Steps to Life's Bible Worker Shares Some Recent Experiences

Over the weeks there are so many blessings and experiences that it can be hard to recall each of them. But one that stands out to me is a recent afternoon when a young man came to the table we have in Melbourne CBD. I thought that I had spoken to him a few times in the past but after a while some of the faces can blend in a bit.

The young man started asking me questions about The Great Controversy. As he continued asking questions they became quite in depth and as yet I had not mentioned Ellen White by name.

Unfortunately, he became quite aggressive and accusing us of not being Christian and attacking other religions, etc. He was standing his ground and wasn’t going anywhere.

This quickly became quite a problem, and I actually asked him to leave as we weren’t there to debate or to argue about religion but to bring people to know who God is and to give people books.

He still wasn’t going to calm down and asking him to leave only encouraged him to want to cause more commotion.

While this was all happening in front of us both Francis (who I do Bible Work in the city.) and I are always praying silently for God to help in time of need.

As we were praying a man came over who was interested in our books but was being told by the young man that we were not preaching the truth and that we hated Catholics, plus more, and that he was Catholic. The young man would have been hanging around our table for around 45 minutes. Eventually the young man and the other person moved about 20 metres away and they spoke for quite a while. As soon as they moved away Francis and I had a prayer together and continued with handing out books without distractions.

Well, I was pleased to see the man that had left with the young man come back to our table after some time and spoke with us and also took a number of our books. He said he could see this young person was a problem and especially took him away from the table.

Sometimes these experiences are good for us to see God working things out for us. This man was Catholic and would have heard all sorts of information that day, but God used him to answer our prayers and to give him the truth at the same time. God is so good and even with distractions like this one, He always enables us to give just as many books out each week.

Through the winter months the weather in the Melbourne CBD has been extremely cold this year and there has been a lot of rain forecast for the days we have been in the city. God has been so good with the exception of one day, He has always kept the rain aside until we are due to pack up. On that one rainy day we went to Flinders Street Railway Station for shelter and to hand out our books.

I would like to tell about another experience of sharing books that was not in the city.

At the beginning of August, I travelled to Bali, Indonesia, to attend a beautiful wedding and spend time with my family for a week. I wanted to take some religious books with me but if you travel like me, you usually run out of room for books very quickly.

While in Bali I had been told to always be very careful not to ever drink the water, not even brush your teeth in the water and be very careful where you eat and what you eat.

On a Friday afternoon we had an early dinner at a vegan café before Sabbath. Several of the guests from the wedding had eaten at this place several times so we thought we would be okay. During Friday night I found out I wasn’t okay and didn’t feel too good. By Sabbath I was very sick but thought I would get better during the day or at least hope to as our flight was at 11.00 pm that night. I continued to get worse and worse and had to call the doctor. The doctor said I wasn’t well enough to travel that night and put me on IV fluids.

Whilst still in bed I remembered that I still hadn’t given out the few books that I had taken with me. I had thought it wouldn’t be that hard to give out a few books, but most people couldn’t speak English very well, let alone read it. The Holy Spirit was saying to me to remember those books!

So, I asked Stuart, my husband, if he could find a copy of The Great Controversy and Desire of Ages. He found them and put them on the bed. Before the doctors left I asked them if they would like a couple of books I highly recommended. They asked what the books were about, and I said they are Christian books. One of the doctors quickly said, 'I am a Christian', and took the books. You can tell when someone values the books as they hold them tightly which is what this person did, and then went on to thank us over and over again for them.

We were left in awe of God's amazing power in setting up this appointment by my illness, so we could share some message books.

Indonesia is a mostly Hindu and partly Islamic country. In Bali there is only one church and it’s a home church, so finding a Christian to give books to I think was like finding a needle in a haystack. But with God's help we found the doctor who was that needle!

Please continue to pray for the book ministry God impresses me to carry out.

God bless.

Hayley Phillips.

If you would like to help Steps to Life fund Hayley's Bible Worker Ministry, please contact Cherryl Martens on 03 9739 4093.