End of a Season

It has been a year since we started going out to Markville Mall to evangelize. It started as "Witness Wednesday" but has since become "Testify Tuesday". We missed the week of Nov 7, but every single one of the past 52 weeks (which is a year), we have faithfully gone out to Markville to share the gospel of repentance and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

We took no breaks, not even if the week was really busy. We faithfully went out because sharing the gospel is just that important to us as we help advance the kingdom. We have talked to 275 groups of people, together composing of 428 souls. This is 8.23 person per week. We don't count conversations where we simply prayed for them (though those are amazing too).

So that's 428 people who have heard the full gospel. That is that they are Hell-bound sinners in need of a savior and that savior being none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Granted we share this with tact and with love. But that's a lot of people who now know what it means to be a Christian and how to do it. We have planted 428 seeds in just a year! Hallelujah! And this with only an average of 4 evangelists each week.

Though we have "only" had the privilege of seeing 5 people come to faith in front of us, we know that there are countless seeds that have grown because of what we did. And who knows what God has done with them by now! So for that we rejoice.

This ministry started with just me, but God has since grown it immeasurably, especially in terms of prayer warriors. And that is the key strength of this: prayer. Without prayer, we lose the help of the Holy Spirit, and without Him, we can do nothing.

Witnessing statistics over a year. I have more, I just didn't want to make the graph too convoluted.

I have moved to Chicago as of Aug 17th. However, Testify Tuesday is still going strong under the faithful and strong leadership of Mike Fenty. Please keep him and everyone involved in your prayers. Let's pray for even more fruit next year!

In case anyone is wondering, I'm not posting updates for Testify Tuesday anymore. I'm now doing a lot of outreaches with Moody Theological Seminary (where I am getting my Master of Divinity). Check out http://moodyoutreach.blogspot.com/. I will keep updating that one (at least until God moves me to another city).

Tony's Last Day

2013 Aug 13 (45)

Exhortation

Today is Testify Tuesday. 6:30PM, Markville Mall.

Should I give an exhortation as to why we need to evangelize? No, that's saved for Harvest York Region Young Adults on Thursday. Come to that. However, I am going to ask you to pray and wait. Join me and the team in praying for God to do something great tonight.

This will be the 45th week that we have been out in Markville. 45 weeks of sharing the gospel,This will also be the last time I'm consistently there. Mike Fenty is taking over as I move to Chicago.

So if God is leading you, I would very much like to go evangelize with as many of you as possible. Will you consider it?

Testimony

This will be my last testimony sharing from Testify Tuesday... Sad times... My biggest takeaway: Prayer.

We started going out and sharing the gospel weekly at Markville Mall on October 3rd, 2012. Since then, we've gone out every single week (except Nov 7, arghh). Every single week, we were there talking to random strangers about who Jesus Christ is and why they should care. Many weeks we were discouraged, saddened that we faced so many rejections and so few opportunities to even share the message. Many weeks we begged God to save someone but seemed to face stone walls. But every week, we were faithful.

The biggest thing I want to leave with everyone is the importance of faithfulness, especially faithfulness in prayer. Testify Tuesday started with just one person. I went five weeks by myself, until I couldn't take it anymore. But when I took a break on Nov 7th, God convicted me of my sin and I had to repent. As I went back the next week, I pleaded with God to send someone with me. God answered and brought Mike Fenty. Shortly after, Ben Sampson joined too and the three of us have been going consistently since.

Since we started, we've shared the gospel with 365 individuals, faced many more outright rejections, and only encountered 11 actual Christians (not nominal ones). That's about 0.03% of the population. The harvest is very plentiful but the laborers are so few. Nevertheless, God is good. Over the span of the ministry, 29 different evangelists have come out with us. And we've had 5 people come to trust Christ as Lord and savior. We rejoice over these five souls. But please be praying for us as evangelism is hard, HARD work. We often wish for more fruit but know that this is not the nature of our ministry.

Last night, the team consisted of Mike, Ryan, Matthew, Ambrose,Samantha, Melinda, Linda, and myself. Norman even joined at the end. God has grown us from just one to this many! And we represent not just one church, but many. I know God can do more if we are faithful in prayer, so please keep praying for this. Please keep pleading for more souls to be saved. I know for a fact that our God answers prayers!

In the month of May, we prayed on our knees that God would do two things: 1) Save someone, 2) Add a team member. (http://testifytuesday.blogspot.ca/2013/05/2013-05-08.html) God answered both of those on the very last week of May. See, faithfulness in prayer is what pushes our ministry, nothing else. Testify Tuesday is a prayer movement more than it is anything about evangelism. Many weeks, within our team, we pray almost as long as we evangelize! Evangelism is merely a natural outflow of passionate prayer for the lost. Never forget that.

And why do we do it? Soli Deo gloria.

Souls (7+) {Total: 365+}

J (weird church);
J;
K;
M;
M;
M;
K

Team (8)

Tony, Samantha; Mike, Matthew; Ryan, Ambrose; Melinda, Linda

Rejection and Repentance

2013 Aug 6 (44)

Exhortation

Testify Tuesday. What does that mean? That means it is Tuesday and therefore we go to Markville Mall and share the gospel. Tonight we are starting at 6PM.

"Sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!"
- 1 Chron 16:23-24

That! That is what we are doing tonight. You are invited to join.

Testimony

Testify Tuesday:
When God's people pray for his kingdom to be expanded he opens up Heaven and gives them more then they could expect. LTM~

Praise God for the amazing conversations we had tonight!
Our team consisted of Tony, Norman, and Melinda.
Upon arrival, Tony, Norman and Melinda were in conversation with a couple who seemed to be listening courteously. Apparently no one had ever shared the gospel with them, but they were willing to listen, and thanked us for sharing with them- which was an encouragement. We never know how the seeds will be invested in the soil.
We then divided into pairs, girls and guys. Initially as Melinda and I set off with our fire to share the gospel- it felt like it was doused with the water of rejection. We couldn't understand why no one we approached (three attempts) wanted to talk to us. Yet God is faithful, our fourth attempt was a lady waiting for her daughter, she professed to be a Christian and was so encouraged by us and wanted us to meet her daughter- who was inside the store. Further she was so encouraged by us she wanted to treat us to ice cream! We kindly refused the offer but appreciated her prayers and support- our efforts were renewed.

Norman and Tony seemed to have a fruitful conversation, so much that when they gave a invitation to check out our church, the guy they talked to said he would be interested in coming! Please pray for no hindrances, but for God's will to be done.

So after a reboot in confidence, Melinda and I approached a guy who is Catholic but also believes parts of the Muslim faith.
Melinda did a fierce job presenting the truth of the gospel stating that it's not about labels but about the heart what a person believes and a relationship with Christ. It seemed like we went down tangent lane alot- but through our discussion he came away knowing why as young people we were there sharing the gospel on a Tuesday and that Christ wants to pursue a relationship with him.

Norman and I then had the opportunity to have two conversations; One with a young man whose religion is Hindu, but he is an atheist. Praise God this young man has a friend who is a Christian, and apparently his Christian friend has talked with him and shared from the Bible! Amazing...seeds being planted at different stages! So Norman and I shared with him the gospel- although for an atheist he knew alot OF the Bible but not as much about the relationship with God- this was deeply lacking. He asked alot of good questions like how come we were Christians? What made us turn our lives around. This opened the opportunity for us to share our testimonies briefly and we both touched upon repentance in our own way. It seemed fruitful until his family came. We had given him a card and invited him to come out to Harvest and he seemed interested, but his Mom took the card. Regardless, our God is greater. Like we told him God has a plan for each of us and we never know where our discussion will lead.

Our second conversation was with a woman who says she is a Christian,although she doesn't go to church as often as she should, nor reads her Bible as much. When asked where she is going to go she said somewhere in reunion with her mother, father and brother- but not Heaven. We probed her about heaven and Hell and she refused to believe there was a hell or further that God would send people there. She couldn't get over how a little sin could send someone to hell. She was knowledgeable about the Bible, and Norman was really fierce in presenting the origins of Sin from Adam and Eve and how God is a righteous judge-but she just wouldn't budge.Overall she was kind to us. We wish we had more time with her, she was delightful to talk to, but had to leave. Apparently she was visiting her grand daughter and sister since she lives in Florida! Divine appointments tonight for sure!

Thank you so much for partnering up with us through prayer tonight, and for trooping through this essay .
Please continue to join us in our petitions that God will add to our numbers, unify us, give us courage, boldness when we go out and have wisdom in following up with those God places before us.

Thank you dear brothers and sisters.

1 Timothy 4:12:
Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

Souls (11) {Total: 358}

J, R;
D;
P;
J;
J;
M;
A;
T;
G;
N

Team (6)

Tony, Norman, Melinda, Linda; Ryan, Stephen, Matthew

Ben's Last Day

2013 Jul 30 (43)

Exhortation

It is here again, Testify Tuesday. It means once again we are going to Markville Mall at 6:30PM to share the gospel. It also means that we'll need your prayers once again.

I often wonder, when you read this now, do you feel anything? Do you just think of this as another thing that Tony, Mike, Ben, and others do? Or do you realize that a real battle is being waged, and we are in serious need of more soldiers? Do you pray fervently, pleading with God for His power to be made known while evangelists like us do local missions? Because we need you to.

Yes, and that is what we are doing. We are local missionaries, preaching the gospel to people who have never heard it before. We have not once asked for money even though we do the same work (also because it doesn't really cost anything, except gas, tracts, etc.). We send out "mission updates" every week as do missionaries (in fact, they do it less frequently). We face much depression and discouragement weekly, especially on Tuesdays, as would missionaries. Our hearts burn and cry for the lost, as should anyone who truly believes in Hell.

I urge you, take this seriously. We spend thousands going on mission trips to foreign, exotic places, but the field is ripe for harvest right here! Christian, labor exactly where you are. Only then should you start thinking about going anywhere else.

Testimony

Ben's Future

Tomorrow I begin the first week of a new stage in my life. I have just quit my full-time job to head to Vancouver in Sept for 3+ years to study the Bible (Master of Divinity). Hopefully, one day, I will work in the Church/Para-Church in some major capacity

If you had told me a few years ago that this would be the case, I would have laughed at you. If you knew me back then, you know this is true! If you know me now, I want you to know that my faith in Jesus is responsible for this change. I submit this knowing that I struggle to consistently demonstrate behaviour taught by Christ, in the Bible.

I honestly feel like a normal guy, whatever that means. I just want all of my virtual friends to have faith to not be afraid to take risks that they believe will make a maximum impact for God. Thanks for your time... I'll miss you GTA

Souls (16) {Total: 347}

P;

R, R, A;

G(autistic);

C (atheist);

A (Catholic);

J (Catholic);

Couple;

Group of teenagers;

R (gave email)

Team (8)

Tony, Linda, Matthew; Mike, Stephen; Ben, Ryan, Abbey

Ryan Tanking It

2013 Jul 23 (42)

Exhortation

It is Testify Tuesday. Does anyone get sick of these exhortations sometimes? I do. I mean there's only so many different ways I can write this! We are Christians, Christians should share the gospel, so we share the gospel. It's that simple.

6:30PM, Markville Mall. Come, or pray, or do both.

Testimony

Tony asked me to write the post about Testify Tuesday today at Markville mall.

The first person Mike Fenty, Tony Chuang and I approached was a women who was sitting down holding all her belongings in a cart. She said that her greatest need right now was for a room to sleep in with a shower. She spoke about how Christians downtown are always giving the homless gospel tracts and saying nice things to them, but never actually helping to meet there physical needs. She seemed to have a lot of anger towards the church she used to attend, and she blamed it for putting her out on the streets. She was a good speaker and she was able to tell us a little about Jesus when Tony asked her if she knew who he was. She said that the historical Jesus who walked on earth 2000 years ago was her personal saviour who has helped her through her whole life, ever since being alone at age 15. Tony and Mike kept trying to go deeper by offering her help and connections but she wouldn't accept it. She said that she didn't want help from guys. (If you are a girl who has a passion to see the lost saved, come out on tuesdays! May have been a great help today) We will continue to trust that God will work in this womens life no matter what she will face in the future. She claims to know and believe in Christ, the only saviour. Let's pray that she really does.

After that conversation, Mike and I spoke to someone in the food court. He was very willing to hear what Mike had to say about Christianity and Buddhism. God used Mike to speak powerfully about the gospel and our need for a saviour. After speaking about our sin and how no one can meet God's standard for perfection the man said something along the lines of "But that's tough because no one is perfect." Mike said "exactly!" he explained how because non of us are perfect and how non of us can get to God on our own, we need a saviour - Christ. After he explained how God is a righteous Judge who must punish sin, he then explain how God sent his son Jesus Christ to earth to pay for our sins by dying on the cross. And on that Cross Jesus took the wrath of God and the punishment we deserve. 3 days later He rose from the dead never to die again. And its ONLY through repentance and by putting our faith in Christ that we can inherit eternal life with God.

Matthew Luong And i also spoke to 2 other people. Although they heard this all before, we needed to explain how works and good deeds do not get us to heaven. It's only our faith in Christ that we are transformed and bear fruit. We had to really explain sin to them and how God cannot tolerate it. Then we were finally able to tell them about Christ. We can't let sin rest lightly on our conscience.

Ben Sampson also went around tonight to witness. I did not get to hear any specific stories from him. He did say that he had a couple great conversations tonight so praise God. Maybe he will share them in the comments!

For those of us who felt very tired tonight - Isaiah 40:28-31. Wait on the Lord and trust in him. He will renew your strength.

Souls (8) {Total: 331}

D;
O;
Two Sri Lankan guys;
White guy;
E;
M, F

Team (5)

Tony, Mike, Ryan; Matthew, Ben

How Did They Understand the Gospel!?

2013 Jul 16 (41)

Exhortation

Testify Tuesday is here. We're going to preach the gospel at Markville mall starting at 6:30PM.

Zechariah 6:12 says, "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch... he shall build the temple of the LORD." On that day, Christ will rebuild His temple and restore all creation to their former glory. Until then, Christ will build His church, He will do it. But what is our job?

Verse 15 continues, "And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the LORD." Christians of all nations, hear the words of the LORD. You have come from far off and from every nation. Every nation will be blessed and God wants to use YOU! YOU shall help build the temple. YOU shall help edify the church. YOU shall proclaim the gospel!

Genesis 12:1-3, Zechariah 6:15, and Matthew 28:19-20, these are all talking about the same thing. If you are a Christian, you are called to build up the church, making disciples of all nations, seeking out the lost, orphaned, widows, and strangers.

Christian, join us in prayer. Not everyone may be required to preach, but everyone is required to participate. We welcome that participation in the form of prayer or coming out.

Testimony

I am so thankful for the prayer that goes on while we are sharing the gospel, here's why:

Ryan and I talked to these two Middle Eastern brothers about the gospel. When we were using the courtroom analogy, they got so into it. We even got them to role-play a bit (as the judge)! They said that how no matter how sorry the defendant felt, a crime is still a crime and he has to be punished. So when we turned it around and told them that they were the ones who committed this crime against God and the punishment was Hell, they fell silent. Like Nathan the prophet told David, "You are that man!" And like David, they had no rebuttal.

Likewise, Mike and Matthew got into a similar situation with a Hindu kid who after intently listening for very long, realized the truth of the gospel, asking, "So this Jesus, he is like the scapegoat then?" Yes! Amen! These people who (by their own admission) had never heard the gospel before understood it! Praise God because this knowledge was not from them, but from God. Ben also, though he was a bit discouraged at first, had Linda there to hold him up. We need her there more often.

It doesn't matter if you're from Harvest Bible Chapel York Region, Summit, or any other church. Keep praying for us! I have no doubt that our gospel conversations today were direct results of your intervention. Pray for the two Middle Eastern brothers, the Hindu kid, for them to hide and contemplate no longer, but instead trust Christ immediately.

Christians, let us rejoice in the great work that WE (together as a body) have accomplished tonight! Hallelujah!

PS. If you weren't praying, sorry, maybe you can rejoice with us next time. ;)

Souls (9) {Total: 323}

C (Macedonian guys);
G (High school Hindu kid);
M (Muslim);
H, H (Muslim/Christian parents);
J, L (older couple);
D;
J

Team (6)

Tony, Ryan; Mike, Matthew; Ben, Linda

Very Encouraging

2013 Jul 9 (40)

Exhortation

It is TUESDAY, and we TESTIFY to the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Tuesdays at Markville Mall at 6:30PM. And we are always looking for more people to join us in person or in prayer.

I'm trying to walk a fine line between exhortation and encouragement, so please forgive me if I go too far. But let me ask you (addressing Christians) a series of questions today:
1. Do you believe in death? Everyone dies right?
2. Now, do you believe in a life after death, that there is actually either a Heaven or Hell that people are going to after they die physically?
3. Do you believe that without Jesus, sinful people (aka everyone) are going to Hell, this horrible, horrible place with weeping and eternal suffering of the highest magnitude?
4. Do you believe that God has chosen (primarily) to save people through humans like you and me sharing the gospel (which can look very different from person to person)?
5. How do your day to day actions reflect these beliefs? Do they? Are you fine with doing nothing while ***** goes to Hell? What do you need to do?

Think deeply on those questions... Then let the Spirit work in you, not to be moved by guilt, never by guilt... but by His love.

Testimony

Testimony time!

We had some good conversations last night, but I want to share about something else, about those who encouraged me.

Mike, your simply being there is very reassuring to all that I do. Ben, your encouragement last night truly and deeply blessed my soul. Ryan, your maturity sets a high example for many to follow. This is not a one-man show. We are a team, and you guys are dearer to me than you can know. Harvest Bible Chapel York Region, your prayers form a big part of what sustains this ministry too.

See, we bumped into some Godly women from Harvest at the mall who prayed for us on the spot. You know who you are. Thank you so much. :) And all the others who were with us in prayer, know that God is working as powerfully through you as He did through us last night. Know that without your prayers, I and the team would have collapsed a long time ago. Our fire is burning and people are getting saved through your participation!

Christian, please do not stop spreading the gospel. To many, that may look like fervent prayer on your knees. Do that! And don't stop. Because neither will we.

Souls (10) {Total: 314}

J (Catholic);
Macedonian guy;
R;
D;
F, S;
T;
M, M;
J

Team (4)

Tony, Mike; Ben, Ryan

Why So Tired?

2013 Jul 2 (39)

Exhortation

Today is Testify Tuesday once again at Markville mall! We learned about David and Goliath at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region this Sunday. What is the size of the "giant" in your life in comparison to the size of our God? We're talking about the God who created the world, defeated sin and death and has forgiven us time and time again. This is what we preach every Tuesday to those who are lost and without hope. Please pray for us as we share the good news...perhaps maybe you'll even join us! The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.

Testimony

This is the testimony for our witnessing tonight:

I was really tired today, I think Ben was too. I had no desire to go to the mall to evangelize. Even when I was there, I had no desire to talk to anyone. Even after talking to JP, I had no compassion for his soul. I'm ashamed to admit that I was just doing what I always did on Tuesdays. I'm very thankful to Mike for bringing the conversation to the gospel because I couldn't.

I feel like I've taken on too many roles and have too many responsibilities. I want to shrug off some but I can't, all of them are so important! Right now, I am just so tired... I don't feel like I can do much more... But I must! So yes, I was out tonight and the gospel got shared. Kudos to Ryan and Stephen tanking it once again; you should talk to them about their sweet conversations. Their zeal for the gospel is an encouragement to me. So are your prayers, oh how I covet your prayers!

Christians, please pray for perseverance for all members of the team. More than that, pray for the Spirit of God to give us strength daily. Most importantly, pray for people to come to know Christ as Lord and savior. It is for their eternity and the Father's glory that we toil night and day.

Yes, that is worthy of all my energy.

Souls (10) {Total: 304}

R;
4 students;
JP (Catholic motorcycle guy);
R;
G, H;
J

Team (5)

Tony, Mike; Ben; Ryan, Stephen

Low Hanging Fruit

2013 Jun 25 (38)

Exhortation

It's Testify Tuesday again. I hope every Christian reading this is testifying about Christ in their own unique way today. For a few of us, we are going to Markville Mall at 6:30PM to do just that. Join us if the Holy Spirit tells you to.

Those of you at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region last Sunday heard a bit about the shepherd heart of David. I pray often that God would give this heart to more people. I pray that more people would weep for the countless number of lost souls heading to Hell. I pray that God would send more laborers to this harvest field. I pray that these messages I put up every Tuesday do not fall on deaf ears.

Am I asking you to come out to the mall to evangelize to strangers, that you're not a good Christian if you don't? NO!!! Stop getting that idea! I am asking you to have a shepherd's heart for the lost, to have a gospel-centric lifestyle, to seek out ways to help, to pray for open doors for the gospel... I KNOW there's something only you can do. Do it!

And pray "also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel" (Eph 6:19), which is neither natural nor easy for me. Pray for that tonight.

Testimony

As usual, at the mall tonight for our weekly evangelism, we have many interesting stories to share, but we'll share one:

There was this group of two guys, one of whom had a best friend who died when he was a kid (hit by a car) and have since turned away from God. The other guy (let's call him Sam) just broke up with his girlfriend 3 weeks ago. He was obviously frustrated and angry, saying that she treated him like dirt even though he treated her like gold. We shared snippets of the gospel but could not get the whole thing out in one go. However, as we kept talking (and it was a very long conversation), he started opening up a bit more. I liked how Stephen kept pushing and digging deeper.

He started asking questions as we talked about sin and about how maybe he's been treating God like dirt while God has done nothing but love him. After some more time, Sam's friend got impatient and wanted to leave. But Sam wasn't done talking and wanted to stay! In fact, we exchanged contacts and he said he'll be here again next week on Tuesday.

As we parted, we told him that this was no coincidence, and he heartily agreed! We know the seed has been firmly planted and he seems so close! We've already sent a few text messages back and forth! Pray that we will see each other next week and be able to follow up with Sam. :)

The Holy Spirit moved powerfully tonight. Praise God!

PS. Props to Linda and Ryan for speaking to tons of people.

Souls (10) {Total: 294}

T; P, J, A, J;

F;

Guy;

K, S;

A (Christian)

Team (4)

Tony, Stephen; Linda, Ryan

So an Atheist and Agnostic Walks in...

2013 Jun 18 (37)

Exhortation

What do you do when you have prayer and evangelism going on at the same time? Which one is more important? Which one should you go to? My answer: Do both.

It's Testify Tuesday. Come to Markville Mall to evangelize at 6PM and come to Harvest Bible Chapel York Region to pray at 7PM.

God, do a mighty work tonight.

Testimony

Today was Testify Tuesday once again at Markville Mall. This week was much shorter since Harvest Bible Chapel York Region was having a prayer night, but we got out there and proclaimed Jesus to people. Today, we only had time for one conversation, but it ended up going so long that we were 40 minutes late for church prayer! I was joined by Ambrose Cato and Nathaniel Chow and Tony Chuang even joined us for a little bit. We spoke to two friends Myles(agnostic) and Cameron(atheist) and they were very talkative and open to talk about spiritual things. One of the guys said that he really liked all of the things that Jesus did and taught, but didn't see the relevance of having to believe in Him. We explained the fact that their sin had separated them from God and they needed a saviour. We went through the gospel, among other things, many times over and over. At the end of the day, we realize that we're not the ones who do the saving, but it's only the spirit of God that can regenerate the heart. Please continue praying for us and maybe even consider joining us :)

Souls (2) {Total: 284}

C, M (agnostic, atheist)

Team (4)

Mike, Ambrose, Nathaniel, Tony

Another Hectic Week

2013 Jun 11 (36)

Exhortation

It's Testify Tuesday once again Harvest Bible Chapel York Region. Please pray for us as we carry the good news to the poor once again at Markville Mall @ 6:30pm or even join us! We've been praying for the seed of the gospel to find good ground and for workers to go out into the harvest with us. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few" - Matt 9:37.

Testimony

Today we had Testify Tuesday again! Thanks for keeping up in prayer Harvest Bible Chapel York Region, we surely need them as we hit Markville mall to share the gospel. Ben and Ryan joined me this week. It's only Tuesday and we all agreed that our weeks had been hectic already, but just like Romans 10:14-15 says "How then, shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard. And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?". We must preach!

We had a really good conversation with these 3 friends (Tristan, William and Alvin) who were Catholic, yet believed in reincarnation. We explained that all have sinned and we went through some of the 10 commandments. Just like a criminal being sentenced by a judge would not get off for any good deeds done, they began to understand that they had offended the God of the universe. We shared the gospel and of the 3 guys, Tristan seemed the most responsive and asked a lot of questions! Although we don't know what they experienced, they heard the complete gospel and Ryan exchanged contacts with them to follow up. Please pray for these guys, especially that they would come to repentance and faith in Christ. Ben Sampson had some interesting conversations of his own that I'm sure he will share below! Please continue to pray that we would be faithful in sharing the gospel and that God would give us fruit that would remain.

-Mike

You are right Mike Fenty, the first guy I spoke with had never heard the true Gospel before. He agreed with me that there was good evidence for God's existence but thought that even if God did exist, he just had to be a nice guy - doing good things in order to go to Heaven. When I walked him through the Ten Commandments to demonstrate that he wasn't as nice as he thought, added to the fact that doing good things cannot cancel out bad things, he was visibly shaking in front of me (actually physically shaking). He kept saying how amazing the conversation was before we had even finished. Unfortunately, his family came and he needed to head out. But I know that he at least understood that he needed to repent and believe in Jesus in order to be saved. It is now in God's hands. The other conversations were a little rough :)
-Ben

Souls (11) {Total: 282}

T, W, A (brother Andre);
V;
The Zoroastrian family;
H;
A;
R (Christian);
N

Team (3)

Mike, Ben, Ryan

Lots of Rejection

2013 Jun 4 (35)

Exhortation

N/A

Testimony

Today was Testify Tuesday once again at Markville Mall! Thank you Harvest Bible Chapel York Region for constantly keeping us in prayer, we definitely needed that today. I was joined by Melinda, Ryan and Ambrose as we sought to glorify God through telling unbelievers about His great love for us. Throughout the month of May, we've been in prayer asking God to add to our team and this has been a prayer that has been continuously answered! Ambrose joined us for the first time this week!

I teamed up with Ambrose and we started a couple of conversations that were either shutdown prematurely or just went nowhere. We know that it is only through the working of the Holy Spirit on a sinners heart that one would ever come to Jesus, but sometimes it's easy to get discouraged. After praying that the Lord would lead us to someone who would be willing to hear the gospel, we were lead to two friends Alan and Riaz who were in their 30s. They were both Guyanese and just like all good west indians, they grew up with a lot of respect and a little bit of Christianity. It is amazing how the "light" goes on when someone realizes that they are not good enough and that they need a saviour. They asked a lot of questions near the end of the conversation, but had to leave early because one of their wives was ready to go. It was exciting to be able to plant the seed of the gospel in their lives. We may never know, this side of heaven, what that seed produces in their lives, but the gospel was preached!

Tonight was filled with a lot of rejection and possibly even fear of rejection, but our hope is not in ourselves and our abilities...it's in Christ. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." 1 John 4:18. When I think about what Christ has saved me from I rejoice in rejection, I rejoice in trials and I rejoice in the gospel. Friends, even when it seems like there's no hope, we have hope! Please continue to pray for us and perhaps even join us..we'll be there next Tuesday! "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives." - Proverbs 11:30.-Mike

Souls (7) {Total: 271}

M, S, V;
R, A;
A;
C

Team (4)

Mike, Melinda, Ryan, Ambrose

God Answered Our Prayer! Someone Got Saved!

2013 May 28 (34)

Exhortation

6:30PM, Markville Mall, Testify Tuesday. Be there or be praying. Please? We NEED your prayers.

I’d like all you Christians reading this to be praying for these two things:
1. At least one more team member (anyone is welcome to join us)
2. At least one person come to saving faith and discipled

This is the last Tuesday for May. God has already answered the first item. Now we are begging Him for the second. Know that when it happens, it will not be by coincidence or the power of man, but because my God is real and my God is powerful. Glory to my God, my Lord and savior Jesus Christ!

Pray with me, my family at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region and my family from afar.
-Tony

Testimony

God answers prayer! Both items have been answered! Someone trusted Christ as Lord and savior tonight!!!

Remember how for the month of May we asked God for two things, a team member and a saved person? Got gave us many new team members. Shout out to Ryan and Melinda, who encouraged Mike, Ben, and myself greatly. God also saved someone tonight! I ran into K, whom God brought to me. As I explained everything, he told me many times how "If you put it this way, it makes so much sense." I really focused on the fear of the Lord as I talked about the reality of death and the harshness of Hell. At one time, he told me, "Now you're just scaring me."

Hell is scary! But praise the Holy Spirit for opening his eyes to see everything so clearly for the first time and the desperate need for Christ to be saved. He kept saying, "My mind is just blown!" After we prayed together right there against the railing on the second story of Markville Mall, he said he felt this burden lifted off. Praise God!

Please, please keep praying for K. He got my contact information and said he'll be coming to church as well as promising me he'll read the gospel of John. I told him how real Satan is. So please, pray that Satan won't snatch him away, scorching him with the sun or choking him with the thorns (Matt 13:6-7). Pray that I can disciple him. It's no coincidence that we focused so much on prayer this month. Prayer IS where everything happens!

I'm reminded of all the fasting and praying we've been doing. You there, do you see this? Do you see God answering prayer? Did I not say that my God is real and powerful and mighty to save? Did I not say that He hears our cries? Did I not say that this WILL happen and that when it does, you should glorify God?

Well, this did happen! God did increase our team. God did save someone in the month of May, just as we prayed. Do you still doubt the faithfulness of God? Doubt no more Christian. Doubt no more atheist. My God IS real and very powerful. So glorify God! It's all Him! Believe in Him, and you WILL be saved (Acts 16:31).

-Tony

PS. Harvest Bible Chapel York Region, look forward to meeting a new brother this weekend. :)
PPS. Check out http://testifytuesday.blogspot.ca/, especially the month of May, for more testimonies.

Souls (11) {Total: 264}

E, G (E's gf, pastor's kid);
K;
J;
J;
K;
D;
M, T;
D;
K (salvation)

Team (5)

Tony; Ben, Melinda; Mike, Ryan

He Asked All the Right Questions!

2013 May 21 (33)

Exhortation

It is Testify Tuesday. That means at 6:30PM, a bunch of us will be sharing the gospel at Markville Mall.

I’d like all you Christians reading this to be praying for these two things:
1. At least one more team member (anyone is welcome to join us)
2. At least one person come to saving faith and discipled

We are praying for God to do something amazing this month of May. It’s going to happen. So watch, and pray. Pray to Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col 1:27). Pray that people won’t just have excellent days, but excellent eternities.

Seminarian attending Harvest Bible Chapel York Region,
-Tony

Testimony

You want to read this! We have an amazing testimony tonight sharing the gospel at the mall!

We approached this high school kid Mike to ask him what he thought the worst suffering he can imagine is. He mentioned depression, physical pain, and death. This led perfectly into a definition of Hell. After spending a few more minutes elaborating on Hell and assuring him of his status as a sinner with no hope, Melinda came in and shared about the hope in Jesus Christ, about justification by grace through faith (Eph 2:8). It was a perfect tag team's one-two punch!

Initially he seemed put off, but as we talked more, he became more and more engaged. When asked if he thought this was interesting, he said straightforwardly that he'd have left if it wasn't. He then asked really good questions like what the cross meant and who Jesus was, to which we gave a brief history lesson. He also asked how we came to be Christian, to which I shared my personal testimony. He even asked what it meant to pray and how we know God is talking to us! He asked many more pertinent questions, those that only genuinely interested people ask.

Near the end, he asked whether sufferings will cease once we believe, to which we shared the cost of discipleship, essentially telling him that even if he believed, life might even get harder as persecution comes. But this aroma of Christ was definitely a fragrance of life to him (cf. 2 Cor 2:15-16). It's so obvious that the Holy Spirit was working in him, tugging him to give his life to Christ.

We asked what was stopping him from entering into this saving relationship with God, to which he said "Nothing"! Though he wasn't comfortable praying with us then, he has our number and seems interested in either youth group or meeting up to discuss further. Pray for him to call me.

Christian, don't stop believing that God can use you in any encounter if you put yourself out there. Don't stop praying for our new friend to be saved, as he is so ready! Don't stop sharing the gospel for the harvest is oh so plentiful (Matt 9:37)!

-Tony, Ben, Mike, Melinda

Souls (6) {Total: 253}

Older couple;
E;
M;
C;
M

Team (4)

Tony, Melinda; Ben, Mike

God Brought More People

2013 May 14 (32)

Exhortation

Testify Tuesday, 6:30PM, Markville Mall. You know how I feel about evangelism. Please, pray with us. We got two requests that we hope God will answer this month:

1. At least one more team member
2. At least one person come to saving faith and discipled

Do you believe God hears and answers prayers? We do. Prayer is where things happen. Going out is but a mere byproduct of hours of prayer. We are tired of watching death rule this world. We refuse to idly sit by and do nothing! No, we shall preach life; we shall preach Christ. So pray with us.

Evangelist at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region,
-Tony

Testimony

Today, we had a team of 6. Praise God! He grew the team! These are the evangelist tonight: Mike, Ben, Linda, Timo, and Melinda. Though some came out for the first time, their boldness and obedience were really encouraging to me.

I will share one story: We talked to this girl Christine for a long time. She's a very kind person. She grew up in a Christian home and believed in this kind of new age spirituality. As we shared the prison analogy and how Christ came to save us, she was just agreeing with everything we said. She even elaborated on how painful it must have been for Him to have died on the cross. She agreed how punishment for sin has to be dealt and it has to be death.

We could have just prayed for her, but that wouldn't be sharing the gospel. She didn't believe in the blood of Christ as the sole propitiation for her sins and didn't see Him as Lord and savior. And she needed to... After a while, we finally shared enough for her to say this, "I respect you for your views, but I don't exactly see it like that." She rejected the gospel...

I experienced more joy in this rejection than I have in recent memory. I rejoiced because she finally understood what we were saying. She understood that what she believes and what we believe are vastly different. She understood that being a Christian isn't about doing good, it's about Christ and His cross. See, you can't reject something you don't know. If she rejected us, that means she now knows the gospel. The seed has taken root! Whatever it grows up to be is no longer my responsibility, it is God's. And for that, I rejoice. Because I know that there's no better hands to be in than the loving hands of my God (cf. 2 Sam 24:14).

Souls (15) {Total: 247}

M;
J;
T+3;
F, Miss H;
I, C, M;
3 ladies (mother and daughters);
A;
C

Team (6)

Tony, Timo; Ben, Linda; Mike, Melinda

Testing the Power of Prayer

2013 May 7 (31)

Exhortation

This Testify Tuesday, where we go out to Markville Mall to evangelize at 6:30PM, we are asking foremost for prayer.

For the next month, no more exhortation to go. No more pushing people out of their comfort zone through posts. Just simple prayer to an almighty God. In the next month, I am asking God for 2 things:

1. At least one more team member
2. At least one person come to saving faith and discipled

I know, small goals... But we are a small team. And I'm just a small guy whose heart cries for the lost. But my God is big, and He is faithful. And I know He will answer those prayers. Watch, watch and pray with me. Then in a month, rejoice with me.

Just a random guy from Harvest Bible Chapel York Region doing evangelism,
-Tony
— with Mike Fenty.

Testimony

Update: Ben and I were the only two people there tonight. And we were both tired. I'm still tired. We did have 4 good gospel conversations, though they walked away, we know we gave them something to think about. It's times like this that we can only pray and trust that God knows what He's doing. Because sometimes from our perspective, it can get discouraging...

Souls (7) {Total: 232}

C, N;
V & girlfriend;
B;
E, I

Team (2)

Tony, Ben

Discouraging...

2013 April 30 (30)

Exhortation

I think all of you see Testify Tuesday as a normal thing now. You might think: "Every Tuesday, a bunch of guys go to Markville Mall at 6:30PM to evangelize. Good for them." Hmm.

Harvest Bible Chapel York Region preached from Jonah 2-3 this weekend. Jonah evangelized at evil Nineveh, and they believed! "From the greatest of them to the least" (Jonah 3:5)! He got to witness one of the quickest massive revival in recorded history! What do you think of when you hear that? Do you think, "Oh, good for them"? Or do you cry out, "Lord I want a revival here too"? Do you sit around doing nothing about it or are you willing to act to make a difference, however small. Do you seek a revival? Then DO something! If I can do it at the mall, you can do it in your sphere of influence too! Arise, and go!

Christ-follower, I don't want to guilt anyone into coming out to evangelize with us. In fact, if guilt is the reason you're coming, I'd rather you stay home and work things out with God. I don't want you to feel guilty... But how can you exhort without creating guilt? *sighs*

I must sound like a broken record since every week it's the same exhortation. I'm sorry... But I will never stop. I will never EVER stop until the whole world knows of my beautiful savior and the global church mobilized to do just that! This is the goal of Testify Tuesday: To Testify to the lost the urgent need for Christ and to testify to the church the urgent need to evangelize.

Testimony

Desperation. The condition for many of us as we headed in, desperately hoping to see people saved, to have them run into the loving arms of Heaven and not the fiery depths of Hell. How are people not seeing the wrath awaiting them!?

Discouragement. That was how we felt after tonight as we spent so long talking to people who just brushed what we said right off.

Weakness. Knowing that our words fell on deaf ears and that no matter how eloquent we were or how many Bible verses we quoted, the Spirit was the one who has the power to save souls, not us.

God is the only one who has the power to save. It's always ever been only Him. It's good to be once again grounded in that truth during this "off week". Nevertheless, the lesson has its fair share of tears. Please pray for us.

The brave warriors: Mike Fenty, Ben Sampson, Dorothy Leung.

Souls (6) {Total: 225}

A;
A, N, A;
S;
White guy

Team (4)

Tony, Mike, Ben; Dorothy

Jackson's Last Week

2013 April 23 (29)

Exhortation

What is Testify Tuesday? Well, a group of us go to Markville Mall at 6:30PM every Tuesday to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with whomever will listen. Why do I? A better question is why don't you? Does scripture command it you ask? I'm glad you asked. :) Yes it does.

My church's (Harvest Bible Chapel York Region) sermon was on Jonah 1 this weekend. God told Jonah simply, "Arise, go" (v2). Even the ship captain told Jonah to "Arise, call out" (v6). Jesus told a dead girl, "Arise" and she rose (Mark 5:41). Even a dead little girl obeyed Christ! Do you? Awake, O sleeping Christian, and ARISE; let Christ shine on you (Eph 5:14)! Arise! And go! GO and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19)! Go to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)! Go!

But where Tony? To the mall? No, not to the mall. Do come if God is calling you to. But for most, I know it is not to the mall that you must first go. It is to prayer. It is to the word. It is to the cross. It is to His feet. It is to His life! Follower of Christ, we are all really going to the same place and that place is Jesus. Like Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). Arise... and go. — with Mike Fenty and Ben Sampson.

Testimony

A few of us were out sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the mall again last night! This was the last time I’ll be able to go for a while, since I’m moving away next week. It was great partnering in the Gospel with everyone who came last night, as well as everybody who’s been out over the last few months.

Some highlights from last night:
1. One lady who had gone through a lot of hard times in her life understood the Gospel and took a Bible to learn more. (It sounds like God had already been at work in her life far before us – but isn’t this always the case?).
2. Mike had a great chat over dinner with a guy who we’ve run into several times at the mall. It’s so neat to see longer-lasting relationships like this that we can continue week by week!

The last few months of sharing the Gospel at the mall have been a great encouragement to me, too. Going to the mall is certainly not the only way of telling others about Jesus… but for me, it’s been an amazing reminder to be bold in the relationships I’m a part of every day, as I have opportunity. I had gotten lax about this, but God says in His Word about Jesus, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” I’m praying that God would give me boldness as I move to a new place to be the light of Christ there, not just in actions, but also in words. — with Mike Fenty and 3 others.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151420236863354&set=pcb.10151420238613354&type=1&theater

Souls (8) {Total: 219}

3 Chinese guys;
T, L, D;
M;
J (sunglasses guy)

Team (5)

Tony, Mike, Jackson; Dorothy; Linda

A Barrage of Testimonies!

2013 April 16 (28)

Exhortation

Testify Tuesday. Markville Mall. 6:30PM. Preach Jesus. Come/Pray.

This weekend at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region I heard from Rom 8:9-11... I heard a sermon, like many before it. And now I'm going to the mall with a team of Christians to preach this same good news of Jesus Christ to others who need to hear it.

I want to be honest though. I'm tired. Right now I'm on my lunch break at work, and tonight I have a paper to write for seminary. I'm tired. A part of me just wants to go home, eat dinner, and not even do my paper...

I'm no superman. I don't always get excited about sharing the gospel. I'm no elite evangelist. I don't pray enough. I can't even share eloquently half the time. I'm just a guy honestly trying to do the things Christ tells me to do as best I can. I know many people coming tonight are like that too (ie. Mike, Ben). So no, I won't just go home and eat dinner, I WILL proclaim the gospel at the mall tonight. I have to, for people have to hear this gospel! This is life! And without it, all they'll have is death... eternal death (Matt 25:46). How CAN I keep quiet...?

So please, pray for us. We need it, I need it... Pray too for the people we'll soon encounter, they'll need it even more. And pray for yourself, for your own walk with Christ. Know that I'll be praying with you too.

Testimony

Mike’s
Today (at Testify Tuesday with Tony Chuang, Ben Sampson and others from Harvest Bible Chapel York Region), we proclaimed the gospel at Markville Mall again. Today I came in feeling very very very tired and a bit apprehensive. Staying at home would have been the easiest thing to do. Today Jackson and I were partners and the first two conversations appeared as though they were flops and we may never know what the outcome of them will be, but the gospel was proclaimed. We planted, others may water, but it is God that gives the increase. There's a huge group of older Macedonian guys and their wives that meet every single day at the mall to hang out. We had always wanted to approach them, but were scared. Well, today was that day! It went really well and opened the door for future conversations. There are there every week...no, actually they're there every day! Anyways, Psalm 28 says "the joy of the Lord is my strength and my shield" and that was so true of us when we concluded tonight. Praise God for more opportunities!

Linda’s
Amazed and humbled truely, by what God did at Markville Mall today at Testify/ evangelism Tuesday.
Dorothy and I had the opportunity to engage in two conversations.
The first, we talked to a group of three who vaguely knew about heaven and hell, but categorized it as just another "experience". We did walk away encouraged that after sharing the gospel and asking about prayer requests we were able to pray with them.
Our second conversation,was with an individual who says he is a Christian. We wanted to "toil the soil" to reach a deeper understanding of where he stood and weren't quite sure, yet again walked away encouraged that we could pray for him. We invited him to come check out Harvest. Let's pray that he does! God is good and truely the joy of the LORD is our strength!!! — with Mike Fenty and 4 others.

Dorothy’s
Was reading a book by Mark Cahill on the subway on the way to work this morning and felt convicted by this question: Would you deal with your laziness problem for the love of money when you won't deal with it for the love of God? Too often I pass up opportunities for God to be glorified simply because I didn't feel like it. Yet for things like work or school I will manage to get myself going despite how I'm feeling.

Another great Testify Tuesday evening with Harvest Bible Chapel York Region peeps, Tony, Mike, Ben, Jackson, and Linda. Teaming up with Linda, I met a group of friends Keanna, Brendan, and Sabrina, who were really courteous and patient, and were open to hearing us out. Though they didn't express interest in considering the gospel in the end, Keanna nevertheless asked for prayer for her grandmother, who was recently in a serious accident.

We next met Mark, with whom we also had a generally pleasant conversation. His responses were rather vague, though he was genuinely interested in the dialogue, and was interested in visiting Harvest sometime. He told us that he has been a Christian for a little over a year. Though we don't know where exactly he's at in his relationship with Jesus, we trust that God will use this encounter to spur Mark further towards Himself.

Glory be to God. Even when we present ourselves to him with unworthy hearts, He still uses it towards the up-bringing of His Kingdom. What undeserved grace! Praying that He will continue to break us out of our complacency and turn our concrete hearts to softened ones, that we would hurt for those who have yet to know the peace of God that transcends understanding.

Ben’s
Yesterday evening, with friends from Testify Tuesday at Markville Mall; I verbally communicated the good news of Jesus Christ to complete strangers. Up until now, I have been somewhat reluctant to talk about what God has been doing with and through us on Tuesday nights, especially on Facebook, though it has been going on for some 6 months. (Perhaps I am afraid of what you, the cyber friend, think of God or me and my motives concerning God.) Friends, the good news is that Jesus Christ took the punishment we deserve for sin and now we, everyday people, must repent and believe in him in order to be saved. Jesus died for our sins, He rose from the dead, and He will return to judge us. This is something I believe, and I daresay that when I surrendered my life to Christ; He has changed every aspect of who I am, and who I am becoming. I praise God for the friends he has put in my life to help me obey this command - make disciples of all nations, including Canada! (Matt 28:19-20) My Christian readers.. will you join me on Tuesday? Will you pray for me today? Will you submit to God's word? I have only just begun to realize who I am in Christ when I obey him... will you begin to do this in your life and join me???!!! I need your help...! - with Tony Chuang, Mike Fenty, Jackson Tsuji, Hope Linda, Dorothy Leung.

Jackson’s
Last night was another evening of sharing the Gospel at the Mall! Mike Fenty and I paired up last night, and we talked with a few groups of people about the life-changing Good News of Jesus Christ. We did not see much “fruit” from most of our conversations, unfortunately. (But who knows what God will do?) Even so… we’ve got to keep proclaiming this Good News and not stop! The Bible says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV). It’s only by the Gospel that we can be saved – that Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died to pay for our sins (thoughts/actions that are displeasing to God) so that we could be forgiven and not face the eternal punishment that we deserve. That’s some amazing news (how will you respond to it?), and it ought to change those who have received it. I’m not saying you have to share this message at a mall with us, but if you’re saved, is the Good News of what God has done in you flowing out of your life? It’s a great check for me as well.

I was so convicted last night that I need more boldness in sharing this message. I struggle, and even struggled last night, with speaking the whole truth about the Gospel and speaking it plainly, because I’m afraid of what people will think of me. BUT praise God that He is the one who gives us boldness and the words to speak (Ephesians 6:19-20)… I can trust in Him that He will keep growing me in this area.

Thanks to everyone who came out (Mike, Dorothy, Ben, Hope, Tony). Because of what Christ has done, let’s keep praying that God will transform us to be people who live out each and every day for His Glory. — with Mike Fenty and 4 others.

Tony’s
You’ve heard testimonies about Testify Tuesday from Mike, Linda, Dorothy, Ben, and Jackson. I asked all of them to write individual testimonies because last night was different. We had many interesting conversations. This one guy Sam wanted to leave about 4 times during the conversation but somehow we kept talking to him for a while. He said he was Christian because he went to church, naturally I had to quote Matt 7:22 to him. At the end, Ben somehow convinced him that he needed to be born again (John 3:3). But sadly, like Nicodemus, he just walked away... :(

The thing is, we should be discouraged. We should be disappointed and tired because honestly, the conversations weren't “fruitful”. But we weren't depressed. Instead we experienced more joy this time than we ever have! We joked with each other. We walked away from conversations knowing that though they didn't respond well, the full gospel has been unashamedly proclaimed, without adulterating an ounce of truth. Oh just imagining how these seeds will take root excites me. And we were filled with such joy, such overflowing joy!

It was the joy of knowing we did exactly what God told us to do. The joy of the Lord supernaturally filled every one of us as we shared the Word with each other and prayed fervently in the Spirit at the end. Team, we were wrong, there was fruit! The fruit was the work done in our own souls! I praise the Father for all five of you and for countless others who were praying. You truly make my joy complete and I wouldn't be able to keep evangelizing without you. The fruit is you too, the one reading. Brother, be encouraged. Sister, be edified. Family, be exhorted to work for Christ and so experience His extraordinary joy! :D

Souls (19) {Total: 211}

M (gay guy);
H (good life personal trainer);
P, T, T, J, S (5 teenagers);
S (Adventist);
M and Macedonian crew (7 people);
S, K, B (prayed for them);
M (self-proclaimed Christian)

Team (6)

Tony, Ben; Mike, Jackson; Linda, Dorothy

More Adventure

2013 April 9 (27)

Exhortation

Testify Tuesday is here! Join us in the work of evangelism at Markville Mall tonight at 6:30PM.

If you're a Christian, then you hear sermons at church week after week. The question is, what do you do with those sermons? Do you actually try to live them out? Those of you at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region heard how Rom 8:4 says we "walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Let's try to apply it now:

Evangelizing. Does that seem more like what the flesh would do or what the Spirit would do? Playing games, flesh or Spirit? Praying, flesh or Spirit? Spending hours on the internet, flesh or spirit? Working for God, flesh or Spirit? Watching TV, flesh or Spirit?

I know many have busy lives serving family, discipling children, etc. Praise God for those opportunities. Keep doing them! It's not always about evangelism. But if you call yourself Christian, ask yourself this: are you doing anything tonight that is of the flesh? If so, don't. Walk according to the Spirit instead! It's not an abstract concept; it's not optional either! Do it!

Testimony

Man, tonight was a pretty adventurous night sharing the gospel! There's nothing like working for God. :D

We started with three antagonistic kids (who ended up listening anyway) and moved on to a group of Hindus who believed in the reincarnation. Praise God that at the end, it seemed they heard what we were saying and at least know for sure that sinners don't "maybe" or "possibly" go to Hell, they "definitely" go to Hell. Pray that our "parting gift" would cause them to come to us when they are ready to repent.

Ben and I then talked to these two Jehovah's Witnesses. Apparently it's the first time in their lives that anyone approached them to share the gospel with them. First time? Man, what have we Christians been doing!? We truly need more laborers in the harvest field... Anyway, we had a very civil discussion on how we disagree with each other. At the end we got each other's contact information and I know this is one follow-up that will happen, should we choose it.

As an added bonus, Jackson and Linda spoke to John the sunglasses guy from last week again. We've talked to him for three weeks in a row now, and to see his change is just amazing. God is working in him! He might even come to church this weekend! Pray that he does!

Souls (13) {Total: 192}

A, J, R;
J, D, P, D, R (Hindus with birthday guy);
W, D (Jehovah’s Witness);
B, J;
J (sunglasses guy)

Team (4)

Tony, Ben; Jackson, Linda

Cool Conversations

2013 April 2 (26)

Exhortation

Testify Tuesday, 6:30PM, Markville Mall (or wherever you are).

If you were at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region this weekend, you heard this simple truth from 1 Cor 15:20 "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead."

HE. IS. ALIVE.

If that's not enough to passionately move you, I have no more to say to you.

Testimony

Short stories from last night:

Linda and I started off talking to this couple. But the woman had this intense stronghold in her heart. She told her husband to stop saying anything and from that point on they wouldn't even open their mouths. It was really sad to watch... Praise God that after Dorothy joined us, we had a good, long conversation with this couple. We then ran into Dorothy's old friend. I might have made the encounter awkward... But that's what Testify Tuesday's all about: having awkward gospel conversations that people don't want to have. I'm glad Dorothy and Linda were there to smooth things out.

Mike and Samantha started talking to this guy who works in the sunglasses booth. Praise God for Sam the initiator. ;) He was genuinely interested. He wanted to know how to have assurance, where to start in the Bible, and had many other good questions. At the end, Mike got his number and they semi-planned to meet up to go through the Bible! Pray for that to actually happen!

Ben and Jackson talked to these two Muslim guys for what must have been two hours, getting into really good conversation. Who cares about being punctual right? As long as we're having gospel conversation, we should go for as long as we can... Right guys?

Souls (11) {Total: 179}

A, W, J, A;
Asian girl (works at mall);
S, A;
A (Dorothy’s friend);
J (sunglasses guy);
O, A

Team (7)

Tony, Linda, Dorothy; Mike, Sam; Ben, Jackson

A Big Team Again

2013 March 26 (25)

Exhortation

It's Testify Tuesday. Come out to Markville Mall at 6:30PM to evangelize with us. Text me if you are coming. More importantly, pray for us. You ARE participating when you pray. In fact, I would rather someone dedicate this time to prayer than to physically come out.

My family, my brothers and sisters, especially those at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region, Ephesians 2:10 tells us that there are good works "God prepared beforehand" for us to do. What are those works for you?

I'm tired of urging people to evangelize more. I'm tired of begging people to see Hell for what it really is. Church of Jesus Christ, wake up! Arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you! Millions are dying every day. Our very friends and loved ones are happily running into eternal damnation. What "work" are you doing to stop that? Btw, if you're one of them, please turn around and save your soul, trust in Christ. He is real, He is faithful, I know it.

Not everyone is an evangelist, I understand that. But if you're a Christian, you're called to do God's work. Not only so, if you're a Christian, Eph 2:10 says that God has ALREADY prepared work for you to do. If you have no God-given work, what does that say about your faith? My work is at the mall. What is yours?

Prayer, hospitality, teaching, giving, cleaning... There are many types of work, many types of gifts, but one Lord. Work for the Lord Jesus Christ using what He has given you. Ask Him in the Spirit what it is! It is a labor-intensive work, sometimes filled with pain, but oh is it ever joyful. Therefore my brothers and sisters, I want to urge you in love, work for God.

Testimony

Well, last night was our weekly adventure of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ at Markville Mall! It was so encouraging to see so many people come out and to even see several people we knew at the mall who prayed for us... this is only my third time out, but I can already see God building up this ministry. It's so not about the messengers, but just about willing people excited about what Jesus has done in their lives and ready to be used by God to tell others. (Of course, evangelism at the mall isn't the only way to do this, but this is what God has put on our hearts for the time being.)

It sounds like there were many conversations last night. Praise God for that, especially given how close we are to Easter, when the whole story of the Gospel reached its climax some 2000 years ago. I can testify to one conversation that Sam and I had where God seemed to be at work. A guy we talked to for a bit under an hour moved from open skepticism about Christianity to hostility before suddenly becoming much more open to talk about the God of the universe. We were shocked that wanted a Bible at the end (thankfully we had one) and even wanted to know where to start reading! We don't know for sure what he's going to do with it, but we can certainly be praying that he'll read that Bible and come to the repentance and forgiveness of sins that God offers me, you, him, all of us through His Son Jesus. Do you know this Good News? This is the true story of Easter - that God "made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21b ESV).

Again, thanks so much to everyone who came out! It was great praying with and standing alongside you all in the Gospel - Andrea, Carmelina, Josh, Sam, Mike, Ben, and Tony. Thanks for everyone who prayed as well; your prayers make a huge difference for this ministry! Let's keep praying for God to do a great work in this place for His Glory.

Souls (15) {Total: 168}

M, L;
A (Russian kid);
J, A (high school girls);
D (Christian);
J, J;
A, M;
Y, E;
T;
J (sunglasses guy);
J

Team (8)

Tony, Josh; Mike, Carmelina; Ben, Andrea; Jackson, Samantha

First Picture

2013 March 19 (24)

Exhortation

Testify Tuesday is now at 6:30PM instead of 6:00PM. I know, this changes everything! Whether by prayer or by being there, I look forward to partnering with many of you in sharing the gospel at Markville Mall tonight.

Each week I take the passage preached on at church (which for me is Harvest Bible Chapel York Region) and uses that to encourage people to actually practice what they're learning. For me, the practice often comes in the form of evangelism, which is sharing the gospel with myself so much that I can't help but let it overflow to sharing with others. I do wish everyone would come out with me! But alas, that's not how Christ established the church. Nevertheless, I pray that at least some are encouraged by what we do weekly and by this message.

This week's sermon contains Eph 2:8 - "For by grace you have been saved through faith..." This grace that revived us from death to life. This grace that loved us when we were enemies. This grace that is completely undeserved. This grace that saved us from everlasting torment. This grace that caused the Lord Jesus Christ to face the full wrath of God as He died alone on that cross... for me, for you... This wonderful, beautiful, amazing grace.... I don't just believe it, I know it's active in my life even now! Can you feel it too? So preach this grace to yourself today. And let it overflow into change and action, whatever it may be. How can it not!?

Perhaps you've never felt this grace in your life before. You can... today. :D

Testimony

At Markville tonight, we talked to so many people. Some conversations were more than an hour and some less than 3 minutes. God keeps growing the team and blessing our conversations. It's sometimes hard going out because you don't always "feel it". But I've been blessed each time. More than that, we are bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to all these people! Any amount of labor is worthwhile as long as the gospel is preached. But the laborers are still few, so please pray for more laborers for the harvest field.

Ask any of us if we want to hear testimonies because we have many, too many to share here. ;) Praise God for the marvelous team full of people with beautiful feet. Mike, Ben, Andrea, Dorothy, Jackson, Jacqueline, I look forward to partnering with you more in the days to come. We have a picture this week!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151335146643202&set=a.10151100742103202.433888.503748201&type=1&theater

Souls (16) {Total: 153}

F, T, T, J;
S, A;
M, M;
B; S, C;
K;
4 different girls

Team (7)

Tony, Jackson; Ben; Mike, Andrea; Dorothy; Jacqueline

First On the Spot Convert!

2013 March 12 (23)

Exhortation

Testify Tuesday is here again. Join us in person or in prayer. We'll be at Markville Mall from 6PM to 7:30PM sharing the gospel. Why you ask? Well...

Rom 7:24 says, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" I am wretched. I try to do good things but I fail horribly so often. Those of you at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region know more deeply what this is like. There is nothing good in my body. But yet God has put His Spirit in me and Christ has saved me by His blood. Me! A wretched man! Obviously God sees something in me that even I have trouble seeing, or more likely He just loves me that much. I will not disappoint Him.

This is why I share the gospel. And this is how we do it: we use the law to reveal sin, then we point them to Christ. Then the Father won't see our wretchedness anymore! Instead He'll see Christ, as will we.

Testimony

God always does great things for those doing His will. Tonight: We got to witness SALVATION!!!

There were these two teenage boys eating Taco Bell. Turns out one of them is a Christian. Jackson, Dorothy, and I sat down with them and started sharing the gospel, going through their sinful state in full detail. When we asked the non-Christian Ryan where he'd go if he died, he responded with a solemn look, "I'll probably go to Hell."

Then we shared what Jesus died for and how we can receive this gift. He plainly said that he wanted it! We asked, "So you're saying you want to be Christian?" He said yes! We then spent the next 10 minutes trying to scare him away. We shared how he has to repent and stop doing some things, how following Jesus sometimes mean suffering, and how personally, it led to rejection within my own family.

We asked if, even after understanding the costs, he still wanted to follow Christ. When he still said yes, we were ecstatic (but trying hard to hide it). We prayed with him right there in the food court for him to enter into this new saving relationship with God! We made sure to say after that he will know the reality of what he did today by the fruit he sees 5 years down the road.

I want to rejoice, I want to scream that we now have a new brother in Christ. And I can! And I'm happy! But ultimately, like every follower of Christ, we will know them by their fruit. That's why I pray that God will cause him to bear fruit, that he'll be discipled into a man of God and not choked by the thorns of this world. Pray for him.

Despite all that, I'm still incredibly blessed to have been a part of this. You can be a part of this too! All you have to do is put yourself out there, God will do the rest. For those who prayed, you were a part of this! God bless you! There are few joys greater than knowing you were part of God's plan to bring someone to salvation. So rejoice with me church, again I say, rejoice!

PS. Mike and Hope Linda talked to this group of 12 teenagers. It looked intense. Next step for them: open air.

Souls (19) {Total: 137}

S, A (salvation later through Kevin), S;
Group of 12 teens;
M;
T;
R, D (R believed, D was Christian)

Team (5)

Tony, Jackson, Dorothy; Mike, Linda

And then He Comes to Church!?

2013 March 5 (22)

Exhortation

On this Testify Tuesday, we will only be evangelizing at Markville Mall from 6:00PM to 6:45PM so that we can pray with our church family at 7PM. It's gonna be short and sweet tonight.

Those at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region heard from Rom 7. Rom 7:4 says that we have died to the law "in order that we may bear fruit for God." Let's not go out because the law demands, since it doesn't. Let's go out because we want to bear fruit for He who died for us! So let's bear fruit brothers and sisters, a hundred or even a thousand times more!

Grow in holiness, pray, evangelize, whatever you do, don't stop bearing fruit.

Testimony

‎Harvest Bible Chapel York Region: On Tuesday, a couple of us went out to Markville to share our faith. We got into a couple interesting conversations. I spoke to a young man named Mikael. He invited me to take a seat, since I was standing when I started talking to him, which is a rare thing. Most people are just waiting for you to leave! It turned out that he was a very spiritual guy and interested in learning more about the gospel and what Christ had done for us. Truth be told, he was also interested in many other religions, but he said that our discussion cleared up some misconceptions about Christianity that he had. After realizing I was late for church wide prayer, I told him that I had to leave. He expressed interest in possibly talking about these things again so I gave him a Harvest Bible Chapel card and put my number on it since I didn't have any paper. As soon as he saw the card he exclaimed that he knew Curtis. He also told me that he was planning on attending the new believers classes that started just recently. It turns out that Curtis had previously shared the good news with him. I would not pronounce him a Christian, but I feel that God is drawing Him unto Himself. I always wonder if the people that I share the gospel with ever hear it again, or if they ever surrender their lives to Christ. Remember, it's not anything that we do that saves people, but like Paul said in 1 Corinthians "...God gave the increase"!

Souls (4) {Total: 118}

D;
M (knows Curtis, later goes to new believer’s class);
K, woman

Team (5)

Mike, Kevin; Ben, Tony, Curtis

Breaking a Hundred

2013 February 26 (21)

Exhortation

It's Testify Tuesday! Wooooo!!! That means evangelism at Markville Mall at 6PM. Who's excited? I'm excited. Let's go, let's go!

Those of you at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region heard from Philippians 2. Verse 10-11 says that one day "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

That day is coming. It is so close. Are you ready for it? Are your friends, coworkers, and neighbors ready for it? This is why I'm sharing the gospel tonight, to make sure the uncommon community I have in my church family can encompass more people. Brothers, sisters, what we have is so unique. We have Christ! Let's not keep it to ourselves.

Please, if there is "any affection and sympathy", look to the interests of these people as well. I'm going to Markville to do just that, as well as a few others. Will you come? Or will you pray? Will you live for that day? Will you live for God?

Family, let's do this together, for His glory! — with Mike Fenty.

Testimony

Tonight during evangelism, we talked to so many people. Also, we finally broke a hundred! That's more than one hundred people who had the gospel shared with them in a personal encounter, in less than 5 months! Some find an excuse to leave before they hear the whole thing, but... Most hear about their status as a sinner and the righteousness of God in Christ.

More than that, we had all these people come out. I feel very blessed to have Ben, Samantha, Jacqueline, Agnes, and Dorothy. Seeing God grow the team and put His fire in so many people is what evangelism is all about! I can't stress how you guys encourage me by just being there. And the prayer warriors out there, I thank my God for you too. You're the reason we had the good conversation with the Muslim guys, and those atheists, and the blind guy with the Mohawk. God's listening! So keep praying!

Evangelism isn't just about winning souls. It's about making disciples. It's about building up the church. And that's what we're doing every Tuesday.

Souls (14) {Total: 114}

Brown guy;
Z, S, A (girl goes to Harvest);
M, P;
S; M;
S; M; S;
Couple;
Blind guy

Team (6)

Tony, Samantha, Agnes, Dorothy; Ben, Jacqueline

Spreading the Seed

2013 February 19 (20)

Exhortation

Evangelism on Testify Tuesday! 6PM at Markville Mall. Join us, or pray.

Those of you at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region heard Pastor Paul preach about being a slave to righteousness or a slave to sin. What activities capture your attention? Is God at the top of our list of priorities? So many times in my life the answer would be no. We must remember that we've all fallen short of God's glory, as it says in Romans 3. Even our good deeds are considered as filth. We heard this week "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord". Let us rejoice that we are no longer under the law, but under grace. That grace is not cheap for it was purchased by the blood of the lamb! Let's please God with our faith (Hebrews 11:6) and testify to the world about His goodness in our lives. "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14-15)...

Testimony

Praise God for the opportunities that he's provided for us to share the good news! Tonight Ben and I had Samantha, Jacqueline and Hope Linda join us! Thank you all for your prayers...we had a lot of opportunities to spread seed tonight and we can only pray that it fell on good ground. After all, the bible says that Paul planted, apollos watered, but it was God who has and always will give the increase!

Souls (5) {Total: 100}

L;
R, S(Guyanese couple);
J (Christian);
C

Team (5)

Mike, Ben, Samantha, Jacqueline, Linda