Battle Log

Wednesday, 7 September, 2022

Posted 7 September 2022, 8:23 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Sunnybank on Wednesday September 7th, 2022 from 1300 – 1500

I rested for last week because if my day surgery but Johnny did come to do it on singleton. Today, still only the two of us teamed up as all others are either still sick or not available. It was a tough day for me with many rejections and majority of the outreach were fragmented. Johnny on the other hands seemed to have many long and meaningful chats. Recap below is the Battle Log of Hung: -

1) Very arrogant and indifferent person simply gave me a cold face and walk away.

2) Vietnamese young man rather wanted to listen music than to chat. Just took a tract instead.

3) A couple by the surname of Pongé¾Ž from Quanzhou rejected Johnny but when I heard him speaking Cantonese, I approached him in Cantonese and the Spirit softened his heart to chat. Interestingly, it was found out that we are the same age and same sign of Leo. I was moved to do a testimony by first asking him to guess my age and health status. He suggested I was about 40-42 but was totally shock to learn I am already 70 and even lost his jaw when he knew I am a bladder cancer patient. I just use my physical wellbeing to witness anyone who chose to lead a God centre and mission-oriented life will be blessed with good health defying the aging process and even the threat of caner, it will appear just like a thorn only in your body as a mark of the sufficient grace to carry me on to do His work. He was impressed as he looks much older than me despite, I am a couple of weeks older than him. Pray that this divine encounter and the tract will draw him nearer to know God and accept Jesus as his saviour.

4) Then I chatted with Mr Huangé»ƒ from Shanghaiä¸Šæµ·. He was 86 years old and have come to Australia for 50 years. He lived 10 odd years in HKG so he speaks good Cantoneseã€‚His mindset is to lead a peaceful and comfortable life even though without any goal of life thus he reckons Australia is a country bet suit his living mentality. I challenged him to think broader and deeper that the peace he now enjoyed is no guarantee that can go busted any moment. But eternal life and blessing of God is an everlasting value for human. He talked the words to leave and pray for God's continuous follow up action.

5) An ABC Malaysian Chinese but English-speaking Student. Her bus came quick so just a brief contact.

6) Brendon felt amused when I approached him saying that I met you two weeks ago,(17/8) then three month ago(18/5) and even earlier about 6 months ago. So, this was the 4th encounter. Praise and thank God to keep using me to bump into him. He is still skeptical about the Bible, querying that there are so many different versions of Bible that he doesn’t know which is of orthodox correctness. I clarified with him that there is only one version of original writings, i.e., the OT was in Hebrew and the NT is majority in Greek. It was just a matter of different in translation. But of course, the human writing from those horsey and cult sects are not counted as Holy Bible document. Unfortunately, the bus came and pray for our next encounter.

7) An Aussie Jailer joke about his career that he is not a good person as he is in Jail but as a worker. So the tract are you a good person if decided by any Jailing record. He joked to be not qualified as Good Person. There is no time for any more follow up conversation as his bus came quickly.

8 ) Then I chatted with a lady lives near Beijingè¿‘åŒ—äº¬ who however has not visited the great wall more than I didï¼Œhowever, her bus came too fast è»Šä¾†å¤ªå¿«ï¼Œas such I could only give her a tract.åƒ…ç™¼å–®å¼µï¼Œ9) Two Filipino ladies

10) The I approached a middle age man from the Mainland China who had heaved a big sigh. å¤§é™¸å¤§å˜†æ°£, I tried to chat with him to let out his unhappiness then follow on with the gospel. But again, I cannot beat the time schedule that his bus came also quickly.

11) Then I approached a man from Indonesia who claimed himself as a Catholic. å°å°¼å¤©ä¸»è‹±ï¼Œé è¡Œç‚º But his understanding of the gospel and salvation is far too deviated from biblical teaching. He still considers salvation is by work to do more good deeds. It was a pity the bud again came very quickly.

12) Then I approached a Vietnamese English-speaking lady. But she was not very keen yet still listen on to the gospel.

13) Chris from Kaohsiung å—éƒ¨ï¼Œhe was not yet a believer but was brought up from Christian Schoolæ•™æœƒå¸æ ¡ï¼Œthus he felt no resistance to Christianity though his understanding of the gospel is also very shallow, if not incorrect. Still managed to share him the nutshell of the Gospel.

14) English speaking people with a brief chat only and finally took a tract,

15) Christopher a Brazilian Christian but has no assurance of salvation. I clarified his blind spot and he happily took a selfie with me.

16) Another Mainland China mature lady ä¸åœ‹å¤§åª½ï¼Œwho was not interested to listen to the Gospel but she also did not rejectè¢«å‹•çš„è½ï¼Œ, so I still endeavoured to share her the full gospel while she is distracted to do something else on the iPhone. Eventually, our conversation was interrupted by and incoming phone call. I still managed to finish the sharing of Gospel after all those interferences.

17) Finally another ABC who was indifferent to the gospel and even rejected the tract at the end.

Toowong (QLD) Team

Tuesday, 6 September, 2022

Posted 6 September 2022, 6:17 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday Sep 6th, 2022 from 1330 – 1500

It was a warm Spring afternoon with heap of sunshine giving people the sense of life in Spring. It possibly impacted the mood of most people with a more positive mind for a chat. All the three of us were getting more conversation with much less rejection, especially from the usual hard ground people group from mainland China. We all had many interactive and responsive conversations showing high prospect of leading to the last step of faith. Recap below is the Battle log of Hung: -

1) My first gospel target was randomly picked by the Holy Spirit amongst the long queue for the bus whose name was Huang é»ƒfrom Jiang Xi, Nanchangæ±Ÿè¥¿å—æ˜Œ. He claimed we had met before and he got the tract readily. I followed up on his impression and understanding of the message of the tract. He showed great opened mind to discuss and came near to accepting the way of God salvation is fair and just. So it is just about time that he will make his last step of faith to accept Jesus as his saviour.

2) I was over joy to meet Hi Har from Yangon, Myanmar. I greeted him with the Burmese custom "Mungallala" when handing out something to a person. He readily identified with me as a friend of Myanmar. He actually came in 2016 as such his time in Australia is quite long making him a more open-minded person. He did have heard the gospel before, but my sharing renewed and deepened his understanding about God the Father and Jesus our Saviour. He appeared receptive to the message and showed willingness to pursue the gift of eternal life created by Gd for each and every one of us the sinner cross-culturally. He was happy to take a photo with me to remember this divine encounter.

3) Pete is from Thailand when he was young starting his primary school here up till now doing Uni at UQ. He thus has grown up here as an Aussie but the Buddhist family background prevented him to consider to accept any other faith despite, he has ample chance to contact and learn about salvation by grace through faith in Christianity. Actually, he said he met us 3 times and got the tract, the more we met, the more he become receptive to the gospel message. Just pray for God's final miraculous touch to help him cross over the Buddhism barrier into the promised land of Jesus by making his last step of faith.

4) A young girl by the name of Hsieh è–›ï¼Œfrom Jiangsuæ±Ÿè˜‡ï¼Œclaimed to have a Christian Grandmaå¥¶å¥¶ä¿¡ä¸»ï¼Œthus she has fond impression about Christianity å¥¹æœ‰å¥½æ„Ÿ. I shared the full gospel to her once again and trusted she is now more ready to follow her grandma foot step to receive Christ as her saviour. I recommend her to get connected with Power to Change for my Bible knowledge nurturing and fellowship with likeminded Christian.

5) Appleby, is an Indonesia Christian but was not clear about assurance of salvation. Thanks God I had just enough time to clarify it with her.

6) Then I caught up with Emily, an local Aussie Christian who also has no assurance of salvation but only 80% certainty. She was thankful for my clarification.

7) Finally, it was a young man by the name of Yuan é˜® from Quandong å»£æ±, so we could speak in Cantonese å‰›ä¾†. He just arrived to Australia after the lock down was lifted. As he knew much about Hong Kong as such, I can share more about my life witness with lot of Hong Kong affair. æœ‰è¦‹è¨¼. He was very positive towards my sharing and showed genuine interest to pursue Christ. Again, I referred him to approach Power to change if he wants to pursue God.

Christchurch (NZ) Team

Sunday, 4 September, 2022

Posted 4 September 2022, 3:26 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

I’m feeling a bit tired as I come to write this on Sunday afternoon, I’m looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow. It ended up being a good street outreach today, but I’ll get to that soon.

Reviewing the week, there was a team of 2 on Tuesday in Riccarton, 4 on Friday in the city, just myself on Saturday in Riccarton (anyone want to join me? It’s a day off for you, right?), and then, to my joy, a team of 4 today in the city. 2, 4, 1, 4 - they are all a power of 2 – that fills me with joy too! ;)

The weather is warming up! Spring has arrived :) On Saturday I was thinking I need to get the sunscreen out. And just now I have put my sunscreen in my outreach bag for the next outreach (God willing)! :)

On Tuesday Roger was with me. I’ve just taken a minute to think all the way back to Tuesday to remember what happened, I knew something cool happened… and now I remember… 2 things actually.

The outreach was a bit slow initially, and so I went for a wander down Riccarton Road to seek the lost. On my way back down the other side of the street, as I was going past the bus stops, I saw 3 young ladies and simply asked them, “Excuse me, may I ask you a question? It’s a deep one, do you ever think about what happens after you die?”. To my pleasant surprise, they were all keen to stop and talk. One of them responded with, “yeah, I think about that all the time”. It was a straightforward conversation. One of the girls knew a fair amount of Christian lingo, one was quet, but they all listened. It was so awesome seeing them get it. The simple message of the gospel is truly powerful. At the end of the chat I asked if they had any questions, and the first girl asked if I had any recommendations for churches in Christchurch. I certainly did! They all left with tracts.

The other cool thing that happened was similar. At the end of the outreach, a security guard went past, he took a tract and stopped when I said: “it comes with a question if you have a moment”. Again, it was a fairly straightforward conversation. The penny really seemed to drop when I was asking him the ‘sin again’ check question: “if someone trusts that Jesus died for them today, but then tomorrow do 10 more sins and then die, is it heaven or hell?” His initial response was hell, but when I explained that Jesus even pays for our future sin, the doctrine of justification by faith alone really seemed to strike him: “ahhhhh, I get it now”. I followed up with a for more checks, he was getting them perfectly right now. He made a profession, so I got him to consider the cost of the gift - it didn't put him off. He accepted a bible with a tract bookmarked at John, and he was considering checking out the church I’m part of. He didn’t turn up this Sunday, yet he is in God’s hands.

Friday and Saturday’s outreaches were busy.

On Friday I set up my flip chart near the bridge of remembrance, but I never used it the whole time, instead I just approached people. First there were a couple of buskers taking a lunch break, then a chat with a kid from the UK whose dad was a soldier.

Next, a chat with a guy who was struggling with how meaningless life is - he was depressed and we discussed suicide a bit (these things are all very familiar to me, I’m so grateful for the book of Ecclesiasties!) I laboured with him in regards to the law and the gospel, but he wasn’t really soaking it in at all. I decided not to push it, but give him some time to ponder. He had 2 tracts (1 from me, and John had also talked to him prior and given him a tract).

I approached 3 girls who were discussing one of our tracts, one of the girls in particular didn’t want to have another chat about it! But they did accept a different kind of tract from me. I turned and immediately 4 guys were walking past, and I got straight into a conversation with them. It was a difficult chat, because they were in different places and it was hard to get a flow going with all of them at the same time, they all kept interjecting different questions (good ones), I did my best to answer the questions without getting distracted from my goal of sharing the gospel, when I feel like I made a mistake (or did I?) The MP for central Christchurch, Duncan Webb went past, I’ve talked to him a couple of times before (briefly, he won’t stay to engage). As soon as I saw him, I said, “Oh, Duncan, I want to talk to you”. I wasn’t expecting him to stop, but he did. The mistake was that I should have kept my focus on the four guys I was talking to. Those guys instantly lost interest and split without hearing the gospel - I feel bad about that! Yet, I’m pretty sure I gave them all tracts at the start. I have to leave them in God’s hands.

Anyway, now I was into a discussion with the MP. And, I feel like I fluffed that opportunity too. I really wanted to challenge him on some social political issues, and so my questioning turned philosophical. What I should have done is stick to the script from the word of God, I should have gone with Romans 1:19 and asked him, “Hey Duncan, if I told you that building made itself, would you believe me?” and then took him through the law and the gospel. He didn’t have much time, and lost interest in the conversation and bailed on me.

So, I was now doubly disappointed with myself! And yet, who knows? God can use even our most feeble mistakes to show his power. I’m praying I get further opportunities to talk with Duncan, as I want the best for him and want him to truly understand the grace of Christ (I know he had a Christian background). Lord, raise up labourers who will faithfully share the gospel with the leaders of this nation! Change our culture through the power of the gospel.

I think that was the end of that outreach (I can’t remember having any more chats). I left that outreach with Andy in deep conversation with one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses there. Oh, and earlier the Hare Kristna’s went through, I’ve read their pamphlet, and I have a million questions, God willing I’ll find some time to write some of those questions down to give to them next Friday (also, God willing). Oh, and I was able to have a brief catch up with Simon the Atheist at the start of the outreach - that was nice.

Saturday I was on my own, and it was really busy. I turned up to my usual spot, and there was a guy there who was sitting looking at his phone. I ended up having a long chat with him. He wasn’t grasping the gospel well. With the check questions he kept slipping back to “because I’m good” as the reason he would get to heaven. I continued to gently labour with him as best I could. The chat was interrupted as an old workmate stopped to talk. I was stuck, I wanted to share the gospel with both, but I couldn’t do that. I let my work mate go - he left with a tract. Lord, raise up more Saturday labourers!

Later, I was sharing the gospel with a couple of kids, when two people joined the conversation and kinda killed it. The two kids left. And then the conversation for the new couple didn’t last long. It was subtle, but she wanted to justify being her own god, and so denied clear logic. She wasn’t willing to back down and so the conversation died. Apparently I talked to the guy before?
I had a long chat with a guy who knew some of the right language, but didn’t understand the gospel. He seemed truly blown away when he did come to understand it. He said he needed time to process it.

The outreach ended late with a chat with a young lady and her partner. She knew the Christian lingo really well. She was talking about Jesus, and quoting John 3:16, she said abortion is murder, don’t be unequally yoked, etc, etc. But as we talked it became clear she wasn’t saved. “I think I’ll go to heaven because I sin less”. By the end of the chat she agreed that she would be currently going to hell. She now understands the gospel. She made a comment: “now I know why God got me to come over here today”. She was happy to take a tract, “I’ve got heaps of these, there is even one on my fridge” (did she ever read them?). I was grateful for the opportunity to labour in the gospel with them.

I left with a feeling of frustration: the harvest is ripe! I will pray for labourers.

Wow, this report is too long. Well done if you are reading this - maybe you are the answer to my prayer? ;)

Sunday’s outreach I was tired. And the outreach was slow to start. Susan joined me, then Binu, and finally Mike! Binu was handing out tracts, and when Mike arrived, I left him to man the flip chart with Susan while I went to roam a bit.

I approached a young man and it turned into a great chat! He gave me a strong handshake at the end.

I then found out that Binu had started a chat with a tall, open hearted basketball player. Binu brought him over to Mike and Susan who shared the gospel with him (a real team effort). I was really encouraged.

And then Mike got into another flip chart chat with some kids, while I followed up with a guy who was watching the chat from a distance.

I ended up leaving the outreach with Mike in yet another gospel conversation with a guy I’ve semi-talked to many times before over the years. May Mike make progress where I failed!

Well, that wraps the week. Heaps happening online too! God is so good.

(I’m starting to feel a slight sunburn on my face.)

Toowong (QLD) Team

Tuesday, 30 August, 2022

Posted 30 August 2022, 6:35 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday August 30th, 2022 from 1330 – 1500

The weather has turned gloomy since Monday. There was even light drifting rain while we were on the street reaching the Bus stop. The mood was very unfavorable for outreach. and the long queue around half past one when students flocked to school for afternoon class, also imposed negativity for our chance to get a chat. But we were taught not to be bothered by external circumstances but focus on preaching the gospel. Once we overlooked the hardship, the grace of God was then sufficient to carry us through and getting more chat opportunities than blunt rejects. It is all the sovereign power of God to make all the divine appointments feasible. Recap is the battle log of Hung: --

1) Jason is an ABC with parents from Singapore, we were at the end of a long queue as such I have long enough time to share him the full gospel and he appeared very receptive.

2) Jo is a Filipino young lady with no religion. She anyhow was not too resistant to the gospel and showed reasonable receptiveness of the message shared.

3) Then I was led to approach an Indian couple. Only the husband interacted with me. He was polite yet skeptical, but he also could not rebuke the gospel.

4) Ravi a Sri Lanka engineer students. He was a big guy and was very talkative, and Interactive. He was happy to know my Family Practice doctor is also Sri Lanka. He also finds no bug in the Gospel.

5) A mainlander lady appeared very cautious did not want to disclose her names and where she lives in China å¤§é™¸ï¼Œå°å¿ƒï¼Œnevertheless, she still is willing to listen é‚„é¡˜è½ï¼ŒShe at the end disclosed to me she actually had attend Bible Study class in UQ possibly by the Logos Church.æœ‰åƒåŠ éŽæŸ¥ç¶“ï¼Œå¯èƒ½æ˜¯æ©é“æœƒ

6) I tried to approach an old Aussie man who was reading a book. Though he declined to chat but I still managed to challenge him to show same open mind to gospel then he shows to all the knowledge he get from the books.

7) Well, was another Singaporean who has no religious background but still willing to listen to the Gospel.

8 ) Then I approached a Chinese young man from Shandong å±±æ±who claimed he had heard the gospel before but still could not figure out its meaningè½éŽï¼Œé‚„æ˜¯ä¸å¤§äº†è§£ï¼Œ. I anyway still gave him a nutshell explanation ç¸½çµæ€§before the bus arrived è»Šåˆ°.

9) A Malaysian Indian loved to chat but interrupted by a call

10) Shenæ²ˆï¼Œjust arrived from Shanghaiä¸Šæµ·ã€‚å‰›ä¾†ï¼ŒHe showed rare welcoming gesture to chat about the Gospel. He said he studied OT but had QUERY why God does not punished all bad guys and they seemed to live a punishment free life and died peacefully. I rightly said if there is no God and heaven and hell, it would be most unfair. All human good or bad will face judgment after death. God will uphold His righteousness and locked up those non-repentant bad guys.

Christchurch (NZ) Team

Sunday, 28 August, 2022

Posted 28 August 2022, 4:30 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

The street work this week felt a bit slower than usual. I often found myself praying in those moments - and that was a real blessing. Just reflecting on how impossible it is for me to save anyone. Just praying that God would be glorified. And knowing that he will, people will come to know more about God, he will demonstrate either his justice or mercy, that his kingdom will come. I’m so grateful that we get to be involved in all of this. He condescends to use us, in our weakness, to proclaim who he is, and allow his strength and power to be displayed in spite of us.

On Tuesday (in Riccarton) it was so slow that twice I went for wander down Riccarton Road in search of people to talk to. I looked down a side street (which has an entrance to the mall) and I noticed a large group of kids. I was up for the challenge, so I headed towards them. It turns out there were about 20 of them! Oh well, they need to hear the gospel too. So I dove in. I tried to get a conversation going with as many of them as I could, and I passed out a few tracts. Suddenly a large part of them took off, and then the rest of them ran off as well. A guy in a tie ran past me chasing them. Then another guy came past and told me that a car had been broken into :( Putting it all together, I guess the kids were involved? I told them I was trying to tell them about Jesus. He smiled, knowing that’s exactly what they need! He accepted a tract from me as well. Anyway, there wasn’t much I could do, so I headed back to our normal outreach stop via the bus stops. Low and behold, the group of kids were coming past from the other direction (they had done a loop). I was able to offer more tracts as they piled on to a bus, I don’t think any of them accepted one, and sadly, as I continued to walk, I found discarded tracts that I was able to pick up. God willing, I (or other Christians) will have opportunities to engage with them in the future.

I can’t remember anything from the rest of the outreach, I’m confident I had other chats - I just can’t think of them right now. I know Roger did, I took a photo of one of them (attached).

On Friday (in the city), the Hare Krishna’s went through, and this time they remembered to bring a pamphlet for me! :) I exchanged it for a gospel chat. They didn’t want to stop to chat. But I’ve started reading it and it is interesting getting some more background about what they are all about. I’m hoping I’ll have more opportunities to engage them.

But the conversation that stands out the most for me from Friday was the last one. A young lady came over and accepted a tract from me. She started out by saying she used to be involved with Christian ministry, but is no longer, because she is queer. We fell into a long conversation starting from there. I think she was challenging me with her introduction, so I decided to not give her the answer she expected, but instead ignored it for the moment. It was one of those conversations where I couldn’t take the standard direct approach, I just had to be patient. Her worldview involved no absolutes, and yet her conversation was full of absolutes. From time to time I would gently point this out, but she wasn’t open. Through the conversation, I was able to talk about the law, and even explain why homosexuality is sinful. And I was even able to explain about Jesus - as closed as she was. We could have talked for a very long time, yet I don’t think we would have made much progress, and so I wrapped up the conversation. She left with a tract and an offer to continue the conversation via electronic means. But I won’t be surprised if I don’t hear from her. What overwhelmed me in the conversation is how selfish relativism is. Basically what it’s about is ‘me’. What ‘I’ want. It’s idolatry. And it grieves me. Oh God have mercy.

This theme rolled into Saturday’s outreach in Riccarton. Again, a slow start, and prayer. Finally a couple of guys stopped (and a girl who kept her distance). They were very pleasant and respectful. One of them really seemed to respect what I was doing. I took them through the script and was working through the law, when the demeanour of the main guy suddenly changed. “Are you telling me I’m going to hell?”. “Yes”, I said, “God is angry at us for our sin, but I’m here to talk to you about God’s mercy”. That didn’t help, he suddenly declared that he is Mormon, and then his friend parroted what he said, “yeah, I’m Mormon”. The main guy ripped up the tract and threw it and stormed off. His friend went with him, and the girl laughed as she joined them.

I grieved, and yet I rejoiced at the obvious conviction that came upon him. God, please have mercy upon them.

Later in the outreach, a young lady stopped. She had deep questions and was open to chat. She had a Russian Orthodox background, but considered herself to be agnostic. Due to the nature of the questions, I responded with deep answers. The key question was over why God allows suffering and evil. So I addressed that, as well as explaining how we know God is real, the law and the gospel. In hindsight, I think I needed to labour the law more. None of what I was saying was making sense. I checked in to see if she could remember what was getting her to heaven, and her answer was, “keep the ten commandments”. Totally wrong answer. So I went back to explain, but I think she had checked out. She was esp. offended when I explained that even murderers and rapists can be forgiven (touching on a question she had earlier) - she just wasn’t understanding the mercy of God and that’s because she wasn’t understanding the justice of God, or how they work together in Jesus. We parted on pleasant terms, but there was a real look of disgusted in her eyes as she left. I think that’s partly my fault for not explaining well - I’m reflecting on that a lot and want to improve. But also, I had an overwhelming sense of how much she hated the idea of God telling her how life was to be lived. She wanted to make her own rules and be her own god. Again, it so grieves me. God, have mercy on us all.

Sunday was interesting. I received a text in the morning from the Russian guy I had talked to a couple of Tuesday’s ago in Riccarton. He was interested in coming along to church. I gave him the address and he came. It was perfect timing, because we are working through Romans at the moment, and today’s preaching was on Romans 3:9-20 - this is exactly what my Russian friend needed to hear (Jerome preached this passage really well) and it had the desired effect. After the meeting, Andy and I were able to continue the gospel conversation. I ended up leaving Andy in that conversation as I headed for the streets. (It’s now evening and I’ve now got some fresh texts from him. I'll be responding with an invite to come to church next Sunday where we will be studying from Romans 3:21 - the good news!)

Sunday’s outreach in the city was again a bit slow, but the time went really fast. I had one solid gospel conversation with a couple of guys - it was a really good one where they seemed to grasp the whole message well. I challenged them to count the cost and respond.

James the glue sniffer turned up later in the outreach. He wasn’t in a good state at all. :( I came over and sat next to him to see how he was. His speech was very slurred and his eyes were glazed. But he was keen to talk about religion, and I was surprised at how well he was understanding (by the questions I was asking and the answers I was getting I could tell he was actually processing what I was saying). As I was taking him through the law, he took the two tracts I had given him and found a pocket to put them in. Maybe when he has a clear head he will read them? But suddenly he said he wanted to die, and then got up and walked off. I went back to my usual spot away from my flip chart. A minute later, he comes back and goes over to my flip chart and steals my outreach bag! I was close enough to stop him. I told him all it had were tracts and Bibles. Realising there was nothing of value (but ironically the greatest value), he gave it back. And then we wanted to talk about religion again. 2 minutes later he suddenly got up, went and got his glue bag he had left and walked off. Interesting. Apart from the grace of God - that’s me. God have mercy!

Wednesday, 24 August, 2022

Posted 24 August 2022, 8:34 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Sunnybank on Wednesday August 24th, 2022 from 1300 – 1500

Today, all others still got sick or occupied in some other business so only Johnny and Hung were turning up for the regular Wednesday outreach at Sunnybank. Johnny was late for taking his car for service, so Hung started alone first for a short while and later joined by Johnny. Here in Sunnybank, the rejection rate, especially from Chinese is high. Nevertheless, we take it as a training for faithfulness and perseverance to hardship still hanging on by faith to fish for the next available gospel target. Hung's day started with grace to meet up with an old church member. Recap below is Hung's Battle Log.

1 ) Dou Leeyun was an old church member who was impressed by the street ministry and conveyed her blessing to Hung. Pray that it will be a witness to her moving her to make the step of faith to do likewise in her own day to day life.

2) Sheila was an Australia born in Indian, who seemingly has no religious background. She reacted positively to the gospel shared with her.

3) A Woman from Mainland China was welcoming for a causal chat but once hearing the gospel, she turned on a cold face and show great annoyance to hear anything about the Gospel. ä¸åœ‹å©¦äººï¼Œä¸å¥ˆç…©ï¼Œä¸é¡˜è½.

4) I caught up with Mr Chu æœ±ï¼Œfrom Vietnam è¶Šå—è¯åƒ‘ who appeared very sociable and talkative. He talked about the people trafficking gangster business exposed in Cambodia.è¿‘æ—¥æŸ¬ç”«å¯¨ï¼ŒI used this to illustrate this is a biblical doctrinal statement about human nature that without God, no human can be immune to sinning äººæ€§æ•—å£žæ¥µã€‚I then led him into the question if we are good enough for heaven? It was a pity the bus came at this time, but God will certainly make him aware of his own imperfection that only Jesus can save and heal us.

5) An ABC girl bluntly rejected first johnny and me. So, we had to let go.

6) Then I approached a Filipino lady who was also welcoming for a chat. But after sharing the nutshell of the gospel, she received call from friend to meet in Sunnybank so she had to go. But she actively asked for a tract to read afterwards.

7) Then I caught up with a Chinese from Inner Magnoliaå…§è’™å¤. We chatted for a short while but he was soon interrupted by a phone call.

8 ) Ruth is a young Aussie lady with brain damage disability on the wheel chair. I was moved to approach her and had a very good chat. She was very encouraged by the gospel message and was very excited about the salivation that not only will set us free from the bondage of sin, but will allow God to transform us back to perfection from both physical and spiritual aspects. Christians will be given back a perfect healthy body when Jesus comes for the 2nd time. That gives Ruth lasting hope to withstand the inconvenience brought by her disability.

9 ) Another Aussie lady who was very friendly to chat and appeared positive to the gospel message.

10) Finally I caught up with Mike whom Johnny had met and chatted before. He is from Philippine and is a church going Christian attending Citipointe Church. He passed the test o assurance of salvation 100% and showed his support and encouragement for us doing the street Outreach. Pray that he will be inspired to do likewise in his day-to-day life.

Toowong (QLD) Team

Tuesday, 23 August, 2022

Posted 23 August 2022, 8:00 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday August 23th, 2022 from 1330 – 1500

Today was a very warm and sunny Winter afternoon. As usual Johnny Winnie and Hung teamed up to reach out to mainly UQ students at the Bus stop. For consecutive weeks, there are a long queue at the Bus stop around 1340. It was not good for outreach as people tend not like to get into conversation with a stranger in the public with people in the queue all on watch. But we still managed to approach people moved by the Spirit. After the queue was clear, we resumed back to more one on one conversation with generally good results. Recap below is the Battle Log of Rev Hung Kwan.

1) I was moved to approach Christie in the queue. She is a Sri Lanka lady who claimed to be a Buddhist. I affirmed her that all religions are good though Buddhism is strictly speaking not a religion. As a Buddhist, she still has to ponder if she is perfect if not then she and all people in the world good or bad, all are not immune to face judgment after death. She appeared open minded and even seems to be in full agreement of what I shared with her.

2) After the queue was cleared, I approached two Indonesian Muslims girls. They appeared not so keen to chat but still let me share and listened on for the full gospel. Yet, at the end, they declined to take the tract.

3) Raymond is an Indian. He appeared willing to chat and listen to the Gospel, though still a bit uneasy. I trust the message impressed him and pray for the work of God through the tract he has received.

4) Then I approached a Chinese from Taiwan. He claimed to be an atheist. But he cannot prove there is no God.ä½†ä¸èƒ½åé§ã€‚Then he said if he has to believe in a god he would prefer the Chinese Godä¿¡æ°‘æ—çš„ç¥ž. I challenged him to think if there is a supreme God, will there be many different gods in different culture. Pray for God enlightenment.

5) Masami is a Japanese lady yet she has been in Australia for 16 years. She quickly declared she attends the CCCB church nearby. And she passes the assurance of Salvation test, which is 100% by the effective work of grace of Jesus dying on the cross for all us the sinners. She was happy to take selfie with me so that I can let Kia Teck know and follow up as necessary.

6) Peter is a local Aussie that I met many times before. I can't remember clearly if he had been tested for assurance of salvation before. So, I decided to have a go but then I was surprised to know that Peter only has 90% assurance of salvation. So, I tried to correct his mind but the bus came and got him away.

7) Mel is a Christian girl from Tonga, she came to Australia at 8 years old. After the test of assurance of salvation, she only has 50% assurance of salvation. I clarified for her and she was happy to take a selfie with me.

Christchurch (NZ) Team

Sunday, 21 August, 2022

Posted 21 August 2022, 3:33 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

I posted last week's report on my personal Facebook wall, and I was really encouraged to see some friends commenting about their own gospel sharing endeavours! Good stuff! Keep it up. If these reports are encouraging you to get out and share Jesus, then the effort is worth it! :)

You see, I’m no one special when it comes to evangelism - really. I think the difference is that I’ve just persisted in it, and out of much practice at sharing the same message over and over I could possibly give an illusion that I’m somehow gifted - I’m not. All it is is: study of the Bible, practice and discipline. Yes, it’s scary when you first do it. It’s counter cultural, etc, etc, I can list all the excuses, I know them all, because I’ve said them all. But, what does the Bible say? Go. Go and tell others about Jesus. Let’s change culture, one person at a time. Join me. If you look past all your fears and excuses, you know you really want to. Jesus is amazing! He took ALL our sin, there is no better message to share! :) Step out, be bold, be polite, be faithful, share the gospel.

Live in Christchurch, and want some equipping and encouragement? Consider joining some training we have planned. Check out the details here.

Anyway, this week I was on the streets Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. I didn’t go out today (Sunday) because instead my daughters were baptised! It was wonderful listening to their testimonies (and the testimonies of others being baptised). Glory to God alone.

Tuesday I was in Riccarton with Roger. I turned up a little early and was straight into a chat with a couple of Indian fellas (who refused to hear the gospel and walked off). Roger and I were so busy that we didn’t even have a chance to greet each other till the outreach was over! My very next chat was a long one. A Russian guy, where I laboured over the law and the gospel multiple times. He seemed to be impacted a little, but he was really completely blind to what I was trying to share. Eventually the chat came to a natural end (there is only so many times you can go over something before needing a break!) and he moved on. But, then he came back and offered to buy me a coffee. The outreach was practically over, and so I agreed. When Roger finished his last chat, he came and joined us too.

The gospel conversation naturally continued. At this point, I even had my Bible out correcting what he thought it said. But it was getting late, and I needed to get home. I sent him a text with some verses to check out (I helped him download a Bible on his phone). He walked with me till I got to my car, and we finally parted ways. He was lovely and I really enjoyed spending time with him.

Well, the next morning, I was surprised to see him texting me asking questions about what he was reading in the book of John in the Bible! And then Saturday (yesterday) he was texting me again, where I was able to bring him back to the gospel (still completely blind to the truth, sadly). But I’m glad he is staying in touch. Please pray that I will continue to have the opportunity to witness to him and that he will encounter other Christians that will continue to witness to him. That the blindness would be removed so he can see the seriousness of his sin (and smell its stench), and then the amazing mercy of Jesus and trust in him. But, ultimately that God would be glorified through his life.

Friday was also busy, in the city, there was a team of 4: Roger, Andy, John and myself. It was great to see Simon the Atheist out! I’ve been praying for him, and I haven’t seen him for a long time. He was out earning gold stars from the cosmos by telling the Jehovah Witnesses how wrong they are. Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to catch up with him myself - this time.

I spoke with a man with a Mormon background. The Hara Kristina’s went through, but they had forgotten to bring the book they said they would bring for me. God willing next Friday! And maybe I’ll be able to start deepening the conversation with them? Please pray. God’s mercy is not beyond anyone. I spoke with another couple (he was resistant, she was open). I spoke with a young man who used to play cricket.

To end the outreach, I stopped two young ladies who were walking around playing loud music. Sadly, one of the first things one of them said was that she was suicidal :( As our conversation progressed, the volume on the music dropped and was eventually switched off. They heard the law and the gospel, and then I circled back to plead with your not to commit suicide - there is hope!

It was great to have John join me on Saturday (a different John from Friday’s outreach). We were in Riccarton on what was a warm sunny day. Spring is nearly here! :D It was also a fairly busy outreach too. John and I took turns at running the flip chart.

We shared the gospel with three girls, then John was sharing with a guy when a lady broke into the conversation! I distracted the lady off to the side and left John with the guy. I only had about 5 minutes with her, but those 5 minutes seemed significant. She was a 7th day adventist. She seemed stunned when I asked why she could go to heaven. She thought for a bit, and then said, “keep the 10 commandments”. So, we started looking at the 10 commandments. Had she lied? She looked like she had just been caught! Had she stolen? “Well, when I was 13”, she responded. So I asked her what you call someone who steals things when they are 13. But then she said that God is forgiving. If you ask for forgiveness, you’ll be okay. And I was able to explain why that wouldn’t help. But then I switched to the good news, and explained about Jesus. She processed this for a bit, but then she just wanted to talk about the Sabbath. I pleaded with her that that was the least of her concerns at the moment. But, I think that was all she could cope with for now. She had to go. But she did accept a tract before she went.

The final chat of the day was with a young man who had been involved with churches in the past, but was now suppressing the truth of the reality of God.

I love my job. It’s so easy. The message is the same, and you just repeat it. And there is a small set of questions that are always asked that the Bible has the answer for. Practice and discipline is all you need to add (as well as a huge dollop of love for the people you are talking to). It is so rewarding. And then, you rest: physically, and in the sovereignty of the one and only triune God of the universe. All glory to him alone.

Wednesday, 17 August, 2022

Posted 17 August 2022, 5:50 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Sunnybank on Wednesday August 17th, 2022 from 1300 – 1500

Today Gary and Amy both could not come due to sickness of self and family members. But Joe was able to re-join us after his Covid-19 infection was over. It was a pity I just forgot the team photo after I did the opening prayer. It was a normal day of outreach with mixed results. But Joe was doing very well having many, if not all fruitful and meaningful conversations. As for me, the Spirit led me to meet with many Chinese mainlanders which I used to avoid as their attitude in majority is very resistant. But today, I observed the territorial spirit of those mainlanders has changed a little bit with many more open and interested conversation. So, I need to adjust my prejudice to give them more chance to listen to the gospel. Recap below is my Battle Log: -

1) A lady by the name Laiè³´ from Quanzhouå»£å·ž, appeared very open and receptive to the gospelç¦éŸ³. It was rare that I started with a very long first chat. The Spirit even moved me to share further on my personal testimony è¦‹è‰and hopeful she will be drawn to pursue God.

2) Brenden an ABC he said we met two months ago. His Dad is from Hkg and mum from Quanzhou. He was not

very keen to share his thought after reading the tract but still friendly to keep chatting till the bus arrived.

3) A young man just arrived from Shanghai to study at UQä¸Šæµ·ç”·å©å‰›ä¾†. He was OK to chat but the bus came a bit too quick but he still willingly took a tract.

4) A Very arrogant young lady still managed to share the core of the Gospel.

5) Then the Spirit led me to approach Huèƒ¡from mainland Chinaå¤§é™¸ï¼Œhe claimed to be an Atheistç„¡ç¥žè«–but still willing to listen ad he was convinced that no one can prove God does not exist. ä½†é¡˜è½ I trust the sharing of Gospel has changed his attitude about Gid and salvations bit.

6) A Shanghainese couple ä¸Šæµ·å¤«å©¦ï¼Œthe wife was strong in attitude and self-righteous å¦»å¼·å‹¢ï¼Œè‡ªç¾© despite my gospel message clearly shared that being a good person alone will not address the issue of sin, she seemed hearing but not listening and still stressed that being a good person would be fine.è½è€Œä¸è¦‹ï¼Œè¡Œå–„å³å¯ï¼Œä¸è½ç¦éŸ³ï¼Œè€é ‘å›º, she did not just want me to stop and also forbidden here husband to take a tract from me.

7) Another female mainlander from China ä¸å¥³ï¼Œappearing completely cold å†· and indifferent to the gospel message.

8 ) Yet another mainlander Chinese from Quanzhouä¸ç”·å»£å·žï¼Œhe listened but did not show any reaction and made no response è½ä¸æœƒæ‡‰. At the end he also declined the tract.

9) A Filipino was willing to listen but her bus came to cut short the conversation.

10) Yet another mainlander Womanä¸å¥³ï¼Œshe listened attentivelyè€å¿ƒè½ï¼Œbut the message did not move her a bit.ä½†ä¸ç‚ºæ‰€å‹•

11) Finally, I caught up with Li æŽï¼Œfrom åŒ—äº¬ï¼Œvia Shanghai ç¶“ä¸Šæµ·ä¾†ï¼ŒHe was very open to listen and have very sensible reaction and interaction. é¡˜è´

Wednesday, 17 August, 2022

Posted 17 August 2022, 5:48 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink