Battle Log

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Toowong Village o Tuesday October 13, 2020 from 1330 to 1500

Today we had a team of three as usual including Johnny Winnie and Hung. The weather was not sunny with cloud but the day light was bright with breeze as such it was ideal for outreach. The chances of divine appointment were equally distributed amongst the three of us each having around 8 to 9 chatting opportunities. We also encounter a special situation or outreach pattern of having many mini-reunions with gospel targets we met lately. It enabled us to follow up on their understanding of the Gospel and meaning of salvation t osee whether there is still any barrier preventing to make that precious and important decision to repent and accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord of Life.

Recap belows are the battle log of me in English and of Winnie in Chinese: -

1) A Christian young lady who claimed to have 100% assurance of salvation. When I wanted to cross check what is the basis of this 100% assurance, she then started to avoid answering. I was not able to pin her down for an exact answer as the Bus came at this moment. So it is doubtful if she trust on Jesus alone or herself. Hope next week will meet and follow up with her.

2) Derek and I recognized each other but I forgot his name. It was nice to catch up his understanding and clarified further that no good man is good enough and we all bound to have imperfect sin of though and acts that would subject to hells punishment. Derek now admitted he is good but not perfect as such he would need Jesus if he wants to be on the bright side of God in eternity. I vowed to remember his name next tome we met and awaiting for his serious decision to accept Christ.

3) Then came Perry who was approached by Winnie last week. Her feed back was like Derek still opined that she could continue to live as a good person without adhering to any religion. I caught up to clarify with this point that all religions are good to appeal people to try our best to be a good person. But none of them address the issue of sin that every good person would have committed from time to time as such no religion can saved us from the punishment of sin except Jesus Christ who came to die for us as a blemished perfect sacrificial goal to take our place to receive the hell punishment, but he defeated Satan as well as his power of death so that he rose up to be the King of kings and our Lord of all Lords giving us the assurance of a new heavenly identity to reconcile with God and be His people again. Like-wise, Perry seemed to have got th point this time and I could only pray God will do the rest to convict her and let me know net time we met.

4) Then came Mandy in a rush to buy something from Towong Village and had to hurried back to work. I offered to walk with her and finish my shorter version of Gospel in a nutshell. She appeared very receptive to the message and acknowledged the need of Jesus after my sharing. She seemed to have received great enlightenment and promised to seriously read the tract to help her to reach the right decision important to her eternal destiny.

5) Lily a young Aussie girl who got a tract from Johnny but did not stop. I followed up to chat with her when she got to the bus stop. I was only able to share the gospel in a nutshell realizing the bus was arriving. She anyway showed degree of understanding of the issue and promised to chat more next time if we meet again.

6) A Lady was on the phone but she still politely accepted the tract, so that mean there is always next time to follow on the aborted conversation.

7) Nish an Indian girl who humbly listened to the Gospel in a nutshell that I could barely had time to finish by the time the bus arrived. She seemed to have got the essence of the message and I can only pray for God's mercy on her to lead her to Christ in His time.

8) Another Indian lady claimed we had chatted before and she was not in the mood to chat anymore. Just pray that net time God will change her mind.

9) Finally Fiona took the tract but the bus came and I did not even have time to share apart from getting her name so hopefully God will give us a second chance to chat next time.

Recap below is the battle log summary in Chinese for Winnie who spoke to 8 persons with mixed results. Three would think deep about it , two said they would accept Jesus as savior. And three all claimed to be Buddhists but Winnie learned to explain to them to notice the difference of Christianity with all other religions including Buddhism that they are all good but only appealing people to be a good and better persons yet provided not solution to address the sin and the consequential hell punishment that only Christianity provides a solution of letting Jesus a perfect person nto die for them taking their place to received the hell punishment of our sin as such we a clean and right with God to be His people again.

感謝主今天的带领，讓我可以遇到八位傳福音的機會。有一位澳洲男士趕着見醫生，接受單張，便離開，説會閲讀内容。另外一位澳洲老婦女，有中国男士照顾她。男士不要單張，但婦女伸手拿取，願意閱讀。

第一位遇上是 Eve,澳洲少女，聽完福音後，願意想想。

第二位是 Jane, 中国少女，也是需要時間想清楚。

第三位是 Kelvin, 中国青年。初時不想聽，當他坐下來，我問他認識耶稣基督嗎？跟着傳福音给他。

第四位澳洲青少年，願意接受免费禮物。

第五位是中國 UQ 女學生，May, 願意信靠主，寻求更多真理。我给她咭片，Power of Change.

第六位是中国女士，當我講述福音後，她说是佛教徒。我解释她基督教舆佛教分别。

第七位是澳洲女士，Linda, 她説有朋友是佛教，有的是天主教，有的是基督教。她分不清楚所有的教有什么分别？我解释给她聽，佛教及很多的教都是講及要做善事積陰德。基督教是講述罪的問题，耶稣基督為我們贖罪釘上十字架上，死後，三天復活。我們信靠祂，罪得赦免。死後可以上天堂。當我們信靠了主耶稣，聖靈便會進入我們心内，我們應不能做的事，聖𩆜帶领下，我們都可以做得到。我講述自己的見證。她聽後，願意信靠主耶稣，多謝我詳细解释。感谢主，這都是神利用我這個不配的器皿講出來。

第八位 是中国少女，红。她説她的朋友都是佛教徒。我解释她佛教與基督教分别。她説會想想。

感謝讚美主，謝謝關牧師的教導。今天學到的功課，就是遇到佛教徒時，怎样回應他們。

   

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Saturday I decided to go online instead of head into the city.  A couple of hours in the morning, and a couple in the afternoon (with the Brissie team).

In the morning I had two highlight conversations.

The first was with a guy who looked suspiciously naked from what I could tell at the edges of my video shield.  Normally people like that take one look at me and disconnect.  But strangely he didn’t.  I expected him to leave at any second, so I just started trying to share as much as I could about God before he left.  To my surprise, he started responding via text.  He said: “I’m practicing my posing for a bodybuilding competition”.  So I asked him if he believed there was a God.  He responded with “yes of course”.  And we were into a discussion!  Safe to say, I kept my video shield up!  I was able to take him through the law and the gospel.  It turns out he had a Muslim background.  He gently resisted initially, but to my surprise he softened.  At the end he said: “Yes I see ur point”.  And then when I asked if he could see how this is good news, he said, “yea def”.  He received a link to needGod.net.

The second was with a man from Dubai.  Initially he was being a bit silly, taking the serious things I was talking about lightly.  I decided to verbally jolt him - expecting him to bail.  But he didn’t, he sobered up.  I was able to share the gospel, and he seemed to really appreciate the conversation.

In the afternoon I had four conversations before getting into a long chat (nearly 50 minutes) with a young guy and his friend.  This guy seemed genuinely impressed that I was online sharing the gospel.  It seems he is a recent convert and so I was able to give him lots of encouragement, and clear up some confusion he had in regards to Catholicism (which his friend was).  I shared a link to needGod.net, and he checked it out on his phone - he was instantly excited because he recognised Ryan!  He had been watching the gospel video clips on Tik Tok!  He was genuinely excited to know that he was talking to someone on the same team as Ryan.  And it was so encouraging to me to hear of the impact the gospel videos on Tik Tok were having.  Thank you Lord, all glory to you!

A couple of conversations later, and I got into a chat with a young guy who melted when I gave him the building / builder - universe / universe maker analogy.  It really clicked for him, and he became very open to the law and the gospel, which he was familiar with, but didn’t really understand.  It was a wonderful chat.  Lord, save him.

Sunday afternoon saw two outreaches for me.  The first was in the city with Andy.  Andy was in fine form getting people to stop and chat - walk up style.  He was in conversation after conversation.  At one point he was in a conversation with a guy who started throwing coins at him!  He was mocking Andy somehow.  The guy left, but the Hara Kirstina’s were out evengelising in the same spot and one of them asked me if he could take the coins!

The Hara Kirsina’s were busy, getting into conversations, and selling books.  But Andy & I kept pace.  I’m starting to get to know one of them, he even shook my hand today.  They don’t want to waste time with us - but I’d love to get to know them, I’d love to be able to share the gospel with them.

I had some great chats.  I’ll mention two.

The first was with a guy who I didn’t expect to stop.  We had quite a long conversation.  Initially I thought he was a Christian, but little warning signs were showing.  He then started talking about baptism being required for salvation.  That was a loud warning!  So I took him to the flip chart to start confirming what he understood.  He ended up saying, “I need to trust that Jesus is the son of God”.  I corrected him by saying, “You need to trust that Jesus died on the cross for your sins”.  Finally I said, yes, Jesus must be God.  And then he said, “oh, you believe in the trinity”!  He denied Jesus is God.  I should have known, but it was the fact that he said he went to a Baptist church that threw me.  I explained why Jesus must be 100% man and 100% God.  He left with a tract.

The other chat was unexpected.  I was rushing home to be ontime for the online outreach with the Aussies when I noticed an elderly man trying to wheel his wheelchair without much success.  I hurried past, but then I caught myself.  I went back and asked if he needed any help.  He said he needed to get to the bus exchange.  It would make me late, but I knew I had to help.  As I was pushing him, I introduced myself, and then I realised I had a gospel opportunity on my hands!  As I wheeled him to the bus exchange, I was able to share with him.  He seemed resistant initially, but he didn’t fight.  He took a tract.

I finished the day online.  I had two outstanding conversations: 30 mins, and 1 hour 30 mins!

The 30 min chat was with two girls from the States.  One of them said that she was going to skip me initially, but that she was glad that she didn’t.  The both seemed to really appreciate the conversation.

The 1 hour 30 min chat was with four guys.  They were up to no good - so God sent me their way.  There was a real mix of beliefs among them.  One of them was genuinely stoked to realise I was online to share the gospel, and he positively influenced two others.  The fourth guy was Atheist - but he was keen to chat.  They all heard the gospel multiple times, and then they started taking turns to ask questions - good questions.  I ended up with the Atheist and we talked for a while.  He eventually opened up about why he was suppressing the truth about God - he is bisexual.  “Am I damned?”, he asked.  Without compromising the serious nature of the sin of homosexuality, I was able to explain (again) the amazing good news of Jesus - even for homosexuals.  What a privilege!

Oh Lord, please save people through our feeble efforts to share your amazing gospel.
 

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On Thursday I was online for a couple of hours before joining Andy at the bus stops.

I had conversations with many, but a highlight ws with a young Buddhist girl living in Switzerland.  I talk to her for over twenty minutes.  She became curious of the logic I was laying out for her.  It turns out her mum is becoming interested in Jesus and has started attending a church.  I suggested that maybe her mum is praying for her - and that our conversation was not a coincidence.

I also had a text based conversation with a person who simply couldn’t grasp the idea that she was a bad person!  I had to be really patient, but the penny finally dropped:

Stranger: everyone's not perfect and everyone lies..
You: Right, so therefore there are none that are good. That is exactly what the Bible says.
Stranger: OMG your right
You: If i compare myself to a murderer - I'll look good. But if I compare myself to God.... I'm a very very bad person.
You: Make sense?
Stranger: yes
You: So, if you died today, and God judged you by perfection, would you be innocent or guilty?
Stranger: guilty
You: Heaven or hell then?
Stranger: hell
You: This is the bad news. But there is good news. Does it concern you that you would deserve hell if you died today?
Stranger: yes

[snip]

You: Who do you know that is perfect, and willing to die for you?
Stranger: hmmm no one
You: There is only 1: God.
Stranger: omgggg
You: God is the only one that is perfect
Stranger: ur rightttt
Stranger: ur smart

They heard the gospel before they had to go, I left them with a link to needGod.net for follow up.

The bus stops were quieter than I expected, and I was also feeling really tired for some reason.  I really had to pace myself through the afternoon.  I know I talked with many about the gospel with many - but I can’t remember any specific highlights except that I saw one of the people I had talked to the previous day.  I keep seeing this person.  I wasn’t able to talk to them again, as they were walking past when I was already in a conversation.  But this person is on my heart - I am praying for them.

Friday we were outside the hospital in the morning for our usual gospel + abortion outreach.  A relatively quiet outreach - which was a relief.  Andy had a long conversation with someone at the start.  I started praying that the man’s heart and mind would be open to the gospel - strangely, right at that moment, he started becoming resistant and he left soon after!

The highlight of the day was the open air preaching in Cathedral Square at lunch time.  There were a lot of people around.  Andy preached after me and attracted a great heckler (pictured).  Without being arrogant, Andy took this guy to task - and the crowd started to gather.  The heckler got angrier and angrier, but Andy calmly stuck to his guns and would cycle back to the gospel appropriately.  Eventually the heckler walked off, and Andy was free to speak to the gathered crowd.  In the meantime Christians were having conversations with people on the periphery.  Glory to God for the wonderful opportunity!

A team of seven in Cashel Mall afterwards.  Lots of great opportunities to be a witness for Christ.  I have three highlights:

One of my regulars came past and stopped for a chat.  I’ve been talking to this guy for well over a year.  The last time I talked to him, I was urgent with him.  But this guy seems completely blind to what I’m saying.  He hadn’t been thinking about what we have talked about in the past, and he couldn’t remember the gospel!  So again, I shared the law and the gospel, and pleaded with him to “wake up”.  He took some new tracts to add to his collection back at work (he says he reads them).  Lord, have mercy.  Regenerate him - wake him up!

Near the end of my time flip charting, I had three people walk past.  I asked if they would like to try the good person test - totally expecting them to ignore me and keep walking.  To my surprise, one of them beelined for me and walked right up to the chart wanting to give it a go!  Of the other 2, one was curious, the other didn’t want a bar of it and eventually walked down a bit to sit and wait out of ear shot.  The two that stayed were open to the gospel message, and appreciated the new information that contradicted their Catholic understanding of things.

As the outreach was wrapping up, I was surprised to have another of my regulars stop and ask to catch up.  This person is not a Christian, and yet they wanted me to pray for them!  What a privilege!  I did so, and we talked for about twenty minutes.  I will continue to pray for this friend.

I finished the day with some online outreach.  I was able to speak to a number of Christians (or false converts, you can’t tell which).  In one conversation I preached at the choir encouraging them to share the gospel.  In the other conversation, the guy was wrestling with sin.  I was able to bring the balm of the gospel as well as be able to urge this guy to take drastic measures to deal with his sin.  I pointed him to his Bible and local church.  I finished the conversation by praying for him.

Lord do your work!  All glory to you.
 

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Sunnybank on Wednesday October 7, 2020 from 1300 - 1500

We started with only two of us Johnny and Hung, but Col and Allen later joined us to become a team of four. As usual, we stationed at the two sides of the pedestrian foot bridge. Some form of team work did exist under the sovereign control of God. For instance, some one got a tract from one side, showed to us on the opposite side aiming to gain a waiver but often time, God used this a a means for us to stop them to explain on the tract that collected.

Today, God let me encounter many Christians who claimed to have 100% of assurance of salvation but upon checking the reason, it was all wrong basing 100% on the good deeds they have done. This is an alarming sign that many Christian Churches have not provided sufficient biblical teaching to their sheep.

As usual, Johnny and I had near non-stop chances of sharing. I registered 10 divine appointments as recap below: -

1) Kline a local Aussie was in a great hurry but he was polite and kind enough to stop for a chat. I hastily shared with him the nutshell of the Gospel. He showed positive and receptive reaction and was moved to take a serious thought on it though he really had to go. I later crossed shoulder with him while I was doing walking preaching with another woman, he anyway gave me a big grin to show his appreciation.

2) I mistook a Korean as Chinese but found out in time to exchange for an English tract. He was really rushing for some personal matter. But it paved the readiness for me to be more sensitive to differentiate race upon my subsequent approach with Korean really turning up.

3) Ms Sze 斯 a very gentle young fair lady from Taiwan 台 in quite formal dressing as if she was up for some businesses function. But she stopped without hesitation to spend more than 20 minutes to listen to my gospel sharing and end up feeling overwhelmingly drawn by the message 很投入 that she has heard many times before. But this time it hit her heart and really made her feel convinced to accept Jesus. Praise the Lord.

4) An old lay Mrs Dong董 from Heibei 河北 China looked very worrisome and even lost her sense momentarily stopped and standing in front of me. I asked if she needed help than she came back to her sense and started chatting with me. When I wanted to share gospel with her then she lamented that she has no mood to

listen as her wechat account was locked up because of forgetting her password as such she cannot communicate with her family in china.心煩 I offered to walk her across the bridge and shared with her that losing wechat accessibility is a bad experience but im comparison to losing our place in eternity suffering in hell would be a more serious issues.步行聆聽. Her mood changed after hearing the good news. The previous Aussie man greeted me with a big smile also amazed her that we can have joy to greet a stranger. So she ended up feeling more relieved and promised to ponder on Jesus's salvation.

5) Then I caught up with two Korean Christian young ladies called Mary and Emily. They disclosed they are Christian as soon as I wanted to share the gospel. Their answered for the first diagnosis question if they have assurance of salvation was 100%, which is spot on. But it was shocking to find out that that 100 % assurance is based on their good deeds. They appeared a bit nervous and wanted to leave with the excuse of hurrying for an appointment. I nevertheless volunteered to walk them for 500 meter to reach the other set of traffic light and tried my best to clarify their mis conception.

6) Rammy , a Taiwan Buddhist lady. She was polite but thought claiming a Buddhist will stop me from talking to her. She was wrong, I had endless inspiration to share with her which eventually convinced her that Christianity is the only way for real salvation and forgiveness of sin. Trying to reach self perfection like what Buddhism uphold is futile and she promised to ponder deeper on what I shared with her.

7) Matt , another local Aussie Christian who again claimed to have 100% of assurance of salvation yet it was all based on inherited identity from Christian family, good service in the church but nothing accredited to the redemptive grace of Jesus. He showed sign of confusion but was humble enough to take in my advice and promise to reflected on his relationship with Jesus Christ.

8) A couples of elderly husband and wife from China Canton walked toward me. The wife walked 10 feet ahead getting passed me and ignored the tract, but her husband took the tract. I shared with him and our conversation got brighten up when we found Cantonese is our common language. With this edge, he showed interest to hear me to share the nutshell of the gospel that I finished just in time before the bus came. 廣東老人夫婦，夫接聽

9) Finally Eason turned up and willing to stop for a long chat. His knowledge of thr Bible and understanding of the doctrine of salvation is good as he is member of the Grace Bible Christian Church. He is clear about salvation by grace through faith in Christ and needed to be perfect through God's divine life transformation work through the Spirit. But his assurance of salvation was tainted by his uncertainty if he is a born again one seemingly judging by the Baptism by the Spirit. I shared with him my orthodox thought and emphasized that speaking in tone is never a condition of salvation. He finally felt enlightened to border no more about the sol called born again by the fire of the Spirit. He displayed a very happy face for the grace of God while taking a selfie with me .

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Tuesday and Wednesday were wonderful days of outreach for the Christchurch (NZ) team.

I was online in the morning and early afternoon before joining Roger and Binu in Riccarton.  Due to the school holidays it was a very busy outreach.  Pretty much no down time - which was great.  And the conversations were quality.  Three times I made it all the way through the flip chart (19 pages) with people!  The flip chart is a wonderful visual tool for making the gospel and associated concepts really clear for people, with lots of checking questions built in.  You can buy the mini version here (NZ) or here (AU)

Of the people that made it all the way through, the first was with two teen girls.  The second was with a guy who said he often sees us on street corners, but hasn’t had the opportunity to stop or talk.  I could tell he understood the gospel well, as the flip chart anticipated his questions perfectly!  And yet, sadly, he was resistant to it.  The third was with a teen guy, who goes to a religious boarding school - even went to church twice a week, but he was looking to his good deeds to get him to heaven.  It was a long conversation where he asked some great questions at the end.  He took tracts and knows how to get in touch.

I was also able to interact with others too.  I had two guys come down keen to give the flip chart a go.  It was a “set up” - they knew what it was about and they wanted to argue.  They were “atheists” - early in the conversation, one of them pulled out their phone and started recording - fine by me!  I never got to share the gospel, as they were not ready for it.  I spent the time on simple apologetics and the law.

I was too busy to notice what Roger was up to, but from what I could tell, he was having plenty of gospel chats too.  Binu handed out tracts.

On Wednesday afternoon I started in the city without a flip chart.  It was a lovely day.  Before I got to Cathedral Square, I encountered two guys I’d briefly talked to on Saturday.  Sadly, they were trying to sell drugs.  I had an opportunity to take them through the law, but they didn’t stick around for the gospel, sadly.

After that outreach went fast, I had three other long chats.  The first was in the Square with three Mormon girls.  I then decided to head down Oxford Terrace before heading towards Ara.  I never made it to Ara.  There were lots of people on the other side of the Avon river, so I went there.  My last two conversations were there.

The first was with a young guy and girl.  Man did they talk!  I had to be really patient as they kept interrupting - but it wasn’t a bad thing, it seemed to really help them slowly process what I was trying to explain.  I’m glad I persisted, as I could see them softening.  They heard the gospel - may God have mercy!

I then saw another couple and decided to approach them.  When they looked up, I realised that one of them was one of my regulars!  The guy she was with I hadn’t talked with before though.  So we fell into a very deep conversation where they both peppered me with difficult, and serious questions.  I did my best to keep coming back to the gospel.  The guy became mildly resistant as he wrestled with the honest answers he was getting.  I didn’t push it, but I did make sure he understood what he had to do to go to heaven before I left.  I also left him with tracts.

I finished the day of outreach online.

I thank God for his patience in giving us these days to share his gospel with many.  Lord, use it to bring change in their lives and in our society for your glory alone.

PS, no time for pictures, enjoy my mock picture of some gospel tracts!
 

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Toowong Village on Tuesday October 6, 2020 from 1330 - 1500

It was a very warm Spring afternoon with bright sun shine. It might have affected some people feeling reluctant to stop and chat under the Summer like scorching sun. But all the three of us , namely Johnny, Winnie and Hung all got reasonable good chance to shared the gospel to the needy ones. Johnny asked for prayer at the end for an UQ student from Taiwan who affirmatively willing to accept Jesus after hearing the Gospel. like-wise Winnie chatted to 8 persons amongst which four showed willingness to accept Jesus. For details, she supplied her Chinese record as below. As for me, I have seven opportunities as recap below.

0) Ouch! I forgot this lady from mainland China. She was hesitant if she should take my tract. And finally she took it. Then I asked if I could share about this before the bus came. She then suddenly firmed up and rejected to continue with our chat. Anyhow, at least she kept the tract and hope God will use it to move her.

1) Bob , a tall Aussie elderly man was prepared by God to wait at the bus stop for a long time as his route is of very infrequent schedule. We chatted for almost 20- 30 minutes. While I shared the gospel, he kept interjecting with many of his questions , like what is sin, will people before Christ be saved, etc. Thanks God that his attitude had eventually softened up and appeared receptive to the gospel accepting the fact that he also needs Jesus despite he all along considers himself a good person.

2) Ashan an Iran urban office lady look woman, finding her way to Indooroopilly shopping centre. She found the bus at the wrong bus. Winnie was the first to approach but could not help so I stepped in and found that she needed to go another bus stop across the road on another street. I offered to walk her to the right bus station making sure she would not got to a wrong bus station heading to the opposite direction to city. God inspired me to stress the points that taking a wrong bus at a wrong bus stop is frustrating thing but you still have chance to make it right eventually. But losing the way and heading to a wrong eternal place in hell instead of heaven is a irreversible mistake that no one should afford. She admit the gospel is sensible and logical but may need more time to sink in the importance. I told her Iran actually has become a thriving new Christian kingdom and she admitted she has many Christian friends. So I pray that God will guide and put her in many good Christian friends hand like God put her in my hand to help her find the right bus.

3) Houng a Vietnamese student from NZ. He happily accepted the tract but was in a hurry to meet his friends who are coming to pick him up. I however still managed to shared the nutshell of the gospel to him in less than a minutes of time.

4) A righteous girl saw me took photo of Winnie sharing gospel with another Chinese girl. She let me share the gospel with her for the purpose of waiting for the finish of conversation of Winnie with that girl. Then she walked over to prompt the girl that I took her picture. I was a little bit surprised in the calculated way of that Indian looks lady but she has the righteous moral ground to give me in. I explained to them that the photo normally avoid the face and it did when I showed them. Anyhow, the Chinese girl was persuaded to ask me to delete it. So, it is a lesson to learn not taking photo too obviously in front of other passers by .

5) Oscar was some one I met two weeks ago. I asked if he has read the tract again at home and how does he find it. The answer was a bit disappointing as he said he does not find the need for salvation. Nevertheless, I tried to go over the illustration of sin to prove that no one including him is good and perfect. Once we have sin, we need Jesus to die for our sin. I invited him to ponder on this issue again.

6) Daren a good old man willing to listen but seemingly has no idea of salvation. He was appreciative for my sharing but asked if I think I can convert everyone. I said it counts to convert even one person better than doing nothing.

Here are the sharing of Winnie on her 7 conversations.

感謝主今天的带领，讓我有機會與人分享福音。

第一及第二位是UQ 年青少女。Myer and Lucy. 明白主的救赎。願意尋求更多真理。

第三位是澳洲年青人。初時不願意接受單章。當他坐下，我問他是否認識耶穌基督，他沒有回答。我给他福音單章，跟着講述福音给他。

第四位是馬來西亞少女，Mary. 明白福音，願意接受免费禮物。

第五位是中国婦女，講述重要福音给她，巴士到達。

第六位是南美少女，Mimi,我用關牧師的方法來測試她，她完全明白救恩。我给她單章讓她傳给别人。

第七位 是中国少女，願意接受福音，找教會寻求更多真理。

第八位是Nathan, 澳洲男士。我們傾談很長。他説信自己靠自己。路是自己行出來。我解释给他，神創造萬物天地，因为亞當 夏娃反罪，所以我們都是罪人。如果我們信靠主耶稣，祂會拯救我們，死在十字架上 還赏我們的罪債，我們的罪便得赦免。這是免费禮物。聖靈便會進入我們心裏，我們便有能力做任何事。當信了主耶稣基督，便會體會到主的大能，我們應該做不到的事，反然有能力做到。我勸他想清楚，不信便會落地獄。如果信了，明天的死，便會上天堂。他説會詳细想一想。

感謝讚美主，賜我能力解釋给他，這也是主的大能。"

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On Saturday I spent a couple of hours in the city in the morning and a couple of hours online in the afternoon.

The highlight conversation from the morning was with a young Catholic mother from India.  I could tell I wouldn’t have much time with her - she wanted to stay and talk, but she had to go.  So after explaining the gospel, and focused on contrasting the works based salvation of the Catholic faith, and the gift of Jesus as described in the Bible.  She looked conflicted, but seemed to appreciate the conversation.  She took a tract as she left.

In the afternoon, I ended up having an interesting chat with a guy who said “this conversation has changed my life”.  And yet, as I was talking about the cost of following Jesus, he suddenly disconnected.  At the very least, he seems to have understood the gospel.  Lord save him!

On Sunday Binu and Daryl joined me in the city for a couple of hours of outreach.  There were two highlight conversations for me.

The first was with a Christian - an evangelist.  He was down from Auckland for some revival meetings.  He said he had just talked to some people in the supermarket, and “led them to the Lord”.  How wonderful!  He then pulled out his phone and started showing me some video of some kids reciting a sinner's prayer.  The look on the kids face was one of bemusement.  I asked the guy if he thought they were really saved.  I mentioned that it can be misleading to lead people in a prayer, because they might think that, now they have said the magic words, they are saved - when they really aren't.  I wasn’t really surprised, but he became very defensive, and even started to rebuke me.  He started saying things like: “baptism is part of it” [baptism is part of being saved].  I said, no, we are only saved because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and we accept the gift by faith alone - baptism will come, but it’s not part of being saved.  In the end, I thanked him for the rebuke.  I want to be open to correction if need be, but I wanted to continue to share the gospel with people.  He moved on at that point.

The other highlight was an awesome conversation with two teen guys.  One of them walked right up to me and I could tell he wanted to talk about the deep things of life, but he wanted me to initiate!  This often means I’m being set up.  So I challenged him on it.  He insisted he was genuine.  And he really seemed to be.  They ended up joining me on the flip chart.  It was wonderful watching the penny dropping multiple times for that one guy.  It was a wonderful conversation.  When we got to the resurrection, he had really good and genuine questions about how we know it happened.  It was a joy watching this guy processing the apologetics.  They were challenged to respond to the gospel - urgently.  And they received tracts with an invitation to get in touch if they had further questions.

Oh God, we are so weak, we are so fallible, we are so dependent on you.  Please help us to be faithful to your word.  Help us to share your gospel faithfully.  Help us to be alert to deception, and open to correction.  We love you, Lord, for giving us life, and saving us from our sin by paying our hell fine on our behalf.  We love you Jesus!
 

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On Thursday I was online for a couple of hours in the morning before joining Andy at the bus stops in the afternoon (as usual).

Online I had a surprise text based conversation with a person who works in the abortion industry.  You can read about that (and our Friday gospel + abortion outreach) here.

I really enjoyed the afternoon outreach at the bus stops because it was busy with many opportunities to share the gospel with people.  We started at Northlands this week, before moving to Eastgate.  It was great to have Tim join us at Eastgate after he had finished work.  Tim hasn’t been on the streets for a while, so I took the time to take him through the new flip chart.  He then paired with me as we approached person after person to share the gospel.

We shared with a lady who was angry about the new abortion legislation introduced by the government back in March.  She considered herself a good person, and was extremely resistant, if not offended when I tried to show her the law.

Next was two ladies and a young child.  One of the ladies was quite responsive, and listened to the logic of how God exists, and the law which brings the knowledge of sin.  Sadly, the child was quietly disagreeing with what I was saying!  Their bus came, she took a tract as she left.

We were able to talk with a bus driver, a Christian who thought keeping the 2 greatest commandments would get him to heaven.  He also was leaning towards universalism.  I was able to explain the gospel and then answer some good questions he had, before his bus came.  He took a tract.

On Friday, after the gospel + abortion outreach, we had a great time of open air preaching in Cathedral Square.  It was very encouraging having people stop to listen.  There were some great questions and interaction.

For the rest of the afternoon, we were in Cashel Mall.  I had one stand out conversation - a sad one.

It was with a young lady with a little girl with her.  Long story short, she wanted heaven but she wanted her sin too.  After taking her through the law and the gospel, and working through many checking questions - it was clear she was understanding the big picture.  She tried to trap me on the concept of repentance.  She said, “well, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins - and if that’s the only thing you have to do to go to heaven, then why do I have to do these other things ” She doesn't have to do anything, but she will want to!  Faith is always connected to repentance, an inward change of mind, will and emotions: away from sin and to God - that will lead to outward good works.  When God saves us, by grace, he grants us the gift of faith and changes our heart - giving us a new nature and new desires.  It was clear that the works do not save us, but if we are saved we will want to start doing good works as a result - out of love for the one who saved us.  She has heard and understood the gospel - may God change her!
 

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Tuesday and Wednesday were days of contrast for me.  On Tuesday I ended up having twenty one conversations with people spread over six hours, yet on Wednesday I only had six conversations over four hours - Yet three of those conversations were really long.

All but one of Tuesday's conversations were online.

I had a fascinating conversation with a man who had a trip on drugs a year ago.  In six hours he apparently lived the whole life of a man in Michigan who was married, had three kids, was a plane mechanic and died at eighty two!  So now this guy believes in reincarnation!  We talked about why we shouldn't trust our feelings / experiences (esp. when altering the mind like he did).  We then talked about why we should be terrified of the afterlife.  He bailed at that point.

Later I talked to a kid who also believed in reincarnation.  He responded well to simple apologetics.  I took him through the law, and started explaining the gospel, when a notification came through on his phone.  It broke the flow of the conversation and, sadly, ten seconds later he disconnected.

The last conversation of the morning was with a couple from Argentina.  He didn’t speak any English, so she translated for him.  I was also able to use Google Translate.  Sadly, they were very resistant to what I was saying.

In the afternoon I was intending to try a new outreach spot: Barrington, and then move to Riccarton.  I made it to Barrington.  It was a sunny day, but it was very windy, and bitterly cold!  The wind was icy!

As I suspected, Barrington wasn’t an ideal outreach spot, the bus stops were small and there was no one spot with a good flow of people going past.  And yet I was able to get into one conversation with an elderly gentleman who was Catholic.  It was a good conversation, if not a little unconventional.  I was able to take him through the law and the gospel - but he was outwardly set in his ways.  He wasn’t going to take a tract, but he eventually did.

By the end of that conversation, I decided to get shelter from the wind and cold.  Maybe God wanted me to head out to talk to that one man on the streets?  Because I ended up heading home to continue the day's outreach online.

My first chat back online was with a group of people sitting in their lounge.  To my question: “What do you think happens after life?”, one of them responded instantly with: “Haha, are you trying to prosthelytize on Omegle?”.  I could tell this was going to be a good discussion - and it was.  I was able to share the gospel.  But sadly they were all very resistant.  One of them started talking about the “abuse” of her Christian upbringing.  I just felt grieved.  I shared my upbringing and conversion experience as a contrast.  It seemed to hit home, because they didn’t really have anything to say after that, and the conversation came to an end.

I was able to share the gospel with a kid in the Philippines.  He had pretty much no English, so the gospel was shared thanks to Google Translate.

Some kids from Brazil didn’t stay long enough for me to get Google Translate up.  I then had a lady say to me: “can you give me some money?”.  When I said no, she responded with, “well, you are useless” and disconnected.  :(

I then had a chat with some teens who were using fake voices and no video.  Their mocking didn’t diminish, so I didn’t share the gospel with them, although I did point them to needGod.net, before I disconnected.

I did have two really good gospel chats after this, and before the day's outreach ended.

On Wednesday I headed to Cathedral Square to start my outreach.  I usually go from there towards Ara.  But today I never made it further than that.  I had three outstanding conversations.

The first was a long gospel chat with a guy who had fallen on hard times financially.  When I was using the fireman analogy, he instantly identified, as he had been in a house fire!  Outwardly he didn’t seem too interested in the wonder of the gospel I was sharing - but I marvelled at it, all glory to God for his wonderful mercy.

After this, I walked straight into a conversation with a guy who was waiting to talk to me!  He was a Christian (and gave a really good explanation of the gospel and how we are saved).  Yet he was anxious about what was happening in the world and the end times.  I ended up explaining how we can be ready for what comes: trusting that Jesus died for our sins!  And then I explained why we don’t need to be anxious.  I read him Matthew 6:25-34 with emphasis on verse 33.  I then finished the discussion by inviting him to join me on the streets in outreach!

The final conversation was a follow up with a guy I first talked to in Riccarton a week or so ago.  He was a deep thinker who was resistant to the obvious reality of God.  We had a good long apologetical conversation where I circled back to the law and the gospel often.  He is heading back to Chile soon (on a cargo plane - no passenger planes go there anymore!) - God willing I will see him again.

When I realised how late it was, I rushed back home to join the Aussie team online (I forgot about daylight savings, initially).

I had a fifty four minute conversation with a fifteen year old guy who seemed to be a recent convert (he also had a good understanding of the gospel and salvation by grace alone through faith alone), but he was struggling with sin.  I hope I was balanced in my advice to him: I tried to make it clear to remind him that salvation is a gift, and yet I told him he needed to take drastic measures in dealing with sin in his life.  It was a very encouraging conversation for me - he was handling the advice really well.  I look forward to seeing this young man in heaven one day!
 

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