Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 137

Christchurch (NZ) Team

Saturday is an interesting day to come to the city to witness because so many other religions / cults are out on this day of the week too leading to some interesting conversations for the team!

Sunday saw a team of four set up at the corner of Cashel and Colombo for what was a fruitful time of ministry.

I spend a lot of time each week having Gospel conversations.  And sadly I’ve become quite used to people being completely unmoved by the seriousness of sin, and the amazingness of grace.

But today, I had a very encouraging conversation.  I offered a tract to a guy who I completely expected to ignore it.  But to my surprise, he was interested and took it - wanting to know more.  He was happy to try the flip chart (see picture), and indicated that he was the best person on the chart!

But then as I started to take him through the law, to my encouragement, a look of concern crossed his face - and didn’t leave.  I then proceeded to explain why we call Good Friday good.

He listened intently.

When I asked him if he had any questions, he wanted to know what church I went to, and said he wanted to come along.  From what I can tell, he has friends who are Christian who have been talking to him about church.  He gladly accepted a contact card for my local church, and I wrote my contact details on it.  He said he would be in touch if he had any questions.

It would be so wonderful if he did get in touch, but - as always - I leave him in God’s hands.

To finish the outreach we moved to Cathedral Square to open air preach.  We couldn’t decide who should go first, so we ended up trying something different: we both preached!  I introduced us, Andy went through the bad news, and I finished with the good news and a call to repentance and faith in Christ.  We both had opportunity to interact with people while we were speaking.

I’m looking forward to a rest on Monday.  Please keep the Christchurch (NZ) team in your prayers!  Thank you for your support.  SDG!

---

Christchurch (NZ) Team

In contrast to Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday & Friday was filled with many wonderful Gospel opportunities for the Christchurch (NZ) team, in spite of the weather (rain).

The city outreach on Thursday afternoon started with Andy talking to a man via flip chart who I had already spoken to at the Eastgate bus stops in a previous week.  He seemed really blessed by the follow up conversation, and took a Gospel booklet this time.  And we are so encouraged that the Lord is providing multiple opportunities to talk to the same people - even at different locations.

I open air preached.  It was very encouraging having people come over to interrupt me with good questions.  One of those questions were about how God felt about homosexuality, which I addressed biblically: God is the basis for knowing right and wrong; I don’t hate homosexuals (or anyone), but homosexuality is a sin of which there is forgiveness of through repentance and faith in Christ.

After the preaching, Andy & I had wonderful opportunities for ‘walk up’ Gospel conversations.

I spoke with a couple, one of whom I had spoken to before in front of the bus exchange (although I had no memory of it).

I also sat down next to a man who was very open to the things of God and talked about his need to ‘accept Jesus into his heart’, something he was giving serious consideration to.  But through discussion, it was clear he didn’t understand some of the important concepts of the Gospel: esp. the serious nature of sin or that we are saved not by our own effort, but what Christ did for us on our behalf.  He allowed me time to unpack some of this for him - as best as I could - and also explain why ‘accepting Jesus into his heart’ is not a biblical concept.

After our time in the city, we again headed to the Eastgate bus stops.  And, again, had a busy outreach with many Gospel conversations (see picture of Andy pleading with some young people).

I think I could write a book sharing the wonderful testimonies of the conversations had at this place!  I’ll give one.  I had a feisty conversation with a young man who thought the concept of God made no sense, and that the only logical conclusion is that nothing made everything!  As I was wrestling with him on this, suddenly another lady joined the conversation and started having a go at me.  I now was in a battle on two fronts at the same time.  I persisted, doing my best to answer the questions and objections coming at me.  Through it all, I managed to get an opportunity to start talking about the law of God - and the attacks calmed for a moment, as they listened (esp. The lady).  I then, very briefly, got to explain the solution to the dilemma of our sin in light of a holy and just God: Jesus Christ.  It was a testing and difficult conversation, but I praise God for it and the opportunity to share the main thing: the Gospel.  We all parted on good terms, I leave them in God’s hands and hope I will see them again.

Friday was a day of four seasons: autumn leaves, spring rain, winter wind and cold (in the shade), and summer heat!  Many times I had to switch between my beanie, and my sunglasses and cap.  But none of this stopped the Gospel being proclaimed.

Andy preached before having an early lunch and then setting up flip charts on the corner of Cashel & Colombo.

The rain did not stop Gospel conversations.  In one situation it started raining just after a conversation commenced, but it was important enough for everyone to ignore it.  I even had an extra person join in!  Please see the funny photo I took afterwards: the dry spots are where the people were standing.

The team had many wonderful conversations through the afternoon, and we then enjoyed some fellowship at a local cafe.

But the day didn’t end there, in the evening, we headed back out.

Initially, the evening outreach was a bit slow.  But then the Lord provided 3 wonderful opportunities to share the Gospel.  The last one is pictured.  The first one was a walk up opportunity in Cathedral Square, where the young man had been to a youth group, but was still pondering what life was all about.

But the middle one, came about from a conversation between evangelists about how to start a conversation.  The technique being discussed was by starting with: “Excuse me, may I ask you a question?  It’s a deep question.”  And then the perfect opportunity presented itself with two men walking towards us.  So I tried it.  And, for me, it lead to the highlight conversation of the night.  The men were very engaged, and the important concepts of the Gospel were covered in depth. And they left with a challenge, not to just intellectually think about the Gospel.  But to respond!

 

---

Our last two outreaches have been radically different from one another.

February Outreach

This outreach was discouraging for a number of us. There was a very real, almost tangible spiritual hardness in the CBD and very few people would receive tracts or even less people would engage in conversation. Normally the majority of people take tracts and a small minority want to engage in spiritual discussions. Not today. After almost an hour of persistent rejections, our team was tired. There was however, one conversation that myself (Doug) and Elisa had with two older Indigenous men.

When we offered them a tract, D-- and N—told us they have their own spirituality. When I asked them what they believed, they said they believed in Indigenous spirituality. As the conversation progressed, they explained that they believed that history runs in a cycle (there is no such thing as “progress” in history) and that the Mother Spirit inhabits the Earth. This spirit is personal and is expressed in every created thing. This Mother Spirit has a particular relationship with the original inhabitants of Australia, as they cared for nature and lived in (relative) harmony with it. One day Mother Earth will cast out all non-Indigenous people from Australia and history will once again reset.

It was at this point that things took an unexpected twist. At first, D—and N—claimed that Indigenous people are the first of Mother Earth’s creation and are the “most pure”. Everyone else in the world are “less pure” races that were created afterward. A little while later they changed this somewhat racist claim to instead say that every race is descended from the original inhabitants of Australia. Those races who inhabit land outside of Australia were cast out many millennia ago for violating tribal law.

Throughout this time, Elisa and I did our best to listen respectfully and also to gently probe how they knew these things to be true. D—and N—replied that Indigenous culture is the longest surviving culture in the world, and therefore their beliefs must be true. Before I could point out that this doesn’t necessarily follow (non-sequitur fallacy), both men said that Christianity was false because it was a crutch for the weak and the Bible had been changed many times.

Elisa then powerfully shared how God had been a crutch for her through many difficult seasons and together we explained how every person on Earth uses a crutch to get through life’s difficulties. Whether it’s alcohol, family relationships, an upcoming holiday...you name it, we all use crutches. The real question is whether they will break in our hands when we lean on them heavily enough. I shared that only the infinite God is strong enough to bear the weight of our pain and suffering, because every finite thing and every finite person we use as a crutch will one day fail us.

D—then fell back on the “Bible has been changed many times” objection. This objection requires a small amount of historical knowledge and explanation to defuse*, but unfortunately due to time restrictions Elisa and I needed to go. Overall, this conversation went for over an hour and Elisa and I spent the majority of the time listening, which is in many ways one of the most crucial skills for all Christians to grow in when engaging with others. We hope that this discussion was one that could open doors to future dialogue and all four of us shook hands on good terms and departed.

Once we returned to our team we heard just how hard the day had been for many of us. In hindsight, we all know some months will be harder than others, but the challenge for us to trust God as He refines us and to hold firm to His promises. Jesus is the good King and we are thankful that He sees our difficult days and is powerful enough to mould everything together for our good. Not because we are good...but because He is love (1 John 4:16) .

*For info on how to deal with "The Bible has been changed many times" objection
 https://carm.org/illustration-bible-text-manuscript-tree-and-variant-readings

 

March Outreach


This month we introduced the OP513 flip-chart into our ministry. This flip-chart has the “Good Person Test” on it and is designed to be set up and used to engage interested groups of people who come over for a chat or through open-air preaching. After the team ran a few practice runs, we split up to either draw interest to the chart or to hand out tracts and begin conversations.

It wasn’t long before two interested teenagers came over to Merv and I to do the “Good Person Test”. A—and H—were friendly young men who engaged the presentation and asked some good questions. After we had shared the Gospel, A—said “This makes sense! I’ve heard about this in Youth Group!” We encouraged both of them to engage a Youth Group and gave them some tracts as they left to consider.

We then switched gears and Merv began to preach, using the chart as a guide. He did an exceptional job and I noticed a number of interested people at the traffic lights with their windows down watching the presentation.

Overall it was a very interesting outreach. We praise God for the privilege of sharing His good news for humanity through words, flip-charts, tracts and the many varied ways that He has allowed us to use this month. Only in eternity will we know the true impact in people’s lives.

---

On Wednesday afternoon there were seven team members out, including local business men (maybe one day a business woman will join us during her lunch break to proclaim the gospel). The sky was cloudy and the cover meant more people than normal took up residence on the seats in the square. After a few short introductory conversations Peter and Terry were approached.

These two men were wearing suits and were sitting down chatting. They were approached and graciously were open to talk. When asked what they thought would happen after they die both said that they would go to Heaven. This is quite common but what was unusual was for Terry it was actually true. When asked why they would be going to Heaven Terry gave a quite extensive but simple explanation of how he was a sinner who had been saved only by the blood of Jesus. But oppositely Peter said, "I think I'm a pretty good guy".

Then the opportunity was opened up and the gospel was shared with Peter. He saw his sin, the penalty sin deserves and therefore that our hope cannot be in ourselves but can only be in Christ and His perfect life. Peter understood and was challenged. This then provided the perfect opportunity to encourage these men, who work together, to discuss this more themselves and maybe even in the next few weeks read John's Gospel together and come face to face with who Jesus is and the challenge he places before us, to trust Him or perish.

The conversation was finished a quick challenge. With Easter coming up it will be a reminder of one of two things, either that God's judgement is coming in Hell or that God has paid my debt so that I can be with Him eternally. Peter was left to ponder what it would remind him of this Easter.

The afternoon was filled with many more exciting conversations where God's providence was on display. Monica came to understand the gospel and said she would consider it. God took away one conversation to replace it with another where three young men came to grips for the first time of God's gospel and were seriously considering trusting in Christ. But one exciting conversation, where God was showing His mercy was with Gen.

She was just sitting on a the bench and was approached and with a few early questions it came out that she had a Catholic background, had once gone to a school that was strongly Catholic but she never really believed it and had been offended at the self-righteousness of those around her who always looked down on her for not being as good as them.

Early in the conversation a lady sit a bit further around interrupted and tried to push Gen out of the conversation. She had been listening and said, "You shouldn't be forcing this girl to believe what you do. She shouldn't have to listen to you!" At this stage in the conversation, four questions in, nothing about Christianity had been shared, only some simple diagnostic questions had been asked. This interrupting lady wasn't really arguing because what was being said was wrong but because she hated God.

Gen responded that she was happy to keep chatting and the other lady went back to her business. For a few moments there it seemed as if God was stopping the conversation and it was a little struggle to get back into the discussion with Gen but it all went okay. The other lady soon left with some loud complaints about how stupid God is and headed off.

This is where God started to work. Gen was shown how we know God exists and she said she didn't think that was true but didn't have a reason. Then she was shown God's law and saw her guilt. Then the conversation went back to the building builder analogy. It was pointed out to Gen, that her incredulity was unwise. It wasn't that there was no evidence for God. It wasn't that we can't know there is a God but rather as she had stated earlier, "I don't want to believe in God".

She was shown why she didn't want to believe. God has standards, we're guilty of breaking them and therefore we try one of two things, to get out of the judgement, pretending there's no judge or pretending we're not guilty. She acknowledged this with a cheeky smile. After this moment there was not one single argument against God's existence rather a willful desire to know what the real solution to her sin was. Gen came to understand the gospel, to acknowledge that she needed Jesus alone and she finished by saying, "Thanks for the conversation, I am really glad we were able to talk, I shall have to think about what you have said". She was left with the same serious reminder about Easter as Peter and asked if she could keep the gospel tract because she loved the picture of Christ suffering the wrath, protecting believers on the back.

Please be praying for those who heard the gospel today that they would come to trust in Christ. Please pray that Peter may come to know God personally, that Terry may be a good witness and have the words to say and that Gen would take the gospel to heart and trust in God's offer of hope, not some human centered ideas.

---

Christchurch (NZ) Team

On Tuesday the outreach to Riccarton started with some letterbox dropping.

As I was walking around a corner, I encountered two teenagers and offered them a tract.  To my surprise, one of them said he had already talked to me before - at Eastgate!

It turns out we were only a few paces away from a small bus shelter, and there were more teens there.  I had a wonderful opportunity to briefly discuss the things of God with them before a bus turned up and they hopped aboard.  But before that, I was encouraged that when I shared the building = builder / creation = creator analogy, one of them said: “that makes complete sense” (or words to that effect).  They all received an Easter tract.

After the letterbox dropping, I went to a slightly different spot on Riccarton Road to have Gospel conversations.  And I also didn’t use my flip chart (I forgot it as I rushed out the door).  Well, for two hours, I wasn’t able get anyone to stop for a full Gospel conversation.  I don’t think it was the new spot - I was able to give away plenty of Easter tracts.  Or the lack of a flip chart.  Although I did see plenty of people I have talked to on previous outreaches.  Maybe I need to find a completely new spot for a while?

Yet I was not discouraged.  The outreach, at the very least, was a success, as I had obeyed Jesus in going.

On Wednesday conversations were, again, difficult to come by - but they did occur this time! :)  May God be glorified in our efforts, even when they don’t go as well as we hope.

As we march on towards winter, an added blessing is that the sun is now low enough that the hospital building is shading my prime spot in front of the entrance.  I thank God for this small blessing.

---

On Tuesday at Woodridge again there was a team of seven out! What a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel with those who were in and around the area. During the afternoon with a range of conversations there were two moments of great excitement as God was at work.

The first was with a lady named Kelly. She had grown up going to sunday school and had a little understanding of Christianity but sadly didn't know the Gospel and hadn't been to church in a very long time. But through the conversation it came out that during a hard time in the last year her friend had given her a Bible and sometimes she would open up to some passages here and there and said they made her feel nice. This opportunity was taken to point out that although she may be feeling subjective feelings of happiness, the Bible currently should leave her in great fear.

The law was shown revealing her sin and God's promises of judgement against the wicked were explained. She was shown that as she currently stands, the Bible should simply be reminding her that judgment is coming but that there is also hope. Then this true hope was explained that God purchases sinners from Hell by His work on the cross. She offered the salvation that Christ has purchased and she seemed to understand the simplicity of the gospel and the beauty of the cross and was encouraged to consider it.

Before any checking questions could be asked her bus arrived and so she was encouraged to read John's gospel from front to back over the next few days to see who this Jesus is more clearly!

Another conversation was with Evelyn. She again was very open to hear and saw her sin and the judgement it deserves. She was intently listening and engaging and knew that as she currently stood she was in trouble. Then for the first time in her life Evelyn understood the gospel! She saw what Christ had done and how it was the offer of salvation to those who believe and Evelyn was moved! Tears were streaming down her face in response to the gospel!

She heard of the response that we as Christian's should have to this gospel, that we will turn from our sin and serve God because of the salvation he has provided us. Evelyn was overjoyed at the offer of forgiveness and was thankful for the conversation. She was recommended to a local Church and said she would think about going this week!

Please be praying for these two women that God would use the conversations they had to draw them unto Himself, that they may know joy, peace and forgiveness for the first time in their lives! Please also pray that they will begin to attend a local Church and will grow in depth and understanding.

What a wonderful God we serve, may each of us be able to rejoice in the glory of God and declare to others what He has done!

---

On Monday at Capalaba a team of four assembled again and covered the bus stop with the Gospel. There were many exciting conversations over the course of the afternoon, with many people coming to understand the Gospel.

The first conversation of the afternoon was with a man who said there was no God, when challenged with buildings need a builder analogy he said it made sense but really didn't want to believe it. This was further cemented when he was shown God's law. As the law revealed his guilt, he went straight back to saying there was no God. It was a sad conversation because he preferred to be in denial than to hear the real solution. In the end he ended the conversation by saying that he didn't want to talk about this anymore and was left without a solution.

A following conversation was with Ashton who had heard some different things about God but believed in Heaven and Hell. He though that he would probably go to Heaven because he was a decent guy. He was shown God's law and saw his guilt and was impacted by the reality of it. Then he heard the penalty and was taking it seriously. He proposed all of the things he thought might be able to remove his guilt but none were able to but then he heard the Gospel and said it made sense!

It took a little while from him to grasp the simplicity of the message that it is trusting in Christ alone that saves a sinner and he was able to answer the checking questions correctly. His bus arrived and he wasn't able to stay but said he was thankful for the chat and would think about what was shared.

There were a few other exciting conversations with three other people all who heard, understood and responded positively to the Gospel and were challenged to consider it today. A final conversation of the afternoon was had with a lady named Sophia. She was sitting waiting for her bus and was approached and asked the same question, what do you think happens after we die?

Sophia thought she was good, thought she was heading to Heaven and attends a local Catholic church but for the first time in her life she understood the simple Gospel! She was at first even scared of saying the word Hell but as the conversation flowed she came to understand the importance of acknowledging the reality of judgement as it emphasises the height and depth of God's love in saving sinners.

The moment at which she understood the Gospel for the first time she was overjoyed and let out a little squeak, "I really needed this! It didn't really make sense to me up until now but now it makes sense!" She said that she wanted to trust in Christ!

At this moment she explained that she goes to a local Catholic church but she was challenged to have a read of Romans 3-5, and to come and see what Paul has to say about how someone is made right before God. She was challenged that if she read what Paul had written and believed that he was preaching a grace based Gospel (which he is), she was encouraged then to find a local Christian Church to attend.

Please be praying for those who heard the Gospel today that God would change their lives through the message preached. Please be praying that they would come to a knowledge of the truth and be relying on Christ alone for their salvation!

---

On Monday at Capalaba a team of four assembled again and covered the bus stop with the Gospel. There were many exciting conversations over the course of the afternoon, with many people coming to understand the Gospel.

The first conversation of the afternoon was with a man who said there was no God, when challenged with buildings need a builder analogy he said it made sense but really didn't want to believe it. This was further cemented when he was shown God's law. As the law revealed his guilt, he went straight back to saying there was no God. It was a sad conversation because he preferred to be in denial than to hear the real solution. In the end he ended the conversation by saying that he didn't want to talk about this anymore and was left without a solution.

A following conversation was with Ashton who had heard some different things about God but believed in Heaven and Hell. He though that he would probably go to Heaven because he was a decent guy. He was shown God's law and saw his guilt and was impacted by the reality of it. Then he heard the penalty and was taking it seriously. He proposed all of the things he thought might be able to remove his guilt but none were able to but then he heard the Gospel and said it made sense!

It took a little while from him to grasp the simplicity of the message that it is trusting in Christ alone that saves a sinner and he was able to answer the checking questions correctly. His bus arrived and he wasn't able to stay but said he was thankful for the chat and would think about what was shared.

There were a few other exciting conversations with three other people all who heard, understood and responded positively to the Gospel and were challenged to consider it today. A final conversation of the afternoon was had with a lady named Sophia. She was sitting waiting for her bus and was approached and asked the same question, what do you think happens after we die?

Sophia thought she was good, thought she was heading to Heaven and attends a local Catholic church but for the first time in her life she understood the simple Gospel! She was at first even scared of saying the word Hell but as the conversation flowed she came to understand the importance of acknowledging the reality of judgement as it emphasises the height and depth of God's love in saving sinners.

The moment at which she understood the Gospel for the first time she was overjoyed and let out a little squeak, "I really needed this! It didn't really make sense to me up until now but now it makes sense!" She said that she wanted to trust in Christ!

At this moment she explained that she goes to a local Catholic church but she was challenged to have a read of Romans 3-5, and to come and see what Paul has to say about how someone is made right before God. She was challenged that if she read what Paul had written and believed that he was preaching a grace based Gospel (which he is), she was encouraged then to find a local Christian Church to attend.

Please be praying for those who heard the Gospel today that God would change their lives through the message preached. Please be praying that they would come to a knowledge of the truth and be relying on Christ alone for their salvation!

---

West Country (UK) Team

On Saturday 7th April our Church hosted its monthly men's breakfast, and afterwards three of us went out into Torpoint high street to try and engage with some passers by. Torpoint is a small town in Cornwall and over the years has been very hard to reach out to people as is quite middle class and often people don't see their need for a Saviour or don't want to speak to people. There are also Jehovah's witness that go out there and so often we can be mistaken for them which makes things harder. Simon was with us but unfortunately was called into work.

Our Pastor Archie managed to engage in conversation with an older teenager and John and I managed to hand out a few tracts, but was very hard going!

I went into the City Centre and although there would now only be 2 of us. Laurie and I set up the good person flip chart that I had managed to alter slightly thanks to being able to print A3 in the school I work at. Almost immediately a man approached us that was by providence was Christian and he was a Christian! He was interested in what we were doing and had a good conversation about evangelism, church and unbelievers. By Gods grace and prayer I have been able to have lots of great conversations with students at the school I work at, with students age 14-16 asking me questions about Noah's Ark, who made God, evolution and design and why the Bible is true. I have been able to discuss some things, however told students to come and speak with me in ton where I would have more freedom to discuss things in more depth.

Two students called, Z and J came with questions they had spoken to their Dad about, and we had a lengthily chat about their questions and managed to go through some of the flip chart pictures to discuss things. I spoke to them about the complexity and design of life, like our finger prints, human cells and DNA. It was really profitable and the girls took a gospel each and some tracts and I pray we can speak more after the Easter holidays. Laurie gave them and lost of other people leaflets about her Church Easter services next week and encouraged them to attend to find out more.

7 teenagers from a local secondary school walked past and I managed to stop them and take them through the intelligence test before going though the flip chart. They stayed and listened for around 20 minutes and was brilliant to hear their questions and listen to what the Bible had to say and they all took tracts and agreed to a photo (shown).

Some people stopped to read the 180 Movie poster about links between the Holocaust and Abortion and a man was quite angry as he was pro choice and didn't see why both things would be on the sme poster. I shared that over 50 million abortions had happened since Roe v Wade and so this was much worse in numbers, but he did not want to listen and stormed off.

Another couple of ladies walked past called Shannon and Becky who were very interested in the flip chart and questions and listened intently as Laurie and I spoke with them. I prayed with them afterwards that what was shared would make sense and that they would come before God in repentance and trust in Jesus to forgive them. They took a New Testament each and some tracts. Two young boys called Isaac and Dan age 12/13 also came to listen and I shared about how a 13 year old boy had died in Plymouth last week after being knocked off his scooter by a car which made us all upset.

Carol was an older lady that stopped to go through flip chart with her daughter called Kim, and she shared she had started going to Church about a year ago but was still unsure if she was saved and her understanding of the gospel was blurred. We spoke and prayed with them both and her daughter Kim shared how she had gone through a lot of drug problems in the past but that what we shared had made sense, and they too took some tracts and a gospel each.

Laurie had a great conversation with a young lad called Jack, who at first was reluctant to speak as was with his friends about to go into McDonalds, but actually stopped and listened and spoke for quite a while, and Laurie said she felt he was understanding what was shared and was mature in not just gong off with his friends. 

I preached about Easter and how much the UK is predicted to spend on Easter presents and chocolates this year- £900 million! But what the true reason of Easter is about  and the significance of good Friday next week.

When Laurie and I packed up and were heading to the car to drop the stuff off, two women with a baby got into the lift with us and called Shelly and Emily that saw the intelligence test and asked what it was about and the flip chart. Again we managed to share inside the lift and they stopped to speak when we got out. They said they were both in recovery at the moment living in a home to support them, but were very interested in coming to the Easter services we mentioned.

It was a fantastic day of outreach with many great conversations and tracts handed out, and to top it off I bumped into an old friend from another Church who had seen us in town earlier and said he could print the good person test in A2 for only £1 a sheet at his Church, which is a real answer to pray, as had been quoted around £200 by another place so hopefully this will be done in the next couple of weeks to use again on the streets. SDG!

---

Christchurch (NZ) Team

The weekend saw two outreaches in the central city for the Christchurch (NZ) team.

Like Friday, both outreaches were conducted in cold and wet conditions.  But tracts were distributed and conversations occurred any way - to the glory of God.

Two highlight conversations from Saturday: an encouragement and a discouragement.

The encouragement was with a young man outside the bus exchange.  It turns out this young man had been in a Christian kids club I had been a leader of years ago.  Now from time to time I bump into these kids (now young adults) and feel discouraged as they don’t show the fruits of repentance and faith.  So I was expecting this young man to be the same.  But to my surprise he demonstrated an understanding of the Gospel and is involved with a local church!  Praise God.

The discouragement stemmed from a conversation with a lady.  As I was taking her through the law I asked her if she had ever murdered anyone, the conversation quickly moved to euthanasia.  She shared a sad, personal story where someone she knew was euthanized.  On the surface, the situation seemed justified.  And, in a way, she was looking for sympathy or justification from me.  I could not give it.  We have no right to take human life, even when there is suffering.  I briefly touched on biblical examples where God uses suffering for good.  The crucifixion of Jesus being the prime example.  I was able to explain the Gospel - that Jesus suffered the justice of God the Father so we could be forgiven of our sin and rose again, defeating death and giving us hope of eternal life.  But she was repelled by the exclusivity of Jesus being the only way to the Father and quickly disengaged and walked away.  It is hard, but vitally important that we are always faithful to the truth - as discouraging as the result can be.

The Sunday afternoon outreach started with prayer (as always).  And we asked that the rain would not hinder the Gospel going forth.

Straight after we finished praying, I headed out and started offering Easter tracts.  Two teen boys were biking past and they slammed on their brakes and came back to accept what I was offering.  They gave an interesting answer to the question of why we call Good Friday good.  Their answer was: so that kids would be able to enjoy the holiday - since it’s good!

Using this as my starting point, I was able to explain to them why we are not good, and the real reason why we call Good Friday good.  That Jesus exchanged our bad for His good on the cross so justice could be served and we could receive forgiveness.  They acknowledged that it was indeed good news!

In spite of the weather, other Gospel conversations occurred, and tracts were distributed.

Looking forward to a rest on Monday, before heading out again on Tuesday.  Your prayer is so appreciated.  Please pray for more labourers for the harvest field in Christchurch and beyond, and that God would be glorified in our obedience in sharing, and people hearing, His precious Gospel!
 

---

« Prev | 1 | 2 ... 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 ... 286 | 287 | Next »

---