Battle Log
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Friday, 12 November, 2010
Tonight was very busy at the Gold Coast. There were no special events on; there were just lots of people about. The team met together at 8pm, spent a bit of time fellowshipping and then we prayed. The two council local law compliance officers that were on duty came up to us and said “Hello”. They then asked us where we would be preaching tonight. We said we’d go in the middle of the Mall where we were last week. They responded, “Ah it will be quiet night for us tonight then. We’ll have to try find some other people to fine then.” Then they walked away.
We moved to the preaching spot and I stood up to preach first. I spoke about goals – how some people have it their primary focus in life to get that next promotion, that next car, that next house. Others focus on finishing that university degree, or completing school. Many people all that they do is focus on things that do not have eternal value. They neglect to think about things that really matter – such as where they will go when they die. I then went on to speaking about the judgment that is to come, and the fact that our sin makes all of us deserving of eternal condemnation in Hell. But that then lead itself into the cross, how Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. But to receive this forgiveness, a person must repent and believe the gospel.
There were a few hecklers that asked a number of questions. Such as, “What is wrong with sex outside of marriage, I thought it was for procreation?” and “Why are there different religions?” I responded to these questions and a decent-sized crowd began to form. I was also able to bring a few people through the good person test.
After I got down from the soap box, John got up and faithfully preached for about an hour. During this time, the rest of team were handing out gospel tracts all around the area. At one stage, the council local law officers came to where we were and sat down to have a drink at the restaurant nearby. They were watching what we were doing. We were wondering whether they would come up and fine us for handing out gospel tracts, for we were not doing that on private property. But they didn’t do anything. Praise God!
As the night rolled on, Cavill Mall just seemed to die. It was no longer bustling as it was earlier in the evening. So we decided to move down the bottom of the mall to continue to hand out tracts for the last 20 minutes of the outreach where there were more people.
Once in the new area, I handed out some tracts to a group of young blokes and started up a conversation with them. These guys seemed not to care about the fact that they deserve eternal torment. The loudest of the group had many things to say, and I was able to respond to the questions he had. This conversation lasted about 20 minutes, and I made sure to point the guys to Christ for forgiveness of their sins.
At this point, we came around as a group again and I closed the night in prayer. However, Trevor and Des were still chatting to a young man. While I was praying, one of the blokes I was chatting to came over and listened in as we were praying, occasionally mocking. At the conclusion of the prayer, Rick and Glenda continued to witness to the man for about 20 more minutes, while I was able to speak one on one with another person in the group I had been chatting to. He had a number of questions such as, “If we are all from Adam & Eve, how are there people with different skin colour today?”
After all this, most of the team departed for home. However, Trevor stayed on chatting to the same man he had been talking to, and then another that joined in, till 2am in the morning. The man was suicidal and so Trevor was able to calm him down and point him to Christ for forgiveness of his sins.
To God be the glory!
Friday, 5 November, 2010
Most of the team tonight were running a little bit late tonight. But soon after we arrived, the two Gold Coast City Council local law officers that were on duty tonight came up to us. They were friendly and offered us the suggestion to preach on private property near the centre of the mall and they said they wouldn't touch us then. We thanked them for the suggestion, and after praying together, we moved to that spot.
One problem with that spot is that it is very close to where noisy buskers are. But thankfully tonight, there were no buskers around there at all. Praise God! We used the spot because it is a good place to do it, not because it is in reality illegal to do it elsewhere. Plus it saves the hassle of having to deal with council fining us.
Blake was the first man to get up and preach. After about half an hour, the two Council officers returned and said to me that the team cannot hand out tracts on public land, that must be done on private property too. I asked them, "Do you consider these gospel tracts to be business literature?" One responded with, "It is actually a big debate at council whether it really is or not." So I asked, "Why would you fine us if the council is not even sure whether it is business literature?" He responded, "I have my own leanings on the issue. But we have been instructed to fine you guys if you keep doing it. So I suggest moving on to private property to hand them out."
It is more restricting to be confined to the private property area only to hand out tracts. For the flow of traffic isn't always constant there, so we still handed out tracts anywhere, since we know it is not illegal to do that (despite what some of them might say).
After Blake preached faithfully for a while, Ryan F preached. He had a few hecklers, one was a drunk man who started getting very close to him. He then pushed Ryan off the soapbox and was shoving him a bit. I stepped in, trying to get the drunk man to settle down. After a little while, he eventually moved along. All this commotion caused a large crowd to gather crowd and so Ryan got back up and kept preaching.
About this time, I was chatting to three young people. One was a Buddhist, one an atheist and the other a Mormon. It was difficult speaking to them all at the same time, because they had all different objections and questions about the message. The Mormon fellow was particularly interested in chatting to me and had never heard of the reasons I was giving why Mormonism is not true. So he decided to write them all down and come back to me next week after he had investigated the issues.
Trevor, Des, and I preached till the end of the night. There were a decent amount of people listening and some hecklers. We all spoke amount the sinfulness of sin, the judgement to come and the message of the cross.
To God be the glory for another great outreach!
Friday, 29 October, 2010
It had now been five weeks since our last fine from the council for sharing the gospel of Jesus on the streets of the Gold Coast. We had hoped that we wouldn’t have any problems this week too. But things don’t always go to plan.
We had about 12 people on the team tonight, which was great. We have found that since the fines, the team has been growing. Praise God! We can echo Joseph’s statement in Genesis 50:20 - What the council meant for evil, God has used for good. It always seems that way in Church history too. In times of persecution, that is when we see the most rapid growth of the Church. The Church is also purified too, because the tares (those that aren’t truly Christians) don’t want to stick around when their life, well-being, or finances are at stake.
After prayer together, we moved to our usual spot – the place where Cavill Ave meets Orchid Ave. As soon as we got there, we saw two local law officers not far off. We knew we were not breaking the law doing what we usually do, so Trevor got up to preach. He spoke of the glories of Calvary and called people to repent and trust in Christ. The police at one stage came up and listened and then moved along a drunk that was being a nuisance.
After Trevor preached, John stood up and preached too. The local law officers came pretty close to listen and we overheard one of them say, “We can’t touch them there.” So they went away and had a chat together. They then decided to head to the police station.
Not long after, they returned with three police officers. It reminds me of the Scripture when Jesus was arrested by a group of soldiers, and he responded, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me?” (Matthew 26:55) It is funny that the council think they need a whole group of police officers to protect them. Who do they think we are? Maybe they haven’t realised that we are not a bunch of thieves or drunks, and they don’t need to waste police resources like that, when the police have enough on their plate already.
The council local law officers pulled Trevor and John aside and fined them both $375 for making public addresses in a mall. The funny thing is, is that they were not even in a mall. We were purposely on Cavill Ave, instead of being in Cavill Mall. I tried to explain this to the council before they fined us, but they wouldn’t even let me speak. Later on after they fined us, I was able to explain that to them and show them the law. One of them responded, “Oh woops.” But they didn’t revoke the fines.
So we asked them, “Why did you fine us this week and not the past four weeks?” They said, “Because we were wondering what would happen with courts. But the boss said just this week that we should continue fining you guys because you’re still breaking the law.”
So even though the council officers knew we broke no law this evening, they still fined us. It seems like it’s because if they didn’t, their boss would be unhappy with them. It definitely does seem like the Gold Coast City Council is specifically targeting us as Christians. Even though we are still not breaking the law, they continue to fine us. This is unacceptable.
That is why we are appealing all the fines. The council said they will keep fining us, but we will persevere. They seem to just be out to stop us. That is why we need your support. Taking all these fines to court will be expensive. So please prayerfully consider donating towards this very important endeavour. The freedom is share the gospel at the Gold Coast is what the issue is; that is what we are fighting for.
I asked the council local law officer, “What exactly is a public address?” He responded, “We have no idea, which is why we are going to the courts to let them decide.” That is crazy. How can they fine us for something they don’t actually know what it is themselves?!
Please pray for this situation. Pray that God would be glorified in it and at the end of it, Christians on the Gold Coast would have the freedom to talk about Christ.
Till 11pm, Des and I preached. It was Des’ first time preaching in the open air I believe, and he did well. Many gospel tracts were handing out tonight and lots of people were spoken to about the gospel.
To God be the glory!
Saturday, 23 October, 2010
On Saturday 23/10, a group of us went to Taunton for the day and met with others there- about 7 in total.
On the way there it was terrential rain and wind and was really bad driving conditions- we all felt like going back as thought it would not be worth going.
However when we got there and met the others, the rain had stopped and the sun cam out so we were encouraged. We all bundled into my van and prayed before we went out which was great.
Mike preached, and as he was going through various sins from 1 Corinthians 6 v 9, he mentioned homosexuality. Just as he did, 2 guys came past hand in hand, extremely angry and vocal at what he was saying. Mike was very calm and tried to reason with them about what the Bible said, and about other sins, so he was not just picking on homosexuals. They stormed off, and was very unusal as they didnt look 'gay' but just like 2 local lads in tracksuit bottoms and a hat etc, so caused a few people to stop and listen.
Shirley preached, and Amanda preached for the first time which was great, along with Mikes wife Rachel.
We all had various discussions with people, including an old woman who was about 80 who didnt believe in hell, a group of 5 yr9 pupils who started to debate about homosexuality and atheism (they seemed to know a lot for their age- 14), and other people walking p-ast that we were able to hand out tracts to.
My friends saw Nick Knowles, a celebrity who is on various BBC1 DIY shows, and stopped him and took a picture and gave him a tract. What was amazing was that he was on his way to buy flowers for a sick friend who was dying, and the tract my friend happened to give him before he even knew was entitled 'If you were to die todasy, do you know if you would go to Heaven or Hell?" and so was very appropriate for the situation.
After lunch I set up the WOTM board and easil with the intelligence and good person tests on, and a group of 3 teenagers were walking past, and I managed to get them to stop and do it, which encouraged a few other people to stop and listen as well which was great. We went through the Law, judgment and Hell, before explaining what God did so people didnt have to go to Hell, and explained the gospel to them while others around listened. They said they would think about things and took some tracts which was great. Another man called Janathan had also stopped to listen who was in his 40's, and he said what was said was encouraging to him and made sense and that he would like a Bible for himself, and some tracts for both his parents who were elderly to read, which was very encouraging.
It was a great day, and after the weather we had on the way up, turned out to be a nice day with lots of tracts handed out and lots of good conversations with people who may not necessarily at first glance look as though they may be interested, but obviously shows us that everyone needs to hear and its not up to us to judge how people necessarily respond.
On Sunday morning on the way to Church, my van broke down and I had to phone up the RAC to come and jump start it, and as a result missed Church. I also kissed the call to say they had arrived, and so had to phone them again to book in another mechanic. I was waiting in my van, a bit annoyed It was taking so long, and that I had missed Church etc.
Before the RAC man came though, while in my van a man walkjed past with hi9s dog, and stopped to read some of the new stickers on the sides. He walked around, taking a good look and reading them all, and didnt notice I was inside as has tinted windows at the back. I could hear him curse a bit under his breath, and just as he was about to go inside his house I opened the van doors and asked him what he thought of them, which gave him a bit of a startle.
WE then had a GREAT 15 minute chat about the problem with Religion and works vs Christianity and salvation by Repentance and Faith, about the existence of God, evolution and what would happen to someone when they died. It was really good and he took a couple of tracts and thanked me for chatting, so was perfect timing just as he left the RAC man came.
If Gods using me in divine appointments means having to call the RAC man out a few times, it will be worth it!
While in Town yesterday, I offered a mpn to 2 lads sitting outside a shop, and foiund they were very open to chatting. While in conversation with them, their 2 friends came past and stopped and joined in, and so went through with them again whayt they had missed. They all took tracts after hearing the gospel, seeing the scars on my legs (again) and said what was said made sense and they would think about what was said which was encouraging.
Friday, 8 October, 2010
Rain, rain, rain. It had been bucketing down for a few days leading up to this week's outreach, and it didn't look like relenting at all. Even though it was raining, we thought it would still be a good idea to have the outreach, as there are still lots of people around when it rains.
8pm rolled around and a decent number of us met and prayed together, before wondering up Cavill Ave. We decided not to do any preaching tonight due to the rain and the lack of undercover areas for that. However, in front of all the shops there are large awnings, so we decided to go into three different locations under these awnings to hand out tracts and talk to people about the gospel.
At one stage, the local law officers came up to one of the members of the team and had a chat with them. The officers were acting really friendly, and did not fine us. They said it is alright for us to hand out the tracts in front of the shops, as they said that is private property instead of public property. But in their view, a few of us were not on private property and yet they did not fine us. It does seem like they have changed their tune a little, from the constant fining they were doing. Hopefully we'll see the existing fines being dropped soon. Although the latest communication from them is that they said we should expect to receive our summons to appear in court soon (please consider supporting us in this endeavour).
All sorts of interesting people were about. One person whom Bekk and I chatted to was a professing Christian, but he had very weird beliefs. He was saying that we're all children of God and that since most people are good they'll go to Heaven. So I responded by pointing out that if someone is not a Christian, they're actually a child of the devil (1 John 3:10). I also then pointed to passages like Romans 3 which talk about the universality of sin; that we've all sinned. He denied this, saying "Look around at people, do you think they're bad people?" I responded, "Yes, in God's sight. For we have all broken His law, which makes us deserving of Hell." I then tried to direct the conversation to the cross, but the man got angry that I would say everyone is a sinner and he stormed off.
The theology that is getting taught in some of the Churches in the area is horrendous, as evidenced by this man. Please pray that these Churches will come back in line with what the Bible actually teaches.
Another good conversation I had was with a Nepali man named Tilik from the local pizza shop. It was a bit difficult to talk to him because he wasn't fluent in English. His thinking had definitely been influenced by the Jehovah's Witnesses, who have been chatting to him a bit in the past. But I was able to share the good news of the gospel - that even though we have sinned (eg: lying, stealing, lusting, hating, etc), there is forgiveness if a person trusts in Jesus' death on the cross as they only reason they will go to Heaven. I said I would order a Nepali Bible and give it to him next week and chat further.
To God be the glory for another great night of outreach!
Friday, 1 October, 2010
Having received $375 fines the past three weeks for handing out tracts and preaching, we were wondering whether it would happen again this week. We knew we weren't breaking the law, so we decided to keep handing out tracts like we normally do. Regarding preaching, we had an idea - to preach outside of Cavill mall, to see if that would change anything. We picked the spot where Cavill Ave turns into Cavill Mall.
We each took turns preaching from the soap box and there were a decent amount of hecklers and people listening. It was extremely busy tonight, and for some strange reason there seemed to be a lot more drunks about.
When I was preaching I noticed the local law officers a distance away. They saw us preaching and handing out tracts and then came straight past us. Instead of fining us like they have in previous weeks, they left us alone. In fact, they took a tract themselves.
The change of heart could be that they recognise they would have no legal leg to stand on in court. Praise God for his answer to prayer.
However, they are still continuing the court case against us. Please pray that God would soften their hearts and draw them to salvation. We are in need of your support. Having legal representation does not come cheap, so please prayerfully consider whether you would be able to donate any amount of money towards helping us pay for these costs.
The outcome of this court case could have drastic effects on the proclamation of the gospel in this land.
Thank you.
Sunday, 10 October, 2010
On Friday night I went out by myself to the Plymouth University, and prayed that I would have just one good converataion with someone who wasnt drunk that night.
I offered a mpn to Harry, an 18yr old lad from who actually attended aChurch youth club and knew my sister, and hadnt spoken to him in a long time. He said that ages ago he had a mpn, and had read it, but although he had attended soul survivor etc before, he wouldnt say he was a Christian as he was still confused about issues. He was joining the army soon as well and so had a lot to think about.
We had a great chat abou truth and where it came from, about the need for salvation and how people in different religions try to obtain it, and how Jesusis the only way. I also tried to talk about the knowledge that we all have of God, but the reasons that people supress the truth in unrighteousness because of sin, pride and unbelief. We chatted for about 20 minutes and he took lots of tracts to read and said it made sense so I went home pleased that night God had answered my prayer!
On Saturday 9th October, about 9 of us went to Exeter to preach and hand out tracts/ witness to people. About 4 of us preached on various subjects relating to the gospel- I spoke on Isaiah 55.
4 girls were sitting down sort of listening, and so I approached them offering a mpn (again- it works!) We went through the Law, Hell, then what God had done so we didnt need to go to Hell. They seemed to understand, and one girl who was 16 said she attended church herself. I asked if she was born again, and, she said she had been christened before. I tried to explain that christening cant save you and what being born again meant, and they all took some tracts to read afterwards.
When my friend Wayne was preaching, 4 teenagers walked past scoffing and using Gods name out of term. So I offered them a mpn, asked them what they believed, and showed them the scars on my leg and went through 5/10 commandments. When they understood that if they were to die that day, they would end up in Hell, they seemed a bit more sober minded. So I then said goodbye to them and left them with a tract and said to read it, without giving them the good news outright. I wanted them to ead it only if they were really concerned about it, as they seemed a bit loud mouthed and brash at first, but one of them definatly seemed thoughtful about what had been discussed.
That evening again I decided to go out to the Univerity again to witness, and again prayed for good conversations with people who were not drunk.
I came across 4 lads outside the mall, and after a bit of a chase to get them to stop with the MPN I offered them, we had a good conversation after they liked the intelligence test questions which thy got 3/6 right! They had only had one drink in the 4 pubs they had been to so far that night, so God answered my prayer again. One of them said he didnt believe in God, and said he was an atheist. So I tried to reason with him that beliefs dont matter, whats true does, and if God exists then he iexists whether he believed in him or not. He was annoyed and so walked off, while his friends stayed, and even they acknowledged something had ruffled his feathers.
We had a great chat and got onto the subject of when would be the righttime to get right with God. I tried to explain that people often seek to get their life ot of the way, and then have a death bed repentance. I again showed them the scars on my leg and told them the story of my accident, and they agreed that life was short. They were extremely amicable and we had a good 15-20 minute conversation. They each took a couple of tracts and one for their friend, so was great. They were all linked with the fishing industry in some way, and so hopefully one day they too might become fishers of men!
I went up to the University and there were LOADS of students going from the student union out to the many pubs and bars across the city. I managed to attract the interest of 2 lads, one of which had been brought up a christian and his parents were missionaries in Romania for a while he said, but now he said he didnt believe. Whilst in the conversation, 3 of their friends who had previously walked past and refused a mpn, stopped and joined in the conversation.
Again the same arguement came up that one of them didnt believe in God, and so it didnt matter. I tried to reason that if I believed the sun was square, blue and cold, it didnt make my beliefs right, nor if I believed 1+1=3. They acknowledged that, and we somehow got into a big discussion about proofs for the existence of God. I tried to reason that we all knew there was a God, but again because of sin and pride etc, tried to push the thoughts out of our minds of an all powerful God being in control of the Universe.
We went through the 10 commandents, but this led to a discussio aboiut where truth and morality comes from and whose to say whats right or not. They again had not been drinking much and so we had a good chat that either energy of God was eternal, and that the first 2 laws of thermo-dynamics showed energy was not eternal, and that God has always existed. They all took tracts, but as they left one wanted to stay to chat more. He said it made sense, and so we went through why he needed salvation, that Jesus came to die on the cross to forgive sin, no matter how bad we had been, and so we could enter heaven through repentance and faith, so all the glory goes t him. I also tried to explain that Christians were not good people that God picked out to save, but that Christians were not always so and each had a story to tell about their life before they were saved.
We discussed that if I had this message to share which would have eternal consequences, then me not telling people would be like walking past a burning house ands not stopping to help, or at best just tapping on the door and whispering thrugh the letter box. He acknowledged that if someone did that they would be evil for not stoppin to tell the people inside. He also stated that a few weeks before his student house had actually caught fire with smoke billowing out of the windows, and s the analogy was even more real for him than I knew! I encouraged him to get right with God tha night, as there was surely no sin in his life worth giving up eternal life for, and mentioned he could go and discuss thinmgs further with the University chaplin whom I knew.
He was very thankful and took tracts and shook my hand, and again left me full of joy knowing that God had used me for his plans and purposes that night, and that his gospel had gone out, so I prayed that they would take time to read the tracts the next day whn sober and really think about what the Bible verses said. I am thinking of visiting the chaplincy to see if there are any students in the C/U there who may be interested in joining me on a Friday evening, so will pray and see what happens.
Friday, 24 September, 2010
This is an update on what has been happening at the Gold Coast for the past three weeks (10th, 17th, 24th September).
On the 10th September, we were doing our outreach like we normally do in Cavill Ave each Friday night - handing out tracts, talking to people and doing a bit of preaching. When reasonably early in the night, we saw two council local law officers taking photos of us and writing down notes. After they had done this for about 15 minutes, they went up to some police that were nearby. Soon after, both the council and the police came up to us.
The council local law officers said that they were giving us all fines for $375 each. We asked why and they said, "For the person that was preaching, he was a doing a 'prescribed activity in a public place without a permit'. For the rest of the team, fines were received for 'distributing business advertising publications'. No warnings were given, they straight away just came up and fined us, saying "We were sent from the council to fine you guys."
The person that was preaching at the time tried to find out exactly what he was doing wrong. The police said that he wasn't doing anything wrong. But the council local law officers insisted that he was, because they said that doing a public address is against the council laws, however they could not show us where it says this.
Regarding the fines for handing out tracts, the council officers could not explain how the gospel tracts we were handing out could be classed as 'business advertising publications'. One of the council officers recognised this and so on the fine(s) that he wrote, he did not include the word 'business'. But the thing is, is that there is no law against the handing out of advertising publications, only business ones. But even under the definitions section in the Gold Coast City Council law local 5, 'business advertising publications' means "a publication that publicises any business, commercial or trade activity."
None of the tracts advertise any business, commercial or trade activity; so we can't be breaking that law. The tracts simply contain the message of the gospel - that a person can be completely forgiven of their sins through Christ's death on the cross.
We are appealing all the fines because we are simply not breaking the law they think we are breaking. Please pray for us during this time.
The following Friday night (17th September), we received about 3 more of the same fines for the same reasons.
The following week after that (24th September), we received only one fine - for preaching. It's possible they now realise that they have no legal leg to stand on regarding the handing out of tracts. For we advertise no business, commercial or trade activity.
We will continue to be faithful to our Lord and still have our outreaches at the Gold Coast every Friday night despite the risk of fines (for we are not breaking the law). If you are in a area, please come along. Contact us for more info.
For all the fines we will have to go to court, please keep us in prayer during this time. If you think you will be able to help us on the legal side of things, or even the financial side of things (to pay for court/legal fees), please do contact us! Thank you.
Our liberties in sharing the gospel are being suppressed here at the Gold Coast. If we do not fight these fines, Christians in the Gold Coast (and it may extend to across Australia) will not be able to share the gospel as freely as they have enjoyed in the past.
Please pray, and get in contact with us if you think you can support us in some way. Thank you!
To God alone be the glory!
Saturday, 25 September, 2010
Over the summer we have had various mini outreaches, and I also was able to go to France for a week to a Christian holiday park, and took 200 French Million Euro gospel tracts which people received ok- bearing in mind that a lot of French people are either Roman Catholic, or very Atheistic and opposed to the gospel, but was interesting practising my french and seeing the reaction from some people.
As its September, the University here in Plymouth is heaving with new students, which is great as these are all new people who most likely have never seen the tracts before and so it is fresh and new to them.
One guy I managed to start a conversation with a MPN was Sam the architect- 18 and full of life.
We managed to go through the Law and he admitted he would be guilty and deserve Hell, but then when I explained the gospel and the fine being paid in the courtroom analogy, on our behalf, he was adamant that he should pay the fine himself- do the time or pay the person back. He had a hard time humbling himself and seeing his need to seek mercy and humilty, but instead had some pride. I tried to explain biblically why someone gets to heaven- not because of any merit, worth or good works, but solely on the grace of God through Jesus' finished work on the cross. He took a tract but he was not as open as I first thought- so prayed he would understand. At least as an architect he understood the concept that all buildings mustr have a buidler, and so the builder of all creation was God.
Another interesting character was Connor- the 18yr old scottish computer game designer. His biggest stumbling block was unbelief. He was very laid back and cool and apathetic that if he died he would deserve Hell- he said it was only if it was true and my belief, and didnt see his need to seek after God, he was quite content where he was with his girlfriend in life, but again he took a MPN tract to read. Also interestingly while speaking with him, a girl aged about 14 walked past, caught my eye, carried on walking thern came back. She said she had spoken with me before with her friends, but couldnt really remember what we talked about, and so she took another MPN to read which was great, and at leats Connor could see I had been out before doing the same thing and was not a religious fanatic in a cult or something!
A conversation with 6 students aged between 18-20 outside the shopping mall revealed that one was in the Salvation army and played in the band, and believed he was good to go to heaven because he had said sorry to God and believed in Jesus. I tried to reason with him that justs aying sorry to the judge is all well and good, but unless the fine is paid on our behalf and we accept it, or instead of just believing in the parachute when our plane is about to crash, we need to trust it by putting it on. We spoke about the need for repentance, humility and trusting alone in what Jesus had done on the cross, not our own merit, and with a bit more debate about the difference between Evolution and Natural selection with them, they all took tracts. One guy out of the six was quiet the whole time, and so hopefully he was the one the God spoke to while the others tried to reason things away etc.
The gospel stickers I have on my van are serving their purpose well, as when I cam back to the van, I could see 4 people reading the stickers when I returned and we had a good conversation abdout what Atheism believes and how something must be eternal in the Universe, either energy or God. We had a good conversation and they took a tract to read, and so I am ordering some more soon as they are great when parked at a red light and spark up some interesting facial expressions from people.
More outreaches will be planned now and regular trips to the University on Friday evenings again so I hope to share the gospel with students with open ears and responsive hearts and pray that God will save some.
Saturday, 28 August, 2010
This will just be a quick report to let you know what is happening:
We started our outreach at 8pm and I got up to preach at our usual location in the middle of Cavill Mall. There were quite a lot of hecklers, and I was having a good discussion with them. But after preaching for about 30 minutes, a busker then began setting up his stuff about 5 metres away from me. Then a guy in an Elvis suit (a different person) started playing his music next me, but I just kept preaching. This Elvis guy attracted more and more of a crowd to hear the gospel, which was good.
He stopped playing and then immediately two undercover police officers came up to him, asking him what he was doing. He said that he wanted to listen to this other busker and said that I was preventing him doing that.
The undercover officers then told me to stop preaching and talk with them, saying "Bring your stuff, you won't be coming back." Without even discussing with me at all, they had made up their mind that they were going to move me on.
The police officers were very angry right off the bat and were not interested in discussion. I asked them why I was being moved on and they said that someone had complained that I was stopping someone enjoying someone else's lawful activity. So I asked, "Is what I was doing, unlawful?" They responded, "No, it's not."
This raises the interesting question of: 'Why does that other person's lawful activity have higher priority over mine? Especially since I was there first doing that activity, and secondly the vast majority of people that were there wanted to listen to me rather than the Busker.' It seems like, since one of the lawful activities that were happening that night was preaching, it immediately has the lowest priority out of any other activity.
So I had to move on, but the rest of the team kept going. Blake and David Richardson preached later for quite a while, and did not get stopped. Later in the night, 8-10 police officers came swarming the group, informing them that they could no longer hand out gospel tracts since it says on one of the tracts "the wages of sin is death", they said the tracts are offensive. At this time, David Richardson was preaching and they police went around to the crowd asking them whether they didn't like the preaching, so they could shut him down. Thankfully, none of them didn't like the preaching, so Dave kept going.
Please keep us in prayer that we don't have any more hassles from the police in the coming weeks and months.
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