Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 147

You can be encouraged from the conversations the team had on Saturday night. Hear Lee-Anne share about a lengthy conversation she had with two Muslims and how they came to hear and understand the Gospel for the first time!

Hear Fynn share about a conversation he had with a Catholic who came to understand that the Bible talks about being made right before God, entirely on the basis of faith in what Jesus did for us.

Hear Matt share about a reminder of the importance to focus on the Gospel in a conversation and to be wary not to be sidetracked with intellectual arguments at the expense of someone missing out on hearing the Gospel.

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

A nice Sunday afternoon to get out and chat with people about eternity and the gospel, after enjoying worship and fellowship with our local churches.  A team of 3 today from 2 local churches.

We decided to go to our old fishing spot just outside Ballantynes - a spot we have only recently been able to start using again now that the construction next door is complete giving the foot path its good flow of foot traffic again.  We also set up a flip chart on the opposite side of the mall.

The Christchurch (NZ) team are loving the use of the Eternity tract.  It's a great conversation starter: "Hi, we are talking to people about eternity today.  What do you think happens in Eternity?" (while handing them the tract), and if people aren't keen for a chat, they will often keep the tract which explains the good news.

Today, a young lady walked past my flip chart and took a tract, but didn't stop to chat.  Soon after, an older Catholic gentlemen stopped for a chat.  Then I noticed the young lady was back, and patiently waiting for the conversation to end - she obviously had something to say.  My assumption was that she was going to give me a piece of her mind over offense at the gospel message on the tract.  The gentlemen moved on and my attention was with the young lady again.  But to my pleasant surprise, she didn't want to give me a piece of her mind, but she had many good and genuine questions about God, and Christianity - and the gospel was shared.  She had read the tract and it had motivated her to follow up - praise God for tracts!

It just goes to show that we can often think the worst might happen, when in fact it's often the opposite.  And this often stops us doing what we should.  I know evangelism often invokes a great fear, which holds us back, e.g.: "I'll be asked a question I can't answer" or "they'll get angry at me".  And yes, that might happen from time to time.  But more often than not a wonderful conversation will occur with people walking away with an understanding of the good news of Jesus - which is "the power of God for salvation" (Romans 1:16).  And with training and experience, we will get better at dealing with those few times where we get asked hard questions, or people are upset.  There are many teams of Christians out sharing the love of God that you can join to get that training and experience.  I want to encourage you to step past your fears and take the first step by getting in touch!

Another wonderful conversation started with the "Eternity" approach.  But the man wasn't interested, and wouldn't take the tract.  But I noticed he was wearing a cap advertising a technology I was familiar with (my background is in IT).  I was genuinely interested in why he was wearing the cap, and a conversation occurred naturally.  It turns out that a conference was starting the following day, at the university, and he had flown in from Australia to attend.  We talked about IT for a while, when he asked: "So what do you do now?".  This opened up an opportunity to come back to the Eternity tract.  He clearly said he didn't want to talk about religion -- and I respected that.  But he did say he would take the tract and read it.  He popped it into his shirt pocket, and the conversation drifted back to IT.  Soon after we parted ways with a hand shake.  But a silent missionary was sitting in his shirt pocket.  God willing, it will come out and witness the gospel to him at exactly the right time.

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South-East England (UK) Team

On Saturday, January 19th, the Essex team met at Meridian Square outside of the Stratford tube station in East London for evangelism and outreach.  It was a chilly 5C, but there were many good conversations.  Jacob and Andy both handed out the Op513 Million Pound Question tract with success. Some of the people taking the Million pound note were quite taken with the novelty of the tract. I was handing out the Xpand Christianity tract asking which of six major religions was true, which was appropriate for this multi-culturallly diverse area of  East London.

City wardens were quick to stop amplified preaching on Saturday. They shut down a woman named Mary, but she had a booming voice and went around the square shouting things like "Repent", or "The time will soon be over. Elohim" or quoting John 14:6 for most of the time we were there. (I don't know if anyone knew what she was trying to say. I told her that she should explain to people what she is talking about.)  A portable generator and traffic noise made it difficult to be heard above the din, so we stuck with handing out tracts. We interacted with some teenagers raising money for a youth program.

I gave tracts and spoke to Tausin and Maame.  Elijah, a young man ona skateboard told me that he left a strict Catholic background and now was free. I encouraged him to read the tract when he was at home. Rashid, a Moslem, told me that good works to our fellow man was very important because we can't know God.  He added that he was an advocate.  I told him that Jesus was my advocate before the Father.  Sheila said that she was a Christian and was encouraged to see a Christian presence in Stratford.

I chatted with Samir as he prepared to hand out his Moslem literature again. He said that he read to BIble extensively, but it clearly wasn't with faith, but only to construct arguments against Christianity. I also chatted with Chinelle, a homeless woman who looked more like a 12 year old boy, and I spoke a word of encouragement. (Some victims of physical abuse stop growing, literally.)  My homeless friend Salvatore was also out.  He showed me that he still had the New Testaments that I gave him in December.

Please pray for the people which I have named that God may be gracious to them and grant them the grace to repent and the faith to believe. 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Day 10 of 10: Christchurch (NZ) Summer Mission + Friday Night Outreach

Today we had a solid team of 9 out sharing, including 3 children.  So wonderful to have people of all ages (including a retired pastor), abilities, experience levels and walks of life unified on the need to get the gospel of Jesus to the lost.  I want to encourage ALL Christians to get involved.  The gospel message is not complicated, and if you have the ability to smile, and simply hand out tracts to people walking past - then you can do this!  And outreach teams are being established that you, and your church, can join to get training and grow in confidence and experience.

The photos only show a sampling of the many gospel interactions that occurred.

Thank you so much to those that have been praying for the Christchurch team while we were on our yearly mission to our own city. And the encouragement and support has been so appreciated.  God bless! :) 

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Tonight hear Matthew share that he has struggled to evangelise the longer he has been away from the team on the street. You can join in praising God that he was able to make it out tonight to practice and was also able to have some good conversations!

Hear Ryan share about an encouraging conversation he had with a Muslim couple, explaining to them why there must be a Saviour, for God to remain Just and Merciful.

Hear Craig sharing an encouragement about the many conversations he had and you can hear him even challenge you, to consider coming out for the name of God to be glorified!

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Day 9 of 10: Christchurch (NZ) Summer Mission

Today we took the chilly bin of cold drinks and focused on walk up conversations with people: both in the City (including an excursion down to the Botanical Gardens), and at Sumner Beach.

Using soft drinks to start conversations is a wonderful tool (something unique to our Summer Mission).  Proverbs 18:16 (ESV) "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before the great."  It is only a tool - a non essential, unlike the gospel message - which is essential.  But many times today it caused people to stop when it was clear they wouldn't have otherwise - and often a wonderful gospel conversation was able to occur.

An example of this was first thing this morning, as we were walking down High Street towards Cathedral Square, a young man ended up walking parallel to us.  An Eternity tract was offered and accepted, but it didn't look like he would stop for a conversation.  When offered a free drink, he seemed genuinely surprised and gratefully accepted.  By this stage we were waiting at the lights to cross into Cathedral Square and I was able to start discussing the law and gospel with him.  He became engrossed, and we slowed down to a stand still in the Square as I finished explaining the gospel and offered a booklet with more details.  I was surprised when he said yes, and that he would sit down right then and read it!  I've never had that happen before.  This young man sat down, read through the Eternity tract, and then picked up the booklet and started reading through it (see first picture, where another of the team is also sharing the gospel with someone else).  I took the time to write out my contact details for this young man and gave them to him.  I then moved elsewhere and had a separate gospel conversation; when I came back, he was still reading.  Praise God!  Our job is to share the gospel, God does the saving - for His glory alone.

Many other gospel conversations were had today.  We thank God for the opportunities He provided to share of His mercy and grace - and we trust Him with the results.  Your prayers and support are a vital part of this mission - please continue to pray as we move into the final day tomorrow.

 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Day 8 of 10 of the summer mission to Christchurch (NZ)

Today was a day of gospel conversations in the most unlikely of places and ways.

We loaded up the chilly bin with cold drinks to give away, with the intention of eventually making it to the beach for evangelism there.  But we never ended up making it.

We decided to start in the central city, as we had to follow up with authorities in regard to the flip chart drama from the previous day.

Using cold drinks or tracts as conversation starters, or the flip chart - we had limited success in sharing the gospel message with people.  Although some good conversations were had.

After lunch, we decided to head for the beach.  But on the way to our cars, as we were walking down Cashel Street (the part outside the central city, and so with low foot traffic) we noticed a skateboarder who looked hot and in need of a cold drink!  It was gratefully accepted, and turned into a wonderful gospel conversation (see picture).

While this conversation was going, another team member had other opportunities to hand out tracts & give away drinks as conversation starters.  One of those conversations was with 2 construction workers on a break.  This conversation was special for 2 reasons: 1) Every morning of this mission, as we have headed to the streets, we have passed a big group of construction workers on their morning break, some of whom received tracts.  2) 1 of the 2 construction workers approached today had received tracts on a previous day!  This was a wonderful opportunity to follow up, and he started by saying "Religion doesn't make any sense".  In as much time that was allowed, and starting with this statement, objections were answered, and the law and gospel was shared - with a call to repentance and faith.  I'm hoping this will lead to some thinking on their part, and lead to more follow up questions in future mornings, God willing.

Once the conversation with the skateboarder had finished, we continued heading towards our parked cars, when a guy we had talked to the previous day saw us again, and was keen for a follow up conversation.  This man had had some kind of powerful spiritual encounter a year or so ago, but was now believing in something that included Christianity, but wasn't Christianity.  Specifically, he thought the Bible was interesting, and Jesus was important.  But that God spoke to him directly.  He was convinced that people are generally good, but yet he loved the hymn amazing grace (that saved a wretch like me).  We continued to challenge this man about the sinfulness of man, and the gift of Jesus.

So, after all these conversations in the least expected of places, we had run out of time to head to the beach.  But the day wasn't over.

One of the team decided to head back to Cashel Mall to do some more gospel sharing before the end of the day, and at the Colombo Street intersection an "Eternity" gospel tract was handed to a young man while waiting for the lights to go green to cross the road.  A conversation got going, and neither of us ended up making the crossing.  The young man was new to Christchurch and was lost.  He needed to get to Riccarton Mall, and asked if he could walk there.  It was too far, and since that mall was on the way home, a ride was offered and accepted.  All the way to the car (back down Cashel Street), and on the drive over to Riccarton Mall, a wonderful gospel conversation occurred.  This young man had gotten involved with Christianity through a youth group in his home town.  But he had no understanding of the gospel, and was calling himself agnostic now, in spite of once being a passionate "Christian".  He seemed to really appreciate the new gospel information I was giving him, and he gladly accepted a Bible, gospel booklet, DVD, and tract with contact details.  The last photo on this report is of him just after being dropped off.  Oh, may he understand, repent, and believe the gospel - to the glory of God alone!

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Day 7 of 10 of the Christchurch (NZ) summer mission.

No rain today, but it was overcast, so we decided to go to Cathedral Square (instead of heading to the beach).  Before heading out, we prayed together as a team and read some Proverbs.  15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.  And 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.  Little did we know that those verses would need to be applied today - but God did.

On our way to the Square, we ended up having some great walk up conversations with workers on breaks.  But once we made it to the Square, it was a bit slow - esp. at our usual spot at the southern Colombo St entrance.

Some of the team decided to move into Speaker's Corner, in front of the Cathedral.  And this became a very fruitful spot for gospel conversations.

But sadly, to our shock and surprise, we had one of the local coffee stall owners abruptly pull down one of our flip charts (see photo) and try to put a stop to what we were doing!  We refused to be intimidated, and so continued to use our flip charts to have gospel conversations with those that were interested - even with the stall owner continually coming back and trying to stop us.  Those verses from the book of Proverbs were put to good use.

It's nothing like the book of Acts, but praise God we were counted worthy to face opposition, may it cause the gospel to prosper!

And today the gospel certainly prospered!  The team headed home, clicking our heels, due to all the wonderful conversations that were had.  A lot more gospel booklets (something we only give out to people that respond positively to the message shared) were given out today than usual.

Because of what happened today, it also provided opportunity to get to know some of the other stall owners that witnessed what happened and gave us the opportunity to start building good relationships with them.  God uses all things for the good of those that love Him.

Tonight we will be having our weekly team prayer meeting - we have much to pray about after today.  Please be praying for the team as we head into the last few days of our summer mission.  May the lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!

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West Country (UK) Team

On Saturday 12th January, George, Harry and myself met at 11.30am in the top of the city Centre for outreach. This was the first one we had done collectively in the New Year, and I believe all of us have had different conversations individually with unbelievers in our day to day work before Christmas. I am quite prone to buying things on Facebook Marketplace and never like buying anything new if I can buy it cheaper on there first, and this has led to many chats with people, particularly when after exchanging 'real' money for the item, and then asking if people have any change for a million pound note tract. This has been a great way to share the gospel with people and give them a card for our church with some good solid Bible websites on, (of course one being the 'operation513.com' site) with the gospel message on the back.

Today George was preaching at the top of the main high street who, along with his twin brother, are full time evangelists with Faith Mission, and they had updated some new signs for their board to show people just how far the gap is between unbelievers with their sin against a Holy God. Their pictures are nice and big, bold and visual to get peoples attention, and a great way for people to focus on what he is saying. Three lads walked past, probably in their late teens/ early twenties, and having been offered a tract by Harry while George preached, they declined it and carried on walking. However I tried to catch them as they walked off by asking if they had any change for a million pound note, and having got one of their attention managed to have a good conversation with all three of them.

I tried to focus on why at present God was probably the last thing on their mind as they thought they had no need of him, as if there was a God they probably thought there were many more people worse than them. One was 'religious', and hoped his good works and saying sorry would help him out. However I managed to show him that none of our good works can help us bribe a judge, but we needed payment on our behalf. They said they had recently celebrated Christmas, so I tried to refresh their minds about what that and Easter was all about.

They all seemed quite young and healthy, so after asking if anything bad had ever happened to them like an accident or illness, one lad in particular said he had been in hospital before with a life threatening condition, and so I managed to show the scars on my leg and again show how short our life is, and that even healthy fit people like them can die young. I asked them if their was any sin that they presently enjoyed that they thought was worth holding onto for this short life, rather than giving up and repenting of to gain eternal life. They were quite silent and hopefully pondered the thought, and I managed to give them some tracts to read and to point them in the direction of 'www.fullyfreefilms.com' for some good short Christian films on the subjects we had discussed. I thanked them all for stopping to chat for a while and I hope the firm handshakes I received back were a sign they had something to think about.

I later preached for a while and started by sharing my love of Reptiles and exotic animals and feeding my tarantulas and Chameleons and how the cricket run away and try and hide when the lid is taken off, relating this to the scripture where Jesus said 'men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil..' I tried to convey to passers by that they were not ignorant of Gods existence as they couldn't be due to the creation around them and their conscience telling them right and wrong, like Jimeny Cricket from Pinocchio, but that people avoided thoughts of God due to their love of sin, which by nature we all had.

A group of students seemed to have stopped to listen, and a conversation occurred afterwards- one was a young white Muslim man that was very pleasant and congenial, who didn't believe in the Hadith's, but respected and honoured Jesus etc. We talked for a while about why Jesus would have to be God the Son to take away our sin, the trinity and how to have assurance of eternal life now, rather than living his whole life hoping his good deeds outweighed his bad, We left on friendly terms, again with all taking some tracts to think about.

I left at 1pm for a Wheelchair Basketball game, and Simon, Laura and Ed came to join George and Harry from 1.30- 3pm, with Della and Robbie both unfortunately unwell. The weather had started to deteriorate when I left and so was quite wet and cold, but George managed to preach again but unfortunately ws stopped by questions from a man called Rusty? Apparently he was speaking to the group for about an hour with many varied questions, but kept trying to change the subject when important matters were brought up.The group said they all spoke to him and others and continued to hand out tracts, but we all said was was speaking to Rusty beneficial- was he just trying to waste time to stop the preaching or were his questions genuine?

Maybe he was genuine and God was working in him and convicted him through the preaching and tracts, but to discern whether he was genuine maybe only God knows! God willing we are meeting again in the next coupe of weeks, but all of us will share on our Facebook evangelism group of any interesting or memorable encounters and conversations we have before then in the week.

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Day 6 of 10 of the summer mission to Christchurch (NZ).  We awoke to rain.  Heavy rain.  But we decided to not let that stop us.  From previous experience I knew, at the very least, that we would be able to hand out tracts and have conversations outside the bus exchange.  And that is exactly what we did, after first gathering for a time of prayer.

2 solid conversations were had there, in spite of the heavy rain.  1 with an atheist from the UK, and 1 with a young Jewish man.  We praise God for that!  The rain finally eased enough for us to move out to other parts of the city. 

But, unfortunately, even the Buskers Festival wasn't running due to the weather, and there weren't many people about.

We had an early lunch as a team, before heading back again in the afternoon.  The weather steadily improved drawing people out, and more conversations were able to be had, including a long conversation with a group of homeless men.  And then, finally, the sun broke through! 

We headed to Cathedral Square and ended up having a wonderful conversation with 2 kids out on their scooters.  As you will see from the pictures, 1 of them was particularly impacted, and you could tell he was seriously processing the gospel message being shared (sadly, his friend got bored, and scootered off). 

One buskers act did occur, and a crowd gathered for it, allowing tracts to be distributed.  And late in the day, a man who was fighting stage 4 cancer, heard the gospel via flip chart -- his wife didn't want to be involved, waiting down the foot path, but the man wanted to stay to find out why I was there, it was my privilege to present the simple gospel message to him! 

I told him my prayer is that he would be healed, and fully recover - but the reality is that we will all die and face God on judgment day.  He was challenged to repent and put his faith in Jesus today.

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