Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Special Outreaches
• Page 5

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Special Outreaches (QLD, Australia)

Australia Day (26 January)
Easter Monday
ANZAC Day (25 April)
Labour Day
Riverfire Outreach

Queen's Birthday
Halloween
Schoolies
Christmas Outreaches (December)
New Years Eve (31 December)

Contact Ryan Hemelaar for more information.

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Watch a recap from the outreach at the Redlands Easter Family Festival on Monday.

"What's Easter about?" "Not sure." 
"Did you know Easter is a religious holiday?" "No".

That is why it's great to report that many people of the community got to hear the gospel with also 4000+ gospel tracts going out, as well as 140 Gospels of John. Praise the Lord!

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The Killarney Show is known to have rain most years and this year it was a wet one again but was much needed after some very dry months, so the show went ahead as usual. Wood chopping, horse jumping, all the fun of a country fair, there was also a reptile show teaching what to do if you encounter a snake in the bush, and a First Aid display which was good for us all to see.

There were two of us that set out for the day to share the wonderful news of Jesus.

Most people took tracts and were thankful.

Our first conversation was with an elderly gentleman who was struggling with his umbrella, after helping we gave him a comic book tract. What a privilege it was to talk with Graham. He shared some of his life story with us and the testimony of his grandparents bringing him up in strong Biblical teaching. He had some pretty rough trials as a teenager that tested his faith in Jesus.

We went through a few things as he was wanting to know about Mormon religion, which we went on to explain that they believe it is by grace you are saved after all you can do in this life to get their place in heaven. In contrast to the truth of "it is by grace we are saved through faith in Jesus and not any of our works so no man will boast." Ephesians 2:8-9. Our Salvation is in Jesus alone. We talked about sin, righteousness and judgement and he agreed and was thankful that Jesus has done all the work that is needed to save sinners through His life death and resurrection.

We chatted to Peter who was selling ice-cream, he was not open to the grace of God. We left a comic tract with him which he said that he would read, but shortly after walking away we offered a tract to a clown holding an ice-cream, who said he had just got one from Peter. So, we left him another tract on the mat of his ice cream van with a personal message written to please read.

We also met a Christian couple who had a stall at the show. They moved out of Warwick to Allora and haven’t been attending Church, we were the third lot of Christians from our Church at Allora to speak with them that week!! Pray they will come and join us in good teaching and fellowship soon.

As we were leaving we were so happy we got opportunities to get some Gospel tracts into the hands of some of these country folk. We pray for each one to be stirred in their heart to want to know more about Jesus and we pray they may be saved and ready for Eternity with our Glorious God.

All Glory be to our Lord Jesus

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"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few…” (Matt 9:37)

The first country outreach mission for 2018, into the local country town of Warwick, saw God’s deep desire to reach the lost in our sunburnt outback.

God had already gone before us and prepared the way for His glory. As 5 of us began sharing the gospel, it was encouraging to see many hearts were open to hear the Gospel and there was, by God’s grace, much fruit. However, for so long it seems people have been living in darkness. As dry and as hard is the ground, so it is with many of the hearts of the people. There is such a great need for labourers to work in the fields; for prayer, for evangelism, for a fresh flow of the rivers of living waters in the country towns of Australia.

Farmers breakup the fallow ground to sow the seeds for their crops but the church has not broken up the fallow ground of the hearts of the people through prayer (Hosea 10:12). Sowers sow seeds to reap at the end of the season, yet the seeds of God’s word has been withheld and there are few to go and reap the harvest (Matt 13:1-23)

“…behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4:35)

Prayer requests from the outreach:

- Pray for Wyatt, who is 13, heard the Gospel clearly and understood God’s Justice and was challenged to forsake his sin and trust in Christ. He joyfully took a New Testament Bible after hearing the Gospel.

- Pray for Ian and Bev, who were very open to the Gospel and “Not far from the kingdom of God” (Matt 12:24). They took a New Testament bible gladly and said they will read it. They were open, they understood and were thankful for the Gospel. This was one of the most encouraging testimonies of the Day.

- Please pray for Mr James Lister, LNP Member of Parliament for Southern Downs, who gladly heard the Gospel message and been challenged to trust in Christ for his salvation. This was a God ordained meeting for the local politician to hear the Gospel. (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

- Pray for Banjo and his sister who were visiting from Gold Coast. They were confronted with God's law and and how only through Christ can they have victory over sin and death and enter heaven. They were deeply challenged by God's Word and Banjo was moved to tears. They were encouraged to come to Faith church on the Gold Coast.

- Pray for Lawson, a young guy who believed in God but had not truly repented and trusted in Christ to save him. He was open to the Gospel message and said he will read his Bible. Pray that he is truly born again.

We thank all of those who have been praying and made this trip possible. PLEASE continue to pray for God to work in the hearts of the people who heard the gospel message and are yet to hear as there is still much work to be done in many more of these country towns.

To God be all the Glory!
 

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Last night for New Year's Eve we had an outreach in Brisbane city. It was a great way to finish a year and begin a new one with 9000 gospel tracts going out into people's hands.

God also provided some great conversations with people, including with some people that the team had spoken to years past, and even some who we've spoken to at other outreach locations through the year. Quite a few times throughout the night, people walking by would say, "Oh I remember you spoke to me at Woodridge".

Please pray for all those who received a gospel tract or that we got to speak with. God's word never returns void. To God be all the glory!

PS: This is the tract we were using and it worked really well: https://www.operation513.com/happynewyear (works well throughout the whole month of January too)

 

 

 

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We give thanks to God for the Christmas outreaches we've had over the last 2 weeks in Brisbane that concluded last night. We have calculated the total number of Christmas gospel tracts that have gone out and it came to 35,000. That is 35,000 people who will never be the same again in eternity, as they now have the words of eternal life and if they come to faith, they will be with us in glory.

Not only that, through our free Christmas resources table, 450x 'Beginner's Bible: the First Christmas' books for kids went out, 150x the Case for Christmas books went out, and 250x copies of the Gospel of John also went out (your donations make this all possible!). Each night, we were running out of these resources so we had to source more where we could.

We are thankful to God for all the labourers he raised up for each of the nights, with the team being really encouraged that most people were happy to take a gospel tract.

Thank you for praying, and we ask that you would continue to commit to prayer each of those who have received a tract this Christmas that they would come to saving faith.

To God be all the glory!

   

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So far it has been another amazing week of evangelism in Brisbane city for Christmas. We have two nights to go (tonight and tomorrow night - Christmas eve). Please be praying for all those who will receive a gospel tract or has a chat with the team.

People are very much more open to the things of God at this time of year. We pray that many would come to salvation.

On Tuesday night, we spoke to a young woman named Nairi, who told us that she has never thought about where she is going to spend eternity if she was to die tonight. She was from Lutheran background and seemed to know about the death of our Saviour on the cross but did not fully understand the gospel message.

During the conversation, Nairi's mother dropped by and asked her to wait by our resources table until she returns back. We praise God as this just gave us more time to explain the truth of the gospel to Nairi. Before her Mum came by, we pleaded her to put her trust in Jesus Christ and gave her a copy of the Gospel of John from our free resources table which she was very thankful to receive.

The team also spoke to a Brazilian couple named Renato and Vanessa who came to enjoy the City hall lights. When we asked them the reason for celebrating Christmas, they said, "we know it has something to do with Jesus but we don't know much about him". So we happily shared the gospel with them. They seemed really attentive and Vanessa was even translating in Portuguese language for Renato who spoke very little English. Before departing, the couple thanked us for the gospel tract and said they will consider everything that has been said.

To God be all the glory!

   

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It has been an amazing week of Christmas outreaches in Brisbane city, with 15,000 Christmas gospel tracts going into people's hands just last week.

But as one week finishes, another begins. This week we have an outreach scheduled for every evening in King George Square from 7pm (except Friday which will be at the Gold Coast). It is such a great opportunity to get the gospel out to people at this time of year and so we encourage you to come along. Or if you cannot, please be praying.

The team have been having some very fruitful conversations with people too, like with a young man named Justin last night who said that he hasn't grown up in a religious home at all so he doesn't know much about Christianity whatsoever. But he said he knew there had to be a creator. So we went through the law of God and he came to realise his sin and his need for a Saviour. He had heard that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but had no idea what that meant. I explained that Jesus took our Hell punishment for us on our behalf, and he said, "Oh that makes sense!"

He said he was a logical guy and wanted to investigate more, and so I gave him a gospel of John and Lee Strobel's book "The Case for Christmas" which he was very thankful to receive. It has been really handy having the free Christmas resources table, as lots of people have been taking things from it throughout each night's outreach. In fact we have completely run out of kids resources like the "The Beginner's Bible - the First Christmas". We are aiming to get some more for this week's outreaches.

To God be all the glory!

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God raised up some more labourers for our Christmas outreach in Brisbane city, we had 10 on the team. It was great to see over 2,000 gospel tracts get into the hands of people walking by.

This year we also have a free Christmas resources table set up, with things on there like the Gospel of John, The Case for Christmas, and The Beginner's Bible The Very First Christmas for kids. It's encouraging seeing lots of resources go out to people, including parents getting things for their kids.

Please pray for those who received gospel literature last night, but also for those who we got to speak to, including two ladies from Papua New Guinea who thought their own goodness would save them, but by the end of the conversation they said they wanted to place their faith in Christ.

If you live nearby, join us for tonight's outreach at the same place from 7pm.

To God be the glory!

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We enjoyed a great night of evangelism in Brisbane city last night, handing out another 1,250 Christmas gospel tracts to people who came to see the light show. We only had 3 of us on the team, but it was a fruitful night.

One conversation that I had was with a guy named Rhys. He said that he didn't believe there was a God, but after pointing out to him a building nearby, and saying to him, "That building wouldn't be here without a builder, right? So in the same way, since this universe had a beginning, it wouldn't be here without a creator for it, right?" He agreed. (Our new tract goes along these lines too: www.op513.com/GodExistsTract )

Rhys then said that he thinks God is bad (he used a different word). I asked him why. He said that God is judgmental and tells people that they have to live His way. I replied, "Just like a good judge in a courtroom will punish a criminal for the crimes he has done and tell him that he has to live a different way for his own good and those around him, so it makes sense that the God who made us would tell us how to live, as it will be for our good and the good of those around us."

He began to see that, and so we went through the law of God and Rhys saw his sinfulness and listened as the gospel message was explained to him. He expressed how he would prefer to live life his own way though, but as we talked about the reality of hell, it began to concern him. Rhys has had some religious background and had a Bible already. At the end of the conversation, he said that would start reading the Bible again. I encouraged him to start with the gospel of John.

To God be the glory!

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Warwick's Carols in the Park

This event at Leslie Park Warwick has been organised by local churches in the past but has gradually changed the focus from Jesus is the reason for the season to more about Santa... and although the event is called Carols there is mostly music that is taking away from the true meaning of Christmas.

Thankfully there were still Christmas Carols like - Away in a Manger, Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels, O Come All Yeah Faithful, The First Noel, & Little Drummer Boy!  But there were more secular songs such as Jingle Bells, Six White Boomers, All I Want For Christmas, Santa Is Coming To Town, Here Comes Santa Claus,  more songs I haven't mentioned were middle ground songs such as this one... Happy Christmas (War is Over)  that was the last song to end the night.

On a radio announcement for this event it was said that the guest of honour would be Santa. So all the more reason why we need to go into these events to share the clear message of Salvation in Jesus, what Christmas is about.  These are opportunities that we as Christians have been given to go to the crowds and share good news that will be the solution to the bad news we all face without forgiveness of sins.

We need to always be kind and compassionate as we share but never compromise the truth, if we do this with Gods Spirit we know that people will have opportunity to come to know Gods Grace.  Even if we go for one person that is Gods heart to go for that lost sheep. 

Praise our Lord we had a great time handing out the Christmas tracts to the people of Warwick, we had 5 workers and around 800 tracts went out.

We had two really good one on one chats and one of those we will follow up. Please pray for Robert & Ron.
We always come upon other Christians at these events and it is a blessing to receive encouragement from them. 

Also the prayers of those who can't make these outreaches are so precious, Thank you for praying, you are the backbone of the feet that go out with this work. Please pray for more feet to take the Gospel, keep praying for all things.

Jesus is our King who has come into the World to Save us sinners...All Glory, Honour and Praise be to our Lord Jesus!
 

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