Battle Log

Page 70

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Evangelism is terrifying work.  I understand why most Christians avoid it.  Today I had to deal with a new atheist (a “new” atheist is one that says religion is bad) who started the conversation by belittling me.  I hate conflict, so I want to avoid evangelism too!  And yet, when I wrestle with the Bible, theology & logic and I understand what is at stake: eternal life in hell - this motivates me to push past my fears.  I think of those that have gone before me: Jesus, Stephen, Paul - and I go anyway.

Evangelism is, therefore, lonely work.  Very lonely.  Ironically, if more Christians could push past the fear, it wouldn’t be so lonely, and it would actually become easier - we would have each other to lean on when we encounter those difficult situations - that will come!

So, from a lonely Christian to the terrified Christian - come and be terrified with me (and the few others), trust in the strength of the Lord - who knows what it’s like and will always be with us.

Thursday and Friday were long days of outreach for me.  But I feel like I’ve pushed through a barrier in the amount of outreach I do.  It seems like the more I do, the easier it is to do more.  And this life is so short compared to eternity.  I’m grateful to the Lord for provision to be able to do what I do - and I’m grateful to the Lord for those he uses to provide - thank you!

The gospel + abortion outreach is still happening, but due to the amount of counter protesters we’ve been attracting - and the hostility they bring.  The ability to actually engage people with the gospel has been diminished.  For this reason, this outreach will be occurring at non regular times (for the time being at least).  This weeks outreach was wonderful - with many opportunities to engage people in respectful conversation about why abortion is murder, and the hope for true forgiveness found in Jesus.  We had the usual support, and non-support.  One lady yelled from a car window as it drove past: “Stop abusing people!”  The irony was lost on her - I just shook my head and said nothing in return.

Andy and I were in Cathedral Square.  Andy open air preached to a decent lunch time crowd.  He attracted a heckler who he started to engage with.  Sadly, others became involved and it started escalating out of control.  For this reason, I decided to head over and talk directly with the heckler.  It defused the escalation.  Andy was able to continue preaching, and I had a great conversation with the heckler.  He was obviously extremely resistant, so I didn’t have an opportunity to share the law and gospel with him - but we did exchange names and parted with a hand shake.

Before the open air preaching I had some great walk up opportunities.  I engaged two construction workers, who it turns out Andy had talked to on a previous day!

But the highlight was a conversation with a couple of ladies who, sadly, it turns out were high on drugs.  Yet, they came to grasp the gospel - one slower than the other as she processed the implications.  At the end of the conversation, they both wanted tracts - and they were excited about how they could learn more on TikTok.

I had thirty one solid law and gospel conversations online over this period too.  With people all over the world, including: the UK, South Africa, Argentina and the Dominican Republic (for the first time).  I’m out of time to write about any of those chats.

Again, thanks for your prayer & support.  But most importantly, be encouraged to get involved - as scary as it is.  Think of the God you love, think of eternity, act out of love - no matter the cost!
 

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On Tuesday I was back in Riccarton for a couple of hours, before joining the team in online outreach.

It just so happened that the Unicef team were in Riccarton at the same time as me.  Of the three of them, I’m already familiar with one - whom I didn’t really talk to this time.  But God gave me opportunities to chat to the other two - one of whom is new.  The new guy had a Hindu background but wasn’t religious - he heard a brief summary of the law and the gospel and happily accepted a follow up tract.

In spite of Unicef being out there trying to talk to people as well, I had a pretty busy outreach.  A young mother stopped and came to grasp the gospel - she obviously had a familiarity with Christian terms, but I don’t think she’d ever really understood the gospel (I could be wrong).  She seemed impressed.  She had to move on, but she put a follow up tract in her wallet.

I had a couple of guys from India stop to chat.  One wasn’t interested and moved on (and ended up getting into a conversation with one of the Unicef team), but the other stayed to talk further and heard the law and the gospel.  Sadly, he wasn’t grasping what I was trying to say and eventually decided to move on himself.

The highlight chat was at the end with a young Irish guy with Catholic parents who wanted him to discover the truth for himself.  He thought keeping the ten commandments would get him to heaven - well that set up the conversation well.  He came to grasp the gospel well, and then see it in contrast to the message of works of the Catholic church.  He took a tract and even followed up, posting a comment on one of the needGod.net videos: “Spoke to Glen today outside riccarton mall.  Amazing stuff has really changed my way of thinking.  Thank you Glen”.  Don’t thank me, thank God!  I’m just a messenger.  But it was encouraging to hear the after thoughts of someone I recently talked to!  May he truly be repentant, to the glory of God alone!

Oh, and earlier, I had an interesting follow up opportunity.  The first time I encountered this guy, he had some fish’n’chips and wouldn’t stop to talk to me.  I’ve seen him walk past with fish’n’chips about another 3 times since then (on different days!) - I would always say hi, and make a comment about what he was having for dinner.  Well, today he walked past without fish’n’chips, but he actually stopped to chat!  I was able to attempt to share the law and the gospel!  Sadly, he just didn’t seem interested or open.  God willing, I’ll have further opportunities to chat with him! :)

The rest of Tuesday and all of Wednesday were spent online.  About ten chats per day, with all sorts of people - even skeletons and dinosaurs!  May God receive glory through people coming to understand who he is: holy, just, loving & merciful - even if they reject that mercy.  Lord, help us in this task.
 

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Sunnybank on Wednesday Jan 13, 2021 from 1300 -1500

It was an all time first for street evangelism evangelist like us to wear a mask and chat with people all wearing masks. Andrew invited me to join him to serve in Sunnybank as he anyway had to come to Brisbane South to work in the OAC office and I anyway had to do Narrow Band Light treatment getting pass Sunnybank thus we both made this our excuse to keep serving at this new wave of Covid-19 new virus mutation threat. We just let God to show us if outreach can still be effectively done with imposed restraints by the fear of people contracting the newly mutated virus. It was evidenced that God's work cannot be stopped despite of all those obstacles. Both Andrew and me got similar chances of conversation of different kind of people all wearing masks. Recap below were my chances of outreach which many of them were initial rejection to Andrew's first approach but OK for my 2nd approach : -

1) Two ABK Australian born Koreans missed the bus by just second. I misjudged that their next bus would come many minutes later. After handing them the tract , I wasted sometimes to understand their background but their bus came very quickly when I was about to start the gospel sharing. But considering their positive response and openness to the gospel message, I believed God certainly has His way to start working on them by letting them to read the tract themselves first.

2) The 2nd person was a Japanese man who rejected Andrew's initial approach. I nevertheless still was moved to have a 2nd approach checking if it was because of language problem. Miraculously, he opened up completely to chat with me and quickly let me know he is Japanese but his English is good enough for unhindered two ways communication. I was tempted to share a bit more about my Japanese experience to get identified with him as a Kansai Japanese from Osaka. So I ended up only having limited time for sharing the full Gospel.

3) My third gospel target was a Hongkonger(港人)，despite this coonection 縦如是，this person was very unwilling to open up for a chat.不願打開，He claimed he once chatted with some other OPN 513 colleagues, got the tract and read it with fair good understanding, so he did not want to waste time to go over it again. Obviously the was cheating himself and was as far away from Jesus before he read the tract. I anyway still chose to stay in a friendly mode to induce him to show me his real understanding of the gospel. I failed but still manage to brief him again the nutshell of the gospel( 簡述). Just pray for God's work to soften this man's stone heart.

4) Then I bumped into with Nanny Yim 嚴婆婆 who claimed she and her other family members are all Christians living in Cleveland area. I was surprised when she told me she once visited CFC and quoted a number of names that I did not recognized initially. I anyway first managed to stress the importance of assurance of salvation before the bus arrived. after a while , I finally came to my sense she referred to Amy Yim and her daughter Nicole who did once played piano for us. I pray that she may be moved to visit CFC again in His time.

5) A Couples Hong Kongers possibly still courting. It was a pity they were not friendly for an unhindered chat. It was weird to find out that the girl claimed herself a Buddhist while the boy friend claimed himself a Christian. He asked me in return whether I am protestant or Catholic Christian to show off his Christian knowledge. But his lack of Christian witness to not bearing the same yoke with non-believers already sold him out. I tried a bit longer to try to test out his understanding of salvation but failed as he turned to have his personal conversation with his girl friend.

6) Then God led me to speak to a Mandarin speaking young man from China. Surprisingly he was very open and receptive to the Gospel. He thanks me for the gospel sharing and promised to read the tract in detail when his bus arrive. It made my day for a positive result when I called off for the day to leave for my Narrow Band Light treatment appointment.

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A nice Sunday afternoon to be out sharing the gospel with people in Cashel Mall in Christchurch.  Sophie joined me, and we spent a couple of hours.

It was an eventful outreach.

Three Christian teen guys stopped to chat.  They recognised me from previous outreaches in the city and Eastgate.  I encouraged them to get involved with the great commission.  

Then a man stopped, intrigued by Sophie’s flip chart - I took the conversation which turned into a bit of an apologetics battle - I was able to drop the law and the gospel in - but he wouldn’t relent in the argument so I could really talk with him.  He was nice, and interestingly he hugged me!  He had to go, but I gave him a tract and asked him to get in touch so I could continue the conversation.

I then had a lovely chat with an Irishman who was trying to teach me Māori!  I was able to swing the chat to what happens after life and he stayed to hear the law and the gospel but then disengaged.

I went for a walk to wave hello to Lance the busker, when I came back to my flip chart, Sophie was in a conversation on her chat, and there was a guy sitting close by who seemed interested, so I went to say g'day - it turns out he is also a Christian and was interested in what we were doing.  We had a friendly chat where I was able to challenge him on some of his evangelism methodology.

The outreach ended with another apologetical exchange with two teen guys I stopped with: “what do you think happens after you die?”.  We talked about how we know God exists, why bad things happen to good people (actually, the question should be: why do good things happen to bad people?).  In the end, in his resistance, he started denying logic principles.  I let them go - it’s hard to debate with people who aren't being logical.

We ended going overtime, which made me slightly late for the online outreach.  I was paired up with Matt, and it was great listening to him share the gospel and get feedback from him on the chats I was having.

On Saturday I was also online and had 15 solid gospel conversations with people.

Lord, thank you for life, and salvation.  May you save some of those talked to over this weekend for your glory alone.
 

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Since my last report on Wednesday I did some extra online outreach on Wednesday evening (11 conversations), Thursday I was online (22 conversations), and Friday I was online in the morning (6 conversations), before spending a couple of hours in central Christchurch in the early afternoon (open air preaching & tract distribution), after which I spent more time online (12 conversations).

I don’t report this to boast - I have nothing to boast about!  But that is over 50 conversations online in a period of just over 2 days.  That’s 50 solid law and gospel conversations - not including all the short encounters with people who might get challenged with apologetics, or the law before they disconnect.  I’m now in the habit of praying before and after every conversation.  I often see a lot of resistance or indifference, so I pray that God’s word will be powerful and effective - even if I don’t see it.  That the law would bring conviction and that the conscience would be activated, that God would be glorified because of the conversation, and that he may save people, in his timing, by his grace alone, through the power of the gospel.  Sometimes people seem deeply impacted though, as they learn something they had never thought of before.  Some are very thankful, some say there is nothing stopping them from accepting the gift of Jesus, even after considering the cost.  They are pointed to avenues for follow up: the Bible, a local church, and needGod.net - where many conversations are had via Instagram direct message with the team there.

I guess with this report, I’ll try to touch on some of the highlights over the last two days.

I’m going to start with my time offline - in central Christchurch.  The weather wasn’t the best, rain.  But I decided to go in anyway.  I’m glad I did.  I had a unique opportunity to touch on the law and the gospel with 3 Pakistan cricket players who were walking through Cathedral Square.  I’ve been to Pakistan to watch cricket (in 2003) so I used that as a way to start a conversation with them.  I quickly swung the conversation from the natural to the spiritual - maybe too quickly.  One of them, Shaheen Afridi was instantly put off and disengaged.  The conversation petered out after that.  But one of them took a gospel tract from me.  Oh for the days when there were many tourists coming to Christchurch to hear the gospel!  In the meantime, I’ll do my best to take the opportunities that come.

Before this, I open air preached in speakers corner to the people passing by.  Not many people were there due to the weather - but there were enough.  No hecklers, so I was able to freely work through the law and the gospel without interruption.

Later, Binu joined me for tract distribution in Cashel Mall.

Ok, now for the highlights of my time online.

A lady who wanted to be a Christian, but was subtly self righteous - seemed to agree with the gospel, but bucked against the law and disconnected.  A Hindu guy who spoke Telugu, Hindi & English (pictured).  The concepts I was explaining were very foreign to his thinking, and he was very resistant.  I was lovingly honest with him, he couldn’t take it and disconnected.
I then had a string of four wonderful conversations.  The first was with a “Christian” lady who was trusting her good deeds to save her.  She was super appreciative of the conversation - having come to grasp the good news of grace.  The second was with a couple of girls, one of whom said that from today she is believing that Jesus died on the cross for her sins!  I then had a very effective three minute conversation with a lady who said her goodness would get her to heaven.  I took her through the law, and she responded with “you’re making me cry”.  I then explained the gospel, and she started to grasp it when she suddenly disconnected.  The last one was with a Christian guy, whom I encouraged to join us in sharing the gospel.

Of the 22 conversations on Thursday, the one I’ll mention is the one I had with a guy in Pakistan.  I think my first (online) conversation with someone from there.  He was surprisingly open, expressing that he had never heard such news before.  I pointed him to needGod.net.  Oh, this was interesting, I had a chat with a girl who had a Ukraine / English Bible - sadly she didn’t understand the gospel, I was able to labour with her for some time.

Oh, and another highlight from Thursday was a chat with an Asian looking girl, who sounded American, but was actually German.  She had all the right answers initially, but as the conversation progressed it became evident that she was actually looking at her good deeds to save her.  I confronted her to start trusting alone in Christ alone to save her.  It turns out she is a Baptist PK and leads worship.  She opened up about the pressure she feels to perform.  She came to tears as I encouraged her.  I challenged her to confront the hypocrisy in her environment - as hard as that will be.  I pleaded with her to reach out to some of the girls on the needGod.net team via Instagram.  It was a wonderful chat.

On Friday morning, a long chat with a guy who had a Hiindu / Bhuddist kind of belief, yet a Muslim father and a mother who had maybe become Christian?  He had a lot of apologetical questions to ask after coming to understand the gospel.  An interesting chat with two girls sitting in a car - I think from the USA.  One of them in particular became engrossed in the conversation.  They heard the law and the gospel.  Oh, and then a wonderful chat with two ladies who spoke spanish and a touch of English.  In a 12 minute conversation, with the assistance of translation tools on both ends, they came to hear the law and gospel!

On Friday afternoon, first up was a chat with a Muslim from Morocco via Arabic translation.  He was pretty resistant, but he connected the needGod.net team via Instagram.  A wonderful chat with a Catholic kid.  He was so appreciative of the conversation, declaring that he was going to skip, but he was so glad he didn’t.  “This is amazing”.  Later, another wonderful chat with a Catholic guy from Nigeria but living in the USA.  He had a lot of good Christian lingo, often going on about grace, but it was obvious that he was trusting in his works.  I was pretty stern with this guy as he tried to resist and fight, but he relented seeming to understand that I was doing it in love for him.  He has much to process.  Lord, save him!

The 2nd to last chat of the day was with a young man who considered what I shared very seriously.  Another wonderful chat.  And the final chat of the day was with a young man who gave stellar answers to my initial questions.  I was surprised, because he didn’t have a Christian background.  It turns out he had become interested due to various reasons - including friends, and had obtained a copy of the Bible and started reading it!  It seemed like he had become a Christian, and was in need of discipling!  He wasn’t part of a church, so I pointed him to one.  It was a very encouraging chat, showing the power of God’s word in someone’s life.

Well, if anyone has made it this far, well done! :)  Thank you for praying for this gospel ministry.  May God receive all the glory alone.
 

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Sunnybank on Wednesday January 6, 2021 from 1300 to 1500

Despite it was still the "New Year Rest Period" for Street Evangelism at Sunnybank and Toowong, I still went to join Andrew who decided to turn up after his OAC office work in the morning. We stayed together at the Bus Stop on the west side near Sunnybank Plaza, We both got many chat opportunities while having short break to allow us to take photo for each others. Today, God led majority of Cantonese speaking people to hear the gospel with a rare exception of an African man and a girl of Australian/Japanese cross breed. God definitely has His special plan and election of those to hear the gospel for their goodness sake. The weather was as hot as yesterday, but Andrew and I had no time to bother about the heat but concentrated on catching up with people for gospel seed sowing work as recap below: -

1) MY first target was an African man. He half jokingly asked me to not waste time on him but talked to some body else. Despite of this, I did not give up but relate to him as a person first to remove the self protection armor. Although full gospel had not yet been shared on arrival of his bus. Nut I was sure the love of God might have been impart to this man.

2) The Vietnamese old man was the person that the African man refer me to have a chat. SO naturally I caught up with him after the African man left. Despite he is a Vietnamese, yet he can speak perfect Cantonese as he had spent long time in Hong Kong. He is a man of rationality emphasizing that there is no absolute right or wrong as it is determined by the individual life perspective and personal experience. I pointed out to him that exactly because we all rejected God and live a self centred life, it appeared there is not absolute truth and rigid definition of universal core values. But God our creator did have set His law through the Bible. Failing to observe God's law will end up committing sin against Him which needed to be judged and punished. The Nutshell of Gospel has accordingly been conveyed this elderly Vietnamese man.

3) A family of three possibly from Beijing consisting of the Mum and an elder son called Siu Hwa and a much younger brother took their seat at the bus stop. Before they entered into their family chat, I intercept and talked to Siu Hua and he was quite open to talk unlike most of the people from Mainland China. The bus scheduled arrival allowed me 6 minutes to share the full gospel to Siu Hua who appeared very receptive. Pray for God's blessing for this family starting from Siu Hua.

4) Three High School (三高中) girls did their transit at his bus stop. Again I intercepted their conversation and was able to chat with the one sitting next to me. She is from Shenzhen (深圳的妹) who looks more simple and pure from her dress in compare to her two friends both in more fancy dress and made up. She showed good interest (有興趣) in the gospel message and indicated this is her first time hearing the gospel. I trust God will have further work on her then here friends while they are still in Australia ，

5) Then I met my next two targets who are both from HKG(香港二人)，Andrew jokingly said one of the guy looks like a mini Hung with same dressing of mine symbolized by our vest. (他郷遇故知) It was a pity we only have very brief time to chat but I left them each a Chinese Tract and English one.

6) Nina looked to have a western looking face profile. Normally young Aussie show little interest in religious topic. But she appeared very friendly and opened as such I was able to go through the full gospel presentation. Then she disclosed she actually is half Japanese(Mum) and half Aussie (Dad) and her father is a Christian, yet she has no knowledge whatsoever about the gospel, so obviously her father only keeps his faith to his own personal life without sharing with the wider public including his family members.

But I believe the divine encounter with this Aussie/Japanese cross breed girl will open up a new page of life for this young and beautiful girl.

7) Then after being Rejected by a Chinese woman, God let me catch up with another Chinese woman to chat. She appeared open to the gospel but it was a pity the bus came too quick to have interrupted the chat.

8) Finally I caught up with an arrogant and self-righteous old Chinese Christian also from Hong Kong. He use the excuse he is readily a baptized Christian to decline further conversation. I tried to use the two diagnosis questions to review his state of faith and assurance of salvation. Unfortunately, he refused to answer and reiterated he is all good. But I really have doubt if he is a fake Christian from mainland China but claiming he is from HK.

Battle Log for Sunnybank by Andrew: -

On Wednesday, Pastor Hung and I again headed out to talk to people about Jesus at Sunnybank and though there were several good conversations, it was the final one that was most encouraging.

Shung Hui is 21 years old from a Chinese background and shared that he had no real religious upbringing. He had heard a few things about Christianity before but not really understood why it mattered. I shared the gospel with him at length and he came to clearly see how Jesus’ death on the cross is the much needed answer to our guilt.

Larry only heard half the gospel before his bus came, but he was intrigued enough that he said that he would read the tract immediately once he was on the bus.

Voiter is 29 years old and from Poland, and like most, was raised Catholic. We took some time to make sense of the gospel and to show how God would be just in condemning us, but how he extends the offer of forgiveness to us because of the finished work of Jesus. I challenged him to consider the claims of Christianity because ultimately, we will all die.

Helen is 78 years old and has some Christian upbringing and beliefs, but trusted that she was a good enough person to get to heaven. We talked through the commands and we both agreed that if God is good, we were all in big trouble because we have all done bad things. I then showed why it makes no sense to hope in the good things we have done because those good deeds can never erase our sins. At this point she said that she just needed to hope that God would be merciful even though she could see no reason why he would. I then explained how Jesus’ death on the cross solves our problem and how God’s offer of forgiveness needs to be received. I showed that mere belief in God was not sufficient and that we instead need to repent and place our trust in what Jesus did for us. Though it was hard for her to consider, she admitted that there was a good chance that she was not saved but that from that moment she intended to no longer trust in her goodness but in the finished work of Jesus! I encouraged her to read John’s gospel and she said that she really wanted to do that as soon as possible.

Please pray for all those who heard the gospel and the many who took tracts. May God save many for his own name’s sake!

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It was nice to have a day of rest on Monday.  Tuesday started with some online outreach before I headed to Riccarton again in the afternoon.

My very first chat of the day - the first thing said was from the other person, responding to my sign on the wall: “What happens after we die?”  It was a lovely first up chat with the guy (from Greece - I think my first time talking to someone from there), with a Catholic background, hearing the law and the gospel, coming to grasp it quickly, and responding that there was nothing stopping him from trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus.  I leave him in God’s hands, but I first pointed him to the Bible and a local church, and also needGod.net.

Next up was a chat who was trusting in his religiosity to save him - specifically baptism (he was also Catholic).  He also came to grasp the gospel and, with a frown, he admitted that it made sense.  I was working through checking questions when he decided to bail.  I understand that he has much to process - changing your thinking can be hard: impossible without God.

Next up, a little kid - always grieves me that one so young is in such a place.  But he needed the gospel too.  I could tell he was into Spider Man, due to a picture on his wall and because of something he said - so I swung the conversation to the greatest superhero: Jesus.  He heard the bad news, and the beginning of why Jesus is the greatest superhero before he disconnected.  May the law activate his sin and may he start to thirst for the truth of Jesus.  Lord, may he have more opportunities to hear your good news!

A guy from Finland.  He didn’t give the classic “be a good person” answer to why he was going to heaven.  It turns out he had a Christian background.  And yet, he wasn’t a Christian - he was only 10% sure he would be getting to heaven!  It was obvious he was really trusting his works to be saved - and he knew his works stunk.  I laboured with him on the gospel, but he wasn’t interested - sadly he seemed inoculated away from it.  In hindsight, I should have backed up and taken him through the law - something that was missed due to the unconventional start to the chat.

A guy with an Irish accent - and his girlfriend off picture.  They heard the law and the gospel - but seemed deeply resistant and quickly disconnected.

Last up was another kid having a lark online - he wasn’t expecting the serious conversation he got!  He heard the gospel, but it wasn’t sticking for him - I did my best to labour with him.  In the end I pointed him to needGod.net which he started looking at as I left.

It was great to get out on the streets - although overcast.  I ended up having a young man come over intrigued by my flip chart.  It turned into a conversation that went for over an hour!  He asked lots of good questions (sometimes twice).  He was really processing what was said.  He grasped the gospel quickly and then wrestled with the concept of repentance for a while - I helped him work through it.  In the end, I was confident he was clear.  We finished up talking about the cost (in this life) of the gift (for eternal life).  It was a great chat, quite tiring.  He didn’t really want to leave, he just wanted to ask questions - but they eventually ran dry and then he realised the time.  He knows how to get in touch with me.

Later I was letterbox dropping in Riccarton when my path crossed with an elderly gentlemen with a Muslim background.  We ended up having a lovely chat about the gospel and the differences between Islam and Christianity.  He took a tract - but put it in a letterbox for me.  So I gave him another one!  I pleaded with him to read it.

On Wednesday I decided to work online.  Eight solid gospel chats.  A guy who didn’t want God to exist, and didn’t like having his real motives for denying him exposed - he disconnected.  A great chat with a couple I couldn’t see - after initial resistance, they opened up and appreciated the chat in the end.  A chat with a musician who looked like a lady, but sounded like a man.  Deeply resistant to the logic of the reality of God, I didn’t even get to the law before they disconnected.

Next up I was connected with a couple of ladies.  One wanted to die.  All the other  could say was mean things to me.  No depravity vale on her!  I ignored the insults and persisted through the law and on to the gospel.  I can only hope in the reality that the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

A great chat with a young Muslim from Egypt.  Google Translate was my friend as Arabic was easier for him.  Yet sadly, he too was deeply resistant.  I persisted for a while before leaving him with needGod.net.

Next up a wonderful chat with a Hindu in India.  He came to grasp the gospel for the first time, and asked wonderful questions.  About twenty five minutes with him - who was left counting the cost.  I pointed him to the source, the Bible.

A great chat with some nominal Christians who came to grasp the gospel.

And the last chat was with a couple of teen guys who were being silly.  I ignored the silliness, and eventually they stopped.  I was able to share the law and the gospel with both.

Thank you to those who are praying for me and supporting me in this gospel work.  I can’t do this alone - again, thank you! :)
 

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Toowong Village on Tuesday January 5, 2021 from 1300 to 1500

Praise and thank God to move Winnie to have the passion to come again to do Street Evangelism at Toowong despite it is still within the rest period originally set for the Toowong team. In this connection, I of course are obliged to join Winnie to form team work. The weather was very hot, but God kept us very busy as such we simply did not have time to worry about the tough condition around us. Recap below were the divine encounter God arranged for us to meet people of different race and life background.

1) An Indian looking face UQ student is actually a Malaysian Muslim but he appeared quite open to listen to the sharing of Gospel. He showed receptiveness to message I shared so pray that God will move and guide him a few step further closer to acceptance of Jesus.

2) The 2nd person God arranged for me was Phoebe who has an European looking face and she was also quite open to the Gospel with good responses. But at the end I was surprised to find out that she actually is from Pakistan. Whether or not she is a Muslim, I pray and trust God for moving nad lead her to receive Christ in His time.

3) Then God led me to approach Ryan under the shade. We have about 6 min to chat and Ryan was the most interactive person to exchange idea with me. He admitted we are not perfect despite in general we are good persons. But he opined there are no bad persons as well as our characters and behavior good or bad are all inherited from our parents that we do not need to take responsibility ourself.But when I asked him to tell me if he has the free will to make a choice and the consequent of it has to be responsible by our decision. So the bottom line is we will still be held responsible for whatever sin we committed and be judged and punished by God. So there is no escape apart from accepting Jesus as our saviour and our Lord of life. He appeared convinced when the bus came. Pray for God continuous redemptive work on Ryan.

4) A man at work though not in uniform did not initially reject my approach for a chat while taking a quick glimpse of the tract. He patiently and polite indicated that he was aware of where I came from and knew what I was going to share but declared he held a very different. I still hanged around to share the nutshell of Gospel until he indicated that he was on duty and our chat was occupying his on duty time. I could not but stop and let go though I believed our conversation still have served God's purpose for this man.

5) A young girl with a Chinese looking face rejected Winnie, so I tried again in English and found out that she is from the Mongolia Republic 外蒙 but has migrated to Australia and become citizen like myself. She was brought up from atheist background so firmly rejected to listen to Gospel. I however still manged to chat in a down to the earth lively way but indirectly showed the need of all people including all good persons for Jesus' salvation.

6) Then I chatted with a man from Singapore 星加坡. He appeared has no faith but was willing to listen to the gospel. It is a pity the time allowed is limited before his bus came.

7) Seville is a non believer with a Christian grand ma but non -Christian parents. So he is neutral to faith and willing to listen to my gospel sharing.

8) My last Chat was with a mature young lady from Peru of Catholic background. But obviously she is a secularized Christian who has not Christian discipleship nurturing as such she has no sense of any Bible teaching. I manged to help her understand the meaning of gospel and the assurance of salvation as well as the importance of Spiritual growth.

感謝主今天的帶领，有主同在，不怕其他打擾。雖然上 Brisbane 途中，身體不適，肚子非常痛。但到達 Brisbane, 經過禱告後，精神醒過來。 感谢神 讓我遇到十二人傳福音機會。初時他們不願意聽，最後聖靈臨到他們，順服的聽完整福音。

第一是中國女士，Myer 聽完福音後，需要時間想想。

第二是中國年長女士，因她聽不懂英語，我便用非常簡單的普通话説给她聽，给她中文單張回家閲讀。

第三位是 Jack, 中國年青人，基督徒。我對他講述得救的確據。

第四位是 Kent, 由加拿大來的年青人。願意接受主的爱。

第五位是澳洲女士，Melisa, 願意接受免费禮物。

第六位是菲律宾少女，Alice, 基督徒。我也講解得救的確據。

第七位是日本少女。Lee, 明白福音，需要時間想想。

第八位女士 是Mela,來自馬來西亞，聽了完整福音。

第九位中國青年，John, 需要時間想想。

第十位是馬來西亞年青人Joe, 聽了完整福音。

第十一位是年青人，Matt, 來自新加坡，基督徒。我對他講述得救確據。

第十二位是年長女士，Mandy, 來自缅甸。明白主的愛。 願今天聽到福音人士，打開心門，接受主耶稣基督為他們的救世主。阿們！感謝讚美主

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The weekend’s outreach was online.  Street evangelism can be lonely work, and it’s so good to be working with a passionate team online.

My first significant chat of the day was with a very deep thinker from the UK called Harkrishan.  In the way he described the kinds of things he thought about as a child, I could see there were a lot of similarities between us.  We really clicked, and we settled in for a nice long chat.  Unfortunately, his deep thinking led to a lot of talking!  It was hard to get a word in!  And yet, I patiently took the time to share the law, and touch on the gospel.  I didn’t think he had picked up on the seriousness of sin - but I was pleasantly surprised when later in the conversation he referred back to it, and I could tell it had hit home.  This man needs the peace that surpasses understanding: Jesus.  But at the moment, he is very resistant to it.  Please pray that he would be able to sleep peacefully - something he struggles with because of his over thinking.  Pray for his salvation.

I had my first chat with someone from Trinidad in the Caribbean!  Unfortunately he liked Soccer, not cricket.  I was able to swing the conversation from the natural to the spiritual, and was able to share the law, but sadly he bailed as I started to explain the gospel.

Next up a chat with a young Christian lady without a completely sharp understanding of the gospel - esp. Justification which we worked through together.

A chat with a kid - quite switched on and asked great questions.  He heard the law and the gospel.

On Sunday I was paired up with Ryan on livestream for ‘training Sunday’.

First up I was connected with a large group of kids.  I was able to work with them through the law and the gospel.  The first checking question I got a response of ‘good works’ - wrong answer!  They slowed down to concentrate more after that, and started to take notice of the good news.  It’s harder holding the attention of a big group - I hope some, God willing, will have grasped the gospel.  I leave them in your hands Lord!

My second and last chat was reasonably good.  I had a few false starts to start with - I was even connected with a couple of guys from NZ - that doesn’t happen often.  But the main chat was with a couple of guys - one of whom said you have to be perfect to go to heaven.  He failed the perfection test and came to hear the good news!  He slowly started to grasp the gospel.  He had two penny drop moments - as his understanding grew.  The first was when he first realised salvation was a gift, the second was during a checking question when the point was nailed home.  I leave them in God’s hands.

It was wonderful being paired up with Ryan, listening to one of his chats, and getting feedback from him on mine.  I love being part of this team.  Thank you Lord.
 

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I’ve now completed a whole week of outreach post my holiday.  Thursday & Friday are my longest days of the week.  In those two days, I had twenty five solid gospel conversations - online, not including the ones I had while on the streets.  Although most of my outreach time over those two days was online.

When people first see me online, I will often get called grandpa, or something not mentionable and the person will quit.  They often assume I’m there for nefarious reasons (which, ironically, is hypocritical). So I decided to print a question and post it on the wall behind me: What happens after we die? (pictured)  So far it has worked well!  Often I’ll connect with someone, and they will speak first saying something like: “What happens after we die?  Hmmm, that is a good question - what do you think?”  And I’m straight into a spiritual conversation!

Now, it’s a bit overwhelming thinking about sharing the details of all those conversations in this report, so I’m going to glance at the recording of each one and skim through them.

I had an interesting chat with a couple of girls who heard the law and the gospel.  It became a bit pastoral in the end.  One of the girls had been deeply hurt through inappropriate relationships, and so I gave her the wisdom of the Bible in the right way to approach these relationships, but I had to be careful to not just be a moralistic lesson - as good as that is.  But I had to bring the focus back to the law and the gospel - the root of the problem: sin, and the solution: Jesus.

There was a guy who quickly became engaged in the gospel conversation.  He even moved rooms to get away from distractions so he could concentrate.  From memory, he had a clear “ah ha” moment as he came to grasp the gospel for the first time.  Checking questions confirming.  When I asked him what was stopping him from accepting the gospel, he said: “nothing, nothing anymore”.  So I pointed him to the Bible and a local church.  And I encouraged him to start telling others the good news.

Oh, I had a great chat with a “Christian” guy.  He said that the reason he was going to heaven was because he did a “good turn every day”.  I had an instant flashback to my Cub Scout days!  And, yes, it turns out he was involved with Scouts.  This guy, with much frowning (in a thoughtful way), came to understand that the gospel involved grace through faith, and not good works.  I left him with a link to needGod.net and much to consider.

A guy from the UK, who became deeply engaged, and asked hard apologetical questions - after hearing the gospel.  I was able to point him to needGod.net before the battery in his phone went flat and we disconnected.

A young Christian girl who gained much clarity around the gospel and justification by faith and the correct place of good works in her life.  She seemed pretty overjoyed with the new understanding.  At the end she even asked if I had an Instagram account about God!  In fact, the team I work with does! - so I pointed her to it and said there would be some girls that would be able to answer her questions.

A conversation with a clear false convert, who loved their sin, and was trusting (incorrectly) the fact that he had “ticked the boxes'' to get to heaven: esp. Baptism.  He heard the gospel, but rejected it, the lure of his sin was too great.

On Friday I started with a great online chat with an ex-Mormon girl and her friend.  She came to grasp the gospel, and even expressed how amazing it was.  And yet, when I left her, she was still counting the cost of accepting that amazing gift.

It was at this point I decided to head into the city for some street outreach.  I spent a fair amount of time in Cathedral Square before heading to Cashel Mall with Roger.

I was going to open air preach - but I ended up spending a long time in direct conversation with one of our regular hecklers.  Through the conversation he was making logical contradictions without shame.  It was like he had so medicated himself with his own deception he was completely blind to reason.  It was a frustrating conversation where I often just had to stop and listen - I couldn’t reason with him.  He needs much prayer!

In Cashel I had a good chat with one of my regulars.  Last time I talked to him, he had embraced universalism (everyone goes to heaven).  He had forgotten that in this conversation, and he was back to thinking his good deeds would get him to heaven.  Over and over I tried to explain the gospel, but every checking question he would just revert back to his goodness to save him.  Incredibly frustrating.  I gave up - for now.  God willing, I’ll have more opportunities to labour with him.

To finish the day, I was back online.  And, with much answered prayer, I had a string of wonderful conversations.  God granted me the opportunity to talk with two very logical and open hearted people - much medicine to my mind!  They asked very deep and difficult questions, and I loved it.

And yet, everyone needs the gospel.  The lost and the saved, the blind and the seeing, the resistant and the open, the angry and the calm, the illogical, and the logical.  All of them.  Don’t give up in prayer for the lost, and take every opportunity to share the gospel with them.  Nah, make time to focus on sharing the gospel, wherever you are!  Without it, people will go to hell because of their sin!
 

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