Overcoming the "it'll be awkward" barrier

Though I have done 30in30 many times before, I had always followed my golden (fear of man) rule - don't give tracts to people I will see again. This included people that caught the same train or bus, people I regurlary go to to get food or coffee, colleagues, shop keepers of my favourite stores. Shameful I know. 

Last year I recognised I had a problem but didn't really do anything about it. This year I was determined to make sure I did something about this bad habit. 

I think it was about here (marked on the map) during my journey home from Perth Underground Train Station on Friday that I overcame my paralysing fear of man and broke my golden 30in30 rule. despite some moments of hesitation, I reached into my handbag to grab a tract and gave it to this man sitting next to me. 

I gave it to him fully knowing I could see him again someday cos he caught the same train home as me. This was BIG for this wussy serial tract-and-runner. 

Thoughts raced through my head such as 'what if I see him again - it'll be awkward!' 'he doesn't look like he'd be interested' 'can't I just give him the tract when he leaves?'... But I knew God wanted me to at least try talk to him so I gave him the tract saying 'this is for you, it's a gospel tract'. 

He then looked at it for a while, turned it round and read the address of our church. 'Ullapool road... where is that? I think that may have been the church I got married in' 

We talked more and it turns out it wasn't the same church, but he then went on to say 'the problem with this is that I am an engineer and I believe in logic, so I won't be able to believe in God'. We talked a bit more about that and then he had to get off the train because he had arrived at his stop. We parted with him saying 'we could talk about this for hours, but I need to get off here'. He handed the tract back to me and I told him it was OK and that he could keep it and read it properly later. He thanked me and popped it into his pocket 

I kinda regretted not starting the conversation sooner cos I ran out of time, but at the same time, I was happy that I overcame my fear of man and that I didn't just wuss out with another tract-and-run. I think God was gracious enough to even give me a pleasant experience too. 

Maybe someday I will see him on the train again and we can continue our conversation. Instead of dreading this day, I'm kinda looking forward to it!

Kings Park 30in30 Opportunities

Thank God for a great 30in30 lunch today! God cleared the rain and also made sure that the shelter was available for us to set up the lunch, worship God and hear from God's word. Bro Kang expounded on Matthew 17:24-27 and showed how Jesus taught Peter the lesson of not fearing man.

We had a gazebo to ourselves and because of a little rain, some strangers joined us for singing. Gave them two of the tracts just as they were leaving.

One couple was sitting near us during the 30in30 Lunch. After a while, I approached them and surprisingly he used to give out CHICK tracts 40 years ago, actually THIS WAS YOUR LIFE the faithful chick tract :) Asked whether he was still attending church and he and his wife are attending Perth Christian Life Centre. Ended up talking about witnessing and revival in perth. Also gave him our TRY THIS QUIZ tract and we were both encouraged by the encounter.

Once again God used 30in30 not just to bring the Gospel to the lost but to encourage other Christians to go back to a witnessing lifestyle.

Bigger is your excuses or God?

As I left the campus late last night, I saw a wallet was sitting on a car's roof in the car park. I looked around and can see no one but my own shadow.

I feel very strange that the wallet was there, thinking to myself, what should I do with it. A voice in my mind said, better for you to take and return it, than someone else stealing it. And so I took that with me. 

As I flip through the compartments looking for IDs and found a UWA student ID. I was ready in my mind the next day I shall bring it to UWA library as they should have no problem looking up her contact. Then, I saw a note in the wallet wrote something like "If you found this wallet, please call xxxxxxxxx..."  

So today after lunch, I sms to the number, few seconds later a guy rang. He's the boy friend of the owner. Gave him This Was Your Life and Are You a Good Man? tract. Told him that it's a gospel tract and I am a Christian. Asked him if he's a Christian. ".....Yeah....use to be" he replied and I asked "So what happen now?" "Oh now I believe more in science", "But science and Christianity can co-exsist together." I told him. "I study Biology as well".

As we continue to chat, we found out that we are actually doing the same unit together and were trying to get our assignment done by 6pm tonight. So we shook hand and back to work. 

Although I didn't really open up the gospel with him, but at least I know that I will see him again in the lectures. I hope this incident will be a little seed in his/her girl friend's heart of a Christian testimony. God will water it and cause it to grow. 

Brothers and Sisters, September is a month fill with rare encounters and opportunities. We can find the smallest excuse for not giving out a tract or gospel to someone, but God can crush even our "biggest excuse" by bringing us to the rarest encounter. Honestly, how many lost wallet can we find in a year? Randomly found one in the month of September sitting on top of a car? Maybe it's not random after all.......

Be sure that God will amaze you with His power. Pray for more opportunities to testify Him and be prepare for the rarest encounters : )

 

Last night ...

An account of last night incident during announcement in fellowship

 

A sister pop us a question in a cool manner "What is so special today?"

 

I was still trying to gather my thought, thinking hard of what special occasion could it be today that I have missed out
 

Suddenly off the congregation, someone shouted "It is the memorial of 9/11"

 

 Never thought of that ... and still in her calm and cool posture, the sister replied steadily "It is the 11th day of Sep!".

 

She followed on "How are you going with your tracting? ..."  And continue on with the rest of the announcement.

 

 

Reminder

 

Thank God for the reminder! Indeed we are almost half way of September, how are we going with our tracting?

 

Discouraged? Tired? No motivation? Give up? Don't care? Fearful? FORGOTTEN?

 

Or still faithfully, trying our VERY BEST?  

 

May the LORD help us to fight the good fight for the LORD in September by tracting faithfully.

 

At the end of September, like Paul,

 

pray that we would be able to stand before the LORD and claim that

 

"I've fought the good fight!"

 

Can you hear the LORD?

"Carry on my child on whichever tract you are at now.

Trust in me to give out tract.

All I ask is a faithful heart in service."

 

We are not alone when we do His work for His promises to be with us.

 

May the LORD help us to not be ashamed of the Gospel. *Romans 1:16*

 

~ Emmanuel ~

Fail to tract today but ...

I failed to tract today but God gave me oppportunity to know Lin more.

 

Before work bus trip

As usual, I wait for my bus to work at the bus stop. When the bus approached me, I saw a familiar face stretching her head in the bus as if expecting someone from the bus stand. It was Lin, the Asian lady I met yesterday.

 

Without hesitation, I sat beside her. The 1st thing she did was she pull out the children picnic invite to confirm the street name she need to enter into the GPS to bring her there. *Amazing* But she has a concern because she might either plan for house moving on the 28th Sep Monday or the Monday after. So please continue to pray for her. We chat happily till we reach city.

After work bus trip 

Rush rush rush ... I reached the bus stop just in time to hail the bus before it signaled out to leave. Thank God! To my surprise, guess who is in the bus! Yes, Lin again! She didn't expect me this time. I sat beside her and we chat heartily.

 

Wow, recalling all the topics we have covered today, from house building, her son concert, her migration process, politics, saving, HK movie series. We got to know each other more. She even handed me her handphone to have a word with her husband during out trip home after work. God is marvelous. His timing is all perfect!

 

Even though I fail to tract today, I thank God for the catch up opportunity ... I mean opportunities with Lin today. :)

 

Thank you for praying for her and her family. Please continue to pray that her family could make it to the children picnic.

 

 

Coincidence? Accident? OPPORTUNITY !

Pray, pray, pray. I committed today's tracting unto God's hand in the morning before leaving home for work.

1^st tract of the day

Soon enough I chose a seat beside an Asian looking lady in the bus to work. Without much hesitation, I pull out a tract for her to read. She accepted it. Yes, no rejection. As she read the tract, I prayed for her while doing my reading.

In a couple of minutes, she had skimmed through the tract. That was fast I thought to myself. Then I wandered whether I should stop my reading and ask her for feedback on the tract. Recalling on how I failed to take up the courage to followup on people who finished reading tracts beside me over the past few days in the bus, I was obligated that I should not miss the chance again.

Thank God for the conversation. From our conversation, she believes in gods and she is a Buddhist. Her family migrated to Perth a year or so ago and they are still trying to adjust to life here. She shares about how lonely it is on the bus to work every day. There is no one to talk to and even reading on the bus is so hard because she gets dizzy after a while. She mentioned that her children are still in the transition to forsake the life in Malaysia in order to adapt their new lives and studies here. It must have been hard for her and her family to juggle with the changes.

Since she mentioned about her children who are in Year11 and 12 now, children Sunday school picnic crept into my mind and thus I extend the invitation to her. Yeah, got her address and tonight I am going to drop the invite at her doorstep. There ended our conversation and we got off the same bus stop. Her workplace is just a street away from mine. Coincidence?

Thank God for the opportunity to tract Lin. Please pray for her and her family that they would turn up at the children Sunday school picnic.

  

2^nd tract of the day

Knowing that I have a physio appointment, I have decided to tract the receptionist. At the counter, she has given me extra AUD20 change which I stared at for a while, trying to work out the maths. After the return of the extra notes I gave her the 'This was your life' tract. Accident? Thank God for the 2^nd tracting opportunity of the day. :)

  

Ecclesiastes 11:6 'In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.'

p/s: Thank God that I have passed the invitation to Lin and her family tonight. :)

30in30 Testimonies from Prayer Meeting tonight

LESSON 1: See All Situations from GOD'S perspective

One sister was turning at a traffic light when a car bumped into the back of the car behind her, causing that car to bang into hers. When they exchanged phone numbers and licenses, she gave the THIS WAS YOUR LIFE tract to both drivers of the two cars behind her. They were very surprised to see that the tract asking "Where did you get that??" The tract was so appropriate for what had just happened and they realised the significance of the tract message. 


LESSON 2: Being a Good Testimony.. Requires You to Testify
When you do something good or nice, its not a "good testimony" for God if the person doesn't even know that you are a Christian! They will just think that it's nice to still have some "decent people" around. One way to share that you are a Christian without the awkwardness is through gospel tracts. 
This week, another participant of 30in30 found $10 on the floor. She thought about turning the money into the receptionist and worried that the person would keep the money rather than pass it back to the rightful owner. Eventually she decided to give the $10 to reception and the lady was very surprised and asked "why are you so honest?" As she left, she offered the THIS WAS YOUR LIFE tract and explained briefly that this was why she was honest. 

quick draw

After hovering around a guy sitting on a bench in the city - praying about giving my tract and trying to work up a little courage to not just 'tract and run' but at least say a few things - I gave him my fourth tract, said a few things (can't remember what cause I was so nervous haha!), and then headed off to church for fellowship. Pretty standard 30in30 experience.

Later at church, while sitting down after eating some dinner, my bro comes in and asks

'Did you give your tract out tonight?'
'Yep'
'In the city?'
'Yeah'
'to a guy on a bench?'
'yeah...'
'kinda dark with glasses?'
'yeah! you tried to tract him?? Hahahah I beat you!'

It turns out he had only read some of the tract and was going to read the rest later, but what were the chances of us tracting the same guy on the same night?

Pray for us

"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have
free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may
be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not
faith. But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you
from evil." (2 Thessalonians 3:1-3).

September 30in30 2009

Thank God that September 30in30 has begun for another year! This year, we are adding Twitter as another way to keep in touch with what's happening in the outreach. If you or your group are doing 30in30, create a twitter account with 30in30 in the name, and as you and your group post updates, they will appear on the right.

If you would like to upload a story about your evangelistic encounter during September 30in30 to this blog, email it to 30in30 (at) bpcwa.com. Also, email us to get the link to the Google Map for 30in30 2009.

God bless and please take a moment now to pray for the outreach. Then go to your car, your bag or whereever you left your 30in30 pack and place it in a prominent place where you will not forget to bring your tracts out tomorrow!! May the Holy Spirit guide you in this outreach.