Catching Up with Hayley in the City of Melbourne in the Wet and Windy Winter

Hayley says - It has been a while since I have sent a report in so I will begin in letting you know what I have been doing in the last couple of months.

Even though it is winter, I have still been going into the City of Melbourne most weeks, weather permitting, and still handing out books. I am now doing this independently and have moved locations to Flinders Street which is right near the main train station in the City.

To start with the thought of going solo in the City seemed quite challenging, mainly due to my health limitations which don’t allow me to carry heavy weights. To start with I didn't know how I was going to manage taking enough books to the city and a collapsable table to display them on.

As you may have seen in the past, I use to take a trolley cart in but there were three challenges with this. Challenge number 1 was that its design was making it difficult to manoeuvre over bumps. Challenge number 2 was that it was awkward to manoeuvre and challenge number 3 was that did not carry enough books to last for the day.

I have been looking into storage space in the city for books which would definitely make things a lot easier but then the cost was an issue and moving a large amount of books from the storage to my City location would be difficult also.

So prayerfully I started to research other alternative trolleys. After trying to order different trolleys and then when they would not work as I needed them to, having our money refunded the following day was getting quite disheartening. But my husband Stuart and I persevered and have finally found a trolley that works, I tried it this week, and it was great! God answered our prayers for a suitable trolley.

Even with all the challenges of going into Melbourne on the train each week God has blessed me with something that works well for what I am trying to achieve. I now have a trolley that is easy to transport on the train, light and able to carry a table plus all the books I need for the day!

God is always at work preparing the hearts and minds of people all around us. One of the most amazing things that I hear people say while I am handing out literature, is how they had been led into the City that day, but they didn't know why and now they understand as they have just received a book or books.

Another thing that brings great joy to my heart is every time, when a child comes straight up to the book they want, and the parents try to get them to take other books, the child insists that they want the particular book they have selected. God impresses children on their selections, too.

I get a lot of people from different faiths ask me about what I am doing in the City and why I am handing out literature. I have seen over the last couple of years other groups starting to do the same or a similar activity. I can't stop thinking how amazing it would be if we had people on every City of Melbourne, central business district corner every day of the week, there is so much that is being done but so much that could be done.

I fell blessed to be able to continue this work and reach as many people as I can for God.

So, a big THANK YOU for your prayers and support. Without you we could not continue. Please pray for each and every book that it may go into the hands of someone that will read it and with the Holy Spirit make a decision to follow Jesus and claim salvation for themselves.

God bless,

Hayley Phillips.

Please keep Hayley in your prayers.

If you would like to donate to support the purchase of the books that Hayley hands out weekly, please phone Steps to Life on 03 9739 4093 or on 0411 481 930.