Battle Log


Online Evangelism

Online Evangelism

Here are the tentative weekly outreach times for online evangelism:

Sunday 1-3pm (Practical Training Outreach)
Monday 9am-5pm
Tuesday 1-5pm
Wednesday 1-5pm
Thursday 9am-5pm
Friday 1-4pm
Saturday 1-4pm

These times are all in AEST (GMT+10), so adjust them based on your own timezone.

How to take part

To watch any of our online outreaches, you can watch live on our YouTube channel or Facebook page. Or to take part in any of these outreaches, email us for the virtual room meeting link.


Friday 26 June 2020

Posted by Posted 26 June 2020, 4:14 PM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

Friday afternoon online outreach was a great outreach, even though it has been shortened slightly to make room for the evening outreach back in the city, it was full with wonderful conversations! Seven team members over the three hours had many conversations. Three specifically exciting ones took place as well! (There were many more) as well!

The first conversation of the afternoon was with Louis, a young man who said that he "grew up Christian" but slowly drifted away and now he considers himself angostic. He was shown God's existence and saw that it made sense and was pointed out that his rejection was on the basis of a desire to live his way being incompatible with God's existence and so he had rejected God so that he could do his own thing.

After seeing this, going through the law and the gospel Louis was shocked! He said, "This is good news and I want to believe today". He was then asked, "After growing up in Church your whole life, is this the first time that the news that Jesus died on the cross actually makes sense?" and he said "Yes, thank you very much!"

He saw the impact it would make on his life and said that he would start reading the Bible and would consider further the things he learnt and even said he would look for a Church that prizes the Bible!

This was followed by a really quick conversation with three young men. They professed to be Christians but when asked the way to Heaven said, "ask for forgiveness, be good and repent (which they defined as confessing and trying to improve their lives). Over less than 3 minutes these men came to see the good news about Jesus Christ as the one who had taken the punishment for their sin and why it is actually good news. They were shocked! In fact one guy said, "Oh that makes sense now!" 

They were encouraged as to how it would make them live differently, not because they needed to do so to get to Heaven but because their gratitude would motivate their obedience. They were also encouraged to start reading the gospel of John for themselves and seeing who Jesus displays himself to be!

The last conversation was with a lady who similarly had a Christian background and hoped she was going to Heaven but she too though it was her decent life that would be the reason of her entry. She came to grasp the gospel and also was very thankful sharing that she was glad she'd had this chat because without it she would never have known.

These three conversations were very encouraging, seeing God open peoples eyes to the truth always is! But it was also a good reminder, just because someone names the name of Christ doesn't mean they actually understand the good news. Why not take this opportunity to ask your own friends, even the ones who say they are Chrsitians what they would say to God if He asked them, "Why should I let you into Heaven?"

You might be very surprised at the answers you get and may be very glad you asked because your conversation may change someone's eternity!


Tuesday 23 June 2020

Posted by Posted 23 June 2020, 5:01 PM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

Monday and Tuesday online were exciting! There were many good conversations but a few highlights will be recounted. It is good to note though that, evangelism is always about learning. Each conversation that doesn't go as planned is an opportunity to consider, "How can I better bring the good news of the gospel to people's ears". Sometimes it's about reading a situation better and getting there faster and other times it is about slowing down and letting the challenge of the law sting more. There will never be a point at which you've mastered it because there is always a new person to speak with who is slightly different from the last.

Often in evangelism you can find yourself get into a rut. You have two or three conversations in a row with hard hearted people and you end up with a soft and gentle person and can push too hard, losing the conversation because you were in the habit of not being as gentle as you could. Or alternatively you're with gentle people and then you get a hard hearted person who runs away with the line wasting time because you let them have a little too much freedom in their answers.

One conversation almost ruined by a little to much intensity was with Derek. He had a Catholic background and was willing to chat but was a bit of a dawdler with his words. A couple of times he was cut off and an apology had to be issued for not letting him speak. He initially was insisting on "asking for forgiveness" which is easily the most common answer that is heard from professing Christians about how they think they gain forgiveness and get to Heaven. Thankfully at the end of the conversation Derek said, "I want to thank you man, I really appreciate what you've had to say and it has changed my mind. I know properly understand the faith I once said that I had".

He was encouraged to read Romans 3-5 and to consider it further. Next conversation was a harder one, Callan was self assured, ironically so. He said he didn't want to trust anything a human said (which was pointed out as untrue, showing that he trusts his drivers license and the like) but also that he simply wanted to trust himself over and against anyone else. It wasn't about the humanity of the person, it was just that he wanted to be his own God. This was pointed out time and time again. He was able to grasp the gospel but was adamant that he wanted no part in it.

Callan is from Christchurch, NZ and Operation 513 has a team there. Please be praying that he would have a second opportunity in person to speak about Christ and that God would be kind to draw him to Himself!

A shorter conversation was with Brenda who is Brazillian. She had some Catholic background (expected in South America) and she too saw the good news of the gospel and really quickly understood and said that she wanted to trust in Christ this very day! She was encouraged to start reading her Bible (which she hadn't in over two years) and had some questions about things she had struggled with regarding Christianity. She was left with some simple answers and the ability to contact the team via needGod.net if she had any follow up!

Please be praying for all those who heard that God would be kind in drawing them to Himself, for His glory and their good! Lastly, why not come join us yourself! Now is easier than ever, with the ability to have live feedback and encouragement as someone basically can be a fly on the wall in your conversations!


Monday 15 June 2020

Posted by Posted 16 June 2020, 1:41 PM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

Monday afternoon's outreach was an excitement. The team have continued to find new avenues online in which they can share the gospel! Omegle is awesome and the majority of the time is spent there but the discovery has been made that people are stumbling across the live stream and they are getting to hear the good news there as well. People who have been spoken to or disconnected on Omegle have also come searching for the team on other platforms as well! God is very kind to so many!

The main part of the afternoon was taken up with an almost three hour conversation with Desert. He was shown early on how we can be certain that God exists and this was followed by a look at God's law. Then Desert asked a few more personal questions and shared some things about himself. After the next bit of conversation he came to see that we are all guilty and in very serious trouble, that our eternity is destined for Hell, if we're being judged based on our actions. Then he saw the goodness and loving kindness of God the Son that He chose to enter history, taking the form of a man and humbled Himself to the point of death, to take the punishment we deserve.

Desert saw the good news and then talked through the implications to his life as well as how we know it is true and was a patient listener at times as well as being a thoughtful speaker. It was a conversation of great length and great depth and many different topics were covered. At the end it was noted that it had been a pleasure to chat with him and he said, "I know a lot of "Christians" but I feel like you're the first actual Christian that I have met. You seem to be genuinely interested in listening and hearing me and didn't just judge me but were willing to discuss and talk that I could understand. I am really thankful for this conversation and am glad I came on here tonight, even though I wasn't expecting to have a conversation like this".

It was an exciting conversation and well worth the time. Please keep Desert in your prayer as he considereds what God has to say and starts to read the Bible for Himself!

The evening was filled with many other very exciting conversations but two quick summaries will be most encouraging.

The first was with four teenage girls and one of whom we being very rude to begin with. Though they didn't disconnect! Over the course of a twenty minute conversation each of the four of them came to be able to articulate the good news of how someone is forgiven and after talking about the life change that will take place the girl who was initially rude and hostile even apologised for the way she had spoken in the beginning!

The last conversation of the evening was with a man who initially proclaimed to be a demon but after twenty minutes of patience and encouging him to engage seriously opened up and came to discuss it seriously, coming to understand the good news for the first time in his life and was profoundly impacted. He was challenged to respond in faith knowing that it will cause him to have a total life transformation.

Please be praying for these five as well that the gospel would be the fragrance that leads to life rather than the strench of death!


Friday 12 June 2020

Posted by Posted 12 June 2020, 11:33 PM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

Friday's outreach was a cracker! What an exciting outreach filled with conversations. It started with a text chat, then with three incredible video chats and all eight participants came to profess faith!

The text chat was with a guy who said that he was a Christian and then through discussion came to grasp the gospel and was challenged and said, "It all makes sense now!" - He even said that he would start reading his Bible today (unprompted).

The end of that overlapped with a video chat with Jack and Everett. Everett was less sure of himself than Jack. Jack kept saying the answers or whispering them to Everett. But it was pointed out that we don't get to whisper answers to one another on judgement day and it would be better to not know the answer now and have a chance to understand individually then to be caught short on judgement day, not believing because they didn't understand.

Over the course of the conversation the pair came to comprehend the gospel clearly and were saying that, "Today we will believe that Jesus paying for our sin is the only thing that will get us to Heaven". Everett said he wanted to start reading his Bible to know how God wants him to live and they were even encouraged to share with their friends.

Next was a conversation with four Americans! There were professing some level of faith and then had their hopes smashed regarding their own goodness as they were shown God's standard of perfection and His law! They realised they were in desperate trouble and even said, "So no one goes to Heaven then?" Then the good news was proclaimed and it hit home!

They got it, each of them at different stages able to explain the way to Heaven and why a Christian desires to obey God. It was exciting to see that they stuck around, were seriously engaged and then came to hear to good news professing to believe it this very day! On top of that, they were encouraged to take this message and share it onward with their friends as well.

Lastly was a chat with Aaliyah, she to professed to be a Christian and then came to grasp the gospel. Upon understanding it, there was a moment as a final check when she was asked, "What would you say to God if He asked you, "Why should I let you into Heaven?"". Aayliah responded by saying, "I know I deserve Hell but Jesus has taken the punishment that I deserve". It was a beautiful moment and a great display that she really had grasped it!

She was then asking questions about how she could specifically evangelise to her Muslim friend who lived on the other side of the world! It was wonderful to hear her so quickly thinking about how to share the good news and was given some simple resources for this.

What an exciting string of conversations, displaying God's incredible kindness, that people who had intended to waste time of act sinfully had been confronted with the gospel and by all outward signs, had their hearts changed and profess faith in Christ!

Please be praying for those who heard that today would be the day of salvation, they this wouldn't just be knowledge but that they would trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins!


Wednesday 10 June 2020

Posted by Posted 10 June 2020, 4:58 PM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

On Wednedsay the team had a wonderful day of outreach! It was filled with many exciting conversations! But there were four great ones in a row, so here is a brief summary.

The first was with an 11 yr old young guy who saw the seriousness of his sin and was visibly worried but heard the good news and was so thankful for it! Upon grasping it he realised he wanted to consider it further and it turned out he had a Bible. His father three years prior had picked up a Gideons Bible from a hotel room and so he grabbed it and said he would read it.

Next was two girls, Mia and Zakia. They saw that God exists and they are guilty and realised this was not good news. When asked for the solution they concluded, "Oh is there any way to get to Heaven?" Then they heard the good news and was challenged, excited to have heard it and were left pondering the implications of how their life would change upon trusting that Jesus taking the punishment for their sin was the only thing getting them into Heaven.

This was followed by two guys who were in a very similar boat. They also grasped it and saw the bad news, comprehended the good news and were serious about trusting that Jesus had paid for their sin this very day. When asked about the implications for them they said, "We won't want to sneak out tonight as we were planning". They were exceedingly clear on salvation being by faith alone but also grasped the impact they would have on their lives.

Lastly was a slower chat with Ryan and Brent, But with a little bit of effort the pair came to see that previously they had not been trusting that Jesus paid for their sin as the only reason they were going to Heaven, rather they hadn't yet understood it and worse yet were looking to other religions and what the world had to offer as their hope. When finally it became clear that prior to this moment they were in big trouble and that Christ alone can provide the eternal life He promises they made a basic profession that they would start believing it.

Please be praying for these seven, that this gospel comprehension would result in justifying faith and that their lives would be genuinely changed as a result as they desire to live for the God who saved them. And with the fields being ripe for harvest, why not consider joining us sometime, God may even use you to bring someone to a saving knowledge of the truth!


Tuesday 9 June 2020

Posted by Posted 10 June 2020, 4:56 PM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

Tuesday's outreach online was wonderful! And was marked by two most exciting conversations!

The first with Chase, had a slow start as he was proposing some of his own ideas. Then it came to light that he had recently in the last twelve months, been asking questions about Christianity to his local church who hadn't really been able to answer his questions and so he had pursued his sin and left Christianity.

But then paired with the team on Omegle and he firstly came to grasp the gospel in it's fullness and came to see how Christianity isn't a religion based on fear but salvation is a free gift from God and is based on love. Then the life and obedience of a Christian is a gratefulness and love based response to the salvation that has been provided.

Chase then asked all of his questions and over the next hour had each of them answered, simply and clearly and he responded after all the answers, "Wow, I think this is the first time in my life when I don't have questions! You've really given me something to think about"!

He was then asked if he'd read his Bible and said he'd never opened it in his life, he was encouraged to do so because the vast majority of the answers came as direct quotations or at the very least paraphrases. He was surprised by this and said he would start reading for himself!

It was an exciting conversation and he was encouraged to consider further as he read!

The next conversation was with three late teen girls. They were havving a sleep over, laying outside on the trampoline and had their whole world turned upside down! They saw God's existence and their minds were blown! At this moment one girl was like, "WHOA you've just change my whole understanding!"

Then seeing their guilt and that they deserve Hell and then grasping the gospel they had a second outburst of joy! One blurting out, "OH MY, THAT IS SUCH GOOD NEWS!" and another said, "WOW I've just changed my mind, we're cancelling our plans to go and party this weekend and instead we're going to church!"

They came to see the seriousness of their eternity, understanding the good news that God has to offer and were keen to learn more, saying that they would read their Bibles to find out more. These girls talked about some serious things in their lives that they knew they would want to stop doing but just as the discussion of implications to how they will live in the future was raised a possum dropped out of the tree above them, landed on the trampoline and some loud screams began.

The conversation was interrupted, they were left with the link to needGod.net. Please be praying that these three girls would be serious about this good news, trusting in Christ alone for their forgiveness and as a result be totally changed people, desiring to share the gospel with their friends, rather than joining them to sin.


Monday 8 June 2020

Posted by Posted 10 June 2020, 4:56 PM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

Monday on Omegle was another double outreach. It was exciting to see people from all over the world come to hear the good news about how a sinner who deserves Hell can be made right before God and end up in Heaven!

One of the first conversations of the day was with Sia a man from Adelaide, just on Omegle during a lunch break. He had a Muslim background but was surprisingly humble and honest about himself. He acknowledged that it hadn't worked and he was just living his own way. He saw God's goodness demands justice and therefore that sin cannot go unpunished. He saw that mercy can't be merited and therefore he was in very serious trouble!

He then came to hear the good news of salvation that is offered to guilty people, on the basis of God Himself, coming, living perfectly and dying sacrificially taken the wrath of God for those who believe. He was shocked! In fact he went on to say, "I grew up in a Christian school and all my years there no one ever really explained this to me but I am glad you did".

He said that he would definitely look into it further and was thankful for the conversation!

On the livestream through the afternoon there were some encouraging chats and some sad ones. God ultimately glorifies Himself through the salvation or condemnation of sinners and the Christian never ultimately knows the destiny of those who are spoken to. One exceedingly sad conversation was with two girls who were totally spiritually blind. They would propose things that contradicted themselves, were purposely trying to avoid understanding very simple concepts and were incredibly hostile to God, despite by their own mouths declaring that He doesn't exist.

They showed by their actions that they were certain of His existence and it wasn't an intellectual thing but a moral hatred and outrage. sadly they weren't able to comprehend clearly any of the most simple truths of Christianity but were looking for any excuse. They were left with the challenge to check out needGod.net. Please be praying that they do, and read it because they can't argue with a website and God may use it to reveal Himself to them.

Lastly were two men who were in a similar state of mind and yet had quite different responses. The first man was distracted through the conversation, able to give the correct answers but totally unmoved. The second man was initially distracted and took a little while longer to comprehend it but he was visibly moved.

He went on to share that he has never thought about the afterlife before this conversation but this had really opened his eyes (even mentioning that he had changed his mind) and that he would trust that Jesus paid for his sin and start reading his Bible to find out how God wants him to live!

It was a very encouraging conversation and a great finale to the days outreach!

Please be praying for all those who heard this good news, as well as those mentioned that they would see their position without Christ, trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sin and therefore love and serve God with their lives, as the one who saved them!


Wednesday 3 June 2020

Posted by Posted 3 June 2020, 5:10 PM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

Wednesday online was a wonderful outreach! With 9 team members on over the course of the day and many gospel conversations taking place it was a great afternoon to witnessing.

The introduction started with three chats in a row, seeing God's existence and their guilt and then leaving when asked for the solution for sinners not to go to Hell. Sadly they left without hearing the good news!

This was followed by a conversation with Lillie who typed her responses. Over a slower conversation she came to see that she is in serious trouble, that even though she hasn't done too much wrong by the world's standards that God says the standard for Heaven is perfection. She then saw that her goodness would not be able to keep her out of Hell but that the only way to Heaven is if someone else pays what she owes.

She then was reminded about Jesus Christ and what He did to save sinners and she grasped the good news and was filled with thankfulness, acknowledging that prior to the conversation she was heading to Hell but from now on she would start trusting that Jesus paying for her sin was the only thing getting her into Heaven!

Next was a similar conversation with two teenagers. They both thought they were heading to Heaven and were shocked as they saw they deserved Hell and then grasped the gospel quite quickly and one girl said, "That is so beautiful I think I'm going to cry". She also realised that this would cause her life to change and said she wanted to start reading her Bible!

The last exciting conversation was with 6 teenagers all sitting next to each other on the bed. It was expected that they would disconnect at some point but what was so exciting is that over a fifteen minute conversation they all listened answered and the majority were able to comprehend the gospel. They were encouraged to start reading their Bible as well!

It was overall an exciting day and well worth it! As is the case with every outreach as God's word never returns void, rather it accomplishes all it was set out to do!


Monday 1 June 2020

Posted by Posted 1 June 2020, 11:47 PM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

Monday on Omegle was an encouraging day and a good reminder! When it comes to evangelistic techniques you can hear "seasoned" or "professional" evangelists share their ideas and thoughts on the best way to communicate the gospel. You can meet a faithful Christian and they will share theirs but the issue is in practice we can often all fall into the same trap, whether by accident or thinking we need something better than the gospel. When trying to draw someone to Christianity we can often forget that it is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation, not apologetics.

There is a sense in which knowing answers to common objections is important or being able to ask good questions to draw a person out and get them engaged whilst learning about who they are and what they believe but we must never trade good answer and good conversational skills for the God appointed weapon of the law and the God provided solution of the penal substitionary and atoning death of Jesus.

There were three good reminders of that today the first, penultimate and last conversations. The first was with a guy whose phone froze and he didn't return. He was shown God's existence, his guilt via the law but he through a smoke screen and the conversation ended up on a tangent, defending the reliabiity of the Bible but after twenty minutes of conversation instead of hearing the gospel and having an opportunity to trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins, he was left having some understanding of why we can trust the Bible but no idea what it really had to say. Although this wasn't a complete failure, it would be a struggle to call it "evangelism".

The second last was with an American student who said he had zero Christian friends. He took was being relatively stubborn on the existence of God but instead of getting caught there, the information was left, the law and gospel was shown and then the objections were returned to at the end after he had comprehended the way to Heaven! He was extremely surprised and quite impressed that Christianity was such a complete worldview and was glad for the conversation and he too said he had much to think about!

A similar conversation took place with Emily though at the end of the evening. She had a Buddhist background but wasn't super into it. About 15 minutes was spent trying to establish God's existence and little progress was made until it was pointed out with a simple analogy that her rejection of God was on the basis of her desire not to be accountable to Him, with the simple, "You can't leave the area of His authority" analogy. To which she responded, "Yeah that makes sense I suppose I believe in God now". Then she was taken through the gospel and each little objection was answered briefly the bigger ones brushed aside till then end to the point where she comprhended the gospel and said, "I really will have to think about this, thanks for the chat!"

It was a good day of reminder, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to those who believe. So why not join us, you don't need great apologetics, just the gospel! We'd love to have you along!


Friday 22 May 2020

Posted by Posted 22 May 2020, 4:41 PM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

On Friday Brisbane was almost ten degrees cooler than the previous days, meaning it was a privildge to be inside in the warmth of our homes to evangelise! This really is a great day to be a Christian and evangelise!

The day started with a conversation with two teenagers, Payton and Kaia who attended a church but hadn't grasped the gospel. They knew of Jesus but the gospel had never made sense to them before. After seeing the serious predicament they are in they were grasping for answers and the Gospel was shared and they were so thankful for it! They professed that today, right now they would start trusting that Jesus had paid for their sins and this is the only reason they are going to Heaven!

The next excitement was with Mariana and Karen, two American ladies who slowly had their worldview broken down and rebuilt with Christianity! They came to see God's Holiness and therefore their desperate state before him and starting saying maybe there is no hope or maybe God will lower his standards but for them too the gospel came and they were gob-smacked! On a number of occasions Mariana said that it had blown her mind and they were also so thankful for the chat! They said they were keen to read their Bibles and were certain that the conversation was not an accident! They said that this was a conversation they'd had a few times but never had it made so much sense and were glad they'd be able to chat with someone seriously about it!

Lastly was a conversation with Dominic who late in the conversation shared that he had recently in the last few months started reading the Bible for himself due to some life circumstances and it was making some sense but it wasn't that clear. He initially shared that he believed in God but not in the traditional sense but with a good conversation he too came to grasp the glories of the gospel in light of his sin and was so thankful for the chat as well! He too mentioned that he didn't think it was an accident and was so pleased to have had the conversation! He mentioned he'd been desiring to attend a local Church and was able to find a recommended one right near his place!

God was very kind to these five people this afternoon, please be praying that God would continue to work in their lives. That this wouldn't be the beginning of a slow fade but rather would be the beginning of a live sold out in service for Christ, trusting only in Him as their means for right standing before God!


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