malaysian girl who was very opened for a chat. She speaks many languages but unforntunately no good in Cantnese but full gospel was shared in English and Mandarin.

4) Kia Another Chinese girl who appeared more open and receptive to the Gospel.

5) Liao? a girl from Taiwan was also very keen to here the gospel for the first time. Pray for God's follow up.

6) Then I was moved to pick up Ahmet from Dubai again whom I had a long chat on Feb 14, 2023 about 3 and a half months ago. I could share with him my experience transiting Dubai to Turkey. He was amazingly opened to the gospel and could identify with the reflection brought by the Turkey earthquake that; human beings are too limited and vulnerable to face unpredictable natural disaster. We should not let slip the Chance for recognizing the real important life issue on addressing sin and judgment after death. He showed full endorsement to the gospel I shared and happily took a selfie with me. My prayer that I I could meet him again was answered to day. He is really just one step from making his action faith to accept Jesus.

7) Then a Sgp girl under panic state struggling deadline for assignment submission. I was empathy with her hardship so I leave her alone to deal with her study pressure first and pray for future 2nd chance for gospel.

8 ) Then I caught up with Koshi from Japanese. My greeting in Japanese drew us close together in no time. He was neither student of teacher of UQ, but simply at the right time, God let us meet. Gospel was shared and pray for God's follow up work.

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

It was a privilege and an honour to be enabled to be on the streets of Christchurch this week to proclaim the gospel.  Thank you for your prayer support.

I ended up not heading to the streets today (Sunday).  I forgot my jacket, and it was cold!  I decided to work online instead.  But all the other usual outreaches went ahead: Tuesday afternoon in Riccarton with Roger.  Friday afternoon in the city with Andy, Greg and John, and then Saturday lunch time period on my own.

I’m going to have to start taking notes for Tuesday, because I can’t remember any of the specific details now!  (Oh, I found a picture I took - Roger had a long chat with that person).

Friday’s outreach was interesting.  Andy had a divine appointment to talk with John’s son to start with!  And so, John and I decided to pair up for ‘walk up’, while Greg would go with Andy.

As John and I went down Cashel Mall, we encountered a group of teens - about 12.  I had plenty of energy, so I decided to engage them.  They took the bait, but I had to work hard to keep their attention.  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep it up, and so my law and gospel message was brief.  I was also able to answer a few questions.  They left with many of them receiving follow up tracts.

Next we were able to have a brief conversation with a young man who was obviously very resistant but trying to be polite.  I’d love to know what the deeper issue is, but he didn’t stick around for long.  I was then able to briefly share with an African man, who had a Christian background, but was trusting in his works (prayer and church).

After that, I experienced a lot of false start chats with people who didn’t really want to talk.  By this stage, we were back at the Bridge of Remembrance and John and I split up.

I finally got a decent chat going, with a man sitting on a bench.  He was happy to talk.  Sadly, his friend had just committed suicide - so sad.  I started out by doing a lot of listening.  But, as the chat progressed, I learned he was an atheist who never did anything wrong.  He had never been angry with anyone.  And yet, amazingly, just after I raised the issue of anger with him, he started using bad language and talking about politicians in very unsavoury ways.  He was justifying all his sin and therefore declaring himself good.  He was very blind to any kind of reason.  I made sure to summarise the law and the gospel, using myself as an example, because he was so closed.  And then we parted ways on good terms.

Saturday’s outreach was very interesting.  Partly encouraging, and partly sad.

I turned up to the outreach, thinking on how useless prayer and evangelism can seem, and yet how powerful we know they are.  I was thinking about how foolish I looked, standing on the corner of the street, trying to engage people to share Christ.

I hadn’t talked to anyone yet, when one of my ‘regulars’ came past (I actually hadn’t seen him for a long time).  I asked him how he was.  And then he teared up.  We sat down, and he was willing to open up about a crisis he was having in his life.  I felt honoured that he was willing to talk with a foolish street preacher like me!  I did a lot of listening, and I instinctively knew I couldn’t push the conversation to the law or the gospel.  (I’ve shared it with him before anyway.)  I’m glad I didn’t push, because I ended up learning things about him that I don’t think I would have learned otherwise.  To my surprise, he used to be part of a local church, and he used to do street evangelism!  But now, he barely believes that God is real!  He was able to talk about some of his fears of death (not the process, but the loneliness of it).  In the end, I gave him my contact details on a church card and told him, if his crisis eventuated, and he was going to die, I would come and sit with him so he didn’t have to be alone.  Later in the day, he messaged me to thank me for the talk.  I’ll be praying for him, and hope to see him again.  That he would gain true understanding of the gospel, and that God would have mercy and save him.

Later, I ended up talking to 2 young lads.  A gentleman joined the conversation - and I initially thought it was the Father, but they weren’t related.  The lads moved on, and I was able to focus on the man.  It turns out he had a familiarity with the Bible, and yet he was thinking his works would save him.  Nothing registered when I clarified the gospel.  And then, sadly, I found out he had been involved with the cult: World Mission Society Church of God.  At this point, a 3rd person joined the conversation.  I initially asked if they could wait till I had finished the chat with the man.  They listened for a while, but they couldn’t hold back.  They wanted to ‘preach’.  He wasn’t abrupt, but he liked to talk.  My honest evaluation was that he was mentally unsound.  He thought God was talking to him, but what he was saying contradicted scripture.  Sadly, the 2 guys seemed to get on well together.  I ended up having a 4th person join the conversation!  Actually, he just wanted to talk to me, I had talked to him a few weeks prior - and by God’s grace, I was able to remember details from that previous conversation.  Sadly, this 4th guy hadn’t remembered the gospel, and so I briefly shared it again, before he moved on.

By this stage, the outreach was over.  When you are deep in conversations, time goes fast!

Well, that covers the week on the streets.  The online work is as busy as ever.  God bless you as you seek to make Christ known to those around you.  All glory to God alone.
 

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Battle Log of Operation 513 at Sunnybank on Wednesday 31/5/2023 from 1300-1500

Today, again only Johnny and Hung were available for the Sunnybank Street outreach. Amy and her too kids were all sick at home. Today, we again were mostly occupied with a chat. And today especially for Hung, I had less but many more long chats which were so obviously arranged by God with elected people that we had met before but carried on this time for a very long and deep chat on the gospel as well as my personal life witnesses. Another phenomenon today was that majority were Mainlanders coming here for UQ study but they all live in Sunnybank with two even coming from the same city of We Xi in Jiangsu China.

1) First, I was led to approach Boyd a Filipino Catholic Christian. He was very appreciative for my help to have his assurance of salvation clarified, as such he was happy to take a selfie with me to signify this divine encounter.

2) Then I was led to approach a girl by the surname of Wang ?from Wu Xi Jiangsu. He was of Buddhism faith but found the gospel appealing. She was amaze to know that Buddhism is not a religion as it worships no god in its original form. Budda Secamuri only promote a way of life to uplift himself to reach Nevera, a state that he become immune against temptation?I also proved to her the scientific aspect of Bible using 6 days creation as an example. She really found it interesting and convincing. She took a tract to read before we were apart when the bus came.

3) Mark an unofficial atheist believing in no god but aliens. I used again the 6 days creation to prove to him the trustworthy and scientific aspect of the Bible and left him with a tract to contemplate.

4) Then I caught up with a girl by the name of Yao?from Guangzhou . She said she met me 3 weeks ago with her male classmate. . They are UQ students but all live in Sunnybank to take 139 bus to cross the Green Bridge to UQ. Thanks God that the bus was late as such I had almost half an hour time to share here the full gospel and then went through my personal salvation witnesses. She was very moved with a very softened heart and willing to ponder to make her last step of faith.

5) Then I was led to chat with yet another girl from Guangzhou she was willing to listen to my full gospel sharing , but at the end declined my offer of the tract.

6) Daniel is an Australian born Indian ABI. He is a timid boy but appeared all receptive to the gospel message.

7) Finally, I caught up with yet another man from Wu Xi , he was willing to listen and raise no question about the gospel. But at the end, he did not take a tract.

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday May 30th, 2023 from 1330 – 1500

It was a hectic period for us as both the family of three of Amy, Josiah and Joshua all fallen sick with high temperature, sore throat and body rasp. And meantime Ivano was diagnosed with suspected relapse of cancerous polyp in the neck with Biopsy yet to find out if it is benights or vicious nature. Despite of all these hardships enduring by our beloved church family members, the duty to preach the Gospel has still to be discharged steadfastly and faithfully with ministry as usual. The team of four of Johnny, Winnie supported by husband Vincent and Hung still served as usual. It echoed with the down side of Amy and Ivano that more rejection and indifference reaction were experienced. We nevertheless still took all the hardship to embrace it with trust and faith and God's grace was still enough for us to made many useful if not very fruitful approach. The work of the Spirit of mission power was evidenced that many initial rejections were turned around to become a full gospel sharing outcome. My few approaches with initially unwelcoming non-believer all ended up with good reception of the message, especially the last one with a Hong Kong non-believer admitting he find the gospel message appealing after so many people moved by God to share with him. So, he happily accepted to take a selfie photo with me to signify his appreciation of our work for God.

1) A Bangladesh pair of father and son with opened mind and softened heart to listen to the gospel and took a tract to read afterwards.

2) An Indonesia man with a not so welcoming facial expression still showed patience to let me share half of the gospel when the bus came and he also accepted the tract and let God follow up on him.

3) Then a lady from Guangzhou initially rejected Winnie for a chat. I pray and felt moved to have a go and was successful through a softer approach identifying with her life in China and here in UQ. At the end, I shared the full gospel to her and she even took a tract. So, the work of the Spirit was evidenced softening her heart thoroughly.

4) An Indonesia Lady rarely show disagreement that good person is not enough to go to heaven. It was a pity; the bus came and I did not have time to check out her logic to see if she has the same sense of sine and punishment that no person can escape the judgement of God on not just our action but our fallen human character.

5) Then God gave both Johnny and Hung a test with an emotionless man completely ignoring our approach eswith not even a glimpse of his eyes on us treating us like empty air. It was still a God led approach for us to know to let go of such hopeless case.

6) Then God led me to interrupt a Pakistan Couple of Muslim faith. They are intelligent learner of the Muslim faith and also understand Christianity a bit. So, we had an interesting dialogue about original sin and if we need a saviour. Time only allowed us to touch of original sin, where most Muslim believe we are born sinless and perfect but only become sinner and lead a sinful life when we applied our freewill to do some transgression against God and man. For us we believe we were created originally good and perfect without blemish but ever since Adam and Eve sinned against God, the whole human race has since then fallen to become a fallen people and such identity if fallen human race with the expression of enemy of God will be inherited by any single new born human which is the so-called original sin we carried the moment we was given birth to this world. It may lead to the way how we sinner can be saved by Jesus dying for us to take our place for the eternal punishment we originally should bear ourself. It was a pity they had to go but again that Muslim guy politely took a tract to read and pray that we can have chance to continue with our dialogue.

7) An Italian origin Aussie girl got clarified for her Catholic faith that does not know we are saved by grace through faith in Christ as such she also has no assurance of salvation. She showed appreciation for our facts finding chat.

8 ) Finally a Hongkonger pagan big boy but was open to gospel and show great appreciation for me to be the one repeating the message of salvation to him. He seemed moved to seriously consider to make the last step of faith to accept Jesus as Saviour and took a selfie with me to allow me recognize him net time for follow up chat.

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