Battle Log

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• Page 153

Christchurch (NZ) Team

Today I set up my flip chart in Cashel Mall, and then walked down a bit to meet team members coming to join me.  We turned around to head back to the chart, and a small group of people had already gathered around it!  1 of the team took the initiative and jumped in and a gospel conversation was away - as easy as that.

We had a new team member today, so a 2nd chart was set up on the other side of the mall and a quick demonstration on how to use it started.  But then we noticed a guy watching us, so we invited him over and a real flip chart gospel conversation occurred!  Nothing better than a live demonstration :)

Gospel conversations were started - with and without the flip chart.  There was even an opportunity to pull out a Bible and have a discussion around the correct meaning of a verse.

Tomorrow, the yearly summer mission will start - a 2 week short term mission to... Christchurch!  We have a chilly bin, ice, and cans of drink ready to give away and as a conversation starter.  Please keep the Christchurch team in your prayers over the coming 2 weeks of outreach.  Regular reports will be posted.

 

 

 

  

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This is the first week of my break from work (they close for two weeks) so I was able to join my wife an hour earlier for our usual Friday outreach in Warwick. The streets were a little bit quieter but busy enough to have a few conversations  and hand out some tracts.

M is a young man who has received a few Gospel tracts before from Glenda so when she saw him coming she asked me to engage him in a chat. I said g’day and asked him if he had read any of the tracts he had previously received, he said yes and still has them at home. I asked, "What did you think of them?"  He said they were alright but didn't’t seam too fazed about them, so I stressed the point about all being guilty and took him through the law and judgment and the eternality of our hell punishment but all to no avail. Sadly, he just had no care about the future and was hard to get much out of him, he just said its not for me. We said to please look into these things for no one knows how long we have on this earth, any of us might not see tomorrow. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to awaken him to the truth of the gospel.

We were able to hand out a bible and a couple of books of John to a family from out of town and plant a few seeds. It’s great to see someone desiring to have the word of God and what a blessing to have these resources to give away free of charge.

We handed a tract to a couple who came back and wanted to ask us a few things about what they read and we said "no, we’re too busy" (only kidding) we said "fire away!". They had questions about the law and especially about the Sabbath so we quickly ascertained that they were from the Adventist movement and had quite a lengthy discussion about scripture and Ellen G. White’s teachings. They asked if they could meet us next week and further discuss our differences. Please pray that God would prepare their heart to receive the good news of salvation through Grace alone through faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross for all our sins - past, present and future. Please pray that our Lord would speak the Gospel truth through us which is His power unto salvation.

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

There were many people out in central Christchurch sharing their beliefs today.  Some out of their passion: those protesting the department store selling fur.  Some, maybe, out of fear (earning salvation?) and obligation: various religious groups.  And it struck me: 1) they wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't worthwhile, and 2) there is nothing more worthwhile than sharing the gospel - not out of fear or obligation - but out of genuine love for the one who has saved us from sin and hell: Jesus; and who has asked us to go because of His great love for the lost. 

Regular gospel outreaches are being established in Christchurch - 6 days a week, if you know the love and grace of Jesus, why don't you come and get involved?  Get in touch!

Every outreach this week, God has provided more than 1 labourer, but I thought I was going to be on my own today, until I came across Garry (pictured).  Garry is a guy who attends a local church and we have gotten to know over the years as he is often out on the streets of central Christchurch.  Yet he has never actually joined us in outreach.  Well today was the day, and he plucked up his courage and asked for a few tracts to hand out.

It was wonderful watching him step past his fears, and politely ask people if they would like a tract.  Of the 12 people who went past him, 3 took one.  Praise God.  May those 3 people read those tracts and hear of the glorious good news of Christ and come to repentance and faith in Him.  Maybe it's time for you to step past your fears and get involved?  Have a few hours spare?  There will be no obligation or pressure to do anything you are not ready for: get involved - Jesus is so worthy! :)

 

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It has been a while since the team has gotten a video encouragement up but in this video you can hear some testimonies from an outreach in early December last year.

Daniel, gives the encouragement that there are many people to share the Gospel with and specfically shares about a conversation that he had, where it seemed as if God had been preparing this young man to hear.

Over the course of eight minutes, Daniel was able to share the Gospel clearly to this man.

Next Tim, who was just travelling through, decided to stop for a few hours before continuing on home and as a result God used him to share the Gospel with a range of people, specfically you can hear about a conversation he had with a man named Hero.

Please be praying for these two conversations as well the team as they endeavour to share God's glorious Gospel with the lost day after day.

And consider Daniel's final encouragement, to join us in this Mission, to be ambassador's for Christ, to this lost and perishing world.

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

After the earlier day outreach, we ran our 2nd Friday night outreach in central Christchurch.

In the first spot we set up (corner of Cashel Mall / Oxford Terrace), there was less foot traffic than expected, so we had to approach people to start conversations.  This led to an amazing conversation with a man on holiday from Nelson, who had spiritual encounters in the past and wanted to talk about them to make sense of them.  He also heard a clear presentation of the law and the gospel, with a call to repent - flee - from sin to God.  At the end of the conversation, the man said, "thank you, I appreciate it" - so very encouraging knowing people are interested in the gospel and are happy to be approached for a conversation!

We ended up moving to Cathedral Square, where the market and food stalls were still happening - and a band was setting up to provide entertainment.  There were plenty of people around which lead to many more gospel conversations.

At the end of the night, a very sad conversation occurred with a young lady who when asked: "have you ever murdered anyone?" said "yes, I had an abortion".  She seemed completely at ease about this, in spite of the fact that she had acknowledged (maybe without realising it) that she was a murderer.  It revealed how easy people can justify sin and sear their conscience.  The focus of the conversation remained on the reality of God and his justice, the standard of his law (we can pretend to live in our own bubble of "reality" - but we will all have to face the truth on judgment day), and also on the fact that forgiveness is available through repentance and faith in Jesus.  She was resistant, but happy to chat.  I had a fresh realisation of the incredible love of Jesus, that even when we were His enemies, He died for us!  May this young lady come to know this great love and forgiveness!

   

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Praise be to God, central Christchurch is being saturated with the gospel of Jesus - by just a few, humble, weak followers of Christ - heading out daily.  More and more, we are encountering people who have already been through the flip chart presentation of the gospel - including today, with a young man.  Interestingly, he was open to going through it again - with his friend who had not been through it before.  May this young man, and his friend, keep encountering Christians sharing the gospel till they finally surrender in understanding, repentance, and faith.  Are you ready to continue the conversation?

Yet, the most encouraging gospel interaction of the day was with a young man waiting for his girlfriend outside a shop.  A tract was offered with the question, "Will you go to heaven when you die?".  There was not an opportunity to explain the whole gospel - but he took the tract (which does), and as we were parting ways he said, "Thank you so much, I appreciate it".  The next time you fear starting that gospel conversation, remember - there are many who will appreciate it!  Yes, many will not be interested - but what's the worst that can happen?  Just say, "have a nice day", and move on.  :)

To finish the day, the team went through Cathedral Square having walk up gospel conversations.  And as we were not able to preach at our usual time due to other Christians out reading the scriptures in the open air, we finished with preaching instead.  Our most vocal heckler was there; but we decided to preach anyway.  The law and the gospel was proclaimed, and on que the heckling started.  Yet, a small gathering of people were listening, with people accepting tracts afterwards.  May those that heard the gospel be saved, for God's glory alone, through the "foolishness" of the preaching today.

  

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New Year's Eve Outreach - Clendon 

During the early hours of the afternoon my sister Eliza and I also with my 3 year old son Elihu - Went out and distributed some of our Church calendars door to door, it is a ministry of our church where we give these out door to door to the residents that are in close proximity of our church building. It was a good reminder of how much in need for the gospel this area has but what an opportunity the Lord gave us, as many were willingly able to take a calendar, the calendars themselves have a text of scripture in each month followed by a gospel tract in the end page, our hope is that the people will see that each and every day belongs to the Lord and that their days are numbered. May the Lord take the text of Holy Scripture off the walls from the calendars and allow for His word to inwardly digest into the hearts of the people of Clendon. 

Later in the afternoon when we had finished our run - I dropped Eliza and Elihu home and met with my Pastor at the Clendon Shopping Centre, it's been difficult trying to do evangelism here as the town center has come under new management, am thankful that by the end of our time here we were given leads to the right people to talk to, so please pray that we can have more of a presence here in the year to come. I was able to go through 2 presentations with the flipchart here 1 was with a young man along with his sister, in the beginning I got to establish good rapport with them both but as we got into the flipshart their mother started yelling out for them to get in the car, this started to become somewhat awkward, at first the sister turned around and left to go but the young man in his mid to late teens wanted to stay, you see we had got through the law in the chart and he saw that if God were to judge him according to standard of His perfect law he would be guilty and sent to hell. By God's grace I was able to get to the last page and continue to encourage him to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved from eternal judgment. He seemed happy to hear of how God saves from judgment and took a tract, please pray for that young man his sister and their mother. 

The following photo is of Andrew, this was my last conversation and one that I would never forget, he wanted to go through the chart so we did, he became really interested in the gospel, he had been through so much in his life he needed to understand how is it that God as the judge is able to judge anyone, this gave a good opportunity to talk about God's attributes, the Goodness of God, the Holiness of God, and how man is sinful and a good God who is all powerful does not look upon sin lightly and must bring judgment, and by God's grace he seemed to come away understanding what Christ had done on the cross and how to be saved, a personal highlight for me was at the end I had given him some tracts and one of our church calendars, moments later as I drove home I saw him walking on the footpath reading the literature I gave him. Also, during this conversation a man who I do not remember what he looked like put insisted I take the $20 he slipped into my hand for a drink along with other Christians from other local churches who the Lord had sent to encourage us. 

What a glorious gospel! What a glorious Savior! May the Lord of the harvest send more labourers in 2019 because worthy is the Lamb who sits on the throne! 

SDG  

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Otara Markets - Christmas Outreach 

Every year on the Saturday before Christmas day thousands of people around Auckland flock to the Otara markets, as early as 6.30am parking was difficult with people in a mad rush to secure their spot, it is the busiest time of the year for this market and in the past 3 years now the Lord has allowed us to be here for this particular Saturday. 

Many of our soldiers who would of loved to come were unable to today, and so, terrified as I was, the Lord gave me courage to setup the flipchart and almost immediately I got into a conversation with a couple who were interested in going through it. By God's grace I was able to go through the entire chart and even at the end they continued to stay and want to talk more about the gospel. 

Almost all of my flipchart conversations were like this where people were willing to stay for lengthy conversations where all ending with an encouragement to the hearer that they turn away from their sin and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ as He is the only One who can save them from the wrath to come.

I wasn't expecting to speak to so many and that the flipchart would draw the amount of people that it did as there were times where I was having to raise my voice for certain flipchart presentations as there would be a crowd of people who would stop to listen and by the end of the day I felt as though I had lost my voice from all the conversations. Praise the Lord! 

In between these encounters I handed out a great amount of our Op513 Christmas tracts and later on my sister Eliza also joined and helped with the distribution, she was able to capture some photos of my last conversation with this couple who were wanting to go through the chart.

I found them both to be active listeners that seemed to be amazed at how God would forgive sinners, I was able to tell them that this was what Christmas is about, that God would send His Son to die for sinners and also that Christ would willingly lay down His life for them. We rejoiced at the work that was done on this day.

Soli Deo Gloria, Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

There was much opposition to the gospel on a hot summers day.  And yet, much time was spent in fruitful conversations - all glory to God.  Cathedral Square ended up being the place to be, after a slow start in Cashel Mall.

Kelvin, the Square's resident busker, was in full swing, so I decided to do some walk up conversations while waiting for him to take a break before preaching.

My first conversation was with a young man on holiday from South Africa who turned out to be a PK (pastor's kid), but wasn't sure if he would go to heaven.  After discussion, it turned out he thought salvation hinged on works.  And so after explaining the law, a careful explanation of salvation by grace alone was given, with a clarification that works is an evidence of our faith, not required to be saved.  This man had 2 friends with him, and 1 in particular thanked me for taking the time to speak to them (after initially not being interested in the conversation).

But it was when I started preaching that the opposition came, I noticed hecklers gathering, and then as I was finishing up, our main - and most vocal - heckler turned up and stared getting stuck in.  This was wonderful, because it drew a small crowd of people keen to have a laugh at the foolish Christian.  But the gospel was preached to them, with a call to repentance and faith in Christ.  And the fruit was the 3 follow up conversations that occurred after, and because of, the preaching!  Although our heckler tried to interrupt 2 of those private conversations - it only added weight to the importance of what was being talked about.

By this stage, another outreach team member had arrived, and we decided to go back to Cashel to get a break from the heckling.  1 great conversation was had there, but then a man with some mental health issues took exception to us and was mumbling threatening and bad language at us.  There was no reasoning with this man, so we backed away and moved back to Cathedral Square, by this time our heckler had departed and we again had some fruitful conversations, including with a very open hearted young lady who was ready for a new start in life and took a Bible and gospel booklet.

Praise God that He allows opposition, and yet seems to use that for His own purposes and the benefit of the gospel!  Always be humble and gracious, but don't let opposition stop you from sharing the vital message of the gospel!

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Timaru (NZ) Team

Greetings :)

While visiting my brother in Christchurch, I teamed up with Glen Richards (Operation 513 Christchurch) for a New Year’s Outreach. On a lighter note- I left a braai(bbq) to join the Outreach and anyone who knows South Africans knows that’s a big deal ;) 

We met up with another Christchurch local (Philip) and then proceeded to a New Year’s family event in Christchurch cbd. Philip and Glen setup their flip charts in different places and I went back and forth between them, handing out tracts. Philip has two really good conversations, before he joined up with us. While Glen was engaged in a conversation, I took over his Flipchart and got into good, long and sad conversation with two young agnostics (Fergus & Callum). Fergus was really enthusiastic, but sadly it seems to argue for argument’s sake, while his friend just quietly and patiently listened.

In the end Glen, Philip and I all talked, reasoned and pleaded with them; presenting the Law & Gospel to them as best as we could. At one stage an elderly man and his wife joined the group conversation and presented some “interesting Christian” views; we politely listened and then brought the conversation back to main points of the message.

Right up to the end Fergus, still wanted to continue with “Yes, but...”,’and I lovingly and firmly reminded him that it’s either ‘Yes’ or sadly ‘No’. In the end we all shook hands, said happy New Year to each other and the elderly couple, Fergus & Callum all left with tracts. Glen also had other positive conversations (please see his report- Operation 513 Christchurch). 

God Bless.

 

 

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