Battle Log

• Battle Log
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Operation 513 Battle Log for Sunnybank on Wednesday Nov 18, 2020 from 1300 -1500

Thanks God for a fine sunny day good for street evangelism. We had Johnny, Andrew and Hung turning up to serve. To me, it started good meeting again with two Pakistanis Muslim Tafe students by the name Shani and Muneeb whom we met two weeks ago. They were serious Muslim but with an opened mind to discuss. It was a pity they were in a hurry to meet their father but promised to come back next week.

Then I had my second divine appointment for today with Kitty who is from TianJin 天津, China. She was at the bus stop sitting on the bench. I initially wanted to approach two high school students but they were busy with their iphone. And Kitty virtually looked up at me. I felt the urge to switch talking to her first. She is rare species of Mainlander that does not avoid chatting with me with a Chinese face. She even invited me to sit down to chat with her rather than standing. She claimed she had received tracts before and possibly chatted with someone else. I asked if she found the message of the tract sensible and logical and what was her response. She got to the point that: yes, she admitted the tract let her see she as well as every one in this world, though called a good person, but all have committed varieties of sin not pleasing to God. Then I asked did she know how to have our sin forgiven. She knew it was through Jesus' sacrificial death to pay for the debt of our sin. But she is not sure if she deserves the grace of Jesus to save her as a sinner. At this point ,her boy friend turned up, checking out what was happening and trying to drag her away from the conversation. But she refused to stop our conversation, so her boy friend was forced to listen by her side. I could feel that she was wide open to receive Christ but then the bus came. I trust God will continue on leading her to the final decision of accepting Jesus as her Savior and Lord of life.

My overall condition to day was not good with body itchiness and swollen limb getting worse because of the side effect of the Psoriasis medication. Dried mouth and frequent toilet needs all posed great interruption to my normal street evangelism. It finally was cut short when I found my Credit card was not in my wallet when I stopped for a while to do shopping. I had to call for the day to rush home to check if I did lose it. Thanks God finally I found the card in one of my vest pocket so I did not have to go through yet another round of reporting lost for replacement which had happened once just two months ago.

Both Andrew and Johnny had many good long conversation with fruit bearing results.

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

On Tuesday I had some good chats with Muslims online.

The first was with a guy from Saudi Arabia, but currently living in the UK.  He heard the law and I started to explain the gospel.  My first question was “If someone takes 100% of your hell punishment, how much is left for you?”  And he got stuck on that for a long time.  He couldn’t bring himself to answer the question.  He would throw up diversions - I would politely listen, and then bring him right back to the question.  Eventually he answered the question correctly: none.  I explained that Jesus is offering to pay his hell fine, but not surprisingly he was resistant and disconnected.

The next guy got hung up on the same thing!  He got frustrated and bailed with “I’m [a] good [person].  Your message is wrong”.

But to finish off, I had a great chat with a guy [not a Muslim this time] who came to grasp the gospel.

In the afternoon, I was in Riccarton with Roger.  As usual, we had a busy couple of hours talking to people about Jesus (as pictured).

The weather wasn’t looking good on Wednesday, so I decided to spend the time in online outreach.

To start with I had a string of resistant people where I didn’t get far with.

Although one of those people responded positively to the building / builder analogy - it seemed to open up a line of thinking they hadn’t considered before.  I led her down that line of thinking to the reality of an afterlife.  She sat back and considered and then she said, “you know, you’ve given me an existential crisis…” and she disconnected.  Sadly, She didn’t hear the gospel, but she is in God’s hands.

Another kid followed the logic flawlessly - even heard the gospel, but bailed soon after.

But to finish up, I had two golden conversations.  The first was with two ladies who were being silly.  I thought the conversation was going to be like the previous ones, but I persisted.  To my surprise, they sobered, and really started engaging.  My guess is that they had Christian backgrounds but had never really understood the gospel.  By the end they acknowledged that the conversation had really helped them in their understanding.  I pointed them back to their Bibles.

The last conversation was text based and I’ve decided to include it, lightly edited.  The highlight is that they asked: “What if I’m bi[sexual]”, and at the end of the conversation they said: “I’m 100% sure I'm going to heaven now, ty [thank you]”.  Praise God

You: hi
Stranger: hi
You: what do you think happens after life? :)
Stranger: we either go to heaven or hell or we just stay dead
You: ok, so what do you have to do to go to heaven?
Stranger: hmm
Stranger: believe in jesus
You: Interesting answer. Why does believing in Jesus get us to heaven?
Stranger: because he crucified himself to pay for our sins
Stranger: thats what my mom told me =w=
You: Your mum gave you a good answer! Do you believe Jesus did that for you?
Stranger: yessir
You: So, out of 100, how sure are you that you are going to heaven?
Stranger: maybe like 97%
You: ok... so why 3% doubt?
Stranger: idk in the back of my head i just keep thinking "what is there is no god and everything was just a lie"
You: ok, let me address that.
You: Where did the universe come from?
Stranger: honestly idk =w=
You: ok, look at it like this...
You: Have you met the people who made your house?
You: Assuming you haven't - what is the proof that they exist?
You: The proof is your house - right?
Stranger: yep
You: It's the same with the universe... you haven't seen the maker, but we know the maker exists - the proof is the universe we can see.
You: And we have a conscience - and as the maker made us, the conscience came from the Maker... so God cares about right and wrong.
You: Do you agree with me that people get away with murder in this life sometimes?
Stranger: yes
You: So, logically, there must be an afterlife - with a hell.
You: And a heaven too - a place where God is.
You: But we have a problem.
You: We have done bad too...
You: ever lied?
Stranger: yes
Stranger: everyone has lol
Stranger: hey i have a question,
Stranger: what if im bi
You: Great question.
You: Who makes the rules of the universe?
Stranger: god?
You: Right.
You: Now, Jesus said, if you just look at someone to lust for them, it's like committing adultery with them in your heart.
You: God's standard for sex is perfect purity. And we all fail.
You: But sex is a good thing, within the bounds of marriage, between a man and a women. That's the way the rule maker made the rules.
You: So if you believe Jesus made you, and saved you when he died on the cross - you will want to honour him by obeying his rules... BUT.... it's not keeping the rules that saves you.... it's a gift Jesus paid on your behalf... you accept it by trusting (or believing)
You: What ya thinking? :)
You: needGod.net
Stranger: so i get to go to heaven?
You: If you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins.
You: If you were in a burning building...
You: and a fireman came and rescued you...
You: how would you feel towards the fireman?
Stranger: i would love them
You: right, would you turn and punch them in the face?
You: of course you wouldn't. :)
You: It's the same with Jesus. He will change our heart and mind, when we trust that he died for us. We will have new desires. We will want to obey the one we love: Jesus.
Stranger: oooohh okayy
You: There is a bi person, and they trust that Jesus died on the cross for them... then...
You: 5 minutes later, they sin again...
You: Then they die, would it be heaven or hell?
Stranger: heaven
You: Right, why?
Stranger: because jesus died on the cross and got crucified for us
Stranger: to pay for our sins
You: Exactly.
You: But the bi person won't want to sin any more, because they love the one that made them and saved them. :)
Stranger: yes
You: Has this chat helped you? Do you have other questions?
Stranger: nope'
Stranger: im 100% sure im going to heaven now
Stranger: ty lol
You: Praise God :)
You: Do you have a Bible?
You: "ESV Bible" in the app store, or at ESV.org
You: it's free
You: start in John - in the second half of the Bible
You: to find a good church in your area: 9marks.org/church-search/
You: needGod.net
Stranger: okay
You: Thanks for the chat. :)
You: My name is Glen, I'm from New Zealand
You: If you have questions: insta: needGod.net7
Stranger: okay
Stranger: thanks glen have a nice rest of your day or night
Stranger: bye
Stranger has disconnected.
 

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Operation 513 Battle Log for Toowong Village on Tuesday Nov 17, 2020 from 1330 to 1500

It was a day of grace with storm and rain pouring down in the middle of our way of street evangelism. In the beginning before the storm came, we had relatively very limited chance to stop people for a chat. Some hurried away to avoid the forth coming storm with thundering rooming in a distance. God did not let this happen without a reason. Winnie and I had unexpected fellowship time to share experience and testimony. But when the storm came, many people were forced to gather under the bus station with limited sheltering space. Then all three of us were fully occupied with conversations that we were all too busy to take photo for each others. At the end , we possibly collectively reached out to 20 odd persons.

Team work was also orchestrated by God in a prominent way. Some were first approached by Johnny taking a tract but did not stop yet were followed up by us successfully after they got to the bus stop. Like wise, some failed to have been stopped by us yet got a long chat with Johnny.(*)

(*) æ„Ÿè¬å¤©çˆ¶ä¸Šå¸çš„帶領，今天在街上傳福音的時候，遇到一位女生從南京來UQ 讀書的謝同學，她聽到審判日要下地獄，她笑笑的說：「 有什麼好怕的，」隨後舉起滿是自殺刀痕的左手給我看。我被這舉動嚇了一跳。我便安慰她，告訴她生命的可貴。也將主耶穌的話告訴她。我們談了一會。她聽到了福音，請為謝同學來禱告，求上帝安慰、憐憫、拯救她。

Recap below are the battle log of mine and Winnie.

1) Kale a Korean UQ student who took a tract from Johnny but was approached by me for a full gospel sharing. He was born in Switzerland but came to Adelaide first then to Brisbane for study at UQ. He has no religion but was very receptive to the Gospel.

2) Chatted with a few Beauty school students after they got tracts from Johnny. One of them , an Aussie girl had a long chat with Johnny. The other excused themselves for class in the building behind the bus stop. Many of them were Islanders and from India.

3) Then I caught up with a Mozambique Christian. He only has 80% of assurance of salvation. So I quickly clarified with him that the reason we are saved is by grace through faith in Christ alone. He delightfully thanks for my clarification.

4) A Malaysian Mum Wendy was first approached by Winnie. She told Winnie she is a Christian as such Winnie just let go. But she was detained at the bus stop by the sudden pouring down of rain. So I had chance to approach her again to check here with the two diagnosis questions. She does has 100% assurance for the right reason of the sacrificial grace of Jesus. She now worships at the Hope Church in UQ with ehr son. She actually needed to move on to meet her son at the Toowong Village to ride home together for care and safety sake.

5) An Aussie girl called Egypt was receptive to listen to the gospel. Time was just barely enough to give her the nutshell though the prospect for her to understand and has a repentant heart to accept Christ as her saviour.

6) Hannah ws from America which I only learned as the end. She hd initial reluctance to listen to the Gospel but God moved me to unarmed her resistant attitude and finally turned very receptive to the Gospel. SHe promised to read the tract and ponder deeper in her heart to make this important decision of her life time.

7) An Aussie lady stopped for a brief chat but finally hurried away as she was afraid of the looming storm.

Recap below are the account of WInnie's eight divine appointments: --

感謝主今天的带领，讓我有機會 可以向八人傳福音。

第一位是印度年青人，福音講了一半，巴士到達。

第二位是澳洲女士，Helen, 當我講完福音，她説是基督徒，我運用關牧師方法 測示她 ，她好肯定的回答 一定會上天堂。還接受我给她單張來傳福音给其他人。感谢主。

第三位是澳洲老婦人，初時不想聽，我問她認識耶穌基督嗎？跟着傳福音给她。我從神 創造萬物天地 跟着阿當，夏娃犯罪。道至我們一出生，便是罪人。耶穌降世，死在十字架上 ，三天復活。是為拯救我們，脱離罪。詳细講解给她。她聽了，問我要怎樣做。我叫她去附近教會，找牧師。跟着遲些牧師會為你施洗，聖靈便會進入你心裏，你便是基督徒。當我講完，巴士到達。

第四位是Malaysian Mum，當我想傳福音给她，她説是基督徒，跟着關牧師來到 測示她。

第五位是中國UQ 學生，Alice, 當我講完福音，她願意到教會尋求更多真理。巴士到達。

第六位是印度 UQ 工作學生。願意回教會。

第七位是中國青年，Joe, 佛教徒，我説佛教要行善，積福德。但基督教是講信靠耶穌，便得救。未講完，巴士到達。

第八位是澳洲少女及中國少女，澳洲少女願意聽，當我講了一半，中國少女拖走她。可能他們趕時間吧！

願今天聽到福音人士，打開心門，接受耶穌基督為救世主。阿們！

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Sunday afternoon was hot, Andy & I found a shaded spot to set up the flip chart on Cashel Mall.  There weren't as many people out as had been on Friday, and my “Merry Christmas” while handing out Christmas tracts didn’t work as well as it had on Friday - oh well.  Andy and I took turns on the flip chart, while the other would venture out into the sunshine to start conversations with passers by.

As the pictures testify to, we had a busy outreach.  I had many conversations.  Some were resistant, some were informed - all heard the gospel.

My favourite conversation was probably the last one, it was with two guys from a prestigious high school with a Christian background.  They believed in heaven… and hell, but they were good people so they would be ok… or so they thought!  They heard the law and the gospel.  Their thinking was tinged post modern (“It’s okay, my standards are different”) - so I was able to address that with them.  I challenged them to read John 3, and Romans 3, 4, & 5 - and they both left with Christmas tracts.

I mentioned a follow up conversation I had, during the gospel + abortion outreach on Friday, with a guy I’ve been talking to for over two years who now has cancer.  I saw him again today.  He is still resistant to the gospel.  Today I noticed him focusing on himself in everything he said, so I decided to challenge him on this - “It’s not about you or me, it’s about God”.  I also checked to see if he could still articulate the gospel - he could, but it hasn’t clicked.  I’ll keep praying for him, and leave him in God's hands.  God, give me wisdom if you allow me to talk to him again!

On Saturday, I was with the Aussie team for three hours of online outreach.  I had about fifteen conversations, some longer, some shorter.  Glory to God.

Thank you for praying for Operation 513 and the outreach teams.  We need God’s help desperately.
 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

A very busy couple of days of outreach.  Hot weather.

On Thursday morning I was in the City with John and Matty before joining Andy at the Eastgate and Northlands bus stops in the afternoon.

The stand out conversation at the bus stops occurred just after a guy refused a gospel tract.  I turned and another guy was walking past, so I offered it to him - he took it and I was able to ask him what he thought happened after life.  It caused him to stop and engage.  He wasn’t sure if there was a God, so I used the building / builder analogy - before I had even finished explaining, he understood what I was saying, and he had an ah ha moment (not the last one of the conversation).  Most people I talk to consider themselves good people, but he was rare in that he admitted he would be going to hell right off the bat.  I confirmed this by explaining God’s law.  I then had the joy of sharing the gospel with this guy, where the real ah ha clicked!  So wonderful.  He understood that the gift of Jesus would change him.  He had the tract I gave him (with a way for him to get in touch), and I told him how he could easily get a Bible for free.  He turned and continued walking - Lord, I leave him in your hands, only you can change him!

The gospel + abortion occured on Friday morning.  It was a public holiday in Christchurch, so there weren’t as many people about.  But due to counter protesters, we had a very busy outreach.  You can read about it here.

There were a lot of open air preachers in the Square at lunch time.  At least four of us preached.  I went first.  One of our regular hecklers became vocal - I tried to engage him without much success.

I also had some great one to one conversations in the Square.  The highlight was with a lady - there was a guy and another lady with her.  The guy refused my tract and walked off, but the lady accepted it and I was able to get a conversation going - her friend stayed to listen.  When she grasped the gospel, she also had an ah ha moment.  She said she had never had it explained that way and it made sense.  I challenged her, that now she understood the gospel, that she must urgently respond to it, as we don’t know when we will die.

We moved to Cashel Mall - it was very busy due to the holiday.  Some West Indies cricket players were there.  I had two opportunities to try to engage them - they pretty much ignored me.  I tried.

I was handing out Christmas tracts.  All I did was say, “Merry Christmas” to people and offer them a tract as they walked past.  I was surprised how willing people were to take them compared to the regular tracts I hand out.  You can get these tracts for free on the NZ web store.  Get some, find a public spot and start handing them out with a “Merry Christmas” - it couldn’t be an easier or friendlier way to share the gospel!

My tracting lead to a wonderful conversation with two ladies who lived the “lier” page on my flip chart so much, one of them took a photo of it.  They came to realise their good deeds would not get them to heaven, but that it was the gift of God - but I had to labour with them.  They came to understand the correct place of good works in the equation.  It was a lovely chat.

I finished the day of outreach with two hours online.  I hadn’t been online since Tuesday (the start of my week) and it was so good to be with the team again.

I ended up having one last conversation before calling it a day, and it ended up being the highlight conversation of this whole report!  It was a short chat with an ex-Mormon kid.  The gospel blew his mind (his words).  He said that from today he was trusting that Jesus died on the cross for his sins, and he said he would start reading the Book of Mormon again!  I was able to explain that what I was explaining was not Mormonism!  And he could see that, I pointed him to the book of John in the Bible, I specifically pointed him to John 3, and Romans 3, 4, & 5.  Lord, don’t let the seed be plucked away, save him for your glory!
 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

A very interesting two days of outreach.  More street outreach then usual.  The Canterbury A&P show would have been on this week - if not for cancellation due to Covid-19.  A couple of evangelists from the top of the South Island came to join me in outreach anyway.  So good to be able to work with them today!

On Tuesday I spent some time online before heading to Riccarton.

I had a wonderful chat with a Muslim man from Algeria in North Africa.  He was open enough for me to be able to share the grace of Jesus through faith alone - but he was deeply resistant to it, the idea was so foreign to his thinking.  But he was nice about it, and I was able to gently labour with him.  He would talk for a while, and then I would bring him back to the serious reality of our sin and the only hope for forgiveness.  Slowly it started to dawn on him.  I think he started to grasp what I was saying, but he was still resistant.  He started gently attacking the concept of the Trinity as illogical.  We parted on good terms - him with a link to needGod.net.

I also had a long chat with a guy who was quite self focused.  He’d had Christian instruction in his life, but didn’t understand the gospel.  So I was able to share it.  He also left with a link to needGod.net and encouragement to start reading his Bible again.

Roger joined me in Riccarton.

I was into gospel conversations pretty much straight away.  I had three highlights, with: a Christian, an Atheistic Philosopher, and a Hindu.

Two teen girls went past, one wanted a tract and so approached, the other decided to take one too.  When asked: “what do you think happens after life?”, the second girl said, “heaven, of course, I’m a Christian”.  Amused, I asked her what she had to do to go to heaven, and she said, “be a good person”.  So I explained God’s law to show them that we weren’t good.  And then explained the gospel.  It clicked very quickly for her.  She seemed a bit sheepish.  She said she would discuss this with her youth group.  I encouraged her to do so!

The philosopher (studying at the university) had a religious background, but had moved away from it.  We talked about knowledge, how we know God exists, theodicy, and how we know right from wrong.  Amazingly, I was even able to touch on the gospel.  But he really wasn’t open. I could see him gently digging in and I could see it just being a mental battle.  He was blind to how he used himself as the judge of things over and over, and he didn’t even realise it till I gently pointed it out.  It was a good conversation, but I decided to end it with a handshake that he accepted.

The last conversation, with the Hindu, was fascinating.  He was extremely open to the conversation, but he was the most resistant to the idea of salvation as a gift of anyone I’ve ever talked to.  Over and over I would explain, and then ask a question to see if he was starting to grasp - and over and over he would revert straight back to the idea that his goodness would get him to heaven!  At one point I put my hands on his shoulders and looked him directly in the eyes as I pointed out that he’d done it again!  But it was a pleasant conversation, and I didn’t mind labouring with him till he finally seemed to grasp and hold the gospel in his mind.  But still, he just wanted to add it to his patheon.  The final page on the chart challenged him on the cost of accepting the gift, and when he realised he would have to let go of Hinduism to trust that Jesus had died on the cross for his sins - he admitted it would be difficult.  I was able to explain why it was worth it!

John and Matty were with me on Wednesday.  With a change to my schedule, we were in the city in the morning, and I took them to Riccarton in the afternoon.

We all had some great opportunities to share Christ.

In the morning I had two great walk up opportunities.  And I had a great chat with a lady who was intrigued with the flip chart and wanted to go through it.  No real resistance, she tracked with me through to the end.  After explaining the cost, she said she wanted to accept the gift.  So I pointed her to the Bible and left the ball in her court to get in touch.

In the afternoon, I left John and Matty with their flip charts and walked down to the bus stops to see who would be open for a chat.  I stopped at a road crossing, and waited to cross.  Two girls came and stood behind me.  We crossed, once we got to the other side, I knew it would be a bit awkward, but I turned to offer them tracts.  One of them was so glad I did!  She had talked to me a year ago and wanted to talk again.  She remembered that I’d shared the law, and then I’d shared some good news.  I asked her what the good news was, and she couldn’t remember.  So I took the fresh opportunity to go over the law and the gospel again.  They even skipped a bus so the conversation could continue.

Meanwhile on his flip chart, Matty had a very long chat with a lesbian couple.  I then set up my flip chart and I had a great chat with a couple of guys who were Bhudist.  They came to grasp the gospel and were challenged to count the cost of accepting it.

Glory to God alone.
 

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Sunnybank on Wednesday Nov 11, 2020 from 1300 -1500

Today I was supposed to go solo as Johnny had to stay at home for Termite treatment. I struggled for a short moment if I should still go by myself. God was gracious enough to move Andrew to come without my pre-knowledge. So we still could start our ministry as a team in prayer. I went over to the west side of the foot bridge to join Andrew for mutual back up and support. God made us work non-stop. I got 8 divine appointments amongst which the one with The Sibling form Hong Kong was most inspiring and movement because of our empathy as the Hong Kongers going through the toughness moment in the history of Hong Kong.

1) I started first while Andrew went to fill out his drinking bottle. Hence when he joined me, he took photo for me with the Hindu couples. The man claimed to have Christian family background but obviously had forsaken his faith in Christ. He was very arrogant to dismiss the significant of Jesus salvation, but the lady was more polite and actually willing to listen. But I could only manged to utter the key nutshell of Gospel before the husband dragged his wife away.

2) Then I left Andrew at the footbridge and walked over to the bus stop where I found only one Chinese sitting there. He was not interested and virtually refused to hear the gospel but I still had managed to have a chat bringing in all the elements of the gospel until he reached the limit of his patience to ask me talk to somebody else.

3)I did find a Korean girl besides me and she appeared very receptive to the gospel. I was able to finish sharing just in time before the bus arrived.

4) Then came a Malaysian Chinese 馬華 girl Chai Chin彩琴，she was very polite，and appeared very receptive 接納 to the gospel.

5) Then I moved back to the footbridge and met another Korean girl by the name pf Ishin. She is doing working holiday here and quickly claimed herself a Christian. She has almost 100% assurance of salvation but the reason was a bit blurred not pointing to Jesus directly but mentioning other good deeds like attending church. After clarification, she was happy to assured that now her concept of salvation is very clear now.

6) Then I met up with a middle aged Chinese woman by the name Hu胡大媽 from China中國，She was willing to listen 願聽

so I walked with her to the bus stop. I was lucky to waste no time but shared her the full gospel first before the bus arrived.

7) Then Ben and Emily who are sibling and are student of QUT & UQ respectively from Hong Kong. I spent no time to find out our common root and it helped them to associate with me as Hong Kongers. I was able to use the dark power now ruling ove Hong Kong and USA to demonstrate the need for all people to seek light to expel the darkness in our life. And Jesus is the only means ad avenue for us to leave the darkness of sin into the brightness of our faith in Jesus. They were happy to take selfie group photo with me to commemorate our encounter by the divine appointment.

8 ) Lina from Goodna who is a Mormon. But she claimed she believed and accept Jesus as God and as her Saviour though she only have 70% of assurance of salvation. I took the chance to supplement teaching about the three fold salvation as such our certainty of identity changed because of the redemptive work of Jesus will be guarantee despite our temporal life have not yet been transformed back to perfection. So the temporary imperfection will not affect our assurance of being saved by Jesus. God anyhow have guaranteed to make us perfect one day before the New Heaven and New Earth come.

Recap below is the battle log of Andrew Walkington

Yesterday in Sunnybank there were a few great conversations and at least 2 young men seemed to really grasp the gospel for the first time.

Danny has a Christian upbringing but as I dug into what he believed, it was clear that his hope was in good works to make him right with God. He tries to live a very moral life and hoped that he would be ok when he stood before God. I showed him that even as moral as he had tried to be, he would never be perfect and that his relative goodness could not save him. I then walked him through what Jesus did on the cross and why this changes everything. He came to understand that his trust needs to be not in himself but in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and he stated that this is now where his hope lies.

I then spoke with a very proud man who gave a convoluted label for his beliefs that had something to do with messianic understandings of Judaism, though he wasn’t Jewish at all. He talked and talked about how most people miss the meanings of the texts and how the church has it wrong. He denied hell, denied that God is angry with people and argued that we are all God’s children. When I read several passages to him about how we are enemies of God in our natural state he argued that this was just my interpretation. He then started arguing that our judgement is only going to be based on the quality of our works and brought up the story of the widow’s offering as an example, which happened to be the very passage I preached this past Sunday! I pleaded with him to study Ephesians 2 and Romans 1-8. He thanked me for chatting and said he would read Ephesians 2 that night.

Harris is 17 and from a non-religious home. He had gone to church a bit as a kid and said straight up that he believes in God, Jesus, heaven and hell. When I asked him about the afterlife, he really hoped that he was good enough for heaven and had not understood the cross at all. I shared the gospel with him carefully to show him that we will never be good enough and that what we need is a saviour who will die in our place. He then asked a heap of really great questions about why we should be good if our goodness can’t save us and I was able to clearly explain how our repentance is a heart desire to turn from our rebellion, not the quality of our works. He ended up clearly understanding salvation and took a gospel of John to read.

Please pray for each of these folks that they would place their trust in Jesus and not in their works to save them.

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Operation 513 Battle Log for Toowong Village on Tuesday Nov 9, 2020 from 1330 to 1500

It was a very fruitful afternoon with the three of us Johnny , Winnie and Hung serving together as a team. All of us had got numerous chance of long chats with good results. For instance, the first chat that Johnny had led to a conversion readily. It was also an afternoon of apologetic discussion with people of deep catholic Muslim and Jehovah Witness background.

Recap herewith is my six divine appointments : -

1) MacLaylup is a country girl from Townsville to study here at UQ. She is from a Christian family. But she came to faith by herself as an adult. She claimed to have 100% assurance of faith after initial hesitation as it seems to be of spiritual realm issue that people seldom contemplate above it., she anyway asserted that she is 100% sure she is saved but the reason is not clean cut just have faith in God. After some hints and guidance, she eventually understood her reason of salvation is purely because of Jesus only as such she should have 100% assurance of salvation. After that ,she was drawn deeper in understanding why Christians are not yet perfect after conversion as it is part of God's three fold salvation plan that the redemptive grace of Jesus only changed our identity back as God's people. It enables God to exercise His sovereign power in our life to start the sanctification work to transform us back to perfect through the work of the Holy Spirit. She was so grateful for the educative conversation and was delighted to take a selfie with me.

2) Betty a Chinese non believer girl took tract from Johnny but did not stop to chat. Until she arrived at the bus stop, God changed her mind to stop and listen to my full gospel presentation. She found it logical and sensible. I introduced her to join Power to Change even if she is still at the stage of seeking.

3) Juline an old lady who did not prepare to stop claiming she got the tract and had a conversation with Winnie last week. She thanked us anyway indicating she is a Buddhist as such there is no need for Christianity. I anyway felt the urge to share again the nutshell of the gospel and was able to convinced her that even Buddhist need Jesus. She was impressed and promised to ponder seriously and thank for my sincerity to share the importance to be saved by Jesus.

4) Then a couple of Chinese guy and Aussie girl carrying heavy shopping goods getting passed Johnny without stopping. I anyway approached them when they got to the bus stop. The Aussie girl was more open while the Chinese Guy was not so keen to hear the Gospel. I anyway rushed to give them the nutshell but cut short by the arrival of the bus.

5) Betty another UQ students unexpectedly stopped to chat. She was from Chongxiang showed great receptiveness to the gospel. She also was happy to take the Power to Change info slip to get in touch with them.

6) Fiona is a very serious Catholic Christian with the righteous attitude to defend for the orthodox Catholic belief against all biased and distorted accusation on their faith. She was impressed with my opened attitude to give her the benefit of the doubt to see what is her perspective of orthodox Catholic belief that has long been misinterpreted by Protestant Christian. She came specially for me and give me a list of information source as well as Catholic Father that I can make inquiry with.

As for Winnie, she had 9 conversations as recap below that kept her very busy throughout the 80 minutes of ministry time.

感謝主今天的帶領，讓我遇到九人傳福音的機會。今天有六位是來自中國，一位是馬來西亞，一位是菲律宾與澳洲混血兒，一位是澳洲婦女。 第一位，Gloria,UQ 學生。聽完福音後，願意去教會尋求更多真理。 第二位名叫芝，馬來西亞女學生，需要時間想想。 第 三及第四位也是中國留學生，講完福音後， 巴士到逹。 第五位，Mary，UQ 學生。聽完福音，會细心想想。 第六位，Benda,中國留學生，也是需要時間想清楚。 第七位，Joe, 菲律宾與澳洲混血兒，明白我們是罪人，需要耶穌基督拯救。會看完單張後，思想這個問题。 第八位澳洲女士，天主教徒，我們談論很長時間關於基督教與天主教的分别。後來她也與關牧師談論這問题。 第九位，中國女士，會想清楚免费禮物及天堂與地獄問题。 感謝讚美主！願神赐福给今天聽到福音的人士，打開心門，接受耶穌基督為救世主。阿們！

Recap herewith is the summary by Johnny Hsieh

感謝天父上帝的帶領和祝福，今午Toowong 的街頭福音事工有ㄧ位從蘇格蘭來的UQ學生 Wirll聽完福音之後願意信靠主耶穌。請為他禱告，另有Isaac 澳洲青年，還有一位張姓JW 耶和華見證人的女信徒試著想改變我的信仰， 我拿出手機上的聖經與她討論。

         

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

I spent my weekend outreach time online with the team.  I was intending to be in the city on Sunday afternoon, but there was heavy rain - so online it is!

First up was a conversation with a lady who came to grasp the gospel.  I then talked with a young man from Sydney - he loved the logic I was giving him and also came to grasp the gospel.

I then had a long conversation with two Catholics.  The guy on camera wasn’t really taking things seriously, but the one off camera was quite devout and staunch.  It was quite hard dealing with them both at the same time.  I decided to focus on the guy on camera, and directed my questions to him specifically.  He slowly started sobering up.  The guy off camera was very much still listening though - interjecting from time to time.  In this way, they both came to grasp the gospel and came to really appreciate the conversation.  I was patient in dealing with the devout guy as he worked through things like why purgatory is not necessary.  They both thanked me at the end.

Next up was a chat with a young lady - the first thing she said was: “how old are you?”.  I ignored it and asked her what she thought happened after life.  She forgot her question and was engaged.  She came to hear the gospel.  Praise God.

God then brought me into the presence of three guys with Christian / Catholic backgrounds.  It was a short, ten minute, conversation where they came to grasp the gospel for the first time.  “Thank you for this”.  “Appreciate it man”.  “God bless, honestly, God bless you - I really appreciate it”.  “Thank you”.  Lord save them!

A guy with a Hindu background who didn’t believe in God, but did believe in “energy” mixed with scientific knowledge.  He ended up asking questions of his own philosophy - so I just said, “how do you explain that without God?”  He just said, “true” - and opened up from there.  He heard the law and the gospel.  He was genuinely impressed - it made sense.  But then he started slipping back to his “energy” thinking again.  I cut him off and brought him back to the gospel.  By the end of the conversation, he seemed to be counting the cost of accepting the gift.  He is in God’s hands.

Sunday was online training outreach.  I was paired with Ryan on the livestream.  Over the last two weeks I’d been practicing the things I had learned when I was paired with him last time.  We had a wonderful two hours of outreach, watching people come to grasp the gospel - even professing faith in Christ!  Glory to God.

One chat that stands out in my mind was one with a young man who started talking about (sinful) stuff you don’t want to hear!  Ryan promptly cut him off and moved the conversation forward.  He came to grasp the gospel, and then said he was trusting Jesus' sacrifice from now on!  He then started asking baby Christian questions!  Like: how do I know how God wants me to behave?  Ryan pointed him to a Bible, and he immediately pulled out his phone and downloaded one, Ryan was able to direct him to the book of John, which he found.

Latter I was connected to a young Muslim who insisted that in “his” religion: x, y, z.  I addressed the fact that there is only one truth, and then marched on with the gospel - he heard about Jesus and then disconnected.  We leave him in God’s hands.

Ryan chatted with a girl with a Christian background who had never grasped the gospel.  The penny dropped - “oh, that’s actually so cool”.  She had someone with her, and Ryan was able to include them in the conversation too, and make sure they understood the gospel.

The whole livestream can be reviewed here.

All glory to God.  Grant us the strength to keep running this marathon in honour of you.
 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

It was a hot day on Thursday and a cold day on Friday but there was lots of gospel ministry both days.

Andy and I meet at Eastgate for the bus stop outreach on Thursday afternoon - our intention was to head to Northlands half way through.  But we never go there.  Everytime I would finish a conversation, I’d look up and see Andy in a deep chat, so I’d start a new conversation.  I had a couple of highlight conversations.

The first I want to mention was a chat that had started with three guys.  One of them had already received a tract from me earlier and they were discussing it as they came past me again.  I was able to stop them and start a conversation (the other two received tracts as well).  But they were all in different places making the conversation difficult.  Andy came to my rescue and engaged two of them (pictured) leaving me to focus on the other guy.

This other guy was very engaged in the conversation, he heard the law and the gospel and then he started asking good questions.  It felt like he was probing for a weakness in the logic of what I was explaining - was he going to resist and attack?  Or was he genuinely interested?  It turns out it was the latter - although he admitted that his sin was hindering him from accepting the gift of Christ - he knew he would change, and he was counting the cost.  We departed ways - he left his two friends who were now in a deep conversation with Andy.

So I moved down and approached two teens waiting for a bus.  They accepted tracts and were open for a conversation.  And it was a wonderful conversation - although a bit odd.  The first girl would get the answers to my questions right but then forget the answers.  The other girl struggled with the questions - but a conviction came over her.  They were smoking a cigarette and she became very aware that it’s something she shouldn’t be doing.  But she came to an understanding of the gospel.  Interestingly she had a desire to start reading her Bible again.

Near the end of the outreach, I fell into a flow with my gospel sharing.  It was like I was mentally standing back and watching the interaction - amazed at how it was unfolding.  Really, all the glory is Gods!

Two guys stopped and engaged - joking around.  But by the end of the conversation the smiles were gone and they were seriously contemplating what was being discussed.  While I was explaining the gospel, I was using checking questions to make sure the message was being grasped - it wasn’t.  One of them kept reverting to “being a good person” as the reason he was going to heaven.  I would patiently roll back and re-explain.  At the end of the conversation, the other guy said, “look, I’m not going to do this now - not for a few years”.  He wanted the gospel, but he wanted his life his way too.  I challenged him multiple ways on how faulty that logic was.

In the morning, before heading to Eastgate I was sharing the gospel online for a few hours.  My last conversation was amazing.  It was with a girl from Brazil.  She thought her good deeds and keeping the commandments would get her to heaven - and so I took her through the law and then the gospel.  She came to grasp the good news.  She started to cry.  And then she said that the reason why she was crying was because she had been praying to God for help the previous evening, and now God was using me to answer that prayer!  What a privilege and honour to be used by God like this!  I encouraged her to stop trusting in her good deeds to get her to heaven, and to instead trust in Jesus alone.  I then encouraged her to become disciplined in her Bible reading.  She was already a part of a conservative evangelical church (Presbyterian).

Friday had a weather forecast for rain, and there was light rain in the morning - so we cancelled the gospel + abortion outreach.  Andy and I spent time in online gospel ministry instead.

But the rain never really materialised.  We ended up heading into the city for open air preaching and one to one gospel chats.

While Andy preached, I did my usual rounds among the construction workers.  I had already talked to many of them, but I encountered one who I hadn’t.  He came to hear the law and the gospel, and he thanked me - he said he had something to think about.

I then approached two more who were happy to engage.  One of them became disinterested and said he had to go back to work.  His friend needed to go too - but he wanted to stay and hear the gospel.  He had a Christian background but had never understood the central message of Christianity.  He thanked me before he too had to head off.

In Cashel Mall, the highlight conversation I had was a walk up.  The guy smiled as I approached.  It almost felt like he wanted me to come to him.  He was very open and followed the logic of the law and the gospel easily.  At the end I asked if he had questions - he did.  One of them was: “where does confession come into it?”  Before I left him, I challenged him to respond to the gospel.

I also had a sad conversation.  I saw a guy I recognised, and I approached him.  Many years ago we had been part of the same local church.  But sadly, he is an apostate.  Gospel ministry today is very discouraging - not seeing fruit -- and setting rotten fruit.  And yet, God is incontrol of the seasons of life.  We can trust his word, and leave the results in his hands.  Lord, help us to be faithful in spite of what we see!
 

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