It was 1400 hours and the soldiers were preparing to leave Base Camp for battle. Armed with swords in one hand, tracts and surveys in the other, and filled with the Holy Spirit - they made their way out to the battlefield in their four-wheeled-engine-powered chariots. Shortly after this, they assembled at the front line - Forrest Chase, and Murray & Hay Street Malls - and marched out in twos and threes.
Some dedicated soldiers remained in the Base Camp to uphold the troupes in much needed prayer. Troupes in the battlefield communicated with the Base using a highly-cryptic-code of telecommunication signals to relay their needs. Communications Officer, Private Wendy, interpreted these codes back at the Base and communicated these needs to the other troupes at Base.
Meanwhile in the Chase of Forrest and the Malls of Murray and Hay - the troupes continued to battle. I was privileged to accompany Cadet Claudia who entered battle for the first time. Cadet Claudia and I encountered hostile after hostile and managed to block several bullets with our shields of faith. We made contact with Base on a few occasions and were boosted by their prayers. As we continued to fight, we looked around and were encouraged to see our fellow soldiers in the heat of battle, fighting on for the name of our Saviour.
Time continued to pass and at 1700 hours we made our way to the pick up point where we returned to our chariots and headed back to Base. Following the debrief at Base, the soldiers enjoyed their home-cooked mess prepared by Private Jason and his crew. Though the battle was over today, we realised that the war continues to rage on outside of Base and we look forward to the next time we are called to battle.
OK... that went on longer than I planned. I was only supposed to do Army talk (albeit Rowena try-hard style) for the first paragraph and then share a bit about what I had learnt, but I got a bit carried away and three paragraphs later here I am... So the lesson I learnt starts here :)
I think one thing really stood out to me today as I walked around with Claudia for Street E. It just seemed as though we talked to one hardened heart after another - an old self-righteous lady, a middle-aged evolutionist/skeptic, a homeless man who just didn't seem to understand what we were saying, and a young Muslim girl (who was smoking and had no veil thing) who was obviously not devoted to her own religion but chose to continue with it without any real reason.
I felt kinda sad for them - their hearts had all been hardened to the point where I just thought is there any hope of salvation for them? Will they ever come to that point where they realise that the Bible is true, that they are sinners, and that the only way of salvation is through Jesus Christ? Some verses came to mind...
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Psalms 126:5-6 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
I don't know what's going to happen with these people - whether they will die without Christ or go home and somehow have the desire to find out more and, through God's grace, come to the saving knowledge of Christ. But whatever happens, I know that it is God's will and that I had done all that I could to let them know the truth. The rest is up to God.
I also realised that maybe, just maybe, if these people had been reached out to with the Gospel in their earlier years (especially the old lady and the middle-aged evolutionist), things may have been different and they may have ended up being one of the people in the group singing hymns with a piano accordion on Murray Street Mall. Wow, makes you wonder eh. It just really makes me want to evangelise more and more to people my own age lest they become another hardened heart in the city.
Some dedicated soldiers remained in the Base Camp to uphold the troupes in much needed prayer. Troupes in the battlefield communicated with the Base using a highly-cryptic-code of telecommunication signals to relay their needs. Communications Officer, Private Wendy, interpreted these codes back at the Base and communicated these needs to the other troupes at Base.
Meanwhile in the Chase of Forrest and the Malls of Murray and Hay - the troupes continued to battle. I was privileged to accompany Cadet Claudia who entered battle for the first time. Cadet Claudia and I encountered hostile after hostile and managed to block several bullets with our shields of faith. We made contact with Base on a few occasions and were boosted by their prayers. As we continued to fight, we looked around and were encouraged to see our fellow soldiers in the heat of battle, fighting on for the name of our Saviour.
Time continued to pass and at 1700 hours we made our way to the pick up point where we returned to our chariots and headed back to Base. Following the debrief at Base, the soldiers enjoyed their home-cooked mess prepared by Private Jason and his crew. Though the battle was over today, we realised that the war continues to rage on outside of Base and we look forward to the next time we are called to battle.
OK... that went on longer than I planned. I was only supposed to do Army talk (albeit Rowena try-hard style) for the first paragraph and then share a bit about what I had learnt, but I got a bit carried away and three paragraphs later here I am... So the lesson I learnt starts here :)
I think one thing really stood out to me today as I walked around with Claudia for Street E. It just seemed as though we talked to one hardened heart after another - an old self-righteous lady, a middle-aged evolutionist/skeptic, a homeless man who just didn't seem to understand what we were saying, and a young Muslim girl (who was smoking and had no veil thing) who was obviously not devoted to her own religion but chose to continue with it without any real reason.
I felt kinda sad for them - their hearts had all been hardened to the point where I just thought is there any hope of salvation for them? Will they ever come to that point where they realise that the Bible is true, that they are sinners, and that the only way of salvation is through Jesus Christ? Some verses came to mind...
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Psalms 126:5-6 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
I don't know what's going to happen with these people - whether they will die without Christ or go home and somehow have the desire to find out more and, through God's grace, come to the saving knowledge of Christ. But whatever happens, I know that it is God's will and that I had done all that I could to let them know the truth. The rest is up to God.
I also realised that maybe, just maybe, if these people had been reached out to with the Gospel in their earlier years (especially the old lady and the middle-aged evolutionist), things may have been different and they may have ended up being one of the people in the group singing hymns with a piano accordion on Murray Street Mall. Wow, makes you wonder eh. It just really makes me want to evangelise more and more to people my own age lest they become another hardened heart in the city.
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