Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Christchurch (NZ) Team

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Weekly outreaches:
Tue 3:00pm - 5:00pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St; Led by Roger)
Thu 3:00pm - 5:00pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St)
Fri 1:30pm - 3:30pm - City (Bridge of Remembrance)
Sat 11:30am - 1:30pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St)
Sun 1:30pm - 3:30pm - City (corner of Colombo St and Cashel St) - only 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays of the month.

Contact Glen Richards or Andy Barlow for more information.

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A mixture of warm and cold spring weather this week.  Roger and Graeme were in Riccarton on Tuesday.  Andy & I were in Riccarton on Thursday.  Roger, Andy, John Boyce, and I were in the city on Friday.  And Julia and I were going to head to the city on Sunday (today) after our church gathering, but with heavy rain, we did some Duo chats online instead.

 

So, in Riccarton on Thursday, Andy camped out at one corner, while I did the same at the corner a block down.  We were both busy with chats.

 

2 chats stand out in my mind.

 

First, 3 guys from the local boys' high school went past.  I offered tracts, and one of them seemed to recognise me.  He stopped the group and encouraged his friends to talk to me.  It turns out I’d talked to him another time (but I don’t remember it) - and later in the chat it became clear that he had remembered the gospel message I had obviously shared with him.

 

But based on his encouragement, I was able to have a great chat with all 3 of them.  They were all in different places regarding their thinking, but because they were open to the conversation, I seemed to juggle it well.  In the end, one of those guys took a gospel of John.  I don’t hand those out willy-nilly- only when I have a level of confidence that they will actually read it.  The fallback is to encourage them to get a Bible on their phone.  And to my amazement, the other 2 pulled out their phones and showed me their Bible apps!

 

It’s so encouraging to be able to minister freely without having to worry about follow-up.  Not that follow-up is not important.  But God has to change a heart before they will really want ‘follow up’.  And the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

 

The other chat that stands out in my thinking was with another high school-aged guy.  I think he may have been Filipino.

 

When he saw me, he didn’t shy away.  It was like he was very keen to chat.  He had a Christian background, so he knew the lingo.  And yet, he was articulating a very works-based understanding of salvation.

 

At one point, he said, “I must trust that Jesus died for my sins”.  But I knew something wasn’t right, and so I asked, “How do you trust that?” and he responded, “Well, at the very least you should keep the commandments!”

 

And so, going from there, I slowed down to show him some of the commandments and see how he was going with keeping them.

 

Also, early in the conversation, he would make claims, but it seemed like he was just making his theology up on the spot.  It was just whatever seemed right at the moment.

 

So, I had the joy of ministering to him by slowing him down and backing the conversation up so we could work through the logic of the gospel.

 

A key series of questions for him was: “So, before this chat, what did you think you had to do to get to heaven?”, and then, “So, where would you have ended up?”, and then “But now that we have had this chat, how do you understand you will be able to get to heaven?”

 

On Friday we had some annoying rain.  But it didn’t stop us from having chats.  John Boyce is a natural at starting and keeping conversations to share the gospel.  It’s a joy to watch him go.  Andy and Roger seemed busy too.

 

The standout chat for me was a very short one.  It was with an older couple.  Neither of them believed in God, and yet the gentleman wanted to clarify: I’m not an atheist; I’m a Presbyterian.  John Knox would turn in his grave to know people would say such things!

 

But the reason the chat was so good was that they both went to ‘evil and suffering’ as their argument against God.  Glory to God, I was able to take this argument and explain why God allows it, and in fact uses it for good, and in the process explain the law and the gospel.

 

Seed planted!  May God use that conversation to place a crack in the hard soil of their hearts and let the seed germinate.  God can do it!

 

It was a joy to be able to spend an hour and a half with Julia (my daughter) in shared online outreach this afternoon.  We will continue to work together in this so she can get up to speed ready for the Schoolies outreach in November.  It’s such a joy to see her struggle and yet her desire to push through it for the glory of God.

 

As we step out in seeking God’s kingdom first, He will meet our needs.

 

Thank you for your continued prayer!

 

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It’s going to be a short Battle Log tonight!  It’s been a bit of a tough week for me.  But I feel like I’ve come out the other side now!  And I think I’m a better person for it.

 

On Friday, there were four of us out on the city streets: Andy, Brian, Roger, and me.  But I didn’t feel up to any gospel conversations.  So I just sat in the sun and enjoyed its warmth on my back and took photos of the others hard at work!

 

On Sunday, my daughter Julia joined me in the city for some flipcharting.  We had lunch together first, at Riverside Market.  So nice spending time with her.  She is going to join me for the Schoolies outreach on the Gold Coast in November, so she is going to join me on Sunday afternoons to get back up to speed.

 

We had to be patient to get a decent chat, but it finally happened.  4 young people walked up to the flip chart and wanted to give it a try.

 

Julia and I had preplanned that I would handle the first chat, so she could observe to get up to speed.  And then she would start getting involved after that.

 

It was a great chat.  2 of the young people were doing all the engagement, while the other 2 just listened.  It was so wonderful seeing them wrestle with the concepts in the law and the gospel and ask good questions.  For one girl in particular, the gospel seemed to have an impact: like it was the first time she really understood it!  What a joy.

 

Sadly, we didn’t get to have a 2nd chat.  But we have agreed to role-play at home to practice for next time.

 

We finished off the outreach by walking down the mall, boldly but politely offering tracts to strangers.  Many were accepted!

 

We went for a hot chocolate together.  Family and evangelism - what a wonderful mix!  The simple pleasures of life!

 

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Andy, Roger and I were in the city on Friday afternoon this week.  Nice sunny day.

 

I headed down to the corner of Cashel and Colombo when a young guy went past in a way that suggested he was keen to talk.  I then recognised him as the guy who had been talking to Roger a couple of weeks earlier.

 

He stopped when I engaged him.  Very agnostic.  An intelligent and polite guy, but very keen to debate.

 

I made a few mistakes in this conversation.  I allowed myself to follow his setup hypotheticals in the hope that I could reason with him.  But he was actually completely closed to reason.  Instead, I should have stuck to the script (building/builder, law, gospel) - and disengaged if he wasn’t willing to be reasonable.  I did end up starting in this way, but after some debate, I weakened.  I think I ended up casting pearls before swine.

 

I hope to learn from this exchange for the future.

 

I did finally disengage, and he moved on.  Soon after, he came back wanting a gospel tract (to dissect, I’m sure), but I freely gave him one.

 

Having been the second time we have encountered him, I’m hoping to see him again, and maybe it will turn into more of a long-term chat.  If so, I’ll stick to the high ground and disengage if the tricks come.  May God humble his heart.

 

Soon after, I fell into a chat with a guy from Germany - an IT consultant.  I used to work in IT, and so we had some common ground for me to build some rapport with.  He also had a bit of a religious background, Catholic.  I was able to share the gospel with him.  There was part of him that seemed to understand what I was saying, and yet, there was a part of him that seemed blind to what I was talking about.  It wasn’t hitting home at all.  So, I decided not to push through all the checks, but to wind the conversation up.  He had received a tract at the start, and so he left with that for future consideration.

 

When I turned around after finishing that chat, there were 2 Police officers standing fairly close to me, watching.  Lately there has been a heavy Police presence in central Christchurch.  There are a lot of ‘streeties’ around, and I guess there has been trouble.

 

The Police in Christchurch are friendly, and I’m always polite and respectful with them.

 

I continued trying to hand out tracts and engage people.  But I have to admit that I felt mildly disconcerted with them so close and watching.

 

Eventually they moved on.  But when they did, they walked right past me.  There was nothing unusual about that, because I stand right in the best spot to catch all the street traffic.  So, I just thanked them for their service.  I know the Police have to deal with a lot of the dark side of life, and I’m very grateful for them.  And I’m also very grateful that we have the freedom to proclaim Christ.

 

Soon after, I had a young man stop as I handed him a tract.  It was clear that he had a Christian background, as he knew much of the lingo.  But it was also clear that he hadn’t grasped the gospel.  With a few brief questions, I could see light coming into his thinking, not only about the gospel, but also that he was currently a false convert.  It was one of those short and sweet chats.  It was obvious he needed to be somewhere, but that brief exchange of words seemed very impactful.  Glory to God.

 

I did have one more short chat with two young people who were trying to look different from the rest of society.  One of them seemed very intelligent with the few words they said.  But the more the other talked, the more they contradicted themselves with regard to logic and truth.  I reasoned with him twice before it became very clear they were not interested in logic and truth.  I was tired, and so I just gave my name and extended my hand: “Thanks for sharing your thoughts”.  He seemed a bit surprised, shook my hand, and moved on.

 

Salvation is ultimately a work of God.  May he use our feeble efforts to make blind eyes see by changing hearts.  Thank you for your prayers.

 

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It’s been a wonderful week of gospel ministry.  I have 3 standout gospel interactions to share from this week.

 

As a team, we were out on the streets 3 times this week.  Graeme & Roger were in Riccarton on Tuesday afternoon.  Andy & I were in Riccarton on Thursday afternoon.  And Roger, Andy & I were in the city on Friday afternoon.  The included pictures are from those outreaches.

 

The first interaction I want to share was from the Friday afternoon outreach.  Roger and I were between chats and were touching base when a young lady from Christchurch Girls' High walked up to us.  She was interested in the tracts in my hand.  I gave her one, and we naturally fell into a gospel conversation (Roger moved on and ended up in his own chat right beside me).

 

From our conversation, I could tell she had a Christian influence in her life, but she didn’t have gospel clarity, and she had a lot of questions.  She needed some grounding, so I started at the beginning of my presentation and walked her through it.

 

It became clear that she was subtly thinking her works would save her.  And so I used the analogies for the ‘false ways’ to explain why works can’t save.  I then moved to the gospel.  I was using the speeding ticket analogy when, all of a sudden, she had a click moment.  “Oh, I get it now”, she said excitedly.  I asked her what she ‘got’.  And she said: “Jesus died for my sins”.  Bingo.

 

But I didn’t leave it there; I immediately explained how we accept the gift (trust) and then moved into the check questions.

 

The most powerful check was “Before this chat, what did you think would get you to heaven?”  The reason was that she had previously said, “But I already believe this”.  When she thought about my question, she had another ‘aha’ moment; she realised she was trusting in her works, rather than in Jesus.

 

It was at this point that she decided to move on.  It was like she had enough to chew on for now.  I challenged her to trust in Christ and to start reading her Bible for herself, starting in John, to check what I was saying.  She also had the tract I had given her at the start.

 

I didn’t have to do anything to start the chat; she walked up to me.  And she walked on when she was ready.  But I had the wonderful privilege of sowing the gospel seed into her life!  It’s the power of God for salvation.

 

The 2nd interaction was from an online chat on Saturday afternoon.  I connected with a guy, and he immediately informed me he was drunk.  He had a Christian background, but had sadly never understood what it meant to be a Christian (because later he articulated that works would save).

 

He said he had a respect for Christianity, but he would never be one.  Not being put off, I followed the ‘script’, and when I started working towards explaining the true gospel, a ray of light started to dawn in his thinking - and it seemed positive, but then he suddenly said something like, “Oh, you are not going to get me going back to church”, and he skipped me!

 

It was like he was being convinced, but he realised he would have to forsake his sin, and he didn’t want to.  And yet, I rejoiced!  Another seed had been planted.  May God bring a conviction for sin that would lead to conversion, to the glory of God alone.

 

The final interaction was not ‘work’-related.  A year or so ago, Roger had encouraged me to find a hobby to balance my work.  And so now I often go down to a local game store to play a card game that I enjoy.  Well, on Friday night, after finishing my last round, I stood up, and I heard a guy playing at the table behind me say, “I’m not religious, so I’m probably going to hell”.  It was a perfect-timing thing, and I had a choice: say something or stay silent.  I knew it would be a bit awkward, but I went for it; I simply said, “Well, there is a way to avoid hell”.  The guy was a bit surprised by my sudden comment.  I then turned back to my bag, wishing I had a gospel tract.  Suddenly, I realised I had stashed a couple of tracts in my bag for such a moment as this.  I pulled out a “How we know God is real, and why it matters”, turned and said, “If you want to learn more, have a read of this”.  Again, the guy was surprised, but he took the tract, put it down on the table next to him, and continued playing cards.  It was a very brief interaction, and any more than that would have been going too far.  But if he decides to read it, and if God wills it, then he has the opportunity to understand the gospel!  I was super encouraged by this, because I sometimes wonder if I’m using my time wisely in this way.  But it’s so wonderful to be able to rub shoulders with people who might never otherwise have an opportunity to interact with believers.  I can be salt and light in that way.  The key is taking the opportunities when they come up.  So, be encouraged to take those opportunities you get too!

 

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Due to the weather and tiredness, I only made it out on the streets once this week (for the rest of the week, my focus was online).  On Friday, Roger, Andy & I were in the city in nice spring weather.  I’m going to have to start thinking about sunscreen again!

 

The first chat I want to talk about was one with a young father down by the Avon River.  He was sitting on one of the benches while his daughter was collecting sticks.  I offered him a tract.  He took it, and so I quickly followed up with, “It comes with a question, if you have a minute”.  He was keen to talk, and so I took the bench next to him.

 

He had had a Christian background, and after a few questions he didn’t default to works for salvation, but to the gospel.  His time at university had challenged his faith, and it was clear that he had never resolved the questions he had faced.

 

Most of my time in this chat was spent listening and addressing some of the apologetics he had needed when he was at university.  But I also sensed that he didn’t have an appreciation for the serious nature of sin, which is the horse that needs to go before the cart of the gospel.

 

I felt a need to cut this conversation short, not because it wouldn’t have been useful to continue the conversation, but because it was clear that his daughter needed his love and attention at this time.  I decided to disengage, but not before pointing him to the Scriptures.  He also still had the follow-up tract.  I left him in the sovereign hands of God, and I was grateful for the opportunity to minister into his life for as long as I did.

 

Due to the warmth, I decided to head for the shade of Cashel Mall.  I found myself at the corner of Cashel and Colombo when I had my next significant chat.

 

It was with a young man (late teens to early 20s) who also had a Christian background (later he mentioned that his grandparents were leaders in the church he grew up in).

 

Sadly, this kid didn’t have the gospel in short-term memory, if at all.  He felt the burden of sin, but didn’t know how to lift it.  So, the chat involved me training him to articulate the gospel well.  If it can touch his mind, then it can be the power of God to change his heart.  He seemed deeply appreciative of the chat.

 

Later, I was back at the sun-drenched Bridge of Remembrance end when I had a fascinating chat with a guy from Germany.

 

This guy claimed to be a Christian, but after a brief time it was clear he thought he would get to heaven by being good.

 

The point I want to make about this conversation is that we never really connected in the conversation.  Anything I said seemed to bounce off his hardened mind; he seemed blind to simple logic.  Eventually, he revealed his real philosophy: happiness.  Happiness was his god.  And in light of this, he considered himself to be a good person.  I spent some time trying to reason with him about how we know what is good and bad, but I didn’t seem to make any progress.

 

Eventually, his friend arrived, also German, and joined the conversation.  But I sensed I needed to let the conversation go.  In the end, I warned him that it wouldn’t be himself judging himself when he died; it would be the perfect and holy God of the universe.  We parted on good, if not slightly tense, terms.

 

I had some wonderful chats online this week too.  But the one fresh in my mind is the one I had earlier today, with a guy from the UK.  It went for 30 minutes.

 

Most of the chat was in the building/builder part of the ‘script’. This guy struggled to see the simplest concepts, and would simply repeat the opposite of the truth like a robot. But I gently laboured with him, with God's help. I think things were dawning in his thinking, so I went to the law. He thought he was a good person, so I had to labour on that for a bit. He was starting to see the point, and so I raced to the gospel! Not that I thought he was ready for it, but because I wanted to leave that seed with him. Why is he not ready? Naturally, I could see layers of resistance in his thinking that need to be broken through. God can do that in an instant - and may he do so! This was his last chat before bed. I pointed him to John in the Bible and warned him not to ignore what we were talking about (for him, he enjoyed the intellectual activity but didn't seem interested in his soul at this time, sadly).

 

It’s a pleasure and privilege to be basking in God’s grace!  I’m looking forward to some rest and then getting into another week of ministry.  Thank you so much for continuing to pray for this labour.

 

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A slightly delayed report.  Better late than never!  We were on the streets on Thursday (20th) in Riccarton (Andy & I) and Friday (21st) in the city (Roger, Andy, & I).

 

I turned up early on Thursday, and I knew Andy would be there because I walked past his car on the way to the outreach spot.  And yet, he wasn’t on the corner of Riccarton and Rotherham.  I figured he would be on ‘the loop’, so I decided to go find him.  I completed the loop: no Andy.  Yet, there was a huge stream of high school students heading towards Riccarton Road, coming down Rimu Street.  So, I perched myself on that corner and started handing out gospel tracts.  My stack depleted quickly!

 

I got to have some short but wonderful interactions.  One was a follow-up with a young man who thought the “good person test” was associated with Scientology.  In this interaction, he came to learn that I wasn’t a Scientologist, and he warmed slightly to me.  I hope to see him again and be able to share the gospel with him.  But he wasn’t ready yet.  After he left, his friend apologised for him - it turns out his friend is connected to a large local church, but sadly, he wasn’t able to articulate the gospel to me.  I hope to get more opportunities to talk to him too.

 

Later, on a subsequent run of ‘the loop’, I noticed some ripped-up tracts at the bus stops.  So, as part of my practice, I clean up and place them in the bin (pictured).  Sadly, they are rejecting gold and can’t see it.

 

Back at the corner of Rotherham and Riccarton, the standout chat for me was with a guy from China, who defaulted to atheism with a mix of reincarnation.  He was very open to logic and the gospel.  After a short chat, he readily accepted a copy of the Gospel of John.  Very encouraging.

 

By this stage, Andy had appeared.  It turns out that he had gotten into a good chat with a Muslim from Saudi Arabia who had just moved to NZ; they retired to a coffee shop to continue the conversation there!

 

And speaking of Islam, on Friday, Andy had a chat with another Muslim for at least an hour and a half (pictured).  Andy said he deployed the Islamic Dilemma in that chat.

 

Roger also had an outstanding chat (pictured).  That picture has a rubbish bin theme too.  It makes me think: we are rubbish (I don’t mean that negatively) sharing gold!  2 Co 4:7 (esv): But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

 

Thank you for continuing to pray that God’s strength be shown through our weakness!  All glory to Him alone.

 

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It was nice having a week off!  But also good to get back to it this week.  There were 3 street outreaches this week:  Roger, Graeme, and Sam were out on Tuesday in Riccarton.  Andy, Sam, and I were in Riccarton on Thursday.  And Roger, Andy, and I were in the City on Friday.

 

It was a busy outreach on Thursday.  Sam and I ran a flipchart while Andy was mobile.  One standout chat was with a young man from Africa with a Christian background.  He had to get going, but he was able to stay long enough to hear a brief gospel presentation.  He was very encouraged by the way we were doing evangelism.  But later in the outreach, he came back.  He had had a job interview, but now that that was done, he wanted to have a proper chat with us.  I was able to slow down and bring precision to the presentation. When I got to the ‘sin again’ check, he gently resisted and quoted Romans 6 in response.  This was great, because we now had a chance to really wrestle with this biblical tension: we are saved by grace, for good works (and not by good works).  He let me explain the ‘sin again’ check (Jesus pays for our future sins), and then, to balance it, I gave him the fireman analogy (out of love for Jesus, we don’t want to commit future sins).  And then we stood back and considered both sides of the tension in harmony.  We considered Ephesians 2:8-10 and Romans 1 to 6 in this conversation.  He even pulled out his phone to write the passages down so he could “check it with the Bible” for himself later.

 

After working through all the checks, I challenged him: “Before this chat, why exactly did you think you’d go to heaven when you die?”  He had to admit that he was partly trusting his works, and so I challenged him to change his mind and to search the Scriptures till God gave him an assurance of his salvation.  It was such a great chat!

 

Another standout chat from that outreach was with a tall young man.  At the start of our conversation, it was clear that he never thought about what happens after life, and he seemed a bit perplexed at the concepts I was explaining.  But something in him seemed to wake up and engage in the conversation.  So much so that I was able to slow down and really go through it - I knew I wasn’t going to lose him.  By the end of the chat, he was articulating the gospel clearly.  Sam gave him a Gideon New Testament, and he had a gospel tract summary.

 

The standout chat from Friday’s outreach was a chat with a young couple from India.  They were both nurses, and having just arrived in the country, they were currently searching for jobs.  My daughter has just graduated with her nursing degree, so we were able to talk naturally for a time before I gently steered the conversation to deeper things.  They had a Hindu background.  I don’t get to talk to a lot of Hindu’s so I led the conversation by asking questions about their worldview.  When they made statements, I gently challenged them to understand how they knew the things they were saying were true.  And I had to ask a lot of “what do you mean by that” questions so that we had the best opportunity to understand each other.

 

Through this process, I think they started to see holes in their worldview.  Eventually, the guy had had enough.  He handed me back the gospel tract I had given them at the start and said, “Thank you for your time, but we need to move on”.  That was fine; I didn’t insist they take the tract, and I didn’t push further.  Ploughing had been done.  May the soil be better prepared for the next Christian to come along and continue that conversation.  And maybe share the gospel.

 

Thank you for your continued prayer for this feeble ministry.  May God’s strength be shown through our weakness.  All glory to God alone.

 

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I arrived at the corner of Riccarton and Rotherham on time, but Andy was already there, deep in a chat!  It was Thursday afternoon, and the weather was mild for winter.

 

So, I decided to start my loop (up and down on both sides of Riccarton Road to reach all the people at the bus stops). I got out my tracts and put a copy of the gospel of John in my back pocket.  I spent some time in prayer.  It wasn’t a dull day.  It took me an hour to complete my first loop!

 

I thought it was going to be a slow day because I got no takers going through the westbound bus stop.  So I crossed the road to head down the other side when I noticed someone sitting at the benches on the corner of Riccarton and Kauri Street.  So, I headed over to say hello and offer a tract.  And I got engagement.  He didn’t want the tract: “I’d just throw it away, and I’d feel bad”, he said.  But, not to be deterred, I asked if I could ask a question.  And from there we ended up having a 30-minute conversation.

 

It was a very non-standard chat.  Because my attempts to stay on script were pushed back by subject changes.  He was listening, but I knew I couldn’t push.  So I had to listen a lot and gently chip away as I could.  He opened up about his life (he had been to prison) and his previous religious experience.

 

At one point, he asked me about why I became a Christian - he wanted to know what I did.  My answers frustrated him. “When did you ask Jesus into your heart?”, he exclaimed.  This is a subtle reflection of modern evangelism's effect, which teaches we have to do something to be saved (raise a hand, pray a prayer, walk an aisle, etc.)  So, to contrast, I just talked about how I didn’t do anything to be saved.  I hated God and loved my sin.  People shared the gospel with me, and one day, God changed my heart in an instant.  It’s by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus alone.  Now I love God and hate my sin.

 

And I think my witness indirectly spoke to him too.  Because he was drinking a beer as we talked.  I didn’t mention it as I went through the law, but later he brought it up.  He knew drunkenness is a sin.  I offered him grace.  But he wasn’t willing to accept it, for now.  It felt like I was chipping away at a mountain with a toothpick.  Impossible.

 

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” - Mark 10:27 (ESV)

 

Interestingly, at the end of our chat, I offered him the tract again, and this time he decided to accept it.  I was surprised.  Maybe he’ll keep it?  He doesn’t want to feel any worse, right?

 

I then proceeded down the other side of Riccarton Road: eastbound.  There were lots of people out.  It wasn’t long before I was into another chat.  And interestingly, it was strikingly similar to the previous chat.  The guy was actually professing faith, and yet he seemed far from understanding the gospel.  I find it hard to articulate why, but again I felt like I was chipping away at a mountain with a toothpick.  I would say something, and the response would be about something else - and yet he was listening; there was an openness.  It was like he could only cope with a little dose of medicine at a time.  And this guy had also spent time in prison and was an ex-gang member.  So, I decided not to push it.  He had gladly accepted a tract.

 

So, I continued on my loop.  Now I was heading past the eastbound bus stops with a long row of people waiting.  My usual trick is to go down the line and offer tracts to start a conversation.  I had an instant hit.  A young man took it, and I asked if I could ask him a question.

 

Finally, I was talking with someone who would engage me directly and freely.  I was able to step him through ‘the script’.  And although he was rejecting it for now, the gospel is the power of God for salvation.  A nice, friendly chat.

 

So, that was my first hour.  I was then able to catch up with Andy, who was also between chats.  And so we decided to head off again for my 2nd loop.  Andy got into a good chat with a couple of Mormon missionaries (pictured), so I left him to it and got into another great chat of my own.

 

It was with a young guy, an electrical engineer, who had just arrived in NZ from the Philippines.  Again, I was able to have a fairly standard chat.  But this time it went longer.  In the end, I gave him the copy of John that I had in my back pocket.  He said he would read it.

 

It was a wonderful outreach of soil plowing and seed scattering.  May God raise a crop for his glory.  Thank you for praying that our feeble efforts will do so.

 

I’m taking next week off for some rest, so no report next week.  But I’ll be back on deck, God willing, the week after.  SDG!

 

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We were out on the streets twice this week, both times in the City.  Andy was with me on Friday afternoon, and I was out on Sunday afternoon as well.

 

On Friday, I had an interesting interaction with a guy.  I had just finished up a conversation, and I noticed that this guy had been listening.  He was standing still at a slight distance.  I suspected that he had objections.  I decided to take the bait and offered him a tract.  He took it (not surprising) and allowed me to start a conversation with him.  I asked, “Can something with a beginning make itself or come from nothing?”  He thought for a second, knowing the ‘trap’ I was setting, and he decided to sidestep.  “Yes”, he said with a straight face.  He then started to explain about quantum fluctuations.  But I cut him off with a smile and an extended hand for a handshake.  He was a bit surprised as I said, “Have a nice day”, and moved on.  If someone is going to deny clear logic, there is not much more I can do, and there are other people to talk to.  I just saved myself 30 minutes of time and frustration.

 

I went for a wander down Cashel Mall to find some other fish to talk to.  I ended up at the corner of Colombo and Cashel when an unexpected conversation began: an older lady went past at just the right time, and we naturally fell into conversation in response to my offering of a gospel tract.

 

She was older than she looked.  Very intelligent and a deep thinker.  She was Catholic and seemed pretty devout.  She brought up vivid details from her early childhood.  One of them was about a nun at her school who always asked challenging questions.  She obviously enjoyed challenging questions.  And so, I was able to use that to swing the conversation to the law and the gospel.  Sadly, the idea of good works being the way to heaven was deeply ingrained in her psyche.  I had to labour with her, and then check - it didn’t feel like I was making much progress.  And yet, I could tell she was challenged and provoked to think on it more.  Multiple times I encouraged her to check the Bible for herself on what I was saying.  I challenged her to start with John's Gospel account of Jesus.  It was a warm conversation - like talking with a cherished grandmother.  May she read through the tract multiple times and take me up on the challenge to read John.  And may the Holy Spirit bring conviction and conversion in her life.

 

But who knows, maybe the ‘quantum fluctuations’ guy will be the one who reads the tract once and boom - conviction and conversion.  The Gospel is the power of God for salvation.  And salvation is ultimately a work of God by His grace.  And yet, we are the means by which he works that grace.  May we continue to pray for the salvation of the lost, and may we continue to proclaim the simple gospel truth, till his kingdom comes, and his will is done.

 

On Sunday, I was very interested to see a couple of Muslim evangelists go past; one was holding a Qur’an, and the other some pamphlets.  I was able to get into a conversation with them and start to learn what they think.  They were quick to talk about the justice of God in a general sense, but as I tried to hold them to what they were specifically saying, they would see the logical contradiction with mercy (they were saying God can forgive without giving justice first) and buck away from the conversation.  When I attempted to hold them to account, they were quick to end the conversation and move along.

 

It was also great to see other Christians out doing evangelism.  I was able to catch up with Brian Boddy, a Gideon, who was out distributing literature.

 

I love the decentralised nature of Christianity.  Our guide is the Bible and the Holy Spirit.  And Jesus is the head of the church!

 

I also had a great week of online outreach.

 

One conversation that stands out is a TikTok DM conversation with someone in Chin State, Myanmar.  They don’t have the best English, so they were using AI to help communicate with me.  They have come to understand Christ through the Internet and are now consuming the Bible and as much content as they can online.  I’m currently encouraging them to find a local church.

 

Team training on Saturday afternoon was also very encouraging.  There were over 10 people involved (from all over the world), plus a couple who were just observing.  Harmony ended up having a conversation with a Muslim for over 70 minutes.  Part of him was resistant, asking all the usual questions.  But another part of him was very open, making sense of the answers and scripture quotes Harmony was giving.  May God save him!  But more importantly, may God get all the glory.

 

Please continue to pray for this feeble ministry.  May the strength of God be demonstrated through our weakness!

 

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I had some difficult chats and some wonderful chats this week.

 

The 3 difficulties that stand out are:

 

Firstly, on Thursday, I engaged a young guy at the Riccarton bus stops.  He was willing to talk, and said he believed there was no God.  It’s actually quite unusual for me to get that response.  I moved into my usual explanation of how we know God is real, and I was surprised at his resistance.  I just kept reasoning until the reason surfaced: “Well, if God is real, I’m going to hell because I’m gay”.  That explained it.  He suddenly walked off before I could say anything.  There is so much tension here because homosexuality is a sin, and yet God died for sinners.  Justice and mercy.  Sometimes you need to emphasize one side of the tension, and at other times, the other side of the tension.  I decided to say something like: “Gay people can go to heaven” as he left, because it’s true.  Jesus died for sinners.  But I was rattled by the sudden burst of emotion; it was a reminder that this is not a game, that we are in a spiritual battle.

 

Next, on Saturday, I was in Riccarton again with Dom from my church and his daughter Suzelle.  I had quite a few wonderful gospel conversations, but then a difficult one.  Dom and Suzelle were on the other side of the street.  I saw a young couple near me, and so I approached them.  He was happy to talk, although a bit reserved.  She was deadpan.  So I followed the usual structure for my conversations, and again, this young man didn’t believe in God.  This time, my reasoning seemed to be having an effect.  When he objected, my responses seemed to make sense.  Suddenly, I got a slight facial reaction from her.  I was surprised by this and turned to include her in the conversation.  Her response was sudden and sharp: “I’m a witch”.  I think she said it to shock me, but I didn’t flinch for a second.  She thought my arguments were ridiculous.  I just continued to reason with her, but I quickly realised that was the wrong thing to do.  This wasn’t a place of reason but of emotion.  The more reasons I brought, the angrier she got, and her sudden and sharp anger had ignited my own emotions.  I knew I had to end the chat for now, and I politely did so.  She stared at me, firing daggers with her eyes, before turning and walking off.  He went with her.  Again, I was rattled.  It took me a number of minutes to get back to ‘normal’.  It really felt like I’d been in a spiritual battle.

 

Later, I was involved with an online outreach we call Team Training, a group of us gather and pair up to listen to each others online gospel chats for mutual encouragement and feedback.  In my second chat, I was instantly thrust into a spiritual battle.  It was with 2 girls: late teens or early 20s.  This is going to sound strange, but in my experience, that demographic can be the nastiest from a spiritual battle perspective.  From memory, a rude remark was aimed at me before I had a chance to say anything.  And from then on, the bullets were coming at me thick and fast!  It was an intense battle that went on for about 15 minutes.  And I was on the back foot because their attacks were fast, intelligent, brutal, and deeply spiritual.  There was an intense hatred for God and truth pouring from them.  Almost like they had demonically sourced inside information.  Amazingly, I was able to touch on the law and the gospel with them in that time, but they certainly weren’t in a place to receive it.  Finally, they skipped me.  I was glad that ordeal was over!  Apart from the grace of God, that’s me!  May God’s mercy and grace catch up with them eventually!  May he show his strength through my weakness.

 

So, the reality is, we are in a spiritual battle.  This week was a reminder of that!  And this morning’s sermon (John 15:26-16:4) in my local church was a deep encouragement regarding this.  I’m so grateful for the teaching of God’s word and the local church family we have for support and encouragement as we face this battle together.

 

But that was only 3 conversations from a long week of gospel ministry.  Most of my chats from the week were ‘normal’ and wonderful.  Sharing the truth of Jesus on the streets and online.

 

On Friday, in the city, with Roger, I had many wonderful opportunities:

 

I had a long chat with a Russian chef with an Orthodox background.  What I was saying to him was so foreign to his thinking that at one point he said that I must have a different Bible from his.  He was deeply challenged.  And I encouraged him to actually download and read the Bible for himself to check if what I was saying was true.

 

I was able to share the gospel with a young man who knew a lot about the gospel due to his Dad, but the 100% check question really caused his eyes to open.  He was very grateful!

 

And I had another young man walk up to me and ask what I was handing out - it’s not often that the fish jump into the boat!

 

One final highlight was an online chat I had on Thursday.  It was a 20-minute chat with a guy from Wittenberg in Germany!  Arguably the birthplace of the protestant reformation.  I can now say I’ve shared the gospel in Wittenberg, and to me, that’s a great honour!

 

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