Battle Log
Sunday 14 May 2023
Posted 14 May 2023, 3:07 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink
Another week of God’s patience, another week of outreach. God is good. All the normal outreaches went ahead. I was on my own in Riccarton on Tuesday and Saturday. Roger & Andy joined me for the Friday afternoon outreach in the City. And Mike was with me for the Sunday afternoon outreach in the City.
I’m going to start with Sunday’s outreach and go backwards. I set up my flip chart down from the JWs. It was a bit of a slow start. I was able to catch up with some regulars before I had a guy approach me. He was handing out tracts (Ray Comfort)! He was feeling nervous, and so was asking for some tips, which I gladly gave. Good to know that others are out sharing the good news! Sadly, he is not connected to a church, but I decided not to push that for the time being. Mike arrived, and we started talking about making more flip chart stands, when 3 young skater lads went past - I was able to get them interested in the good person test. I gave the chat to Mike, and he was away (pictured).
I moved away and started handing out tracts when I got a great opportunity to have a conversation with a young couple. She was studying philosophy at Uni, and he is studying law. When I asked if they thought about what happens after life, she responded with, “oh, that’s deep, I think I want to be ignorant”. Starting from there, I was able to explain why this is NOT something you want to be ignorant about, and then I proceeded to explain how we know God is real, the law, and the gospel, and a few check questions. They seemed impacted, and I enjoyed the chat.
Mike had a whole lot of the King Charles Million Pound Tracts from Living Waters, and so I decided to start handing these out. They were popular! They gave many people a chuckle, at the very least (pictured).
Later, a deaf man and 2 of his children approached the flip chart. He just wanted a million pound note to read, but his kids were keen to go through the flip chart - it was a good chat, if not a short one.
As I had the Jesus page of the flip chart up, an Asian lady stopped and stared at it. We were able to engage her in conversation afterwards. She was from China, and her English wasn’t the best, but Mike had a gospel tract in Chinese on him!! Mike was able to use it as a bridge to have a conversation (pictured).
The day finished with me encountering a young man that I haven’t seen in a while. I first met him about 4 years ago, and at one point he made a profession of faith. But sadly, he went AWOL. The next time I saw him, he was in the Mother god cult. After reasoning with him on that, I eventually had to block him on Facebook due to his intensity. Well, it was good to see him again, at least he is out of the cult now, but he is still not converted, and he is still intense. In the end I wanted him to leave, and he did. But, as I was walking home from outreach, we providentially encountered each other again. He seemed to be humbling himself, and so I agreed to unblock him so we could continue talking. While we have breath, there is still hope!
Saturday’s outreach was good. I’ve got a regular there now: Kelvin. He is retired, and he enjoys chatting, but he is very resistant to spiritual things. But, I’m there to talk about spiritual things, and he knows it, so I decided to push today. He rolled with it. He wants to deny the reality of God, but he can’t. And then when I took him through the law, he resisted hard. Insisting on his innocence. A laboured the law, because he needs to hear it. I didn’t get to the gospel, and he wouldn’t take a tract, but we parted on good terms. Hopefully I’ll see him again next Saturday, God willing.
I had a long chat with a young Filipino lad. He had a Christian background, and yet the gospel wasn’t clear to him, in fact, he seemed to be subtly trusting his works. I worked through the simplicity of the gospel with him and a number of check questions. He had a number of questions that I was able to address with him. It was a good chat.
I had a number of other opportunities on Saturday. I ended up leaving a little early, as I was feeling a little bit sick. I think I just needed some lunch, as I was fine after that.
Friday’s outreach was great. Roger and Andy are both pictured. I ended up having a follow up chat with a guy I hadn’t seen for 3 years! I had talked to him many times before the gap. He now lives in Auckland, hence why I haven’t seen him for 3 years. Sadly, he was resistant - probably the most resistant I’ve ever seen him. And yet we had a good long, but intense, chat. God in his mercy has allowed him to hear the law and the gospel again, and it’s his power for salvation. God can change the heart! We parted on very good terms. Lord, save him!
Tuesday was busy! I arrived at the outreach spot, and instantly saw a group coming past. I got out my tracts and prayed quickly, before engaging them. It was a big group, and they were all in different places. But I was able to hold the attention of 3 of them. One in particular was resistant yet engaged. I ended up talking for about 30 minutes.
I then headed down Riccarton Road and got straight into a chat with a young man. Soon, his friend joined him, and then later another. We ended up talking for 1 hour. The 2nd friend was asking all the hard questions, and before I could even finish answering, she would ask another, and then another. Whew! But after 20 minutes, she felt comfortable enough with the conversation to say she was gay. And so we discussed that for a while, me trying to hold the balance right: homosexuality is a sin, Jesus came to save sinners.
After the chat, I realised how tired I was, and ended up going home early. I did some Insta conversations to make up the time. I love the balance the online work brings to my energy levels. God is good.
Well, that’s a wrap for this week. Thanks so much for your prayer. We appreciate it so much. All glory to God alone.
View previous Christchurch (NZ) report (7 May 2023)
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.