Battle Log
Sunday 1 March 2026
Posted 1 March 2026, 11:28 AM by Glen Richards. Permalink
February is the last month of summer in NZ, and it also marked the last special outreach of the season for us. Andy & I headed to Dunedin for outreach during O-week, or ‘Ori’ (university orientation week) in conjunction with Cornerstone International Bible Church, Shane Louie of OAC and a team he had gathered. Our focus for the week was between the Museum Reserve (close to the university) and the Octagon (which included a major bus stop hub, and the main shopping area: George Street). There were many opportunities to engage with students, but also people of all walks and seasons of life.
There was a lot of rain. It was so heavy on Tuesday that Andy & I were forced to spend our time in our cabin in online outreach instead. But the other days of the week were spent pounding the streets and talking to people face to face. I’m going to let the pictures do most of the talking, but I’ll give one story.
On Wednesday, at the end of the day's outreach, I was tired, so I reverted to handing out tracts on George Street. A guy noticed what I was doing and came over to accept a tract and talk. He said he had just talked to a Christian guy and really disagreed with what he was saying. It didn’t take long to confirm that he had talked to Andy! Andy was at least a kilometer away outside the Museum Reserve, so it was quite a coincidence that this guy bumps into me soon after.
Anyway, I was able to continue the conversation, but he quickly became frustrated with me too - as soon as I started talking about the fact that our work can’t save us. You see, his background is Bahá'í which tries to respect all religions and spiritual writings, and yet contradicts the clear teaching of the Bible by saying that we are saved by our effort, rather than by grace.
I didn’t make too much more progress in the conversation, due to his resistance. But, I was able to challenge him: “if you respect all the writings, you should read the book of Romans in the Bible”.
The guy eventually moved on; we parted on good terms. And, later, I was able to encourage Andy on how I was able to follow up on the conversation he had started.
On Friday, we spent the morning in outreach to the Bus stops and the Octagon, before heading back to the church facilities to pick up our car and start the drive back to Christchurch. As we were driving out of the city, Andy noticed a Dominos Pizza and suggested we stop for lunch, but then I noticed a Pizza Hut just ahead, and recommended that. It just so happened that there was a park right outside, and there was no traffic behind, so we could safely take it. We went in and ordered some pizza to takeaway - we wanted to hit the road and get home to our families.
As we were sitting in the car, we decided to eat a few slices first, and as we were eating, who should walk by? The same guy we had both talked to on Wednesday! He noticed us, and came over to say hi. Coincidence? We were able to offer him pizza and continue the chat. Amazingly, he said he had started to read Romans. And then he asked if I could take his number, which I did. So I’m still in contact. The ball is in his court, he knows how to reach me if he has questions. Yet, he is ultimately in the hands of God who is seeking and saving the lost. He won’t lose any of his sheep!
Thank you for continuing to pray for our street and online work. Without the power of God, our feeble efforts are in vain. All glory to God alone.
View previous Christchurch (NZ) report (1 February 2026)
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 12:30pm - 2:30pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St)
Sun 1:30pm - 3:30pm - City (corner of Colombo St and Cashel St) - only 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays of the month.
Contact Glen Richards or Andy Barlow for more information.