Campus outreach 16/8/12

Date: 16/8/2012 (Thursday)
Venue: table outside STA travel, campus centre, Monash University Clayton Campus

As usual we hand out event flyers to promote CCM's compassion film 58 event. There were a couple of people that we managed to talked to quite a fair bit of time. Andrew and me have talked to Natalie, Leonard and Kirsten.

Natalie is a Catholic but she doesn't seem to have a close relationship with God. Basically Andrew and I challenged her to find out God's calling for her while she is on campus. We presented the gospel and encouraged to share the Good News with her friends around her.

Leonard is a biomedical science student from Singapore. He was skeptical whether there is a God. Through our conversations with him, we used the evidence of the nature and the intelligence design argument. In the end, his opinion changed to perhaps there is a God.

Kirsten was a woman from the U.S., who grew up in a church environment. However, somehow along the way she had some bad experience with church and she stopped attending church. Kirsten was really open about talking about God and the problem of sin and suffering. Although she admitted that she would be guilty under God's standard, she still felt that she is a good person and does not deserve hell. We presented the gospel to her and pledged to her that she might make a decision that changes her eternal destiny.

We all left a gospel tract with the people we talked to. Please keep Natalie, Leonard and Kirsten in prayer.

Charlie Lam
Clayton Science/Arts life group, Hope Melbourne Waverley

Campus outreach 9/8/12

Time: 9 August, 2012, 12-2pm
Place: table outside STA travel, Campus Centre, Monash University Clayton Campus

Today we went to do surveys and hand out flyers on Monash Clayton campus. We talked to a couple of Chinese students who were interested in Christianity, as well as some other local students. I learned that I need to discern whether someone is ready to hear the Good News. Some people that I talked to thought they were a good person even when they admitted that they have lied, stolen things and looked at woman with lust. So I left them a gospel tract and hopefully God would speak to them through the tracts.

Charlie Lam
Clayton Science/Arts life group, Hope Melbourne Waverley Centre

Jesus Week 2012 and CCM Oceania meeting – revival is happening at Monash and beyond

I would like to share a testimony about my journey with God in the past four years, especially about how God fulfils the five year vision that he showed me in 2009. Back then I was a new believer and I hardly know anyone outside CCM. However, God has put such a burden on my heart for unity between Christians on campus. I cried out to God regularly for this to happen on Monash Clayton campus. The breakthrough came this year when five Christian clubs on Clayton campus signed the statement of faith and created the unity flyer. It was a significant milestone in the history of campus ministry of Monash. It sends a clear message to believers and non-believers alike – that we are united and not a divided army of God. The statement of faith signatories precedes Jesus Week 2012, in which the five Christian clubs participate in a four-day outreach event before Easter (2-5 April, 2012). We also make use of this opportunity to establish Monash University Clayton Christian Network (MUCCN).

There are a couple of praise points for Jesus Week:

- Statement of faith – demonstrate the Christian clubs agree on the same doctrine and we are working towards the same goals for Christ – to reach out to the campus and make disciples.

- There are unity flyers that accompany the statement of faith. It has the clubs’ logo and short description of what each club is, along with Jesus Week logo and Monash House of Prayer, a prayer network for all Christians across all Monash campus in Australia and overseas.

- United prayer: the club representatives pray for Jesus Week before the event, during the event, and give thanks to God and share testimonies after the event.

- Unity between local and international Christians groups, demonstrated through prayer, people visiting each other store and an event list from different groups were compiled.

- Monash University Clayton Christian Network (MUCCN) is established with its Facebook page. The purpose is to facilitate discussion for future united prayer and events.

- God’s provision for finance (manage to raise $200 from CCM; other clubs also raise enough funds for the hot cross buns). Bakers Delight Pinewood provided generous discount for the hot cross buns (40% off).

- Give out hot cross buns to bless the campus – hot cross buns from bakers delight 1600 across four days, CCM gave another couple hundreds buns from Coles and Woolworths.

- There is at least one salvation – Amy (student life) and many seeds of the gospel are sown.

- Hundreds of gospel tracts are given out: with each hot cross bun, we gave out a gospel tract. Also, we were able to have spiritual conversation about Easter and the gospel with a couple of people.

- CCM has live worship that share the love of Christ to campus. Great to work with worship ministry development! We realise that worship allow people to participate in outreach.

- We share the good news with many people. Doing evangelism can be simple and fun, and there are many ways to do it.

Jesus Week is the result of consistent, persistent prayer. This breakthrough came partly because of the prayers that my friend Jonno and many other watchmen on campus before us. Here I would like to acknowledge the sacrifice of their prayers to God. Last year we had a weekly campus-focused prayer meeting. This year this proliferates to daily prayer meeting groups springing up in different faculties. Miracles and breakthrough came because of prayer!

SWOT VAC outreach (30 May 2012) is the second combined event under the banner of MUCCN. This time the Navigators also participate in this exam time outreach. With Navigators on board, every Christian club on Clayton campus is present. There was a great sense of unity and partnership across believers from different cultural background and denominations. No matter you are local or international students, we are all one body of Christ striving to fulfil the Great Commission on this campus harvest field.

During Oceania Convention this year, I shared what happened at Monash when I met about 30 CCM representatives from various states. Originally I only anticipated a dozen of people from Victoria and Brisbane. However, James from UQ managed to invite other people from Perth, Tasmania and Adelaide as well. Back in 2008, God showed me a 10 year vision in which every CCM across the Oceania region will unite together before. Recently, God revealed to me that it will start as a prayer support network and empower people to reach their campuses for God. This meeting is a major milestone towards this direction. A CCM national network is not something new but it once existed some 7-8 years ago. Overall, the meeting was a fruitful time of sharing testimonies and praying for one another.

There are many students hungry for God and waiting for people to tell them about Jesus. With all these breakthroughs this year, I believe a new wave of revival is going to start at Monash and other universities in Melbourne. I sense that God has a purpose for me to unite not only the Christians on Clayton campus, but also those on other campuses in Victoria.

As I face such a great task ahead, I really need God’s strength and wisdom so He can guide my steps in the future. One thing is certain – we will do greater things in the future (John 14:12). Instead of just praying for revival, let’s go out and do what God commanded us to do – share the Good News and make disciples, love our neighbours as ourselves. We are the answer to our own prayer. Please pray for more labourers to rise up on our campuses (Luke 10:2b). We can all be part of this revival.

Charlie Lam

Science/Arts life group, Hope Melbourne Waverely Centre

Outreach report 21 June 2012

Today Andrew, Angela and me went out to the Clayton train station and handed out the Regal Standard newspaper. It was a rainy day but the weather did not deter us from doing outreach. We managed to hand out a couple of newspaper before being stopped by the newsagent owner. Never mind. We decided to give out the newspaper to people in the Monash University bus loop instead. Dozens of people took the newspaper within half an hour. We pray that God will speak to these people by that newspaper.


Lessons learned: 
1) never hand out newspaper in front of a newsagent
2) rainy weather is not helpful for a outdoor outreach. Next time we should pick a date with good weather.


Charlie Lam
Clayton Science/Arts life group, Hope Melbourne Waverley Centre

More ARE Coming.

I'd like to share a testimony of what's happened in the last year and six months in our life group, QUT 2.


We're one of the Christian university groups in Brisbane, and like many Christians we evangelise and hope to see people come to know Jesus personally.


In 2011, we didn't see anyone welcome Jesus into their lives in our group. For me personally, it was discouraging 'coz I longed to see the lost saved. But God did have the salvation of the lost in mind - it just wasn't in the way we thought. In the end of 2011, four members from our group went for a mission trip to Philippines where we saw over 53 people start a relationship with Jesus and many more responding to know Him more! It was a mind-blowing experience - all glory to Him!


In the last six months (2012), we thought we hit another time of 'unfruitfulness'. We had many new people join our group, people who weren't Christians, but none repenting and acknowledging Him as Lord. But again, God's hand had always been at work. After waiting for 5 months, we saw 5 people making a decision to welcome Jesus into their lives within 2 weeks time.


1 was a friend of a friend that joined our life group once in 2011 and decided to join us again.
1 was a classmate of one of our members in our group in her English course.
1 was a another course mate of one of life group members.
1 was a friend who stopped coming to church after 3-4 times but suddenly felt 'lost' in life and decided to find out more again.
1 was a friend who joined our life group for a long period of time and finally decided to take the first step into something new.


Each 1 is 1 precious life.


All glory is God's - for it is by His grace that these people have found salvation in Jesus Christ.


Let's never count God out in our reaching out. More salvations ARE coming!


Isaiah 55:9, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." (ESV)

Allan Gonzales

QUT 2 Life Group, Hope Church Brisbane Afternoon Service

Do it 'coz you LOVE God!

A quote I want to share to you from John Dawson, a leader in Youth With a Mission

"Have you ever wondered what it feels like to have a love for the lost?

This is a term we use as part of our Christian jargon. Many believers

search their hearts in condemnation, looking for the arrival of some

feeling of benevolence that will propel them into bold evangelism. It will

never happen. It is impossible to love "the lost." You can't feel deeply for

an abstraction or a concept. You would find it impossible to love deeply an

unfamiliar individual portrayed in a photograph, let alone a nation or a race

or something as vague as "all lost people."

DON'T WAIT FOR A FEELING OF LOVE IN ORDER TO

SHARE CHRIST WITH A STRANGER. You already love your Heavenly

Father, and you know that this stranger is created by Him, but separated\

from Him, so take those FIRST STEPS IN EVANGELISM BECAUSE YOU

LOVE GOD. It is not primarily out of a compassion for humanity that we

share our faith or pray for the lost; it is first of all, love for God. The Bible says in

Ephesians 6:7-8: "With good will doing services, as to the Lord, and not to men,

knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord,

whether he is a slave or free."


Excerpt from 'Let the Nations Be Glad' by John Piper

Allan GonzalesQUT 2 Life Group, Hope Church Brisbane Afternoon Service

The Regal Standard - a useful newspaper to strike up a spiritual conversation

The Regal Standard is a newspaper originally designed to counter the atheist convention in Melbourne in April 2012, with contents such as science and faith, a prominent atheist renouncing atheism and the problem of suffering. I find this newspaper a useful tool for spiritual conversation starters with friends. I have tried that on my housemates. It worked. Every week we handed out dozens of Regal Standard and I believe the newspaper can change people’s life. You can read the newspaper on this website and share it with your friends: http://regalstandard.com.au/

Articles Include:

I Was Wrong! The world's most notorious atheist details his surprising reversal after 50 years of active atheism.
Three eminent scientists explain how science and faith go hand in hand.
An honest atheist academic explains why Africa needs God.
Why suffering?
What about Christian "evil"?
"I saw a miracle" – an extraordinary miracle witnessed by hundreds.
Amazing Bible prophecy fulfilled: a stamp of God's authority. Much more!

The Regal Standard is an effective tool you can use:

Conversation starter for friends, family, colleagues.
Answers for questions people will ask you.
Distribute in communities, universities, workplace.
Equip your church.

Charlie Lam

Clayton Science/Arts life group, Hope Melbourne Waverley Centre