Battle Log
Sunday 30 August 2026
Posted 30 August 2026, 6:55 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink
Due to the weather and tiredness, I only made it out on the streets once this week (for the rest of the week, my focus was online). On Friday, Roger, Andy & I were in the city in nice spring weather. I’m going to have to start thinking about sunscreen again!
The first chat I want to talk about was one with a young father down by the Avon River. He was sitting on one of the benches while his daughter was collecting sticks. I offered him a tract. He took it, and so I quickly followed up with, “It comes with a question, if you have a minute”. He was keen to talk, and so I took the bench next to him.
He had had a Christian background, and after a few questions he didn’t default to works for salvation, but to the gospel. His time at university had challenged his faith, and it was clear that he had never resolved the questions he had faced.
Most of my time in this chat was spent listening and addressing some of the apologetics he had needed when he was at university. But I also sensed that he didn’t have an appreciation for the serious nature of sin, which is the horse that needs to go before the cart of the gospel.
I felt a need to cut this conversation short, not because it wouldn’t have been useful to continue the conversation, but because it was clear that his daughter needed his love and attention at this time. I decided to disengage, but not before pointing him to the Scriptures. He also still had the follow-up tract. I left him in the sovereign hands of God, and I was grateful for the opportunity to minister into his life for as long as I did.
Due to the warmth, I decided to head for the shade of Cashel Mall. I found myself at the corner of Cashel and Colombo when I had my next significant chat.
It was with a young man (late teens to early 20s) who also had a Christian background (later he mentioned that his grandparents were leaders in the church he grew up in).
Sadly, this kid didn’t have the gospel in short-term memory, if at all. He felt the burden of sin, but didn’t know how to lift it. So, the chat involved me training him to articulate the gospel well. If it can touch his mind, then it can be the power of God to change his heart. He seemed deeply appreciative of the chat.
Later, I was back at the sun-drenched Bridge of Remembrance end when I had a fascinating chat with a guy from Germany.
This guy claimed to be a Christian, but after a brief time it was clear he thought he would get to heaven by being good.
The point I want to make about this conversation is that we never really connected in the conversation. Anything I said seemed to bounce off his hardened mind; he seemed blind to simple logic. Eventually, he revealed his real philosophy: happiness. Happiness was his god. And in light of this, he considered himself to be a good person. I spent some time trying to reason with him about how we know what is good and bad, but I didn’t seem to make any progress.
Eventually, his friend arrived, also German, and joined the conversation. But I sensed I needed to let the conversation go. In the end, I warned him that it wouldn’t be himself judging himself when he died; it would be the perfect and holy God of the universe. We parted on good, if not slightly tense, terms.
I had some wonderful chats online this week too. But the one fresh in my mind is the one I had earlier today, with a guy from the UK. It went for 30 minutes.
Most of the chat was in the building/builder part of the ‘script’. This guy struggled to see the simplest concepts, and would simply repeat the opposite of the truth like a robot. But I gently laboured with him, with God's help. I think things were dawning in his thinking, so I went to the law. He thought he was a good person, so I had to labour on that for a bit. He was starting to see the point, and so I raced to the gospel! Not that I thought he was ready for it, but because I wanted to leave that seed with him. Why is he not ready? Naturally, I could see layers of resistance in his thinking that need to be broken through. God can do that in an instant - and may he do so! This was his last chat before bed. I pointed him to John in the Bible and warned him not to ignore what we were talking about (for him, he enjoyed the intellectual activity but didn't seem interested in his soul at this time, sadly).
It’s a pleasure and privilege to be basking in God’s grace! I’m looking forward to some rest and then getting into another week of ministry. Thank you so much for continuing to pray for this labour.
View previous Christchurch (NZ) report (23 August 2026)
Christchurch (NZ) Team
Weekly outreaches:
Tue 3:00pm - 5:00pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St; Led by Roger)
Thu 3:00pm - 5:00pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St)
Fri 1:30pm - 3:30pm - City (Bridge of Remembrance)
Sat 11:30am - 1:30pm - 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.