Battle Log

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Operation 513 Battle Log for Toowong Village on Tuesday October 6, 2020 from 1330 - 1500

It was a very warm Spring afternoon with bright sun shine. It might have affected some people feeling reluctant to stop and chat under the Summer like scorching sun. But all the three of us , namely Johnny, Winnie and Hung all got reasonable good chance to shared the gospel to the needy ones. Johnny asked for prayer at the end for an UQ student from Taiwan who affirmatively willing to accept Jesus after hearing the Gospel. like-wise Winnie chatted to 8 persons amongst which four showed willingness to accept Jesus. For details, she supplied her Chinese record as below. As for me, I have seven opportunities as recap below.

0) Ouch! I forgot this lady from mainland China. She was hesitant if she should take my tract. And finally she took it. Then I asked if I could share about this before the bus came. She then suddenly firmed up and rejected to continue with our chat. Anyhow, at least she kept the tract and hope God will use it to move her.

1) Bob , a tall Aussie elderly man was prepared by God to wait at the bus stop for a long time as his route is of very infrequent schedule. We chatted for almost 20- 30 minutes. While I shared the gospel, he kept interjecting with many of his questions , like what is sin, will people before Christ be saved, etc. Thanks God that his attitude had eventually softened up and appeared receptive to the gospel accepting the fact that he also needs Jesus despite he all along considers himself a good person.

2) Ashan an Iran urban office lady look woman, finding her way to Indooroopilly shopping centre. She found the bus at the wrong bus. Winnie was the first to approach but could not help so I stepped in and found that she needed to go another bus stop across the road on another street. I offered to walk her to the right bus station making sure she would not got to a wrong bus station heading to the opposite direction to city. God inspired me to stress the points that taking a wrong bus at a wrong bus stop is frustrating thing but you still have chance to make it right eventually. But losing the way and heading to a wrong eternal place in hell instead of heaven is a irreversible mistake that no one should afford. She admit the gospel is sensible and logical but may need more time to sink in the importance. I told her Iran actually has become a thriving new Christian kingdom and she admitted she has many Christian friends. So I pray that God will guide and put her in many good Christian friends hand like God put her in my hand to help her find the right bus.

3) Houng a Vietnamese student from NZ. He happily accepted the tract but was in a hurry to meet his friends who are coming to pick him up. I however still managed to shared the nutshell of the gospel to him in less than a minutes of time.

4) A righteous girl saw me took photo of Winnie sharing gospel with another Chinese girl. She let me share the gospel with her for the purpose of waiting for the finish of conversation of Winnie with that girl. Then she walked over to prompt the girl that I took her picture. I was a little bit surprised in the calculated way of that Indian looks lady but she has the righteous moral ground to give me in. I explained to them that the photo normally avoid the face and it did when I showed them. Anyhow, the Chinese girl was persuaded to ask me to delete it. So, it is a lesson to learn not taking photo too obviously in front of other passers by .

5) Oscar was some one I met two weeks ago. I asked if he has read the tract again at home and how does he find it. The answer was a bit disappointing as he said he does not find the need for salvation. Nevertheless, I tried to go over the illustration of sin to prove that no one including him is good and perfect. Once we have sin, we need Jesus to die for our sin. I invited him to ponder on this issue again.

6) Daren a good old man willing to listen but seemingly has no idea of salvation. He was appreciative for my sharing but asked if I think I can convert everyone. I said it counts to convert even one person better than doing nothing.

Here are the sharing of Winnie on her 7 conversations.

感謝主今天的带领，讓我有機會與人分享福音。

第一及第二位是UQ 年青少女。Myer and Lucy. 明白主的救赎。願意尋求更多真理。

第三位是澳洲年青人。初時不願意接受單章。當他坐下，我問他是否認識耶穌基督，他沒有回答。我给他福音單章，跟着講述福音给他。

第四位是馬來西亞少女，Mary. 明白福音，願意接受免费禮物。

第五位是中国婦女，講述重要福音给她，巴士到達。

第六位是南美少女，Mimi,我用關牧師的方法來測試她，她完全明白救恩。我给她單章讓她傳给别人。

第七位 是中国少女，願意接受福音，找教會寻求更多真理。

第八位是Nathan, 澳洲男士。我們傾談很長。他説信自己靠自己。路是自己行出來。我解释给他，神創造萬物天地，因为亞當 夏娃反罪，所以我們都是罪人。如果我們信靠主耶稣，祂會拯救我們，死在十字架上 還赏我們的罪債，我們的罪便得赦免。這是免费禮物。聖靈便會進入我們心裏，我們便有能力做任何事。當信了主耶稣基督，便會體會到主的大能，我們應該做不到的事，反然有能力做到。我勸他想清楚，不信便會落地獄。如果信了，明天的死，便會上天堂。他説會詳细想一想。

感謝讚美主，賜我能力解釋给他，這也是主的大能。"

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

On Saturday I spent a couple of hours in the city in the morning and a couple of hours online in the afternoon.

The highlight conversation from the morning was with a young Catholic mother from India.  I could tell I wouldn’t have much time with her - she wanted to stay and talk, but she had to go.  So after explaining the gospel, and focused on contrasting the works based salvation of the Catholic faith, and the gift of Jesus as described in the Bible.  She looked conflicted, but seemed to appreciate the conversation.  She took a tract as she left.

In the afternoon, I ended up having an interesting chat with a guy who said “this conversation has changed my life”.  And yet, as I was talking about the cost of following Jesus, he suddenly disconnected.  At the very least, he seems to have understood the gospel.  Lord save him!

On Sunday Binu and Daryl joined me in the city for a couple of hours of outreach.  There were two highlight conversations for me.

The first was with a Christian - an evangelist.  He was down from Auckland for some revival meetings.  He said he had just talked to some people in the supermarket, and “led them to the Lord”.  How wonderful!  He then pulled out his phone and started showing me some video of some kids reciting a sinner's prayer.  The look on the kids face was one of bemusement.  I asked the guy if he thought they were really saved.  I mentioned that it can be misleading to lead people in a prayer, because they might think that, now they have said the magic words, they are saved - when they really aren't.  I wasn’t really surprised, but he became very defensive, and even started to rebuke me.  He started saying things like: “baptism is part of it” [baptism is part of being saved].  I said, no, we are only saved because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and we accept the gift by faith alone - baptism will come, but it’s not part of being saved.  In the end, I thanked him for the rebuke.  I want to be open to correction if need be, but I wanted to continue to share the gospel with people.  He moved on at that point.

The other highlight was an awesome conversation with two teen guys.  One of them walked right up to me and I could tell he wanted to talk about the deep things of life, but he wanted me to initiate!  This often means I’m being set up.  So I challenged him on it.  He insisted he was genuine.  And he really seemed to be.  They ended up joining me on the flip chart.  It was wonderful watching the penny dropping multiple times for that one guy.  It was a wonderful conversation.  When we got to the resurrection, he had really good and genuine questions about how we know it happened.  It was a joy watching this guy processing the apologetics.  They were challenged to respond to the gospel - urgently.  And they received tracts with an invitation to get in touch if they had further questions.

Oh God, we are so weak, we are so fallible, we are so dependent on you.  Please help us to be faithful to your word.  Help us to share your gospel faithfully.  Help us to be alert to deception, and open to correction.  We love you, Lord, for giving us life, and saving us from our sin by paying our hell fine on our behalf.  We love you Jesus!
 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

On Thursday I was online for a couple of hours in the morning before joining Andy at the bus stops in the afternoon (as usual).

Online I had a surprise text based conversation with a person who works in the abortion industry.  You can read about that (and our Friday gospel + abortion outreach) here.

I really enjoyed the afternoon outreach at the bus stops because it was busy with many opportunities to share the gospel with people.  We started at Northlands this week, before moving to Eastgate.  It was great to have Tim join us at Eastgate after he had finished work.  Tim hasn’t been on the streets for a while, so I took the time to take him through the new flip chart.  He then paired with me as we approached person after person to share the gospel.

We shared with a lady who was angry about the new abortion legislation introduced by the government back in March.  She considered herself a good person, and was extremely resistant, if not offended when I tried to show her the law.

Next was two ladies and a young child.  One of the ladies was quite responsive, and listened to the logic of how God exists, and the law which brings the knowledge of sin.  Sadly, the child was quietly disagreeing with what I was saying!  Their bus came, she took a tract as she left.

We were able to talk with a bus driver, a Christian who thought keeping the 2 greatest commandments would get him to heaven.  He also was leaning towards universalism.  I was able to explain the gospel and then answer some good questions he had, before his bus came.  He took a tract.

On Friday, after the gospel + abortion outreach, we had a great time of open air preaching in Cathedral Square.  It was very encouraging having people stop to listen.  There were some great questions and interaction.

For the rest of the afternoon, we were in Cashel Mall.  I had one stand out conversation - a sad one.

It was with a young lady with a little girl with her.  Long story short, she wanted heaven but she wanted her sin too.  After taking her through the law and the gospel, and working through many checking questions - it was clear she was understanding the big picture.  She tried to trap me on the concept of repentance.  She said, “well, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins - and if that’s the only thing you have to do to go to heaven, then why do I have to do these other things ” She doesn't have to do anything, but she will want to!  Faith is always connected to repentance, an inward change of mind, will and emotions: away from sin and to God - that will lead to outward good works.  When God saves us, by grace, he grants us the gift of faith and changes our heart - giving us a new nature and new desires.  It was clear that the works do not save us, but if we are saved we will want to start doing good works as a result - out of love for the one who saved us.  She has heard and understood the gospel - may God change her!
 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Tuesday and Wednesday were days of contrast for me.  On Tuesday I ended up having twenty one conversations with people spread over six hours, yet on Wednesday I only had six conversations over four hours - Yet three of those conversations were really long.

All but one of Tuesday's conversations were online.

I had a fascinating conversation with a man who had a trip on drugs a year ago.  In six hours he apparently lived the whole life of a man in Michigan who was married, had three kids, was a plane mechanic and died at eighty two!  So now this guy believes in reincarnation!  We talked about why we shouldn't trust our feelings / experiences (esp. when altering the mind like he did).  We then talked about why we should be terrified of the afterlife.  He bailed at that point.

Later I talked to a kid who also believed in reincarnation.  He responded well to simple apologetics.  I took him through the law, and started explaining the gospel, when a notification came through on his phone.  It broke the flow of the conversation and, sadly, ten seconds later he disconnected.

The last conversation of the morning was with a couple from Argentina.  He didn’t speak any English, so she translated for him.  I was also able to use Google Translate.  Sadly, they were very resistant to what I was saying.

In the afternoon I was intending to try a new outreach spot: Barrington, and then move to Riccarton.  I made it to Barrington.  It was a sunny day, but it was very windy, and bitterly cold!  The wind was icy!

As I suspected, Barrington wasn’t an ideal outreach spot, the bus stops were small and there was no one spot with a good flow of people going past.  And yet I was able to get into one conversation with an elderly gentleman who was Catholic.  It was a good conversation, if not a little unconventional.  I was able to take him through the law and the gospel - but he was outwardly set in his ways.  He wasn’t going to take a tract, but he eventually did.

By the end of that conversation, I decided to get shelter from the wind and cold.  Maybe God wanted me to head out to talk to that one man on the streets?  Because I ended up heading home to continue the day's outreach online.

My first chat back online was with a group of people sitting in their lounge.  To my question: “What do you think happens after life?”, one of them responded instantly with: “Haha, are you trying to prosthelytize on Omegle?”.  I could tell this was going to be a good discussion - and it was.  I was able to share the gospel.  But sadly they were all very resistant.  One of them started talking about the “abuse” of her Christian upbringing.  I just felt grieved.  I shared my upbringing and conversion experience as a contrast.  It seemed to hit home, because they didn’t really have anything to say after that, and the conversation came to an end.

I was able to share the gospel with a kid in the Philippines.  He had pretty much no English, so the gospel was shared thanks to Google Translate.

Some kids from Brazil didn’t stay long enough for me to get Google Translate up.  I then had a lady say to me: “can you give me some money?”.  When I said no, she responded with, “well, you are useless” and disconnected.  :(

I then had a chat with some teens who were using fake voices and no video.  Their mocking didn’t diminish, so I didn’t share the gospel with them, although I did point them to needGod.net, before I disconnected.

I did have two really good gospel chats after this, and before the day's outreach ended.

On Wednesday I headed to Cathedral Square to start my outreach.  I usually go from there towards Ara.  But today I never made it further than that.  I had three outstanding conversations.

The first was a long gospel chat with a guy who had fallen on hard times financially.  When I was using the fireman analogy, he instantly identified, as he had been in a house fire!  Outwardly he didn’t seem too interested in the wonder of the gospel I was sharing - but I marvelled at it, all glory to God for his wonderful mercy.

After this, I walked straight into a conversation with a guy who was waiting to talk to me!  He was a Christian (and gave a really good explanation of the gospel and how we are saved).  Yet he was anxious about what was happening in the world and the end times.  I ended up explaining how we can be ready for what comes: trusting that Jesus died for our sins!  And then I explained why we don’t need to be anxious.  I read him Matthew 6:25-34 with emphasis on verse 33.  I then finished the discussion by inviting him to join me on the streets in outreach!

The final conversation was a follow up with a guy I first talked to in Riccarton a week or so ago.  He was a deep thinker who was resistant to the obvious reality of God.  We had a good long apologetical conversation where I circled back to the law and the gospel often.  He is heading back to Chile soon (on a cargo plane - no passenger planes go there anymore!) - God willing I will see him again.

When I realised how late it was, I rushed back home to join the Aussie team online (I forgot about daylight savings, initially).

I had a fifty four minute conversation with a fifteen year old guy who seemed to be a recent convert (he also had a good understanding of the gospel and salvation by grace alone through faith alone), but he was struggling with sin.  I hope I was balanced in my advice to him: I tried to make it clear to remind him that salvation is a gift, and yet I told him he needed to take drastic measures in dealing with sin in his life.  It was a very encouraging conversation for me - he was handling the advice really well.  I look forward to seeing this young man in heaven one day!
 

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Operation 513 Battle Log for Sunnybank on Wednesday Sep 30 1300 - 1500

Hurray , God called a big team to serve at Sunnybank today. We have the Aussie team of three Col, Allen and Gary stationed at the West side of the Pedestrian foot bridge , then the Chinese team of four , namely Johnny Ryan, Bi Yan and Hung stationed at the East side near SunnyPark. God orchestrated good team work between the two team. Many people had been moved to stop and chat with both team when the went across the bridge. Especially for Chinese whose English is not very good. They can get a Chinese version of Gospel to reinforce what they heard for the English team. Normally mainland Chinese will choose to avoid the Chinese team but more receptive to chat with the Aussie team. Once got contacted, then their unwillingness or resistance will be reduced as such many of them were willing to stop for the 2nd time to have a chat with us in Chinese to reinforce their understanding. Pastor Biyan joined us mid way but appeared very enthusiastic and bold in stopping people fo a chat. Pray that she will be moved and called by the Spirit to become a regular team member for Sunnybank. Ryan joined the team several time before. He may join us before he got a job. May God will be done through our good team work at Sunnybank.

Since I had to leave a bit earlier for a medical appointment. I comparatively had less conversations but three quire long one.

1) Alyson Juana are two young high school students of Grade 12 at a Christian school. When approached they showed that they have head knowledge about Jesus and the Bible and claimed that they

are Christians. But they failed the salvation assurance test having only 70% of certainty to go to heaven. When asked while God let them into His heaven, they could answer correctly that it was all because of Jesus. Then I asked them is there any other factor/reason that they can be allow to enter heaven. They answered no. Then I asked if Jesus is the only reason you are granted eternal Life into heaven, how come they are only 70% certain, not 100% sure? Then they both came to understand that they were wrong and should have professed 100% assurance of salvation. The reason they thought they are still not good enough is the lack of understanding that we have yet to grow and be transformed back to perfection by the work of teh Holy Spirit helping us to bear fruit if the Spirit. But in the interim, we will bound to be not perfect and will fail sometime the temptation of Satan. However, as long as we are all bought back by Christ to reconcile with God, God will guarantee to make us perfect through the journey of Sanctification. The two youngsters, thanked me and left with great joy in their heart.

2) Then Yuki from Mainland China past by waiving the tract she collected from Col and Allen in her hand signaling me that she did not need another chat. But I asked the simple diagnosis questions to prove that she is not yet clear enough about the gospel. I offered to walk her across the bridge and cleared up some misunderstanding and made sure she understood how to get 100% assurance of salvation by just accepting Jesus as her saviour and her Lord of life before we parted our way at the Shopping centre.

3) The third one was 韓初 who had been contacted by Allen. Again he is still not so clear about the gospel so I repeated the same thing I just gone through with Yuki and Han promised he will take it very seriously to response to the call for repentant and salvation.

Today both Johnny and Gary had numerous chance to have a chat. Ryan was still on his learning curve while Bi Yan already boldly venture into gospel chat with mainly Chinese people which was readily a very good start.

God is good and almighty in term of execution of His Redemption Project and Kingdom Project through the undeserved vessels like us all.

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Toowong (QLD) Team

Operation 513 Battle Log for Toowong Village on Tuesday September 29, 2020 from 1330 - 1500

Today only Johnny and me were available, Winnie and Gary had other ministry engagement. It was a fine Spring afternoon best for street evangelism. But the people flow was a bit slow and quiet. And the rejection rate was high possibly affected by holiday mood that people tended not to chat but enjoy their own private space to listen to music or chatting with friends over the phone. Nevertheless, God grace was still sufficient for us to have our divine appointments especially Johnny getting more longer conversation as recap below: -

1.Hannah is from Japan which I learned only at the end of our conversation. She told me she could not speak Chinese so I thought she possibly is either Vietnamese, or Korean. She appeared very opened and listened to my gospel sharing with interest. Though she showed receptive to the gospel, but the arrival of the bus just striped away the timing to invite her to accept Jesus. God anyway was still in control.

2. Then a Church members of Johnny, Madam Siu turned up with her friend Madam Shen who is an Indonesia Diaspora from Hong Kong. Madam Siu only told me Madam Shen is not yet a Christian. I could have only limited time to share gospel with Madam Shen. 沈香港印尼人未完結福音講述。

3.Fiona a middle aged Aussie lady who is an extreme Catholic faith professing person. She declines and rejects all other forms of Christianity. She kept saying I should study more about the pure Catholic path, but obviously, it is still human good deeds based. With this arrogant attitude, I can only pray for her to humble herself in God;s timing to put her faith back to Sola Christ.

4 Malinga from Zambia was very friendly to let me with him the gospel. But quickly I noticed he is a Christian and upon posing to him the two diagnosis questions, he got it right to show assurance of salvation. We parted our way when the bus arrived by blessing each other.

5. A local Aussie Lady declined the approach by Johnny. She took her seat besides me and started reading a book entitled "The key of self kindness" I tried to start a conversation about the possibility of self perfection but still failed. She was insistent to not be disturbed from reading the book by herself.

As for Johnny two of his long conversation stood out:

1)Mr Wu from Wuhan 伍武漢，it was rared that mainland Chinese are willing to stop for a chat. But God moved him to stop and chatted for a long time with Johnny. He has many previous contact with Christians and has already built up flavorsome with Christianity. 已有接觸，對基督教有好感，We introduced him the contact to Power to Change(介紹了 Power to Change) and pray that God will lead him to make the final step of faith to accept Jesus.

2) A Malaysian Muslim stopped to chat with Johnny but with the intention to debate on the superiority of Muslim over all other religions including Christianity. Their problem is the lack of sense of guilt on sin. Treating all the trivial sin as unimportance that can be off set by good deeds. When Johnny told him getting married with many women is sin including Mohammad. He argued that Mohammad only entered into a relationship with a woman one at a time which of course is not true. They are like the Pharisee finding gray area to get around all sort of sins. This conversation anyway will still served the purpose of God to challenge his fake faith.

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Bribie Island (QLD) Team

  On Saturday, the outreach at Bribie Island was a huge encouragement.  After our team of 11 gathered, we prayed, and then split up.  Some put Gospel tracts on the cars parked up and down the streets, while others took a walk down towards the bridge, up the jetty, or towards the carpark to distribute tracts and talk to anyone who would engage.  Our literature table and the Good Person flipchart were also set up.

  Before we had finished setting up, a young man from East Timor wanted to know what we were doing.  He spent over an hour talking to several of the team members.  This young man was a new Christian, and he had a lot of questions about his faith.  Having come from a Catholic family, he had always thought God existed, but it had never been a personal relationship.  Contradictions he had seen and heard in his family and school caused him to start searching for the truth.  He had then traced a well-known apologist’s journey to faith.  He said that over the last year he had been studying his Bible and had renounced any hope of his works being able to save him.  Now his hope was in Christ alone.  It was wonderful to be able to hear his story and to encourage him in his walk.

  Two young boys approached the flipchart with their dad, who was friendly and open to us talking with his boys.  As we went through the law, they had some thoughtful questions, which showed they were paying attention to what was being said.  One asked, “If God judges people, doesn’t that make Him a bad person?”  Another question was, “Is it fair for someone else to pay my fine?”  Their questions were answered, and they realised their need to trust in Christ.  They took Gospel tracts, and then came to the literature table with their little sister for a Bible and some other literature.  Please pray that the truth would sink into their hearts to challenge and change them.

  Three young men also went through the Good Person test.  They were urged to think seriously about this question of where they would spend eternity, as it would be the greatest question they would ever face.  Two of them seemed to find it a bit amusing, but they both took a Gospel of John.  The third of the group, however, stayed to go through the flipchart again with another team member.  After talking for some time there, Kierran came and took a Bible.  He wanted to know how much it cost, but was told that it was 100% free, because someone had already paid for it on his behalf.  He said he’ll definitely read it.  He was also able to have a long conversation with a local pastor, and they exchanged phone numbers.  Please pray that God would do a work in the life of this twenty-five year old.

  A pastor who was with us did some preaching and gave a wonderful Gospel message.  It was a blessing to notice that some nearby people were listening.

  Pray too for Ben, a young man who listened to the Gospel message.  A number of others also had the Gospel shared with them, but some left before they could reach the explanation of the way to heaven.  Pray that their consciences would prick them and drive them to Christ.  Please pray for fruit from the tracts that went out.  We ask that you would give thanks for answered prayers.  We are grateful that God has once again prepared the way for an encouraging outreach as the Gospel went out.  May souls be saved and God glorified here at Bribie Island.

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Saturday I was back to my usual spot at the Bridge of Remembrance.  Eventually, there ended up being quite a few groups there.  There was a group protesting child abuse, Falun Gong, the Hare Krishnas, a group protesting the CCP in relation to Hong Kong.  And me!  The lonely Christian.

The highlight conversation of the morning was with a lady who had come in support of the child abuse group.  She had been raised an atheist, but was wrestling with the reality of evil in the world.  We had a lovely conversation where I would listen to her and appropriately challenge her thinking.  I was able to touch on the gospel a few times.  She received a phone call which, unfortunately, ended our conversation.  But she did accept a follow up tract.

In the afternoon, I joined the Aussie team for a couple of hours of outreach online.  The gospel conversation that stands out in my memory was with a girl who went to a Catholic school in Australia.  She was very open to the logic of what I was explaining, and thanked me afterwards - before we disconnected.

Today was Outreach Sunday for Redemption Church.  There was a good sized team handing out tracts and having conversations via flip charts.

I hadn’t even finished setting up the flip chart, when Andy noticed some guys that looked interested - sure enough they were, and Andy had a long chat with them (pictured).

While that was happening, the local member of parliament went past: Duncan Webb.  I stopped him and asked why I should vote for him.  It turns out his PhD is in Ethics.  So I challenged him on where we get ethics from.  The conversation quickly turned religious and he mentioned that he had grown up in an evangelical Christian environment - I challenged him on what the core of Christianity was about: what do we have to do to go to heaven?  He wanted to bail from the conversation at this point, so I switched the conversation to politics.  I asked him about freedom of speech (something his party wants to restrict) and abortion (something his party liberalised earlier in the year).  Sadly he really had to go by this point.  But he accepted a gospel tract.

Later I ended up having some good conversations with resistant young people (2 x 2 late teen guys) - I never made it to the gospel, and yet they all accepted tracts.

After this, I ended up pairing up with a member of Redemption Church to set up a new flip chart further down the mall.  Sadly, we didn’t get any good conversations going.  But I did notice that Andy was being interviewed back where he was!  Turns out they were some guys doing a school project who wanted an alternative point of view.  They certainly got it from Andy - they had a long chat!

[Edit: I just remembered, one of my regulars came up to say hi at this point.  He said he is a Christian and wants to get baptised!  I queried him on the gospel and what local church he is connected to - he gave good answers!  How wonderful.  Glory to God for that!]

It certainly was an interesting outreach!  So grateful to have members of Redemption Church out with us today.  May Christians continue to be encouraged in sharing the gospel, and the lost continue to hear the gospel!  All glory to God alone.
 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Thursday I joined the Aussie online team for a couple of hours in the morning, before joining Andy at the Eastgate and Northlands bus stops in the afternoon.

There was a lot of opportunity to share the gospel at the bus stops.  There were a few highlights, but the one I’ll mention was the very last conversation of the day.  I was heading towards my car and I decided to offer a tract to a guy waiting for his bus.  To my surprise, he was eager to talk.  I think he may have been listening to my previous conversation with a guy who had just got out of jail.  He drank in the gospel like someone who was really thirsty.  What a privilege to be able to talk with him about Jesus!

Friday started with the gospel + abortion outreach outside the hospital.  I was the first one there, and one of our main counter protesters was there waiting for us.  I smiled and said good morning - I was ignored.

I got out one of our signs and took my place.  The counter protester stood right in front of me.  Andy joined me soon after, and we prayed together.

There ended up being about four counter protesters.  And six of us.

A lady stopped to actually engage us in a discussion.  Andy did a wonderful job at calmly reasoning with her.  But all I could hear her say is, “I think...”, “I think...”, “I think...”.  She was blind to to the fact that, without God, she wouldn’t even have a brain to think with, let alone the breath to voice her opinions.  I was thankful to God for his common grace, and his patience in holding off his justice so people (who don’t deserve it) can hear of his amazing mercy!

The support for the counter protesters well outweighed any support for us.  Every time a car tooted support for them, they gleefully cheered.

I started to feel burdened and grieved.  Grieved because they are cheering for the murder of children.  Burdened because, apart from the grace of God - that is me.  One day soon, very soon, we will be facing the God we all know exists and be judged by the law written on our hearts.  His justice will be perfect.  And that is terrifying.

I wept.  And I prayed for the mercy of God for these counter protesters.  Apart from the grace of God - that is me!

I may not be charismatic, but that does not mean I’m not passionate, and it doesn’t mean I don’t have emotions.  And that passion and emotion burst out of me in Cathedral Square in the speaker's corner.  Marty had done a wonderful job preaching before me, and one of the hecklers was using his God given breath to mock God.  I was overwhelmed and wept as I preached, pleading with the lost within earshot to accept the mercy of God before it’s too late.  I wept for the hecklers, whom I love.  Oh, if only my passion and emotions could save people!  But it can’t.  Only God can do that, only through the gospel.  We have to trust him.

Andy did a wonderful job preaching after me.

We then moved to Cashel Mall where Roger joined us.  I was feeling pretty exhausted by this stage, so I set up my flip chart, sat down, and just started handing out tracts with a smile and politeness.  To my surprise, I ended up having a busy couple of hours talking with various people.

It really was a day of tears.  The first person to stop was a young lady.  Strangely, she thought Donald Trump was the best person on the chart, and Bill Gates was the worst!  Turns out she was into some conspiracy theories.  Going from there, I was able to gently steer the conversation to the most important question of life: death.

I was able to explain the gospel to her.  I could tell it was familiar to her, but it was like I was saying something she hadn’t heard before.  I moved on to checking questions, and the penny seemed to drop with the “man crossing the road” analogy.  She finally understood the grace of God.  I could tell - because tears came to her eyes.  She forced them back, but later in the conversation, they came again.  Eventually she stopped trying to hide it, and she cried in understanding of the wonder of the gospel.  I cried too as I basked in the wonder of the fact that, apart from the grace of God - that is me!  Yet her tears are no guarantee that she is saved.  But with everything in me, I pray that God would save her, by his grace, and that she would start getting discipled in a good local church.

I finished the day of outreach with a couple of hours online.  I barely survived.  I had to work hard to be patient with people who were fighting against God and the gospel.  Lord have mercy.  Thank you for having mercy on me.  I love you Lord, with every fiber of my being.  Give us strength to continue ministering your gospel to person after person, after person.  Be glorified in bringing your justice and mercy.
 

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

I tried a new outreach location today: Hornby (pictured).  I never really felt it would be suitable - lots of car traffic, but not much in foot traffic in public locations.  Yet there will be people that I’ll never encounter if I don’t go to where they will be!  So it’s worth a try. :)

I did a lot of walking to really scout out the location.  And I was really surprised at the spots where I ended up having conversations with people.

First up was outside a stadium, there was an older gentleman in a mobility scooter - with a beer in his hand on a Tuesday morning!  I said a cheery hello and managed to strike up a conversation.  He gave me some good intel on the area.  I tried to switch the conversation to spiritual things, but sadly he closed up - he wanted to go to hell, where he thought he would drink beer forever.  He scootered off soon after.

I then discovered a big park area, with a BMX track in it.  Barely a person to be seen!  Yet, my best conversation of the morning occurred here.  A lady walked past and accepted a tract.  She hesitated, wondering what it was and I jumped at the opportunity to explain.  We ended up having a long gospel chat.

For the rest of the morning, I managed to strike up a few conversations which didn’t go far, and hand out a few tracts.

Yet I don’t feel like the excursion was wasted if not for that one long conversation.

After lunch I was online before heading to Riccarton with Roger.  I forgot my flip chart, which was a good thing, as I ended up wandering down to the bus stops and having some good conversations with various groups of people.  Roger seemed pretty busy and content on his flip chart as I approached people elsewhere.

I encountered plenty of high school kids and was able to challenge them with the gospel.  One kid was sitting on a bench and I was able to get a conversation going while I fished more tracts out of my pack.  The kid went to a Christian school and a local church, but was completely ignorant of the gospel.  I gently guided him to what I knew he knew but was completely missing.  Eventually he got it, but I was shocked at how glibly he talked about Jesus and what He did for us on the cross - and I hit him up about it.  He had to leave soon after, but I hope our conversation was a bit of a wake up call.  He left with a gospel tract.

I headed back to where Roger was, and noticed a couple of guys over in my usual flip chart spot.  I ended up getting into a decent gospel chat with them and another of their friends who arrived soon after.

On my second run down to the bus stops and ended up having a couple of good chats.  The first was with a couple of guys, one of whom went to a Christian school.  Encouragingly, he had a very good grasp of the gospel.  The second was with a very intellectual guy from Chile.  Evolution was a big issue for him and I felt I needed to address it.  He was very resistant to my argumentation, so I switched to two very clear and concrete examples to back up what I was saying (that evolution goes in the wrong direction - it can’t add information).  I was encouraged that these seemed to make him pause and think.  Sadly I wasn’t able to get to the gospel with him.

Wednesday brought some very hot weather!  Zack joined me for a couple of hours of outreach in the city, starting at the Square and finishing at Ara.  There was no shortage of gospel opportunity and conversations.

I encountered Bradly again!  He was the guy who walked up to me a couple of weeks ago and said “you made me believe in God”.  I was amazed to hear that he been out “sharing the gospel”.  He said he and some friends had bought food and were giving it away to people on the streets while telling them that Jesus loves them!  Probably not how I would go about it - but has a heart change occurred?  He is articulating the gospel well when I challenge him.  He is still reading the Bible on his phone, and is even attending a local church!  I told him to get in touch.  I hope to see him again (many more times) and, God willing, see him start to flourish.  Pray for him.

I finished the outreach with a chat with a guy who goes to a local church but, without realising it, basically said he wants to be the God of his own life!  I was shocked.  He seemed completely blind to what he was saying.  And the gospel seemed pretty meaningless to him.  I felt sad as we parted ways.

I was pretty tired as I finished my day with some online outreach.  But I managed to have some wonderful conversations with some deep thinkers.  The last conversation was with a guy from Ethiopia.  His gentle resistance melted as he came to grasp the gospel.
 

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