Hi Everyone

Well it seems I am finally getting into the groove of this event, even though today is the final day of outdoor outreach. It has been exhausting, and I have come to fully appreciate those that have been called to do this full time!

After breakfast we jumped online. I was already to go, when told by Ryan that I would be in the hot seat for the live feed, which got the butterflies going. I think I managed to bluff my way through it!

A notable chat I remember was with 2 young ladies from Missouri in the US. One wanted to bail, but the other wanted to hear what I said. We went back and forth over evolution and God, before admitting she would go to hell if she died. After hearing the good news, she saw no reason not to place her faith in Christ. Praise God for His mercy! 

The rest of the stream was a bit of a blur, but I think I talked to quite a few people.

You can have a listen to the whole live stream here.

After lunch and Bible study through 1 Cor 5, we headed down to Surfers for afternoon outreach.

I bumped into Lachlan & Nate again, the two young men I spoke to on the second night. I asked them to come and see us that night at the end, so they could meet the team. I’ll tell you more about that later.

Brandon – I thought this would be a good conversation, but when we got to the law, he just turned his back and left.

Caleb- this young man was from a Christian home, but didn’t really get what it was all about. He thought he would make it to heaven on his own goodness, but when I took him through the law, it was like a lightbulb went off. He connected the dots straight away, and praise God he now knows exactly what he needs to do to avoid hell!

Romeo – he didn’t care about where he came from an where he might be going. All he wanted to do was live in the moment and have a good time.

Dillon – he went to a Christian school, but doesn’t remember hearing anything about sin, judgement, or total faith in Christ. This tells you a lot about the religious schooling system thee days. He left knowing what was required of him, but wasn’t that engaged.

I engaged a teen couple – the guy wanted to stop and talk, but the girl was constantly tugging on his hand the whole time. Eventually he gave in and went with her, with a tract in the other hand.

We came home, and I was ready for a cool swim in the complex. Phil was with me, relaxing with his hands on the tiles around the pools. Something nipped him on the finger. He jumped around to see a bearded dragon staring at him. It was about a metre long, and was not afraid of him. We could go right up to it, and it would not move. I tried my luck once too often, and it leapt at me in the pool! I had no idea they could swim. I instantly backed off, and it swam to the steps and climbed out. I thought the Schoolies were hostile, but nothing compared to this! 

After a nice dinner, we were off for our last outdoor evangelism on-on-ones with the Schoolies 🙁

I had a great start with Jacob – going through the law and Gospel with him. It was though he was just right for the picking. He was humbled, and asked what he needed to do, so I backtracked and led him through slowly. He said he wanted to place his faith in Christ there and then. It was refreshing to see someone hear a Gospel presentation, not object to anything said, and respond positively. It was as if God was showing off His sovereignty in allowing preacher’s words and listeners ears to  tune perfectly together!

Dish – This Indian man kept saying “I am Hindu, you are Christian” to everything I asked him. I responded one time before saying “does that mean we cannot discuss anything else?” He answered that I wouldn’t understand, and just walked away. 

Toby – this was another good chat. He was a bit apprehensive at first, but came to believe that 100% faith in Christ is the only way to heaven. He said I gave him something to think about, and would seriously take what I said into consideration. I said don’t take too long, because he didn’t know when he was going to die! He left with a tract, and knowing how to download the Bible on his phone.

Nadav & Liam – Nadav was a nice backslidden Jew (most are usually nice, but very argumentative). I was able to explain how in the old testament the High Priest would sacrifice a lamb once a year for the covering of peoples’ sins. Then I pointed to the book of Isaiah, especially chapter 53, where it prophesies God making a once-for-all sacrifice using His Son as the lamb who was slain for us. He didn’t know this, and took a couple of tracts off me, and said he would check for himself.

The rest of the night went a bit silly. It was the final night of Queensland Schoolies, and they were taking every last chance to party up and be as stupid as they could. As I was almost dead on my feet with exhaustion, I spent as lot of time pairing up with one of the others in their one-on-ones.

OK, back to the story of Lachlan & Nate. On the report of the second day, I mentioned I bumped into these two. It was an awesome conversation. They were both engaged, and both said it made sense that they should place their faith in Christ. After that conversation, I whispered a quick prayer for them (as I do after all conversations), and moved on, not giving it much more thought. Well, every night after that they kept seeking me out to tell me how they were going. The next night they told me they had phoned their parents to tell them they had become Christians! Praise God! Another night they told me they had downloaded the Bible app, and were reading it. I encouraged them to read it regularly so that they would become strong in their faith – no Bible, no breakfast and no read, no feed. They thought those jingles were a good way of remembering to read and study God’s word.

They came up to us at the end of the evening outreach. I introduced them to the team, and told them that I had talked to them, and they had both repented and placed their faith in Christ. They were so excited for them! I wanted them to get connected into a good church, and it turned out they lived not far from one of the team’s fellowship in the north of Brisbane, so we all exchanged contact details to follow up on. It was an awesome experience, and if I take anything away from this week, it will be this!

 I was so physically exhausted and spent walking back to the car. It was the end of a hot, exhaustive week. I was so buzzed out at the whole experience. When I finally got to bed, my brain was in overdrive, but my body had the emergency brake on. Eventually they both fell into sync, and I slept like a baby.

One more morning online to go, then back home!

Blessings

Craig.