Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 70

Toowong (QLD) Team

Operation 513 Battle Log for Toowong Village on Tuesday February 9, 2021 from 1330 to 1500

Today I thought we had a 4th team member, when I arrived at the marshaling point, but found out later it was the JW girl from Singapore who honored her appoint,ent with Johnny bringing a hand written note explaining the doctrine of JW. Johnny did not have time to read the notes but had a exchange of opinion with her trying to let her know what area of the JW doctrine are considered wrong. It was a pity the JW lady had to rush for another appointment so she left us before we started our routine opening commissioning prayer. Will discuss more in dept in separate post about the note from that JW lady.

The day went on very well for us. There were non-stop opportunities at the bus stop as such Johnny had to come over to join us at the bus stop to catch as many chat as possible. The pattern of initial rejection prevail. Some soften down and let you share . Some declined up right but after a while changed their mind to allow for a chat. SO, there was sign of God's presence to direct the entire street ministry providing us ample divine appointment to do His Work. Recap below was first my battle log then Winnie's in Chinese.

1) Viahi  from PNG welcome me with a sweet smile to chat. But there was only 1 minute left before the bus arrived. So I had to rush sharing here the nutshell of the Gospel and she promised to read the tract back home.

2) Sim a local Aussie abruptly rejected my offer of the tract and to chat. God moved me to first identify with his feeling that there was a reason for him to reject Christianity which he once was a follower. He seemed to have got a wrong image of God that He is a God of hatred punishing whoever disobey and don't love Him. I took him along to revise on some Bible story that God is merciful and is a very patient God who has given enough time and chance for people to repent like people at time before the flood were given 120 years before the ark was completed and the great flood came. Another case were the canaanites whom God ordered Joshua to do genocide when he occupied the land in God's power. As God had given them more than 600 years since he made Canaan the promised land to Abraham. Yet they insisted to rebel against God as such they were treated as cancer cell that had to be removed before the Israelites were to occupy the promised land without the risk of being led astray by these wicked people. Some things appeared to be trivial mistakes but God reckon they are seeds of sin which had to be destroy at the very beginning before it spread. After my elaboration, Sim turn silenced and than I started to share the gospel to show the gracious aspect of God's love and salvation plan to rescue us from the punishment of eternal death through Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross but rose three days after as King of our born again life. At last, Sim accepted the tract and promised to have a good thought about it.

3) A girl with a "Face to Face" purple T Shirt took the tract and a Power to Change name Card promising to start her journey of pursuance for Christ.

4) Everly a Canadian young man from Vancouver and is now student of UQ. He stopped politely to chat and soon revealed he is a Christian attending possibly the SCCCC. I turned to ask him the two diagnosis questions. He does not have 100% assurance of Salvation but he knows he is saved all because of Jesus. So I spent little effort to guide him to establish 100% assurance of salvation if it is his understanding that it was all because of Jesus dying for taking our place to received the punishment of our sins. I clarified with him that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, but we have got our identity changed back to children of God wit hour life substance still imperfect. Yet God promised to make us perfect through the work of the Holy Spirit and also would guided us to grow in spirituality by working with Him to share the gospel saving many more lost souls. He enjoyed our chat and showed his appreciation by taking a selfie with me.

5) Johnny from 蘭州 Lanzhou and his girl friend from 西寧 recognized me first and said we chatted before (Dec 8, 2020). Last time it was Johnny who did the talking but this time the girl told me she is reading the bible herself frequently. 自己看聖經I asked if she has drawn any conclusion yet or if she has any problem with any passage or even the character of God. I used the same example of God's character as deemed by Sim a very cruel and angry God but actually God is full of compassion and mercy kindness. SHe appreciate my sharing and ask me to protect myself by wearing mask as we don;t know what kind of people we are going to meet on the street. , 保護自己. I hope God will bring them a few more step closer to salvation by faith in Him next time.

6) Pionni a tattoo woman seems to be from the Caribbean. She was surprisingly soften to listen to the gospel and appeared very receptive to the salvation of Jesus. It was a pity the bus came a bit too fast.

7) Craig a Vietnamese UQ Student who initially rejected Winnie. But God moved me to make another approach and he turned receptive to chat. Gospel was shared and he also showed interest to pursue.

8) Alex was approached by Johnny, but he claimed he is a Muslim and had chatted with one of us before then it could likely be me. He tole Johnny, he is convinced the Gospel is more sensible and logical than Koran so he does not think he is a Muslim any more. After Johnny's follow up sharing. Alex even proclaimed at last that he now want to belive in Jesus. How wonderful it was and glory be to God.

 

感謝神 今天的带领，讓我遇到十二人傳福音的機會。

第一位中國年青人，中法，UQ 學生，很留心聽着福音，將近講完，巴士到達，他説會看單張。

第二位，Cindy, 馬來西亞來的 UQ 學生，聽完整福音，會想想。

第三位是中國來的，未講完福音，巴士到達。

第四及第五位是非洲，蘇單來的夫婦，穆斯林。他們信A La. 真主。當我傳了福音给他們後，便與他們談論神的問题。他們信一位神，A La. 但基督教是三位一體的神。聖父，聖子，聖靈。分别做不同的工作。聖子（耶穌基督）釘上十宇架，為拯救我們脱離罪的捆绑，得到自由。耶穌為我們在天家预備地方，將來我們上天家有地方住。聖靈住在我們心裏，提醒我們甚麽是對與錯。應做及不應該做的。很多穆斯林因为沒有聖靈内住，所以四處殺人。他們都認同很多是很可惡的穆斯林。

第六位是中國少女，聽完福音後，會真正的想清楚。

第七位，Morgan, 非洲來的穆斯林，我也是説 A La 與基督教的分别，及罪的問题。

第八位, Lulu, Malaysia 少女（相片）穆斯林。我也是講及我們不同的宗教。耶穌為拯救我們脱離罪，得永生，及预備地方给我們上天家有地方居住。聖靈在我們心里提醒我們應該做的及不應該。她説會認真想清楚。

第九位，Steve 中國年青人，聽完福音，會想想。

第十及十一位，兩位中國來的年青人，將近講完福音，巴士到達。

第十二位是澳洲女士，Megan, 她説以前曾到過信義會，因某種原因，便離開，再沒有到過教會。我勸她再返教會，或者找另一教會。因为離開太久，便接觸不到聖靈，神 便會慢慢離開你。她説謝謝及會認真想清楚。

願神 賜福憐悯今天聽到福音人仕，悔改回轉歸向神。阿們！ 感謝讚美主🙏

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

On Saturday I was online with the team.  When connecting with a stranger, some initial reactions to me: “Hi grandpa”, “Are you a teacher?” x 3, “I know you from somewhere!” x 2 (both times it was from Tik Tok video’s - praise God for that, may the gospel go far and wide).

A chat that fascinated me was one that seemed to end prematurely.  The three girls were very engaged from the start, and one of them even said, “don’t skip, I really want to talk about this”.  Because I could tell they were engaged, I was able to slow down and really work through the logic, law and gospel.  They seemed to grasp the gospel, as they were responding correctly to my initial checking question.  Then suddenly, one of them reached out and disconnected the chat.  I was so surprised - I have no idea why she ended the chat.  God does.  I leave them in his hands.

Sunday I was in the city as usual.  A team of seven with a mix of experience, which was very encouraging.  It was a very busy outreach, with some wonderful conversations.

I spoke with one guy who’s eyes seemed to shine as he came to grasp the gospel.  It was wonderful to watch him engaging.

A couple of Muslims were very interested in the flip chart and stopped to chat - they came to understand the gospel, even though they rejected it.  They were lovely, and we parted ways with a handshake.

One of the team brought three girls over to the flip chart to hear the law and the gospel (a boy friend also joined the conversation and heard the good news too).  And then later, I was into a conversation with an intellectual type, when more people joined the conversation - there ended up being a small group of unbelievers and believers hearing the gospel, or gaining experience in how to share.  Very encouraging.

By this stage I was a little late leaving, so I was slightly late to the online “training Sunday”.  I was paired up with Karah from the US, and we had a great time listening to each other's gospel conversations and giving each other feedback.

Karah had an interesting chat with a guy from the UK who had a guitar and would avoid Karah’s questions by bursting into song!  It was quite comical.  But despite his avoidance, he seemed quite smart, I think he was understanding what she was saying, but he was rejecting it.

I had two chats: One with a pair of girls who slowly became engaged and came to grasp the gospel.  The other was with a pair of guys with Christian backgrounds, possibly not Christians yet?  It’s unclear, but they certainly gained some clarity - glory to God.

I was encouraged to learn this morning that people actually read these reports from time to time.  If you are reading this, then thank you for praying for all this gospel outreach.  Pray that we will be humble and open to correction, we are so desperate to represent Christ correctly.  Pray that the gospel would prosper, and that God would be glorified.  Thank you!
 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

A very busy couple of days of outreach for the Christchurch (NZ) team.

On Thursday I was with the online team for five hours, and then Andy & I were at the bus stops (Northlands then Eastgate) for four hours.

My time online saw mainly difficult conversations - many false starts, lots of resistance, hurting people (suicide, wanting to go to hell).  Yet they were good chats: the gospel was heard.  One of the chats was interesting in the fact that the guy I was talking to whispered all the way through it!  I had another interesting one with a teen who was resisting the logic I was trying to explain when his uncle came into his room.  His uncle joined the conversation, sadly he was just as resistant.  It seemed like they had a Mormon background.  I focused on grace through faith and answered their questions until it became silly (going to absurdity to avoid the truth).  There was a chat with a girl who had a very visible GOT IT moment, when she heard the gospel after going through the law.  Sadly the video connection froze at that moment.  I have no choice but to leave them in the hands of God.

The bus stops saw many follow up opportunities.  A group of three school kids had flawless gospel answers, and yet it was clear they weren’t converted (they were almost mocking in their answers).

It was very quiet in Cathedral Square on Friday.  Four Christians proclaimed the gospel in the open air to no opposition.  I had some great one to one gospel opportunities.  There was also a newbie there.  As he was new, I offered him a tract which he took.  I soon learned he was joining us.  To my amazement, five minutes later he was approaching someone to offer them the tract I had given him and start a conversation!  I was so encouraged by this.  Oh Lord, raise up labourers for the harvest!

It was a quiet outreach in Cashel Mall too - even Roger noticed it.  And yet, there were many opportunities to share about Christ.  Lord, use our feeble efforts for your glory!

I finished Friday with the online team again.  A blur of eight conversations.  I was able to share the gospel with a fellow Kiwi, and with a guy who had such a deep fear of death it makes him physically ill - he came to hear the good news!

 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

On Tuesday I was back in Riccarton.  I letterbox dropped either side of ‘walk up’ outreach on Riccarton Road.  And I had a couple of interesting chats.

The first was an encounter with one of our open air preaching hecklers from Cathedral Square on Fridays.  He’s not a very vocal heckler - but he chimes in from time to time.  Anyway, he seemed to see me on Riccarton Road, and so he stopped to talk.  It was an extremely friendly conversation where I had a chance to learn his name and more about himself.  He didn’t deny the existence of a higher power, but he didn’t believe in anything further than that.  I warned him that everything in me wanted to convince him otherwise!  He said he needed to be somewhere and had to go, but he was happy to take a tract and read it.  I’m now looking forward to seeing him again in Cathedral Square - God willing!

The other chat was with an elderly gentleman.  It was a longish one.  He was subtly resistant - refusing to answer some of my questions, and changing the subject.  He liked to talk, so I let him, with gentle interruption to remind him of what was important in regards to the reality that we will all die one day.  He was lovely to chat with though: he had been in the British Merchant Marine and so had travelled extensively.  We had a connection in that we had both been to Myanmar.

I had one other short chat, with a young guy who actually knew the gospel - his background was Anglican.  Although I’m not sure if he was a Christian.  He had to move on - wanting to catch up with his friends.

After being in Riccarton I was online with the team.  Seven solid chats.

I had an interesting chat with a girl who was resistant, but I was able to touch on the law and the gospel with her.  But, later in the conversation I ended up circling back to talk about how we know that God exists.  Her response was to scream while disconnecting!

A chat with a guy with a Christian background, but wasn’t a Christian.  He came to grasp the gospel - I knew, because he said something along the lines of: “that means we can do whatever we want”.  I addressed that (we won’t want to).  But he bucked and quit.

I had a fascinating chat with a kid who had perfect responses to my gospel questions.  He recognised my voice?  Maybe he had seen some of my online videos?  He said he had been a Christian for a year or so - but he wasn’t really reading his Bible, and he wasn’t part of a Church.  I pointed him to both before we disconnected.

On Wednesday I was online with the team again.  Six solid chats - some of them longer.

I had a great chat with a smart kid who read the question on my wall and said, “oh, my - that is a really great question!”  We fell into an easy conversation where he came to grasp the good news.  His response was to say: “You should write a book, I’d buy it!”  My response was to say I didn’t need to - there already is one: the Bible.  I pointed him to Romans.

I had a long chat with a false convert who came to grasp the gospel and was really thankful.  I pointed him to his Bible and back to his church (he hasn’t been for a long while).  I specifically pointed him to his pastor to discuss the gospel.

I had a few apologetics battles that I actually enjoyed for a change.  A guy from the UK who quit.  An interesting chat with a guy who looked at stars as the creators of the universe: “and so at least one star must be intelligent” - !?  He came to hear the gospel, but was very resistant to it and fell straight back to pointing to his goodness to save him.  I became bold with him out of love, but he didn’t like that - the connection froze soon after that.

I had an interesting chat with a guy whose friend was on his phone and kept saying: “He’s from Tik Tok, he is going to talk to you about God”.  Eventually I said, “yes, I’m on Tik Tok, and I want to talk about God - so let's talk”.  They were both involved with church, but he didn’t have a good grasp of the gospel.  I didn’t really get a chance to talk to the girl on the phone.  But they both were deeply appreciative for what I was doing.

My last chat was with a very intellectual lady from the UK who eventually said something like: “well, I’m bi, so I won’t make it”.  Well, I had good news for her.  She was still very resistant by the end, but it was a good friendly chat - if not a bit of a battle.  I leave her in God’s hands.
 

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Sunnybank on Wednesday Feb 3rd, 2021, from 1300-1500

After a gloomy overcast Tuesday, God gave us a sunny Wednesday afternoon. Again Johnny, Andrew and Hung team up on the East side (Sunny Park) to share the Gospel. God gave Johnny and Hung several gospel opportunity with some fruit bearing ones. But for Andrew, he had a record breaking long chat from the beginning to the end of our service hour meaning lasting over 1.5 hours. The hearer was a Christian, so possibly they had engaged in deep doctrinal exchange. For Johnny he had several success including with a Chinese Couple who are attending the Hope Community church but have not received Christ as they have not heard the holistic gospel yet. After the gospel sharing they joyfully have received Christ. For me, God gave me variety of gospel audience ranging from self righteous atheist , Christian without assurance and a young man from a Christian family as such having illusion he is a Christian already but actually still a nonbeliever. Details are recap as below: -

1) Laura is a high degree paralyzed lady but is still managing to be independent on her motorized wheel chair. She could not speak smoothly at ease so I chose to give her the tract first and ask her to read at home when she is fully settled down. I could not speak much as the bus came quickly for her but still I assured her salvation is from Jesus. The Bus driver did not see her as such I had to signal him to open the front door for releasing the ramp for her to board the bus. Laura thanks me for that little help in action love and pray that the tract will be a tool by God to convict her to receive Christ.

2) An arrogant lady from PNG believes in reincarnation as such she has all the time and 2nd chance to do good deed to compensate for bad deed. She thought God is just a referee to watch on the sideline how we play the game of life. Win or loss are in full control of us. I patiently counteracted her wrongful thought to show that our sin cannot be off set by good deeds and all human are sinner that need the salvation of Jesus. Pray that God will soften her hardened heart to accept the gospel.

3) Matt from China and Christian from USA took the tract but did not stop for a chat. So instead I walked them across the bridge to share the nutshell of Gospel which was regarded as sensible by them.

4) Jack and Briski from Thailand are high school students. They are both very receptive to the gospel I shared with them.

5) 尚恩 is from a Christian Family as such he also claimed himself a Christian. But he actually has no concept about gospel and lack assurance of salvation. More serious is that he actually has never been a Christian with a personal moment of repentance accepting Christ. So I encouraged him to read the tract and surrender himself to God and accept Jesus as his personal saviour and new Lord of Life.

6) A lady from Taiwan called Celine Ning凌 claimed herself a Christian after hearing my gospel sharing. Yet she failed both diagnosed question and seemed to have very little understanding about what a Christian should behave.基督徒觀念薄弱 Even worse, she has not been attending church since came here to Australia. So I gave her my recommendation and prayed that God will let us meet again for mutual edification.

感謝天父上帝的帶領和祝福，今天有許多人聽到了福音，祈求天父打開他們的心眼，讓他們因信耶穌，罪得赦免，得永生。其中有寧姓中國中年夫妻，蘇丹的Sono，還有三位本地青年人和台灣台北木柵的陳弟兄。請為他們禱告。

On Wednesday at Sunnybank, I had a few small chats with people, but one long conversation dominated the afternoon.

Jesse is 23 years old and had been raised “a bit religious” by his mum. He had also been connected to some churches and been baptised as a young adult years but had largely walked away over the hypocrisy that he had seen. He knew many of the right answers to the questions I was asking, but other things he said gave me the distinct sense that something was not right in his spiritual walk. We worked our way through the gospel and at each step, he affirmed the truth of what I was saying about our sin and what Jesus did for us. However, as we talked about the need to repent and surrender to Jesus, it became clear that this is where the problem had been. It was obvious that he was living entirely for himself and as such, there was a distinct lack of fruit in his life. At this point, I was able to challenge him about the fact that there was little evidence that he was saved and that there was a need for him to repent and trust in Jesus. He agreed and stated that he needed to very closely examine where he stood with God. I pleaded with him to not delay because he did not know the date of his death and he thanked me for taking the significant time to speak to him about this.

Please pray for Jesse that God would grant him repentance.

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Operation 513 Battle Log for Tooowng Village on Tuesday February 2nd, 2021 from 1330 to 1500.

Today was a rainy day, we narrowly escape from a morning big storm which though passed away quickly but had left behind a cloudy sky with scattered rain. The Toowong Team of three Johnny, Winnie and Hung had to bring either umbrella or putting on rain coat to serve on the street with intermittent rain. It made every body very gloomy and not in any mood to chat. Thus, it was a general response of initial rejection by the hearer. God nevertheless moved us and strengthened us to make 2nd attempt which normally result in successful conversation for Gospel to be shared at the end.

After we called for the day, God let us met with Miss Chang that Johnny met last week. She is a JW follower. Johnny asked her to check on the internet why JW is consider a heretic Sect. She said she had not done so yet, so Johnny asked her to do so and we will meet next Tuesday. Pray that this God ordain divine encounter will bear fruit to lead Miss Chang to Christ.

Recap below were my chances of gospel sharing: -

1) Alex is a Chinese looking Aussie who responded to my request for chatting after many previous rejections. He did not show full willingness initially but the Spirit softened his heart opening for Gospel. He grasped the idea of Gospel and appeared in agreement that it is the only sensible and logical solution for sinners like us to be saved.

2) A Mongolia lady who is a Christian chatted with Johnny. I joined the conversation for a short while. She basically showed appreciation of our work.

3) Grace rejected Winnie but finally entered into a short chat with me. The bus came very quickly so I only managed to shared with her the nutshell of the Gospel.

4) Midy is a Sri Lanka lady studying at UQ. She initially did not want to chat as she claimed

she is a Buddhist. But God gave me wisdom to affirm Buddhism is good for teaching people to be a good person but that is not enough to resolve our sin. It appeared the gospel has triggered some deeper thought in her mind.

5) Jay is a young lady from Northern Queensland . She appeared very weary and tired. Thus she simply had no mood to chat. But I changed tactic to identify with her feeling and had earn a long chat till Johnny had to come to tell me to call for the day if I want to leave together with the team.

感谢 神 賜給我們 天陰，沒有很大的雨，當我們驾車從停車埸上到街上，非常大雨。感謝主保守我們。 今天很多人 都不接受單張及聽福音，感谢神 给我有八人傳福音的 機會。

第一位是中國少女，遇到她時，正在聽電話，我给她單張，她接受 指示稍后會看。我等她講完電話，再去問她，她説不相信耶稣，我説死后會受到神審判，不信會落地獄，她説不介意落死獄。我説地獄像火湖，不停的燃燒。

第二位是澳洲少女，又是不接受單張及聽福音。後來關牧師再和她倾談。

第三位是中國來，UQ 學生，Megan, 聽完整福音，願意找教會，我叫她去大學裏找教會，找牧師，明白更多主的愛。

第四位是中國來，Matt, UQ 學生，初時不想聽，當我説，不信的人會落地獄。他説會到大学找教會，㝷求更多真理。

第五位是澳洲年青人，Frank , 聽完整福音，會到教會，尋求更多真理。

第六位是澳洲女士，正在通電話，接受單張，巴士到達。

第七及第八位是澳洲男女青年，拿着東西等巴士。我行去傳福音给他們，當我講完福音，他們説是基督徒，我問他們死后可以上天堂嗎？他們説不清楚，可能會的，如果 時常 去教會，做多的善事。于是我從新再講多一次福音给他們聽，解释给他們。這是今天最後，神给我們三人一起， 分别傳福音的機會。

感謝讚美主 今天的带领，願今天聽到福音的人仕，認罪悔改歸向神 阿們！

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Saturday I was online with the team.  It was a great outreach.  For me it started with a wonderful chat but then it started to get harder.  At one point I had chats with three likely false converts in a row.  And it ended with a very difficult chat with a couple of lesbians.

First up the easier / wonderful chat was with a guy who said it was 10 pm, and too late for such deep questions!  I managed to convince him that it was quite simple and proceeded to take him through the law and the gospel.  He seemed to be deeply impacted and very appreciative of the chat.

I had a chat with a girl who seemed sad and introspective - didn’t know the gospel.  Part way through the chat she said that it was an interesting ‘coincidence’ that she was talking to me, because she was going back to church tomorrow.  She came to understand the gospel by the end of the chat.

Next up was a Catholic kid who was super glad to hear the gospel.  He asked good questions at the end which showed his engagement.

It was at this point the conversations became harder and I had to confront (as gently as possible) some people about if they were really Christians.  This often leads to explosions.  Thankfully that didn’t happen.  One of them even thanked me!

The chat with the lesbians started with one of them saying that she was angry at God for making a law against homosexuality.  But then, actually people had misinterpreted the rule - so God is actually ok - as though she was the judge of what is ok!  So going from there we talked about who God is, why he gets to make the rules, and why the rules are the way they are.  In the process I was able to go through the law and the gospel.  I did my best to communicate both truth and love.  It was clear they were rejecting the gospel at this stage.

On Sunday there was a team of three: Mike, Andy and myself.  Lots of people out due to the buskers festival.

I had an interesting chat with a guy who accepted the Old Testament and the Gospels, but rejected the writings of Paul!  He was subtly believing in faith + works to save him as opposed to what the Old Testament and the Gospels teach!  We are justified by grace through faith alone!  We parted on good terms, but I pretty much terminated the discussion.

Mike and I had a great chat with 3 teen Christians, again possible false conversion?  I was able to be razor precise on dealing with the question: “why do we go to heaven?”.  I hope it helped them.

In the late afternoon I was paired with Grace for ‘training Sunday’.  As always it’s so good to be able to listen to and discuss the gospel conversations we were having through the outreach!

Thank you for your prayer and support of this ministry.  To God alone be all the glory!
 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

On Thursday morning I awoke refreshed with a clear head (no tension or residual ache).  I was very grateful for this facing two busy days of outreach.  Due to the rainy weather, I spent the whole day in some very fruitful online evangelism.  Friday we were online and in Christchurch (NZ) city.

So, Thursday, I had about twenty five gospel conversations through the day (no technical hiccups this time).  Here are some highlights:

I was connected with a guy from India, who was Hindu.  He was very resistant to the gospel, but he was nice and it was a great chat.  We ended up talking for about thirty minutes.  The resistance was clear from him pretty much refusing to answer my questions.  Yet, he heard the law and gospel.

A wonderful twenty minute chat with a teen guy.  By the end of the conversation he said, “I need to sit and process this”, “but I want you to know, though, there is a good chance I’ll remember this for the rest of my life”, “we do online school now because of Covid… I think I’ve learnt more in the last few minutes than the whole last semester of school”.  I pointed him to the Bible.

A lovely twenty minute chat with a Muslim man from Morocco.  Sadly, he was a tour driver before Covid, but now there is no tourism he is out of work and living on savings.  He came to hear the gospel and he then wrestled with the cost of conversion.  He said: “It’s impossible for me”.  I instantly thought of Mark 10:27: Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

Soon after I had another conversation with a Muslim man from Morocco.  He seemed impacted, but resistant.

Yet another twenty minute chat - this time with a recovering addict.  He seemed irritated at the beginning of the conversation, but then when understanding of the gospel took hold, he lightened up and opened up.  He had some good questions about hypocrisy in the church.

The last chat I’ll mention from Thursday was one with a lady who was a dentist in Sudan - I think that’s the first time I’ve talked to someone from there.  She was Muslim and very resistant to the gospel, sadly.

Friday morning I spent a couple of hours online before heading into the city.  Some great chats:

Two boys being silly online.  One became engaged and was trusting his good deeds and church going to get him to heaven.  After hearing the gospel, he had a very visible ‘I get it now’ reaction.  The other kid had been listening, and wanted me to wait so he could look up needGod.net before I left.

I had yet another chat with a guy from Morocco!  Before heading into a wonderful chat with a 17 year old guy who had just this year started rejecting his Catholic faith.  He heard the gospel and said: “I think I’m a Christian now”.  He encouraged me to keep doing what I was doing - I told him to join me!

We were in Cathedral Square and Cashel Mall from lunch time and into the mid afternoon.  Andy preached wonderfully!  He’s turned a new leaf.  He is navigating the paradox of repentance and faith so clearly.  And he is handling the hecklers so respectfully, gently yet faithfully dealing with their questions one by one.  A week or so ago I wrote about a heckler who almost came to blows with another member of the public during Andy’s preaching.  Well, today he came up to Andy and shook his hand!

I have to admit I’m still smarting from the difficult encounter I had on Tuesday.  I’m feeling shy, and flinching a bit in one to one conversations.  Yet, I had a nice long chat with one of my regulars in Cashel mall.  He has heckled my preaching in the past.

In the late afternoon and early evening I was online again.  Something weird happened.  I hit a “gospel flow”.  I used to get this a lot in my previous career as a software developer.  You would hit a vein of productivity, and you would mentally stand back and wonder where it was coming from!  Well, I started having wonderful gospel chats.  I was talking with two guys, and after some initial apologetical sparing, one turned to the other and said: “He’s icing you man!” (or something like that).  They both came to grasp the gospel, then slip and lose it (thanks to checking questions for detecting), and then had it re-explained.

The final chat of the day was epic.  With a deeply hurting guy who’s mum had died a few months prior and whose wife had left him a few weeks back.  He was drinking alcohol.  He was very angry, and he was directing it at me because of who I was representing.  I didn’t address his anger intellectually, but with empathy.  He wasn’t expecting that, and it completely deflated his anger.  We then ended up switching to the intellectual side of things - it was still a battle, but it was different.  I was no longer his enemy, but a friend saying some hard truths.  I had to try to rein in my passion.  By the end of the conversation he said: “you haven’t changed my mind, but there were multiple times I was nearly in tears.  Thank you so much for what you are doing.” (Or something like that).

I don’t write this to boast in myself, but to boast in God.  His gospel is amazing!  The gifts he gives us are amazing.  All glory to him alone!
 

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Bribie Island (QLD) Team

Australia Day Outreach 2021

  With an extra boost of helpers, our Bribie team gathered at the jetty to share the Gospel with those celebrating along the waterfront.  There was constant flow of people walking up and down, every picnic table was taken, and gazebos full of families were everywhere.  We were thankful to see that God had prepared the way before us and that people were very open to hearing us and accepting tracts.  About 800 tracts went out, along with a number of booklets and other literature.  We were amazed and encouraged to see so many people come and take a copy of Scripture.  15 Bibles were taken, and around 25 Gospels of Luke, plus many Gospels of John.

  Our team split up into pairs, covering a good length of the Bongaree waterfront footpaths.  While distributing Gospel literature, we were able to engage in multiple conversations.  Various groups approached the Good Person flipchart and heard the Gospel.

  A number of people we met considered themselves safe and “all good" because they were decent people, Roman Catholic, confirmed, baptised, or having done some form of works.  May the pure, undefiled Gospel shine its light in their lives and reveal their sin and need of Christ.

  As one team member was in a discussion with an elderly gentleman and his friend, a man from across the path began to berate him angrily.  While our team member calmly and peacefully held his own, answering the man whenever he could get a word in, the first two gentlemen looked on.  At last, after they shook hands and parted, the angry man remained a few minutes further to speak with the two men on the bench.  While this seemed disheartening, we were encouraged to see one of them come up later to check out the literature table.  He said that he often saw Gideon Bibles in hotels, and he said he always tried to read a bit.  Then he proceeded to take a Bible over to his friend.  Praise God!  Now we pray for the seed of the Word to find good soil in his heart.

  A young woman sitting by herself was approached and took a tract.  She then engaged in a conversation where she was able to hear the Gospel.  She went from not believing in God to having a pretty good grasp on the Gospel.  It was a beautiful moment as her eyes lit up when she realized that all she had to do was repent and trust in Christ.  She had several valuable questions, such as “If a bad person like Hitler repents and trusts in Christ, will he go to heaven?”  She also admitted that because she knew so little, she didn’t know what questions to ask.  She took some literature and was encouraged to not only think seriously about the importance of this, but also to contact us if she had any questions.  May God’s rich truth take root in her open heart.

  Pray for Finn, a young man who heard the Gospel and seemed to take it extremely seriously.  He appeared to understand, and he asked for a Bible when he left.  May God do a work in his life.

  A friendly Anglican man stopped by to encourage us in what we were doing.  On being questioned, we found him to have a good understanding of the true Gospel. 

  James’ wife made him come to take the Good Person test.  He listened to the law and the Gospel with a fairly open mind.  Over the last few years, he said he’d had a number of people share the Gospel with him, and he wondered why it kept coming back to him.  This came as a reinforcement of its truth.  We pray that he would consider the impact of this truth on his life, and that he would be saved.

  Praise God for blessing our time on Tuesday.  Continue to pray that God will use His Word which has gone out to bring souls to Christ, and that He would grow His kingdom here on Bribie Island.

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Sunnybank on Wednesday 27/1/2021 from 1300 to 1500

It was a quieter day after a spirit anointed day yesterday. But God taught us to be patient and waited for His planned divine encounter opportunity to turn up. Anyway the three of us Andrew, Johnny and Hung still got our chance. For me, All apart from the last one, are divine appointment to train me to do not just the "talk the talk" but also the "walk the walk" . I had to show compassion to share the gospel to walk with the gospel hearer across the foot bridge as they all claimed they were in a hurry but did not mind me to chat with them while we did the walking across the bridge. S0, my six encounters were recap as follows:

1) After many many rejections in the beginning, a Chinese lady stopped to take the tract but immediately asked if this is from Jehovah Witness. Obviously she has been a follower of JHW. I took this chance not just sharing the gospel but hitting on the point that Jesus is God but he incarnated to live as a perfect man and died on the cross for us all taking our place to received the punishment of sin. I trust God will illuminate the darkness spot in her mind to realize Jesus is really the Saviour and the Lord of all.

Then came Ryan an middle aged Aussie. He was very polite and genuinely welcome me to walk and talk with him. He appeared very open and receptive to the gospel.

3) Then I Caught up with two Pakistanis Muslim Tafe students by the name Shani and Muneeb whom we met in Nov 4 & 18. This time they were with a third new friend but he had to hurry for work. I did pray that this was a stepping stone for me to meet them soon to have a proper chat again.

4) Woobi was a senior Hindu man lacking good English level as such having difficulty for communication. But the Spirit moved me to stay put to walk and chat slowly with him in simplest form of English about Jesus. At the end, he seemed to have fully understood who Jesus was and why he died for us and show great appreciation for my sharing. I did thank the Holy Spirit to urge me not to give up on this senior Indian man as perhaps he will hardly have another person willing and daring to chat with him.

5) Then God led another Indian woman by the name Myminya. She walked very fast but surprisingly accept my offer to walk and talk with her about the gospel. I was not sure if she really took heart to listen, but I nevertheless share her the gospel out of obedient to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

6) Then Teresa the Taiwanese student turned up to do here weekly bulk shopping for mailing back to Taiwan to earn her living and Tuition fee. She was happy I greeted her by name. Johnny anyhow took up to have some follow up chat with her while she was waiting for the bus.

7) 金輝 Fai Kim was a member of the EMP Methodist Church. He passed my two diagnosis tests about assurance of salvation. He actually was members of several other Chinese Churches before ending up at EMP methodist after home relocation. He was surprised to find that I have a wide inter-person network knowing all his past pastors as well as Mark Loi and Gloria Ling the current clergy of EMP Methodist. I think the reason God let us meet was to raise his awareness of the responsibility of all Christians to live out a mission oriented life sharing gospel in our social community circles.

Battle Log by Andrew: On Wednesday at Sunnybank, I joined up with Hung and Johnny to speak to people about Jesus.

Micah, Julian and their other friend are 17 years old and all called themselves Christians. I asked them why God should let them into heaven and they gave me a bunch of Christian clichés, but ultimately they were unsure of the gospel. They regularly attend a church where the Bible is barely referenced, and they admitted that there is not much fruit in their lives to suggest that they are living for Jesus. I walked through the gospel in depth with them and challenged them to consider Jesus’ words about false conversion. They appeared to grasp the gospel and so I called them to examine themselves in truth and make sure that they are saved.

Lucy is from Vietnam and has no real religious background at all. She was not sure that God exists and so I shared how we can know that he is real and why that matters. I then explained that we can only know who God is and what he wants from us if he has spoken to us and how the Bible is his way of speaking. I was then able to share the gospel with her in great depth and showed her why she needs to repent and place her trust in Jesus. She grasped the message well and confessed that if this is true, she is headed for hell, but I reminded her that since this is true, God is merciful and gracious and willing to save her.

Please pray for those who heard the gospel this past Wednesday.

 

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