Battle Log

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Sunnybank on Wednesday July 1, 2020 from 1300-1500

What a wonderful day of grace with the work of God through us be manifested through each and every divine encounter in particular the one with Emma and Ah Shing.

Basically, God provided us the team of three including Johnny, Allen and Hung with many quality gospel sharing opportunities with many high school students who are free to come in group with friends during that School Holiday period. I bet Johnny had lost count how many persons and groups he had shared them the gospel with the Good Person flip charts. Same apply to Allen, he had many long conversation with or without using his Intelligent Flip Chart. As for me , I had about 10 divine appointment as recap below with two high light with Emma and Ah Shing as mentioned.

1) A Catholic background ABC girl politely let me share with her the Good Person tract. NO surprise she has NO assurance of salvation when I asked her the two diagnosis questions. Then a phone call from her mum cut short my conversation and she had to leave in a hurry. Just pray that the tract will do the unfinished job of mine.

2) Then I was led to chat with a mum and her daughter from Hong Kong. They are Christians but lacking assurance of salvation. I hurriedly clarified with them and asked about their church life yet to find out that they are not attending any church but happy to find one in the Gold Coast where they live. And it was found out that GCCCC is the nearest one with Cantonese congregation suitable for them. Pray that their knowledge of Bible will be deepened once they have regular church life again.--張太(mum)黃小姐(daughter)，找教會，介紹黃金，欠缺確據

3) Jade , a nonbeliever Uni student from Korea which has been transformed from a Buddhism to Christian country. I thought he might be a Christian when he showed openness to chat yet finding out he has no faith. I barely had enough time to share the full gospel to him before his Korean friend arrived to meet with him. Anyhow, he admitted the gospel message makes sense and is logical that he will consider after reading the tract.

4) Aggie a Middle East man and his Korean wife was stopped by the spirit to have a brief chat originally. The Korean wife declared she is a Catholic Christian thus did not think she needed to hear the gospel. Yet when asked the two diagnosis questions , she failed to answer clearly and show a bit of impatience to listen anymore of my explanation. But to my surprise, her husband gave me the perfect answers that a Christian should have 100% assurance of salvation because of the faith in Lord who died for our sin. What shocked me more was that his wife told me he is not yet a Christian implying that he might not be able to answer correctly. How sarcastic it was for a Christian wife who know ot the true way for salvation but trying to lead her husband to become a Christian. Form this instance, we can give glory to God that He can make all thing work together and bestowed salvation to His elected person.

5) 阿成 is a close friend with a Christian wife and lives on the same street of mine. There were many attempts by many Christians including his wife to evangelize him without success. He suddenly turned up in front of me so I ask the Spirit to use me to have another go to share with him the Gospel. He listened attentively and said yes when I asked if he would like to receive the free gift of eternal prepared by Jesus readily. Perhaps I should have stop there, but to ensure he is not saying yes out of courtesy, I repeat the questions again. Yet this time he said perhaps he need to think it over. Anyway, God has His perfect timing for Shing. Today encounter was not by accident but part of his long term plan for Shing.

6) A woman delightfully took my tract but our conversation was cut short by the bus. 婦人接單，車來

7) Another young lady from Taiwan Miss Li was also receptive to the gospel and ready for a chat. Again it was cut short by the arriving bus. 李，台灣，車來，

8) Emma was wearing a mast as such I did not recognize her when I felt the urge to stop her for a chat. She hastily told me I talked to her some time ago and as a result she has received Christ and has started attending a church which however was paused by the Covid-19. I congratulated her and give glory to God who was the real cause of her salvation. Then God moved her to ask if I could help to baptize her and of course I happily gave here a BIG YES. I will pick her up on Sunday to attend our church and will start the Baptism Class for her afterwards. May all glory and praises be to God and Him alone.

This instance also reinforced by trust in God that He will pick the best timing for Shing to receive Christ that may give God the greatest glory.

9) A Sudan family of three kids led by the mum was stopped by the Spirit to listen to the gospel. They were into some business but still had the patience to let me share with them the full gospel. She politely thanked for the message and appeared receptive. Pray that God will further lead the whole household to Christ in His time.

10) Michael a young Aussie Christian who has no assurance of salvation. It was because he is still struggling in living a life with known sinful habits. I first helped him to re-established the 100% assurance of salvation by faith through faith in Christ alone. I further explained to him that receiving Christ only let God reconcile with us and grant us the lost heavenly citizenship. Our life is yet to be transformed back to perfection by the power fo God through the work of the Holy Spirit in our born again life. So he should not feel shameful but keep trusting in God to finish His life re-engineering work in us. I was glad God used me to give comfort and encouragement to Michael to lead a positive life in Christ trusting in God's sufficient grace that once and for all saved us from the eternal death punishment and also will continuously save us from resisting temptation to sin and have the gut to repent and stand up from where we fell to trust God for a better self towards perfection and full maturity in Christ.

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Rain, and rain.

"Christchurch had just 12 minutes of sunshine on Monday last week, and hadn't seen the sun since, MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said.” - Stuff.co.nz

Thank goodness for the fruitful harvest field of online evangelism.  I spent most of my outreach time on Tuesday and Wednesday there.  But, there was enough of a break in the rain on Tuesday that I was keen to get to Riccarton.  For a change, I set up my flip chart on the corner of Rotherham and Riccarton roads.  It was cold!  And one of my regulars said, “you won’t get many people stopping to talk today!”.  But if you are prayerfully patient, the fish will come - and they did.

And the first to come along was a follow with two high school students I saw a week ago in the city.  They looked really surprised to see me.  I started re-engaging them, but one of them in particular really didn’t want to talk again, and so they moved on.  They had a third friend with them this time, and they received a tract before moving on.

A kid on a bike went past, and then five minutes later he was back with some sushi.  He stopped at the flip chart and the fish was on the line.  He was quite engaged and open, so I was able to pull out my mini (detailed) flip chart and take the time to thoroughly explain the good news to him.  Sadly, it turned out his uncle had died a month ago, I was able to express my sympathy.

Later I had a Polynesian guy go past.  I offered to take him through the good person test.  He said he needed to go to the bank, but that he would come back.  And he did.  This guy had “good deeds as the way to heaven” deeply ingrained in him and I had to labour with him through the checking questions - the idea of justification by faith alone was very foreign to him, and not surprisingly it turns out he was catholic.  As foreign as it was to his thinking, he started to grasp the good news of the gospel.  He took a parting tract, and I left him in God’s hands.

My next conversation started with a type of guy that usually doesn't stop to give me the time of day.  So I initially went fast to try to capture his attention.  I was surprised when it worked.  They guy was actually very intelligent, and it turns out he is a medical student.  We got into a deep conversation where we disagreed on pretty much everything.  I didn’t understand why he was giving me so much time.  At one point it started raining (very lightly, I didn’t even notice), and he backed up to go under the shelter of the shop front.  He looked at me and said, “I don’t want to get wet” - he was inviting me to join him under shelter - which I promptly did.  I normally finish the outreach at 5pm, but that conversation went till 5:30pm!  It was dark before he finally moved on.  I was deeply frustrated - I felt like I made no progress with him.  And yet, I realised he had heard the law (one of the only things he didn’t argue with) and he did get to hear the gospel.

Earlier in the day, while online, I had some frustrating conversations with people who I really had to labour with on the law.  One eventually slowed down to actually listen through her Christainess hazy and started to grasp what I was saying - and I was able to share the gospel.  But the other just said, “you’re starting to make me feel mad”, and she disconnected.

Oh to see people changed by God!  I don’t often feel like this, but I came away feeling a desperation for it.  To see God move.  This came out in our weekly team prayer meeting at Andy’s.  I sobbed crying out to God to have mercy.  I’m tired of the stubborn rejection, oh to see people respond to the gospel and make Jesus their Lord.  Impossible; but possible for God!  (See Mark 10:17-31.)  That was a good time of prayer.

Wednesday saw the heaviest rain of all (pictured)!  I didn’t attempt venturing out, and spent the afternoon online.

My very first conversation and I was connected with a guy in tears!  He was so relieved that I was willing to stay to talk, and he just poured out his hurts!  I did my best to listen - I nearly came to tears myself early on!  But I also started to point him to the hope of Jesus.  He eventually came to grasp the gospel.  I’m going to be praying for this young man.

Later, I had two separate conversations with Catholics who were trusting their good deeds and came to grasp the gospel - although one of them I had to really labour with - checking questions to the rescue!

The highlight conversation of the afternoon was a conversation with two girls.  One who was bisexual, and the other lesbian.  But unlike a recent difficult conversation, these two girls were very open hearted, and seemed to really understand what I was saying.  They understood the grace and love of God, but that God would not leave them as they are but would change them, and help them in their war with sin if they trust that Jesus paid their hell fine.

As I’m writing this (Wednesday evening), the rain is lashing down on the roof!  But the forecast is saying we might get some sun by Friday.  Thank you for your prayer and support.  God bless.
 

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Tuesday on Omegle was an exciting outreach! It was an extended outreach from usual, but this just meant more time for people to hear the good news about what Jesus has done to save sinners! A day with nine team members over six hours was wonderful!

The first conversation of the day was with Evan. He was initially a little silly pretending to be someone he wasn't but then came to understand the good news and was so excited at the end of the conversation that he was moved to tears! He was even asking questions about how he could bring the gospel to bear on the ears of his friends, family and neighbours!

The next conversation was with Jenelda. There were so many good quotes of things that she mentioned through the conversation but basically as she saw the simplicity of God's existence, her guilt and the solution she was greatly impacted and she too was blown away, even shedding a tear at one point as well!

One outstanding comment she made was, "I feel like a different person, you've changed my mind totally and it makes sense and I feel like I will wake up tomorrow and everything will look different and feel different". She could not thank me enough and was so keen to live for God thinking through all of the implications of the gospel acknowledging that it would definitely change her life and the way she lived!

She finished the conversation by saying, "I thank you for this chat but I think there are some other people that God has for you to talk to, I shall let you chat to them".

Next was a conversation with Carlos who took a while to grasp the gospel but once he got it he too said, "it really meant a lot". He had been struggling with Christianity for a while and was greatly encouraged by the gospel1 It was exciting to see his comprehension and a privilege to see the moment that he grasped it for the first time!

Then an unusual conversation took place with two Australia girls, Zoe and Kelsey. It seemed as if they should disconnect but despite rejecting God's existence and wanting to live their own way they came to see how we know God exists, how rejection of God is based on love for sin and then the good news that God offer guilty sinners a full and free pardon on the basis of Jesus taking the punishment they deserve. This meant that they could be forgiven this very day and on their way to Heaven if they would simply believe that Jesus took the punishment for their sin!

They didn't want to believe but they did understand it. Lastly a great encouragement came as a pair who had previously talked to the team remembered the way to Heaven, professing to believe and were encouraged to open up their Bibles and read the gospel of John!

Praise God for such a wonderful day, may those who grasped it be changed because of the conversations that took place and the Holy Spirit applying the truth to their hearts!

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Toowong on Tuesday June 30, 2020 fro, 1300-1500

Praise and thank God that the three of us Johnny, Winnie and Hung continued to be called to serve faithfully at Toowng being a mission field opened up by God for us to work with Him. Our original aim is to target mainly the overseas students in particular those compatriots from mainland China. But by past experience, their atheist up bringing and tight surveillance by the CCP official have put full bondage on their freedom and openness to listen to Gospel. On the contrary, God let us easily approach people of all other nations with or without other religious background. There was no exception today, we continue to have good divine appointment and conversation with variety of people. For me, I had seven chance to share the Gospel as recap below: -

1) Peter, a nominal Catholic background Christian appreciated my sharing of the gospel and explanation of the real meaning of salvation by grace through faith but not depending on our good deeds. Pray that this divine appointment will serve the purpose of God to re-engage Peter's life for continue upwards growth.

2) Michael was a Returned Service Man with Christian faith but fell away from God due to a lot of harshness in life especially the late illness happened to his daughter. I walked with him for a long way to express my empathy but stressed again that God is sovereign and cares for the eternal well being of his life and his family members' life.

3) Nancy a lady from PNG, gratefully thanked my sharing which was cut short by the bus. It was short but it helped to clarify her assurance of salvation was in Christ and by Christ alone.

4) A young lady from Brazil let me walk with her to share the gospel to her. Though Brazil is a Catholic country, she has no religious belief but she admitted that the gospel message is logical and sensible and promise to ponder after reading the tract at home.

5) A lady took the tract but rushed the red traffic light to cross the road as such I can only let her go.

6) Channel a Filipino UQ student had a long chat with Winnie already but she thought she is an indigenous people . On his returning from the Toowong Village, I caught up with him checking out his country of origin and found out that he actually is a Christian of Catholic background yet without full assurance of salvation. Thanks God that I helped to have it clarified before the bus came.

7) Ken an UQ student with cross blood of Brazil and Romania is from a pious Christian background family but he himself has not yet received Christ. He found the sharing of Gospel very appealing and touching that he voted to make commitment to receive Christ like his parents. I introduced him to get connected with Power to Change for spiritual growth and recommended him to join CCCB St Lucia.

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Marvellous Monday's on Omegle are wonderful! 7 hours of outreach means across the team around 100 gospel conversations take place! 100 people come to see the simple message of the gospel (or at least the law) in just one day! The majority of those also are able to explain why Jesus taking the punishment for sin is the only way to get to Heaven and can explain why a Christian will want to obey God's rules.

This Monday was no different and as usual was filled with exciting conversations. The afternoon started with a chat with Eva, a young lady who struggled with mental illness and had some bad experiences with the Catholic church and as a result had used that as an excuse to live her own way. She came to see her guilt and that she was in trouble without Jesus and was able to understand the gospel but remained hard against the offer of forgiveness because he love for sin remained.

Then there was a really exciting conversation with Isain. He was a bit slower to grasp the gospel but upon understanding it was so thankful for it and said he would read the Bible for himself to find out more.

Then there was a chat with Gauge who also grasped the gospel and said he was glad we'd chatted, he already had a Bible app on his phone and said he would start reading John this week! He also saw that believing the gospel would transform his life and he acknowledged that.

Next was a conversation with two late teenagers from Sydney. They at first (after saying they'd gone to a Catholic school) said they rejected God's existence but then surprisingly heard the good news, grasped it and said they would think about it. They did say they weren't sure they'd believe it because they didn't want to (sin is more fun) but grasped it none the less.

A final and very exciting conversation was with Samantha and Stephen. They at first were talking about reincarnation and some other weird things but they acknowledged that God exists but thought they were pretty good. Then they saw that they were like the rest of us, guilty and deserving of Hell and that no good deeds, requests for forgiveness or any attempts to fix one's life could stop them from going to Hell.

Then they heard the good news of the cross and although full comprehension took a little while (at first they were still talking about trusting in Jesus to pay for their sin and their own goodness) but when they grasped it, really quickly afterward the understood that love for God and obedience would be a natural overflow in the life of a Christian and they were also encouraged to read their Bibles!

Some final words were shared by them, Stephen said, "Wow this was like one of my Bible lessons but now I understand it, it was so helpful" and Samantha said, "Yeah, this has been really awesome, thank you for sharing this with us". They were both encouraged greatly and said that today they would start trusting that Jesus taking the punishment for their sin was the only reason that they would enter Heaven!

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Saturday and Sunday… more rain in Christchurch (NZ).  And I praise God for it - honest! :)

But it did mean the team stayed indoors and reached the lost online.

Four hours on Saturday.  My first conversation of note was with an intelligent young guy from Kazakhstan (he was an ex-Muslim).  It was quite a long conversation where sadly we didn’t even get to the law let alone the gospel.  But it was still a very good conversation where he was challenged on how he knows God exists.  He could see the logic of it, but he didn’t like it.  He changed the subject and just wanted to talk about other stuff for a while (which was fine), but there's nothing more important than talking about what happens after life, and so I did switch back to it.  But he just didn’t want to talk about it.  So I respected that.  I left him with a link to needGod.net.

My next conversation was with a guy from Africa (I presume; he was an ex-Christian).  He was also resistant, but for some reason it worked out that I persisted with sharing the law and the gospel even though there was resistance.

Sometimes you do, and sometimes you don’t - and it’s hard to say why.  We must respect people, yet they need the gospel!

But the stand out conversation of the day was with a Hindu lad from Florida, USA.  He was open to the conversation and seemed resigned to the fact that he deserved hell.  But I shared the good news with him.  I said: “So, if Jesus has paid your hell fine, where does that mean you go when you die?”  and he responded with, “heaven”.  So I said, “So what’s the reason why you go to heaven?”  And he said, “if I’m a good person”.  Wow - I knew I was going to have to labour with him on this, and I did, and he finally came to grasp the gospel: the gift of Jesus.  Yet he also came to understand the cost of following Jesus, and he admitted that his culture would make it hard for him.  I was very encouraged by this conversation; I leave him in God’s hands.

I finished the outreach with a great conversation with two Catholic lads.  The conversation started with them accusing me of being a pedo, and so I asked them, “What do you think happens after life?”  And then they quickly apologised for calling me a pedo!  We had a great tussle of a conversation where I worked through their objections and explained to them the truth of the good news of Jesus.

With the rain Sunday afternoon, I joined the practical online training outreach run by the Operation 513 Aussie team.  With this outreach we pair up and take turns sharing the gospel online, but we pause after each conversation to do a retrospective.  I was paired up with Trinity - and she gives marvellous feedback!  It’s so good to be challenged in this way.  It was also wonderful to be able to just listen to how someone else shares the gospel and deals with the different objections that come up.  A very worthwhile exercise!  And for anyone new to sharing the gospel in this way, it’s a great way to observe and learn.  I really encourage you to give it a try - whether you are experienced or not!

Trinity had a conversation with a young man who seemed a bit disconnected, and yet continued to respond to the questions asked.  He admitted that there wouldn’t be anything stopping him from trusting that Jesus died on the cross for him!

Before that, I had a conversation with a girl who said you have to keep the 10 commandments to go to heaven.  So I tested her on a few of them and she realised the dilemma.  Her defence was to ask me what day I go to church!  I sidestepped that, and proceeded to show her the way to heaven.  She seemed very appreciative of the conversation.
 

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We had a team of 5 people this morning. Pastor Hung, Richard, Robert, Alan and Col. Some members of the team had other commitments and weren't able to join us. It was great to be out and about on the streets again. The shops and restaurants were full and it appeared that most people were enjoying their time out together.

Initially it was difficult to get a conversation going but after about 20 minutes and as the team spread out up and down the street everyone was enjoying gospel conversations.

Redcliffe is a good location for outreach because people aren't generally in a rush to go anywhere and have the time to chat.

God blessed our time today, and as a team we are always grateful when God chooses to use us.

Our next outreach is on Saturday 11 th July 1100 to 1300 if you would like to join us

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Saturday night in Brisbane city was an absolute blast! The evening started with a conversation that left a Muslim challenged and hopefully realising that he should be an awful lot less sure about what he proclaimed, seeing many arguments that show his current belief to be problematic and hearing the good news that Jesus has to offer.

There were a scattering of conversations, a few people hearing the good news, others rejecting it outright but the night finished with three awesome conversations in a row!

The first was with two PNG men, Emmanuel and Andy who said they hoped they were going to Heaven but weren't sure if they would based on how they had been living. (This initial answer was a good sign that the didn't really grasp the gospel). When asked the way to Heaven sure enough they talked about the things they think they must do to be forgiven.

Over nine minutes, they were asked some checking questions, saw their predicament and came to understand the good news of the cross and Emmanuel was on top of the world in fact he said, "This conversation has absolutely made my night! Thank you so much!" For the first time in over twenty years of attending church he actually came to grasp the good news and was blown away by it!

During this conversation a group was standing nearby and seemed interested to talk. It turned out that three young ladies had been out with the desire to share the gospel themselves and had started talking to a man who they didn't feel adept enough to share with so had bought him over to engage with the team.

The man, Drew, turned out to be very hard hearted. He declared that he prays to Jesus every night but had very wrong ideas of the gospel and had basically made up a god of his own design that doesn't judge and really is much less like a god and a lot more like a squishy childs toy. Drew was left with a tract and challenge to read the gospel of John as he was quite offended at the thought that he could be on his way to Hell.

This turned into getting to hear the girls share a bit and they were so encouraged. One had run into the team on the Gold Coast around two years ago and at the time was professing to be an atheist and had just yelled things instead of engaging. The others had seen the team around at times as well!

They wanted to join again and were excited to hear some encouraging stories of evangelism, mentioning that they would like to come back sometime in the future!

This also lead into one final gospel conversation with Pedram an Iranian man who was on drugs but in less than 5 minutes grasped the gospel! He saw God's existence and at hearing his guilt and that simply asking for forgiveness won't fix it he was stunned and silenced responding, "Tell me there is a way to Heaven!?"

He then grasped the good news, understanding that trusting that Jesus has paid for his sin is the only way to Heaven and grasping that this will cause his life to drastically change. He saw that he'd made decisions for himself up until this moment but that upon trusting that Jesus paying for his sin is the only thing getting him into Heaven he'd desire desperately to honour Jesus with all that he is and has.

Please be praying for those who heard the good news tonight that they would respond in faith to the gospel and for those who at this stage had rejected that God would be kind and not leave them in that state! Praise God also for bringing other Christians who are keen on evangelism across our path and be praying that God would encourage them, embolden them and equip them to be greater witnesses for Him!

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 On Friday night the team headed into Brisbane City again with the desire to preach Christ to those who otherwise would perish. The night started with the encouragement of having many labourers out and people joined in pairs or on their own and went out into the CBD. 

The first conversation was with a man named Michael, he excited said that he was sure he was going to Heaven and that he knew the way but when he was asked what he was trusting in as the reason God would let him into Heaven he said, "I repent for all my sins". When asked to define what he meant by "repent" he went on to explain, that he would ask for forgiveness, try not to do it again and feel really sorry for it. In other words, Michael had said basically, "I am trusting in what I can do to be the reason that God will accept me". Although he had used a Bible word he'd been taught a faulty definition and one that showed he was actually trusting in his goodness to be the reason God would let him into Heaven.

He was shown the law and the seriousness of his predicament and then when the gospel was explained and he was shocked and exclaimed how surprised he was by it. He said he would have to think about it further and said, "Do you have anything I could read and check out! He was left with a tract and the gospel of John and said he would read them!

The last conversation of the evening was with Braydon a man who had some experience with Christianity but had substituted God for his own ideas in pursuit of living his own way. It was pointed out to him continually that this conclusion he'd reached wasn't an intellectually based position but simply not want God to be God and instead wanting to live his own way. He did acknowledge this and he did come to grasp the simplicity of the good news of the gospel and was glad for the conversation.

Late in the conversation Andre, a man who had previously been spoken to (a proud JW) came over and interrupted. Then monologued for around twenty minutes and left with a scathing rebuke, "Anyone who preaches a false Gospel will be condemned". The irony was astounding as he had declared that it is the feeling of guilt and shame that saves someone and their desire to fix it, not trusting in Christ alone.

Braydon was shocked at this display and it further confirmed the kindness of the 513 team who had spoken to him in comparison to the pride and disrespect of Andre. Please be praying that Braydon would take the challenge to consider what God has actually said, to read the Bible for himself and that God would humble him, show him that his desire to live his own way is unwise and that instead he would trust that Christ taking the punishment for his sin is the only grounds of his right standing before God.

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Thursday and Friday saw a lot of rain in Christchurch.  This led to more online evangelism than usual - but we still headed out as well!

On Thursday I started with online outreach before heading to the Northlands bus stops and then being forced back online due to the weather.

With the first stint online the highlights were:

• A conversation with a guy who turned out to be on drugs.  He was giving me answers that led me to think he wouldn’t appreciate the gospel, but I kept labouring with this guy and to my surprise he opened up (that’s when he admitted to being on drugs).  There was loneliness in this guy, two of his friends died last year.  He did hear the gospel and at the end of the conversation he thanked me, and he said something interesting: “because of this conversation, something changed in my head”.
• A girl who was atheist.  I gave her the logic of how we know God exists.  She responded with: “ok, I believe in God now - well done”.  Then, sadly, she disconnected.  If we just get people to believe God exists (something they already know), but don’t get to share the good news - well, that’s sad.
• A guy with an interesting mask on and who used filthy language.  He believed in Norse mythology.  He heard the law, and for my third question, instead of asking if he had been angry, I asked if he ever used bad language.  He smiled - I got him!  Sadly, this guy didn’t want the good news.  He freely admitted that he wanted to live his life his own way - in spite of his knowledge of the true God.  He received a link to needGod.net.
• I then had a conversation with a girl wearing some kind of beauty mask!  You get all sorts online.  I patiently took her through the law and the gospel.
• A conversation with two girls, who heard the logic of why there must be a hell (a place of perfect justice).  One of the girls agreed with the logic, thought about it for a second and then said, “but I’m an atheist” and disconnected.  I just shook my head - suppression of the obvious is so tragically sad.
• A conversation with a kid who understood (I could tell by his good facial expressions) and was open.  After hearing the gospel, he admitted that he went to church last Sunday, but only because a friend wanted him to.  He now seemed to have a much better understanding of why someone would want to go to church: the gospel.

It was raining when I made it to Northlands.  I was confident I would be able to use the bus shelters to stay dry and have conversations.  But the rain was falling in such a way that it came in under the shelter.  And there weren’t many people around.  In fact, when I turned up, there was only one!  So I approached this guy, and to my surprise he was very keen to chat!  We discussed apologetics, with an emphasis on why God is the only answer to the universe existing - this led to a discussion about evolution.  Unfortunately his bus came, but he had really enjoyed the chat.  He received a tract and invited him to get in touch.

I ended up having two more conversations before Andy and I decided to head back online.

Two interesting conversations from my second stint online:

• I had a long conversation with two guys from the USA who had already been indoctrinated with Christianess they didn’t seem to understand.  I had to wrestle / labour with them to get them to understand faith and repentance.  They became quite engaged, which was encouraging.
• I had a conversation with a guy who turned out to be a rapper and a Christian who believed following the 10 commandments would get him to heaven.  He seemed genuinely impacted when I explained the law and gospel and that we are saved through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus - not our good deeds.  I also told him to check out the rapper Shai Linne.

With the rain on Friday morning, we did online evangelism instead of the gospel + abortion outreach.  But I still felt like I was outside the hospital because my first conversation was one of the hardest I’ve had in a long while.  She was a deeply hurting lesbian with an intense hatred for God.  It was more difficult because she didn’t want to hear logic - and yet she fiercely argued with me and wouldn’t give up.  I did manage to switch from intellect to conscience by taking her through the law - she didn’t argue with that.  And I was able to talk about the gospel a few times.  But in the end, I had to finish up the conversation, she was so angry - and the argumentation wasn’t helping.  I felt grieved and helpless afterwards - desperately wanting to help her.  But God knows - I leave her in His hands.

My mornings online outreach finished with a wonderful conversation with an ex Muslim - now atheist in London.  She was fascinated that I was on Omegle to share the gospel.  In fact, she had received Christian literature only two weeks prior on the streets - she showed it to me, it included a copy of the gospel of John.  She was open to me sharing the law and the gospel with her, and she really appreciated the clear explanation.

The weather forecast was for improvement in the afternoon.  Sure enough the rain stopped, and Andy, Binu and I were able to head into the city for a few hours of outreach.

We started with open air preaching - and it went really well.  No hecklers (a nice change).  Andy went first.  There were quite a few people walking past who got to hear snippets.  And as I looked around the Square I noticed at least two people standing still and listening from a distance (it’s funny how you can tell).

I preached after Andy, and to my amazement, people actually came over to sit down and listen!  When I finished, I approached one guy, and Andy approached two girls to follow up.

The guy was a first year uni student studying engineering.  He started peppering me with apologetical questions.  I answered his questions, and then challenged him to respond to the gospel.

Andy then got into a wonderful conversation with a guy with a Muslim background, while I had a walk up conversation with three guys who had just received tracts from Binu.  It was a short conversation, as they were resistant.  One of them made a snide remark about standing outside the hospital with signs - he wanted to let me know he knew who I was.  This only encouraged me.  They heard the clear logic of how we all know God exists, why there must be hell, the law, the gospel, and why we stand outside the hospital with signs.  One of them could clearly see the reasoning, and the smile came off his face.  I hope they read the tracts that Binu gave them.

We moved to Cashel Mall and I got into a conversation with a guy who just wasn’t sound in the mind.  He started talking about how he had the power to kill people.  I told him if he keeps talking like that I’ll call the Police.  Gratefully he left me alone after that, but then about ten minutes later he assaulted a homeless guy!  Andy witnessed it, and called the Police.  Before the Police came, there were some intense follow up exchanges that was causing quite a scene.  I was very grateful when the Police arrived!  Andy had a great conversation with one of the other witnesses (pictured).

Once the guy had been arrested, things went back to normal, and we were able to continue our outreach.  It finished with a great conversation with a Tibetan Bhudist.

The rain returned in the evening, and so I finished the day with some more online evangelism.  It was actually a very frustrating string of conversations.  I had one conversation with a girl who said: “do you know how the Bible has ruined my life?”.  Afterwards I shook my head in frustration - it was the true God of the Bible that gave her life!

I finished with an urgent conversation with a young man who was going to leave, but I desperately wanted to hold him so he could understand the gospel.  When he “got it”, a light cast across his face - which was wonderful.  I tried to move into checking questions, but he disconnected.  But he did have a link to needGod.net.  I leave him, and all the people we talked to over these two days in God’s hands.

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