Battle Log
Sunday 17 September 2023
Posted 17 September 2023, 3:13 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink
A warm, sunny spring day in Christchurch today (Sunday) - although it was windy, so didn’t bring the flip chart. My daughter, Julia, was with me, and Susan joined as a bit later.
Julia’s getting practice for the upcoming evangelism trip to the Philippines. And she did a fantastic job. Before Susan arrived, she did walk up with me.
Our first chat was with 4 Filipino girls! It was a short chat, but Julia got some practice in, they heard the law and the gospel, and they all received tracts.
Next up we encountered a deep thinking young man who was rejecting religion based on grounds of logic. I fielded most of this chat, although Julia handled the main points (building builder, law, gospel). It was a good chat where we were able to reason with him based on logic as to why religion (specifically Christianity) is true. It was a great chat, he certainly had a lot to think about, and left with a tract.
Next up were 4 young men from the local Catholic High School. It was a good chat in that it was fairly standard script wise. When we got to the ‘false ways to heaven’, they naturally went to “reconciliation” which they defined as “asking for forgiveness”, and then “do more good than bad”. Julia was able to address both of those with analogies explaining why they won’t work, and then we shared the gospel.
We took a few moments to discuss ways of sharing the gospel, and it was at this point that Susan joined us. I noticed a couple of girls doing a survey, and suspected they were from the World Mission Society Church of God. I was right. I asked if I could do the survey, and they came over and let me. It led to a good conversation, where they told me that we must ‘obey’ to get to heaven, esp. Keeping the Sabbath (Saturday) and passover. I was able to show them how it’s impossible for us to obey, and then the truth about Jesus. It was encouraging seeing how challenged they were. Not surprisingly, they didn’t take tracts when I gave them back the survey clipboard (I’d only made it through the first few questions).
But at this point, and now that Susan was here, it was time for Julia to get some practice without me. She was keen! And so she paired up with Susan for the last half hour. They managed to get into 2 conversations (pictured). Well done! The more we practise, the better we get!
I handed out tracts, and managed to get into another short conversation at the end of the outreach.
Yesterday (Saturday) I decided to work online in the morning to try to keep on top of the TikTok messages. My wife, youngest daughter, and myself were also able to attend the local ‘March for Life’ in the afternoon. It went really well. It was good to hear the gospel preached!
Friday was also windy, but I brought the flip chart anyway, as I’m testing out Mike’s new stand.
We had a team of 5: Roger, Dom, Mark, Andy and myself. Roger found a sheltered spot for his flip chart, Andy paired up with Mark, and Dom paired with me.
We used the flip chart for an initial chat with a couple. He was barely engaged, but as we made progress she became more engaged. She ended up asking about a church, and so I gave her a contact card for mine.
That chat led straight into another chat, but the flip chart had to be packed away - just too windy, even with Mike’s sturdy stand! That gave Dom an opportunity to lead the chat while I did the pack up. They guy was pretty resistant, even though he was friendly. We did our best, and were able to share the law and the gospel.
We then headed down Cashel to find people to talk to. We had a long chat with a young couple, and that went well. And then a short chat with a young man who took my mobile # (he hasn’t messaged yet).
Dom had to leave at this point. I had 2 more chats, but I was so tired, I wasn’t really able to engage well. But who knows, God can still use those conversations for his glory!
Now, Tuesday’s outreach was amazing. Roger and I in our usual spots. I remember being busy for the whole outreach. The 2nd to last conversation was memorable, because it was with 2 young ladies who denied God was real, for emotional reasons: evil and suffering. I was able to reason with them: 1) empathy, 2) God doesn’t do evil, people do. I decided not to go to the 3rd point: why God allows evil in the first place - I didn’t think it would help. But I hoped they saw my love and concern, which is a reflection of God’s greater love and concern for them. The first girl stuck to her guns, but the other girl seemed to be listening. Sadly they didn’t stay to hear the gospel, and refused tracts.
By this stage I was noticing an older guy in a suit down the road, but not far from me. He was making phone calls while drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. I assumed he must be rich! I only had 5 tracts left and made a comment across the road to Roger about needing to hand them out before we finish up. Well, I turned and noticed this guy, he was looking at me. So I offered him one. He was keen! We only had a short chat, but in that time he really opened up about trials in his life. I felt honoured that he felt safe enough with me to do that. He had a Catholic background. I was able to touch on the law and the gospel with him, and he shook my hand firmly as he moved on with his tract. I felt elated for some reason. I’ve got the best job in the world, being able to minister the truth about God and the hope of eternal life. All glory to him!
Please keep the team of 10 flying to the Philippines from Australia, NZ and the USA 20th till 30th of September to partner with Rock of Refuge Church (and other churches) in Manila for evangelism. I hope to write a few reports about it here. Thank you!
View previous Christchurch (NZ) report (10 September 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.