Battle Log
Friday 5 July 2019
Posted 6 July 2019, 7:20 AM by Glen Richards. Permalink
Thursday saw the team back at the bus stops: first at Northlands, and then at Eastgate.
At Northlands, I re-encountered some of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I was talking to them about how effective the question: “Do you ever think about what happens after life?” is. At that moment, a young man was walking past, and so I asked him that exact question to demonstrate. The response was, “Yeah, I think about that a lot.''! He then engaged me in a Gospel conversation - right in front of the Jehovah’s Witnesses - so they all heard the Gospel. I praise God for that.
In the morning, I had been praying for the salvation of one particular young man I often encounter at the Eastgate bus stops. Well, as I arrived this afternoon, the very first person I encounter is this young man! I had two minutes to chat with him about the Gospel before his bus arrived. He took a type of tract he hasn’t received before.
Pretty much all the interactions with people at the beginning of the Eastgate outreach was with people I have already shared the Gospel with at some point in the past. I feel a bit like a bus stop chaplain! But with the stops constantly refreshing with people waiting for buses - there are always many opportunities for sharing with new people.
Friday saw a turn in the weather. It was wet. We proceeded with our Gospel + abortion outreach outside the hospital in the morning. But the rain was heavy, and mixed with the cold it made sense to end the outreach early. But in the time we were there, we showed how serious we are about this very important issue. We had one person stop to talk with us. We also had a few people show their opposition by firing some choice words at us as they hurried past. We continue to pray that God would use our feeble efforts for His glory.
In the afternoon, I reverted to letterbox dropping, until the rain finally stopped. This gave us an opportunity for outreach in the evening in the city. A team of four gathered.
In spite of the cold, and a lack of people about, we still managed to have many opportunities to share the love of Christ. Hereford street was a very fruitful place of ministry.
I engaged with a young homeless guy, who upon learning I was a Christian, disengaged expressing an alligance to Islam. But to my surprise, he came back five minutes later and apologised, and wanted to know what I had to say. It was wonderful being able to share of the grace of Christ - that our salvation is not dependent on our works.
We also had some fruitful ministry time at the bus exchange. By this stage, the heavens had opened up again. So we ended up venturing inside (as well as outside) to spark up Gospel conversations.
One of my conversations ended up being with a guy who Andy had shared the Gospel with at Eastgate the previous day. Christchurch is small enough that this kind of thing happens all the time.
I thank God for the support He is providing through you to enable the Christchurch team to have so many wonderful opportunities to share His love. I thank you also. Join us! Till the nets are full.
View previous Christchurch (NZ) report (3 July 2019)
Christchurch (NZ) Team
Weekly outreaches:
Tue 3:30pm - 5:30pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St)
Fri 1:30pm - 3:30pm - City (Bridge of Remembrance)
Sat 11am - 1pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St)
Sun 1:30pm - 3:30pm - City (corner of Colombo St and Cashel St).
Contact Glen Richards or Andy Barlow for more information.