Battle Log
Sunday 6 September 2026
Posted 6 September 2026, 3:33 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink
It’s been a wonderful week of gospel ministry. I have 3 standout gospel interactions to share from this week.
As a team, we were out on the streets 3 times this week. Graeme & Roger were in Riccarton on Tuesday afternoon. Andy & I were in Riccarton on Thursday afternoon. And Roger, Andy & I were in the city on Friday afternoon. The included pictures are from those outreaches.
The first interaction I want to share was from the Friday afternoon outreach. Roger and I were between chats and were touching base when a young lady from Christchurch Girls' High walked up to us. She was interested in the tracts in my hand. I gave her one, and we naturally fell into a gospel conversation (Roger moved on and ended up in his own chat right beside me).
From our conversation, I could tell she had a Christian influence in her life, but she didn’t have gospel clarity, and she had a lot of questions. She needed some grounding, so I started at the beginning of my presentation and walked her through it.
It became clear that she was subtly thinking her works would save her. And so I used the analogies for the ‘false ways’ to explain why works can’t save. I then moved to the gospel. I was using the speeding ticket analogy when, all of a sudden, she had a click moment. “Oh, I get it now”, she said excitedly. I asked her what she ‘got’. And she said: “Jesus died for my sins”. Bingo.
But I didn’t leave it there; I immediately explained how we accept the gift (trust) and then moved into the check questions.
The most powerful check was “Before this chat, what did you think would get you to heaven?” The reason was that she had previously said, “But I already believe this”. When she thought about my question, she had another ‘aha’ moment; she realised she was trusting in her works, rather than in Jesus.
It was at this point that she decided to move on. It was like she had enough to chew on for now. I challenged her to trust in Christ and to start reading her Bible for herself, starting in John, to check what I was saying. She also had the tract I had given her at the start.
I didn’t have to do anything to start the chat; she walked up to me. And she walked on when she was ready. But I had the wonderful privilege of sowing the gospel seed into her life! It’s the power of God for salvation.
The 2nd interaction was from an online chat on Saturday afternoon. I connected with a guy, and he immediately informed me he was drunk. He had a Christian background, but had sadly never understood what it meant to be a Christian (because later he articulated that works would save).
He said he had a respect for Christianity, but he would never be one. Not being put off, I followed the ‘script’, and when I started working towards explaining the true gospel, a ray of light started to dawn in his thinking - and it seemed positive, but then he suddenly said something like, “Oh, you are not going to get me going back to church”, and he skipped me!
It was like he was being convinced, but he realised he would have to forsake his sin, and he didn’t want to. And yet, I rejoiced! Another seed had been planted. May God bring a conviction for sin that would lead to conversion, to the glory of God alone.
The final interaction was not ‘work’-related. A year or so ago, Roger had encouraged me to find a hobby to balance my work. And so now I often go down to a local game store to play a card game that I enjoy. Well, on Friday night, after finishing my last round, I stood up, and I heard a guy playing at the table behind me say, “I’m not religious, so I’m probably going to hell”. It was a perfect-timing thing, and I had a choice: say something or stay silent. I knew it would be a bit awkward, but I went for it; I simply said, “Well, there is a way to avoid hell”. The guy was a bit surprised by my sudden comment. I then turned back to my bag, wishing I had a gospel tract. Suddenly, I realised I had stashed a couple of tracts in my bag for such a moment as this. I pulled out a “How we know God is real, and why it matters”, turned and said, “If you want to learn more, have a read of this”. Again, the guy was surprised, but he took the tract, put it down on the table next to him, and continued playing cards. It was a very brief interaction, and any more than that would have been going too far. But if he decides to read it, and if God wills it, then he has the opportunity to understand the gospel! I was super encouraged by this, because I sometimes wonder if I’m using my time wisely in this way. But it’s so wonderful to be able to rub shoulders with people who might never otherwise have an opportunity to interact with believers. I can be salt and light in that way. The key is taking the opportunities when they come up. So, be encouraged to take those opportunities you get too!
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View previous Christchurch (NZ) report (30 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.