Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 125

Christchurch (NZ) Team

A fascinating weekend.

It was a cold and dreary Saturday morning.  I wasn’t expecting many people to be about - and I was right.  But the team of two set up in Cathedral Square any way.  We cast out our nets and prayed for fish.

We had to be patient, but to my joy, the fish came!  The outreach was even slightly extended in time, as I finished up the final conversation at the end.

The other team member is fairly new to regular outreach (although we have known him for a while).  He has now bought his own tracts and is stepping out to share them with people.  It is so wonderful and encouraging to see him so politely reaching out to people as he can.  Be encouraged reader - you can do this too. :)

The funniest thing happened as I was doing some letterbox dropping afterwards.  It was cold with a nasty wind, so I was rugged up with sneakers, jeans, a jacket, scarf, gloves and a beanie (all dark in colour).  But the sun was out also, so I had sunnies on too.  I walked into a drive to drop tracts into a few boxes, and I noticed a car backing away from me.  I moved on, but I heard the car stop, rev it’s engine, and come down to the end of the drive.  I turned back, and the man in the car was staring at me.  I thought that was odd - I wondered if he wanted a Gospel tract, so I held one up.  He just stared at me.  So I walked over to him.  He wound down his window and asked what it was.  As I was explaining, he took one.  Then he said, “oh, I thought you were a burglar”.  :D  Inwardly I was laughing!  I’ve taken a mental note to be careful how I dress through this winter of outreach! ;)

Sunday morning saw our regular church meeting where we had some special encouragement.  We had two seperate sets of Christian’s turn up who had heard about what we had been up to on the streets.

One man I’ve never seen before came to give us encouragement and advice in how to outreach to a particular cultural/religious group.  He gave us some resources in relation to that.  He couldn’t stay, I assume he had to get to his own local church gathering.  But I was so encouraged that people are noticing what we are doing - as small and insignificant as we are.  I, afresh, feel a responsibility to continue to represent Christ well.

Another couple joined us for our meeting, and it turns out they have been heavily involved with Gospel + abortion outreach in Christchurch for many years.  They had heard about us through a friend.  Word is getting out.  Our efforts are reaching people.  All glory to God.  We pray that God will continue to use us to see souls & lives saved in the fight against abortion in our city.

After church, a team of four headed to Cashel Mall.  And it was a busy time of outreach, with many people about in the crisp, but sunny weather.

I set up my flip chart, looked up, and a guy came up wanting to know what it was about.  It turns out he was a Christian handing out million dollar tracts!  He seemed so encouraged to see other Christians out sharing the Gospel.  We had a good talk, and exchanged contact details.  He stayed with the team for the rest of the outreach.

To end the outreach, we headed to Speaker’s corner in Cathedral Square.  Andy & I decided to open air preach as a tag team.  I covered the bad news, and Andy did the good news.

And the Lord blessed us with a hecker.  A really good heckler.  As we interacted, a few people started to gather to listen.  It was incredibly encouraging for a novice like me.

As Andy preached the good news, a guy mockingly (yet light heartedly) circled him on his scooter (pictured), while his mates videoed it on their phones.  No problem with us, as they are hearing the vital message of the Gospel!

After Andy had finished, Greg was so encouraged, he decided to get up and preach as well, and had some wonderful opportunities to interact with people (pictured).

So, a very very encouraging weekend of outreach.  If we are patient, and faithful - God will use us for His glory.  Do something!
 

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This Friday in Cavill Mall on the Gold Coast the temperature was up ten degrees from last week and there were a lot more people out. It was busier evening at times but the showers of rain emptied the area on and off over the night.

Thankfully there were still many conversations that took place and the eight team members out were able to lead a range of people to a place where they now know how a sinner can be forgiven.

There were two Indian ladies, both named Acsheena who heard the gospel and came to understand how they can be forgiven. They said they'd never heard it before and were grateful for the information but sadly that was all that it seemed to be to them. They didn't seem moved by their sin and they didn't have a hatred for it. They just seemed happy to keep living their own way. They were warned and took tracts but were encouraged to think on this more as eternity could be right around the corner.

In this video you can hear Ben sharing about how the night went generally and Grace sharing about an exciting conversation that took place with a Muslim man named Abs. He was mostly unwilling to hear as he quite consistently wouldn't respond with an answer but would just try and say something else when asked questions.

In the end he too understood the gospel and took a gospel of John to have a read of but whilst firmly believing that Islam is true he showed many times his failure to keep the laws even by his words and actions through the conversation.

Why not take the opportunity this coming week to join the team?

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On Thursday at Sunnybank there was a team of eight members at the outreach and this enabled as usual good converage of the area along both sides of the road. This meant that over the course of the afternoon many people heard of Christ and how they can be forgiven.

An early short conversation was with Mutrich who had a Muslim background and thought he would be fine on the day of judgement, then was shown God's law and realised that he was guilty but said that he'd be able to fix that by living a good life from now on. This was a conversation that lasted less than a minute until his bus arrived but it was a good reminder of the desperate state of the human heart as the day began.

Soon there was a guy named Gary who approached with his friend. His friend instantly said, "I don't want to talk, I'm a Methodist" but Gary happily engaged. He saw that God exists and therefore that we are guilty. He wanted a God who didn't judge and then a God who judged only the really bad people and then a God who would just forgive everyone despite them being bad. But Gary was trying every card he could to avoid his Hell punishment except look to the Saviour. Sadly he remained this way and rejected any offer of hope in the gospel. It wasn't a lengthy conversation either but he ended up leaving with a tract and encouraged to read it and reconsider.

There was an exciting conversation with Rick who had a JW family and had a few struggles to understand because of what his family has said but over the course of a conversation he seemed to understand the simple gospel. He did struggle a bit with its simplicity as he kept trying to add works to it. He too had to leave and was encouraged to read the tract and his Bible.

This was followed by a lengthy conversation with a man named James. To begin at the ending, James said, "I don't want to give up the life I'm living, I don't want to do it God's way". The conversation took almost an hour. James understood the gospel in the first fifteen minutes and it was reminded and reiterated over the course of the chat.

He at some stages was being silly. Willfully trying to misunderstand things that were being said. He was trying to defend his actions with simple arguments about freedom and how he should be able to live his way, instead of God's way. The conversation went on and he was warned seriously many times that to know the offer of forgiveness but to choose to reject Christ out of a desire to continue just to live however you want is the most foolish thing a person can do.

James heard and understood the warnings and at the end of the conversation was still firmly deciding to live in rebellion against the most powerful being in the universe.

Another brief yet valuable conversation was with Jonathan. He at first said, "Whatever you believe will happen to you after death". This was briefly challenged and he saw quickly that cannot be the case. Instead he then professed to be a Christian but thought it was his goodness that would be gaining him access to Heaven.

He was shown God's law and realised the desperate position that he is in and came to grasp the seriousness of getting the main message of Christianity wrong, He could spend eternity in Hell. When he was being asked about what he thought the way is and how he could be forgiven he threw out a few ideas which were addressed and shown as unable to save but there wasn't a chance to talk any further as he too had to leave.

Please be praying for Mutrich that he would read the tract and be humbled, coming to God's saviour. Please pray for Gary that he would stop avoiding reality with foolish ideas but acknowledge that God must punish sinners and therefore seek for God's offer of mercy. Please be praying that Rick would read his Bible and come to see God for who He has shown Himself to be! Please be praying for James that God would do whatever it takes to show him the foolishness of his choice and mercifully lead him to a repentant faith in Christ. Please also pray for Jonathan that he starts to value what God has said and instead of just going with the flow of this postmodern world would instead come to trust in Christ as His Lord and Saviour.

And why not pray for love so that you may seek to preach Christ to those who are perishing?

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On Wednesday afternoon in Brisbane City the team had a wonderful afternoon, it is the time of year when the sun doesn't hit the square in the afternoon but instead is behind a building for most of the afternoon. Which means that many more people are sitting around, although it does make the square a bit cool as well.

There were a scattering of conversations but three stand out ones were with a JW, Josh an intellectual and Michael.

The JW man came up and approached the team seeing one of the messages that was displayed and was shown through the flip chart that like the rest of humanity he is guilty and deserving of God's judgement. He then sought to try and distract the conversation raising other different rabbit holes and getting away from the question posed to him, "How does someone get right before God?"

He finally said that we are made right before God simply by dying. This means Hitler, Satan and your garden variety person all receive the same punishment. But this man was asked if God has anything more to say in His word about the penalty of sin. It is true that death is a consequence of sin but the Bible doesn't say it is the only thing sin deserves.

He was shown some things Jesus said about Hell, some things that John wrote in regards to God's revelation and he sadly wanted nothing to do with it. He said that was all symbolic (meaning, that it didn't mean anything). He was shown that symbols point to something but when the good news of a free gift of forgiveness was being shared he decided that he'd had enough, we need to be worthy and so he left.

Next was a conversation with Josh who was engaged at length. He had spoken to another team member for quite a while and had heard the gospel but it was reiterated and he was able to simply and seemingly understanding it able to answer questions about the gospel, that many professing Christians would struggle to answer.

This was a good sign but knowledge isn't the same as belief and Josh showed this over and over as although he now knew the gospel he still loved sin and desired to live his own way. Over the course of the discussion he had quite a range of questions answered and was challenged greatly, there was a point at which his mouth was completely stopped as he realised what he was doing. He was shown that all his arguments were simply an attempt to justify his decision to live how he saw fit.

He saw that his sin was the same as Adam and Eve's in the garden that they wanted to be like God, they wanted to choose for themselves what they were and weren't allowed to do. This point was referred to over and over as Josh was challenged again and again to forsake his sin and instead trust in Christ alone for salvation.

Lastly a man named Michael came up, he approached the flip chart and said that he wanted to have a go. It was glorious! He had some good questions, he understood the law, his guilt and the good news of justification by faith alone and left knowing the gospel and said that he didn't think it was a mistake that he wanted to check it out and left with a gospel of John, the challenge to count the cost, consider what Christ has said and to trust in Him alone for salvation this day!

The afternoon overall was exciting, as always. It is wonderful to see who God brings along each outreach to hear of His kind and gracious offer of forgiveness. Please be praying for the JW man, Josh and Michael that God would use this small conversations to lead them to a saving knowledge of the truth. May God be gracious to them, save them and cause them to walk in His ways!

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

It was a wonderful week away getting some refueling at a conference.  I arrived home on Wednesday morning, and I was back to work on the streets in the afternoon.  It was so good to be back!  But wow, was it cold!  This was my first official winter outreach.  I’d really appreciate your prayer as I face my first winter as a full time street evangelist.  With God’s help, I can make it through.

The highlight from that Wednesday outreach was talking to two Christians and seeing a desire for evangelism in them.  I was able to encourage them to join me and I was very encouraged by them.

Thursday saw another outreach into the city where I had the pleasure of open air preaching, before Andy and I moved to the Eastgate bus stops for many walk up conversations.  There was one point where the outreach slowed down, so I just paused and started praying, and before long, another bus rolled in, releasing a fresh group of people to hand tracts to and start conversations with.

Today (Friday) started with our Gospel + abortion outreach in front of the hospital.  We had some wonderful opportunities for dialogue and to share the Gospel in spite of much opposition.  This outreach is so vital.  We are continuing to pray that God would use this for His glory.

We then moved to Cathedral Square, where Andy and I both open air preached, with no buskers or heckling - nice for a change.

We finished up with an outreach on Cashel Mall.  It was wonderful to, yet again, have a new team member join us for the first time!  Long may this continue.  May labourers be raised up for His glory.
 

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South-East England (UK) Team

I joined the Sports Fan Outreach on Wednesday at the Oval before the match between Bangladesh and New Zeeland.  Bill Adams and his crew were on the tube side of the street and I stayed on the side where the Oval and the bus stops were.  

I learned that you pick a spot early and stay there, because you have no hope of establishing another spot if you move when the big crowds start filing past.  The crowds were almost all from Bangladesh and I was patient handing out tracts during the three hours leading up to game time.  Many came and asked me what I was doing and took tracts from me.  I handed out twenty "Jesus and the Quran" tracts for those who didn't want an overt Gospel tract.  I preached for about 50 minutes prior to game time as the crowds grew very large, using Mark 10:45, which summarizes the Mark's gospel in one verse.  I asked the crowds "What is greatness?".  Is it skill on the pitch, bowling and batsmanship?  I gave them Jesus' definition, which is found in Mark 10:43-45.  He who would be greatest is the servant of all. I found many approving nods from this mostly Muslim crowd pointing them to Jesus' humility.  And I added that Jesus further humbled himself when he came (incarnation) and gave his life a ransom for many.  I had many brief exchanges, but one young man named "Muman" or Muhammad told me how he has been estranged from his sisters and regretted the lack of reconciliation.  I pointed him to Jesus, who reconciled man with God and reconciles us to others.  

At one point, a comedy team dressed in white coats and Groucho Marx glasses and moustaches animated the people waiting to get into the stadium. 

It was an incredible experience to be in a largely Muslim crowd.  I really sense how important that patience, kindness and respect were important to build a rapport with the people

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The afternoon at Woodridge started with an encouragement from a Fijian lady who is a Christian and knows the gospel. She was encouraged by our presence and shared about some of the recent outreach opportunities she has had. She was encouraged to see if she can share the gospel on the bus home and then she headed off.

The next was a lady named Mama, who believed that God exists and then saw the law showing her the predicament that she is in. She saw that Hell awaited her at this stage but then was shown the good news that there is one who has dealt with the punishment sinners deserve, so that all who trust in Him to pay for their sin will be with God in Heaven eternally.

Mama seemed to understand, with a few checking questions she seemed to understand and was encouraged this day to trust in Christ alone for her salvation, forsaking her sin and living for Christ!

A following conversation was with Junior. He was shown the law and his guilt, the penalty he deserves and then was shown the gospel. He just couldn't grasp it. He was so set in thinking that it is earnt or that we have to do something to keep ourselves saved that even despite four different examples and explanations he could not seem to get the simplicity of the gospel. He ended up having to run for his train and took a tract.

Another conversation was with Ariel. She was waiting for a lift and was shown the seriousness of her predicament. She knew that she was guilty but was thinking it would be better to avoid guilt by raising enough "doubt" in her mind to not believe in God. She was shown how we know God exists and then was pointed to that fact that someone must pay. She was shown her current eternity but then heard of the kindness and love of God that He offered forgiveness to her on the basis of his own sacrifice. Ariel sadly had to run without getting to flesh it out a bit more but she took a tract.

This was followed by a chat with a young man who said that he once believed but now does not because he doesn't have any evidence. He was shown how we know God exists and said it made sense but remained hesitant to acknowledge that there is a God or a day of judgement and this was shown to be on the basis of a desire to live his own way.

At the end of the day, these four non-Christians came to hear God's law and some came to understand the good news for sinners but all the results are in God's hands. Only He can change a human heart and only He can cause someone to believe.

Please be praying that God would be gracious to these people and do what only He can do, so that when He does it only He gets the glory!

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On Sunday night the team has started heading into Brisbane City for outreach. It is set up in a way that enables new members, after their night services at local Churches to come in to be equipped and encouraged. This past Sunday, twelve people came out to proclaim the gospel! It was exciting to see the conversations that took place and that people who'd never spoken of Christ before taking this opportunity to share and loving it!

The first conversation of the evening was spread across three team members. There were a group of five Nepalese who walked up and one spoke to one team member, another three spoke to another and the a the last spoke to another. The first lady professed to be a Christian and was showing that she knew all the answers. The next three were mixed between Hindu's and Buddhists and the last was unsure. Individually they were spoken to and encouraged to consider who God is. Then as they all came together at the end they together were taken through the good person test and where shown God's judgement against sin, the penalty it deserves and therefore that the only way of forgiveness is if Christ pays for our sin.

They were shown the simplicity of accepting the gospel by faith and therefore they each were challenged this day to trust Christ. They were able to answer simply back as to how one can be saved and each took tracts to have a read of!

This was followed by a conversation with two men from the UK. They were being silly and when shown God's law squirmed under guilt. They came to understand that they were deserving of Hell but continued to try and play down the seriousness of their sin. They tried to joke about it and be silly but there came a point where they simply didn't want to face the reality of the lie they were living and so they left, not hearing of how they could be forgiven, instead trying to avoid it by being silly.

There were other conversations with Amelia and V, Lily and Jack and Ida each who responded positively to the gospel, took gospels of John, said they would think about it further and were recommended to local Churches.

The last conversation of the evening was with Will. He was quick with understanding and seemed to get it first try and even was thinking ahead and asking good questions about implications of it all. At the end of it all, knowing the gospel, understanding how one can be forgiven and the dire consequences or rejecting Christ, Will said, "You've been really interesting. This has been a great conversation and I am thankful that I stopped and talked but I don't want to believe. If I was less stubborn maybe I would".

He was left with a final reminder that sin isn't worth it in the end but he remained defiant toward God.

Please be praying that those who heard the gospel would trust in Christ alone for their salvation and forsake all other hopes or desires to gain right standing before God. Please pray that they will have a change of heart where they hate the sin they once loved and now love the God they once hated!

Why not come and join us some Sunday night, you'll be glad you did!

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On Saturday night in King George square there was a team of ten out. The team spread throughout the area. Some paired up with more experienced members and others went out solo to proclaim the excellencies of Him who bought us out of darkness into His marvelous light!

The first conversation of the evening was with Barry. He came up to the table asking for a Bible and the first few probing questions to find out where he stands had him declaring, "Yes, I'm a Christian just like you". Then the question was posed, "What are you trusting in to get you to Heaven?" To which he responded, "My belief in God and my obedience to Him". This was a good reminder that it isn't great to just assume upon someone's profession of faith that they are a Christian but it always helpful to ask a few clarifying questions because in almost every case they don't actually know Christ.

Barry was then taken through a very simple question and answer gospel presentation taking a tour past God's Holiness, humanities wickedness, our universal guilt and Hell deservance and therefore that we have no hope in ourselves to fix our problem but we are stuck desperately in need of someone outside of ourselves, outside of sin to save us. Barry was then shown the beauty of God's love for us in Christ and all that He did in order to bring His people back to the Father. Then he was shown the simplicity of our response, that the gift of forgiveness isn't received on the basis of obedience, good works, asking or being worthy but it to be received by faith in Christ.

Barry was then asked some new clarifying questions and he now had a comprehension of the gospel to which he responded, "Those were some great analogies, I understand the good news now!" He was then given a Bible and encouraged to attend a local Bible believing and preaching Church.

Another conversation was had with Verity a young lady with a Jewish/Catholic heritage. She still comprehended the gospel and understood the way to Heaven but this week she'd been thinking a lot about what she'd heard and knew about God and asked many questions about it all. She said she hadn't trusted in Christ yet but had thought about it at length this week. Many questions were answered but at the end of the conversation she was given a gospel of John and encouraged to read. She said she is quite a reader so she will have read it and have some questions for next time she see's us. She too was recommended to a local Church!

The last conversation of the evening was almost identical to the first. Jason approached the table, professed to be a Christian and then over the subsequent conversation came to see that was not the case but in fact that he'd never understood the gospel. He too left being able to articulate it back and was glad to receive a gospel of John to take a read of.

Please be praying for these conversations and the many others that took place on Saturday night and may God be using His word, written and spoken to be drawing those who are His unto Himself!

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As the team headed to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast the wind was cold meaning that there were fewer than usual people during the later hours of the outreach. This made it a little hard at times to find gospel conversations but thankfully these moments only lasted a few minutes before it was full steam ahead in conversations. Even though there were moments of quietness, the team of seven that were out could have easily had more conversations if they were a team of fourteen. So why not come on out this week?

The first conversation of the evening was with Max He had a Catholic background but a mixture of forgetfulness and poor teaching lead him to have very little idea about God, eternity, sin and forgiveness. He thought that he should probably be good enough for God on that final day. He was quickly shown the serious reality that this just wasn't the case, in fact there was a very serious judgement and eternal punishment awaiting him. Max took this seriously and asked how he could be forgiven.

The gospel was explained, using many questions and back and forth, making sure he was constantly on the same page and at the end of it all when he was asked how someone is forgiven he was accurate in his ability to explain the simple message that upon trusting in Jesus to pay for ones sin, their sin is forgiven and this will drive a person to want to hate their sin, love God and serve Him! Max understood and was then encouraged to count the cost of following Christ, to find a local Church and to start reading his Bible everyday. Please be praying that Max will heed the summons of the gospel and that he will trust in Christ alone!

Whilst this all took place, another team member was talking to his son, Luan who is only around 10 or so years old. He also came to grasp Christianity and together this father and son left, knowing the gospel with the seriousness of this decision ringing in their ears! What an exciting start to the evening as this family walked away with all the knowledge required to trust in Christ. Please be praying that God will work on their hearts and cause them to trust in Him!

A following conversation was with a Muslim man and his friend. This man said he is Muslim and God loves everyone so even as a Muslims he eats pork, drinks alcohol and has sex with whomever he wills. He loves his sin and even then said that his hope for eternity is simply more of this. He was so blinded, not just that he was totally blind even to what his own religion teaches and had just fashion another god, similar to Mohammad's ideas but that he was also closed of to hear what the true God of this universe has to say.

At least if he understood God's goodness, in that because God is good he must hate evil he would be rightly scared of the coming judgement but this man was so proud, so blind and just running toward Hell without even a moments hesitation. It was horrific to see his blindness but he was shown God's law, warned of the coming judgement but didn't want to hear of any solution because he declared there was no problem.

There was a man who dropped past later in the night named Connor who has spoken to the team a number of times, one most notably was during schoolies week. Connor was able to respond back with a simple comprehension of the gospel but said that he didn't want to think about it all because he was happy living his way now. He was then strongly warned about the folly of leaving it until another time as his life could be taken from him this very night!

Please be praying for Max and Luan that God would turn their family from one of apathy into a tiny picture of the covenant family! Please pray that they would find a local Church to attend together, where God's word is preached that they may grow in their knowledge and understanding of God.

Please be praying for the Muslim man and Connor that God would be severe in His mercy and do whatever it takes to shake these man out of their folly into reality and cause them to seek out how they can be made right before God!

Lastly, why not ask God to give you love for the lost, that can overcome fear and schedule in a time to come on out and join us!

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