Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Christchurch (NZ) Team
• Page 25

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Weekly outreaches:
Tue 3:30pm - 5:30pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St)
Fri 1:30pm - 3:30pm - City (Bridge of Remembrance)
Sat 12:30pm - 2:30pm - 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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Thursday and Friday were busy days of outreach, as usual.

I started with a couple of hours online on Thursday before heading to Northlands and then Eastgate.  The highlight was a discussion with a guy from Luxembourg!  And he spoke Luxembourgish - you are always learning things with online evangelism. ;)  But he spoke English well enough for me to be able to share the gospel with him.

Andy and I had a good time of outreach at the bus stops.  And it was great to have Daniel join us at Northlands.

At Northlands, I had people stop to talk who I would never have expected to.  I thank God for the gospel opportunities.

But the highlight conversation was with a lady who said she was already a Christian.  I used the “dagger in my back” scenario to see what her understanding of the gospel was.  Sadly, she didn’t even get close to the central key of Christianity: Jesus.  When I told her - she realised what she had been missing and felt sheepish.  She even said she needs to re-read her Bible.  She seemed to appreciate the brief conversation and gladly accepted a gospel tract with more information.  Thank you Lord.

At Eastgate, I had a high school kid approach me - I remembered talking to him before.  So I asked him what he had to do to go to heaven.  He started talking about the things he needed to do - none of which were the biblical answer.  I gently probed, and then suddenly (and unexpectedly) he said the word “trust”.  I smiled - something from our previous conversation had stuck!  I asked him what he had to trust in, and he said, “Jesus”.  So I said, “Trust that Jesus has done what for you?”.  He said, “that he died on the cross for my sin”.  It was in his head, but did he understand?  Sadly, his bus came before I could talk further.  God willing, I will have another opportunity to talk with him.  Or maybe he will cross your path one day?  Are you ready to share the gospel?

Friday started with the gospel + abortion outreach outside Christchurch hospital.  You can read about it here.

We then moved on to Cathedral Square for open air gospel proclamation.  Our hecklers had already started gathering.  I decided to take a different tack today.  In the past, one of the hecklers had become so aggressive, that we had to institute a policy of completely ignoring this guy.  Sadly, this led to us just having to preach over top of his heckling - to outsiders, it didn’t look good.  So today I decided to start re-engaging, and directly addressing the objections.  It went reasonably well.  A small group gathered.  Sadly, due to the constant stream of questions, I never managed to get to the gospel.  I still have much to learn!  I ran out of energy, and Marty stepped in to take over.  People would stop to listen.  I had at least one follow up conversation with a guy who had listened to Marty preach - he was impacted.

I then had a wonderful opportunity to approach two girls who had been listening.  One of them opened up with “I’m gay”.  So I just responded with, “Oh, hi, well - I’m hetrosexual, nice to meet you”.  We then fell into a discussion about where the universe came from.  But then the other came up with the issue of why God allows suffering.  Homosexuality and Theodicy are the two biggest objections I have to deal with.  I gently reasoned with them and then, suddenly, a lady who had been listening from a small distance interjected into the conversation.  To my surprise, one of the two girls defended me!  We exchanged names, and then she initiated a hand shake.  I sensed that now was not the time to push the conversation, and we parted ways at that point.  They left with tracts, and I told them that anytime they wanted to talk, they were welcome to approach me.

We moved to Cashel Mall - Bridge of Remembrance end.  I had a fascinating encounter there.  I had approached a lady to open a gospel discussion - she was open and we started to wrestle with the deep questions of life when suddenly a guy approached me and said “You made me believe in God!”.  I was a bit surprised, and then he said, “At Riccarton - you talked to me”.  He wanted to talk again, but as I was in the middle of a conversation!

I was able to finish the gospel conversation with the lady.  I went to find the guy and noticed that his friends and he were hearing the gospel from Roger on the flip chart.

Once that had finished, I was able to catch up with him and one of his friends to find out what was happening in his life.  Sadly, his reasons for believing God were experienced based, and he wasn’t believing that Jesus had died for his sin.  Yet, he is interested - and even reading a Bible.  His friend is Bahá’í and we ended up having a conversation where, sadly, resistance to the gospel started to build.  Even so, the gospel is the power of God for salvation - in His timing.

Mike and I finished the day with an evening outreach in the city.  Wow, some fascinating gospel opportunities were taken - praise God!  In Cathedral Square I got into some non standard gospel conversations with various people dressed very alternatively.  People would join the conversations at different times and things would get interrupted and so no conversation flow could really be established.  But gospel plowing did occur!

Eventually Mike and I gave up, and we headed off.  Our very next conversation was with a guy who was really keen to talk to us.  It turned out he had been listening to our conversations in Cathedral Square!  (I never noticed him.)  He was an ex-Christian and was ready for an apologetical fight.  We didn’t give him one - he already knows God exists!  We asked him what he understood about Christianity, and it became very clear that he never understood the gospel.  Eventually his whole demeanor changed - it was a great conversation where Mike and I tag teamed the discussion.

Near the end of the outreach, we managed to have some interesting conversations outside the pubs on Oxford Terrace.  I managed to get into conversation with an extremely drunk couple.  I’m not sure if they will remember the conversation at all - I told one to put the tract I gave her into her pocket and read it in the morning.

All glory to God for the opportunities to be a witness for Him.  Please keep us in prayer.
 

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Tuesday was the first day of spring!  I’ve now survived two winters - although, with online evangelism, it is so much easier navigating the weather.  And it just so happened, that the first day of spring was very wet, so online I went.

I had two conversations where I was able to deploy Google Translate to great effect.

The first was with a person who spoke Spanish and ZERO English.  I was amazed at the progress I made.  But sadly I didn’t get past the law with this person before the connection flaked out.

Stranger: Culpable
Stranger: But he would forgive me
Stranger: Creo
Stranger: He forgives me, I'm sure he's my friend
Stranger: I've never sinned and he knows it
You: But you have! You have lied, stolen, and your anger is like murder to God.
You: Do you know someone who is perfect and willing to die for you to receive your punishment from hell?
You: needGod.net
You: Still there?
Stranger has disconnected.

The last conversation of the outreach was with a girl who spoke portugese but could speak a little english as well.  After the chat, I would say she was already a Christian.  The conversation became quite pastoral with focus on justification by faith alone and why a Christian can have assurance of salvation.  And yet I didn’t want her to have a false sense of assurance and so there was talk about the fruit of repentance that will come in a Christian.  Ultimately, I pointed her to her pastors / church / family - as these people know her, where I had only just met her.  She seemed incredibly grateful for the conversation.  And I was incredibly grateful for Google Translate!  If she is not saved, may God change her heart; but if she is, may she continue to grow and be used by God for His glory!

I had an amazing conversation with three girls from Lebanon!  I don’t think I’ve talked to anyone from that country before.  They were Maronites (a form of Christianity) - something I’ve never heard of before and had to do a little research on later.  They looked to their good deeds as the way to salvation, and so I shared the law and the gospel - they came to grasp it very quickly.  I challenged them to respond to the gospel, and showed them why they are not really Christians.  One of them had a question about homosexuality - which I answered.  They seemed to really appreciate the conversation.

On Wednesday I spent two hours in the city before joining the Aussie team for two hours online.

There were four highlight conversations in the city.

Firstly I approached a construction worker who was engrossed in something on his phone - I expected him to not want to talk to me, so I was surprised by his friendliness!  He had a Christian background, but was pleasantly surprised when he came to understand the gospel.  He gladly received a follow up tract.

Then saw a guy coming who I thought would be keen for a chat.  I positioned myself to try to start a conversation when two ladies went past from the other direction.  I offered tracts and was surprised when they accepted them!  I quickly moved into a gospel conversation and they stopped to engage - they both seemed interested.  I could tell they didn’t have much time, so I moved quickly to explain the law and the gospel before they indeed moved on.

I encounter the Unicef workers a lot, who are out getting sign ups.  As I went past one of them, they approached me - not to sign me up, but they wanted to talk about the deep questions of life.  I ended up having a long conversation - and yet there was a deep resistance to the logic I was trying to share.  I was able to share the gospel - but it seemed to bounce off.  Eventually I wound up the conversation.  Apparently she had already received a tract from me.  This time, she accepted a “Which one is right?” and “How we know God exists and why it matters” before I moved on.

I finally made it down to Ara, and managed to get into a good conversation with two guys who were also resistant.  Eventually one of them said, “look, as long as I’m a good person, I’ll be okay” - the perfect opportunity to segway into the law!  The didn’t give me an opportunity to get to the gospel - but they did take tracts.

Online I had some good conversations.  The first was with a guy who didn’t seem to be responsive, and took some time to grasp the gospel.  He just didn’t seem interested, and I was surprised that he hadn’t disconnected.  And yet, to my surprise, it turns out he was very interested.  At the end of the conversation, he opened up about a fear of death - that he now understood the solution to!

I then had a fascinating text conversation with a person who had pretty good answers but was likely a false convert:

Stranger: Hi
You: Hi :)
Stranger: You <can’t repeat>?
You: What do you think happens after life?
You: No, I'm not, and I don't want to be.
Stranger: Ok
You: But, what do you think happens after life?
Stranger: I think that we go to heaven if we accept Christ as our saviour
You: Interesting answer! :) What did Jesus do so he could save us? And what did he save us from?
Stranger: He died in the cross for us and saved us from a lifetime of suffering
You: Right, he saved us from the punishment we deserve for our sins!
You: Have you accepted the gift of Jesus?
Stranger: Yes
Stranger: When I was in 4th grade
You: What do we have to do to accept that gift?
Stranger: It's not that hard you just accept him into your heart
You: The Bible says we are saved by grace, through faith.... we need to TRUST that Jesus died for our sins.
You: And Jesus dieing for our sins is the only reason we go to heaven.
You: Out of 100, how sure are you that you are going to heaven?
Stranger: Honestly I don't know I've accepted him as my saviour but I'm still not sure
Stranger: Why are you here?
You: ok, that is why I'm asking you these questions, because Hell is real and very serious - I don't want you to go there!
You: I'm here because I'm a Christian, and I want to share the good news of Jesus with people :)
Stranger: Well a word of advice don't do it on here
You: We can be 100% certain we are going to heaven, because our forgiveness is not based on how good we are but how good Jesus was - and that he died and rose for our sins.
You: But
You: Our life will be changed if we are trusting that Jesus died for us.
You: There are many false converts.
You: A word of advice - NO ONE should be here. It's a nasty place. But nasty people need Jesus.
You: needGod.net
Stranger: Ok I think I've had enough. Thanks for the lesson that I've heard to many times. Good bye
You: Why did you ask me If I'm <can’t repeat>?
You: Why are you here?
You: Has your life been changed by the gift of Jesus? Are you a false convert?
You: Read 1 John
You: I say that because I care for you.
Stranger: You know God may say that being <can’t repeat> is a sin but it's not it's completely and humanly natural
You: Read Matthew 5
Stranger: And you can't care for me... You don't even know me
You: Jesus said if you just look at someone with lust, it's like committing adultery with them in your heart
You: I care enough about you to spend time here to confront you with truth.
Stranger: Like I said before I've had enough have a nice day good bye
You: Your soul is the most important thing you have. To gain it, you must lose it.
You: needGod.net
Stranger: Good bye
You: needGod.net
Stranger: Stop sending that
You: The fact that you haven't left, shows that you care very much about this conversation.
You: God gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud heart. Don't be proud. :)
You: If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer, I'm not your enemy.
Stranger: <expletive> I guess I just wanted the last word which i have good bye
Stranger has disconnected.

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Saturday - Tell Me Conference day!  This was the seventh yearly iteration.  It’s partly because of this conference that I ultimately started working for Operation 513.

Just over six years ago, Andy came up with the idea of running an evangelism conference.  I thought he was crazy!  Who would want to come to an evangelism conference?  It came together and happened (this is where the name “Tell Me” came from)… and it was good!  Some great connections occurred.  So we decided to do it again the next year.  But who to speak?  I’d heard of Josh Williamson, and after discussions we decided to get him over.  This was our introduction to Operation 513.  And it went from there.  I look back and am amazed at what God has done with “Tell Me” - the ministry and the conference - now folded into Operation 513.  If we are humble, and continue to trust in God, then I can’t wait to see what the future brings.  May God get all the glory!

After the teaching part of the conference, most of the attendees came out on the streets to get a taste of real street evangelism!

We started with one of the speakers at the conference, Matthew Johnston (himself coming to Christ through open air ministry, now a Pastor at Riverbend Bible Church in the Hawke’s Bay), open air preaching in Cathedral Square.  It was great learning from his style.  He spoke loudly and clearly, and yet worked hard to not come across as angry or yelling.  And he engaged with people as they walked past, even getting one guy to stop and interact - but ultimately listen.  Matthew is pictured with a passerby stopped and listening.  Soon after, the other speaker at the conference (Roger Spicer) had started engaging the very same passerby in gospel conversation - also pictured.

After the preaching, we split up into smaller groups and spread out within the central city to engage people with tracts, and in conversation.

It was so wonderful seeing so many Christians out giving it a go, and observing and learning from those that had more experience.

I ended up getting engrossed in my own gospel conversations, but from time to time I would notice that other Christians around me were getting into their own conversations - some for the first time!

The flip chart really helped.  People would walk up to it and want to give it a go, making it easy for those that were a bit rusty to get going, or for newbies to get involved.

Personally, I had four stand out conversations.  All follow ups!

The first was with a guy who said he needed evidence before he would believe in God.  I asked what evidence he required.  He said, if God walked up to him and shook his hand he would believe (he wouldn’t).  I said he didn’t need that to happen, that he already knew that God existed - and then used the building analogy to explain why.  Surprisingly he opened up and I was able to share the gospel with him.  He then had another apologetical question - he was surprised I was able to answer it.  I challenged him to respond to the gospel - God willing I will see him again soon and be able to continue to follow up with him.

The third one was with a guy I’ve been talking to for about a year now.  The last time was the previous day carrying a box of beer.  Today he was hung over, but both times he was happy to chat - he still had the tract I’d given him the previous day, I gave him two more today.  I just continued to labour with him.  He knows, yet his heart hasn’t been changed.  Oh, God, have mercy!

It was a tiring, but wonderful day.

Sunday I was in catch up mode (e.g., these Battle Logs).  But I was able to spend two hours online with the Aussie team.  I was paired up with the Pink Angel - Matthew Andersen - I learnt so much from listening to his gospel conversation.  The guy he was talking to came to understand the clear logic of the gospel, but suppressed the truth - even admitting that he was denying the truth because he loved his sin!  And yet he was open, and indicated that he would consider the discussion.  He needs God to change his heart - that is his only hope.  The gospel is the power of God to salvation!
 

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I spent six hours in online outreach on Thursday.

Looking at my notes, it looks like I had a string of resistant people, but then I copied and pasted a text based conversation.  I now remember, whoever I was talking to was very open:

Stranger: I really don’t know
You: It's the building you can see - right?
Stranger: Yah
You: ok, in the same way
You: We can't see God
You: But we can see this Universe, infinitely more complicated than the engineering in a building
You: So, that is how we know God exists.
Stranger: You have a point
Stranger: Ok makes sense

You: What do we have to do to go to heaven?
Stranger: Be a good person and make good decisions
You: 1) Have you ever lied?
Stranger: Yes
You: 3) Have you ever murdered someone?
Stranger: No way
You: Ever been angry with someone?
Stranger: Yes
You: Innocent or guilty?
Stranger: That’s is a great point

Stranger: I’m not sure
Stranger: Jesus
Stranger: I have never really looked at That
Stranger: Heaven
Stranger: Jesus
Stranger: Sacrifice himself for us all
Stranger: Yah
You: TRUST that JESUS died on the cross to pay our hell fine.
Stranger: Yah

Stranger: I always was scared I might go to hell for little things and that’s why I never really looked into this
Stranger: Makes sense

Stranger: Ok
You: needGod.net
Stranger: That is the best thing I have seen on omegle
Stranger: Wow
Stranger: Ok
Stranger: Ok cool I will definitely use this thank you so much

On Friday we had a calm gospel + abortion outreach outside the hospital before moving into Cathedral Square for some open air preaching.  There was a new heckler today, and Andy did a great job interacting with him!

There were a lot of evangelists in Cashel Mall later in the afternoon - from various outreach organisations and churches.

I ended up having a follow up opportunity with a guy I’ve been talking to for well over a year.  With all the Covid-19 craziness, he has been thinking deeply on his mortality.  I was able to take him through the gospel again.  Frustratingly, he seems to be understanding, but not responding to the gospel.  I challenged him to respond - today - but only God can change his heart.  Pray that God would have mercy on him.

Roger had a great chat with some uni students (pictured), and Andy ended up having a long chat with some guys down by the river (also pictured).

Friday evening was taken with Tell Me Conference prep (including venue set up), so I wasn’t able to do the usual outreach.  But I was very encouraged to have so many who attended the conference on Saturday join us on the streets in the afternoon - it was very encouraging!  But I’ll write about that in my next report.
 

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On Tuesday and Wednesday, I spent all my outreach time online.

For Wednesday I tried to keep track of all the gospel conversations for this report.

I started the outreach connecting to three guys from Canada.  I sparred with two of them for a while over how they know God exists - one understood, the other was more resistant.  The third guy claimed to be a Christian.  They were happy to stay for me to take them through the law and the gospel.

Next up I was connected with a guy from Mumbai in India.  His English wasn’t good, but I persisted.  At one point he offered to show me something, I was concerned about what he meant and was ready to turn on my video shield!  But then I realised that he wanted to show me his god.  Which he did, it was an idol.  I was able to communicate some of the law, and start touching on the gospel, before he finally disconnected.

I was then beamed into the office of three Philippine government workers.  They all had masks on.  I struggled to get a conversation going, as only one of them would respond, and that was via typing.  I was able to drop a link to needGod.net before they disconnected.

Someone with no video also responded via text.  They believed in God, heaven and hell.  I started on the law.  They denied stealing, and then went silent but didn’t disconnect.  I continued through the law but they disconnected before I could share the gospel.

An American kid with filthy language was up next.  In response to my standard opening question he responded with “I’m a kid, how am I supposed to know the answer to that?”.  He started to engage when he suddenly had to go.

A very rude and disturbing young man was up next.  He heard the law, but it just made him go nastier!  I disconnected.

Another person with no video and responding via text.  They wanted to go to heaven to see their first horse.  They were very “good” - had never lied, and had never talked back to their parents.  When I explained that anger is the root of murder, they disconnected.

I then was connected with a guy who had a physics degree who was making synth music.  Science was king for him and he was deeply resistant to the God who made him.  Unsurprisingly he denied a universal conscience and was resistant to the law.  I didn’t have the energy to fight him, so we parted ways.

Up next was another resistant guy from Brazil.  He tapped out with: "even with all these arguments it is not something that I think is important to believe, I find it interesting and very incredible the faith that you have but it is not something that I have".

My final conversation before a break started with the guy I saying “Welcome to hell, can I take your order please?”.  It made for a fascinating conversation where he heard the law, and the gospel.  He had “heard it before”, and was resistant.
That was the first two hours, the second two hours went better!

It started with an odd conversation with a “Christian”.  He couldn’t articulate the gospel, so I started working through the law when he opened up about a desire to hurt himself and a struggle with anxiety.  I tried to engage with hope, but we lost our connection.  I was able to leave a link to needGod.net before that happened.

I then started getting into really good conversations.  I had a long chat with a fireman / mechanic.  He engaged and started talking about how the conversation is an “eye opener”.  I was very encouraged.

Next a kid for the USA with a big Canadian flag on his wall.  He was a deep thinker, and there would be long periods of silence as he processed what I was saying and tried to come up with objections.  He grasped the gospel quickly, and after talking about counting the cost, I pleaded with him not to shelve what he had heard, but to respond!

A kid, who first up said he was on cocaine (later he said he was joking)!  He came to understand the gospel, but he kept laughing.  I asked why, and he said he was connected to a group of people who were listening to our conversation.  I asked what they thought about the gospel - he said one of them wanted me as their Dad!  I told them there is a better Dad than me: God.

I then had two skips: 1) a girl who never lied, or stole, skip.  2) a guy who lied, never stole, skip.

Next up a guy in deep denial of God - even in the face of proof.  I decided not to engage.

A person with no video you responded via text.  They went silent on me but stuck around.  I shared the gospel before they disconnected.

Second to last conversation was with a guy who heard the gospel.  I said, “So, what’s the reason you go to heaven then?”.  He responded with “Haha, nice one buddy.”  And disconnected.

My last conversation was with some kids who came to grasp the gospel!

So.  That is how my four hour stint of outreach went.  Lots of opportunity for plowing and gospel sowing.  Only God can bring the increase!
 

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Back to nice weather on Saturday in Christchurch (NZ).  After Andy and I interviewed James White for the Tell Me Evangelism Conference I headed into the city for a couple of hours of outreach.

There was lots of activity at the Bridge of Remembrance - it’s now my favourite spot for Saturday outreach.  As well as me, there were three other religious groups there - one I haven’t seen before.  It turns out the leader had lost his father in the Mosque shooting last year! :(  And yet he wasn’t there to promote Islam, but protest the government, and talk about conspiracy theories.  At times they had loud music with bad language - not so pleasant.

When you do a lot of street evangelism, you get a feel for the demographics that seem more likely to want to chat.  But you don’t rely on that, because you’ll often be surprised who wants to chat.

I had a lady stop who really wanted to chat and she quickly opened up about involvement with a cult that she had been excommunicated from.  And yet she seemed to have unresolved guilt that she was desperate to resolve.  In the short time I had with her I focused on the grace of the gospel without compromising the reality of the cost.  She accepted a tract as she moved on.

I had another couple walk past that surprised me when he accepted a tract.  I asked them what they thought happened after life, and they stopped to talk!  She was an atheist and he had a Mormon background.  It was odd, cos they wanted to stay, and yet it seemed too hard and they bailed.  But he did keep the tract!

Later in the afternoon I joined the Aussie team for some online outreach and I got to speak to some really interesting people about the gospel!

Firstly there was a Muslim guy from Nepal - very reserved, and yet he didn’t disconnect.  I talked and typed, he just typed.  We had a mutual connection in our enjoyment of Cricket and talked of that briefly before moving to deeper things.  He had an “ah ha” moment about the gospel, and said “wow”.  Later he said he was “intrigued”.  I left him with needGod.net.

I then was connected with a guy from Ethiopia!  He was Ethiopian Orthodox, something I’ve not encountered before.  He didn’t understand the gospel.  He mentioned Mary in his explanation of how he gets to heaven through his works.  And he wasn’t open to the gospel I was presenting, I slowly worked through his objections - but he became stubborn.  I became quite forceful with him, trying to wake him up.  I was pleading with him, when he disconnected.

On Sunday afternoon I decided to Join the Aussie team online again so I could stay late after church to sort out some Tell Me Conference organisation.  Pictured are the guys who were practicing for leading us with worship in song.  Thanks for your time guys! :)

It was a practical training outreach, and I was paired with the wonderful Grace!  We had a wonderful time observing each other's gospel conversations and offering feedback for growth.

We both had some difficult conversations, we both had some good ones too.  The highlight one for me was with two young men who I would never have picked as Muslim.  They were both blown away with the gospel - very, very encouraging.  I laboured on the cost of accepting the gift of Jesus, and yet it didn’t seem to distract from their understanding of that gift.  There didn’t seem to be anything stopping them from responding - I pleaded with them not to shelve what I said, but to respond to the gospel!
 

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There was contrasting weather in Christchurch between Thursday and Friday.  Thursday saw spring start asserting itself.  It was hot enough for me to go from four layers to two!  But on Friday, winter fought back with a cold wind and rain.  But both days brought glory to God in His gospel going forth!

Thursday’s highlights were at the Northlands bus stops.  I had three wonderful gospel opportunities.

The first was with a young agnostic man.  I offered him a tract, which he accepted, and so I asked him what he thought happened after life.  He was keen to talk, so I sat next to him for a long chat.  Sadly, he was resistant - and yet he heard and understood the gospel (a final checking question confirming).  As we were parting ways, I said that I hoped he hadn’t missed his bus.  He said, “oh, two have passed, I’ll get the next.”  I was encouraged.  People really want to talk about the important issues of life.  People are starved of truth and hope!

Next up a young man was willing to stop to talk - he even seemed keen!  To my shock, he said I had talked to him two times before - I have no memory of it.  And yet the gospel obviously hadn’t stuck, so I went through it with him again.  He was extremely open - even after considering the cost of faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for him.  He seemed keen when I invited him along to a church meeting.  He left with a contact card - I haven’t heard from him yet.

Finally I had two guys go past - I had also talked to them before.  One of them became very engrossed in the conversation when he opened up about his Dad falling away from his faith.  It turns out he had had a very legalistic upbringing - a weight no one can bear!  We had a good chat about this, and the hope of the true gospel.  He seemed very encouraged.  I offered to meet with this guy's Dad over coffee to talk things through.

We had encouragement at the gospel + abortion outreach, read about it here.

We then moved into Cathedral Square for open air preaching.  The food and market stalls weren’t there, and the hecklers pretty much left us alone, so we were about to preach the gospel freely to the people walking past.

A team of five then gathered down by the bridge of remembrance.  By this stage it was raining.  Roger found a sheltered spot to set up his flip chart.  We spent an hour in the rain doing our best to share God's grace.  We did get a number of opportunities.

I ended up spending the rest of the day in online evangelism.  I ended up having three great opportunities to talk to people from the Philippines, all of who had a Catholic upbringing.  As I was explaining the gospel to one of them he said he felt very confused - I took that as a good sign that I was making progress - it is very confusing thinking you have to keep the commandments all your life, and then someone tells you we are saved by grace through faith!  I continued to labour to bring clarity to this person.
 

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On Tuesday I started with some online outreach.  The overriding memory is talking with Christians.

There was one guy who didn’t fully understand the gospel.  He really appreciated gaining clarity on the fact that Jesus had fully satisfied the punishment for his sin.

Yet there was another guy who seemed to understand the sacrifice of Jesus for his sin, but not the repentance that would accompany it.  We spent a fair amount of time working this through.  I have no idea if this guy is a false convert or not (either way, maybe this conversation will be a catalyst of change?)  I pointed him to his local church for further help.  He thanked me for the conversation at the end.

I then joined Roger in Riccarton.  Roger ended up calling me over into one of his conversations - there were four of us involved when suddenly a fifth person joined in and wanted to try the flip chart!  He and I split off over to my flip chart and he was extremely open.  I made it all the way to the final page where we talked about the cost of accepting Jesus, and there was nothing stopping him.  It seems he is already involved with a local church, and yet he said that it was today that he fully grasped the gospel.

I saw some of the high school kids I mentioned in my report from a week ago.  The one who hugged me was still smiling, and still understood the gospel.

But later I had two more high school students (older) come past and show interest in the good person test.  They too made it all the way to the final counting the cost page.  One of them was not deterred after counting the cost.  I asked him to get in touch so I could connect him with a local church - I haven’t heard from him so far.

Wednesday I was in the city having one to one conversations.  I spent some time in Cathedral Square and then moved down High Street towards Ara - having conversations with people as I went.

Once at Ara, I had a divine appointment with a guy whose path crossed mine as we were walking.  He said he was a Christian, but said he would be going to hell!  He quickly gained clarity on the gospel and seemed to really appreciate the chat.

I finished the day’s outreach online.  My last conversation was with a young lady from Brazil who couldn’t really speak English.  Yet she wanted to communicate, so with Google Translate, I shared the gospel with her.  I ended up translating the whole of needGod.net and sending it to her.  She read it, and then in broken English said, “that is beautiful”.

(Pic, view of Christchurch from the Port Hills taken on my day off on Monday.)
 

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It was a busy weekend.  It started with the Christchurch March for Life which was well attended, but changed my outreach routine for Saturday.  I ended up going online in the evening.

There were two stand out conversations.  I had a longish chat with two girls who slowly came to grasp the gospel.  One of them started asking me about suicide, she brought it up a few times - because she had friends who were talking about it.  So I spent time addressing this with them - suicide is not an option, there really is hope - ultimately found in Jesus!

I then moved into a very long chat with a young man called Angel.  He was a very logical thinker and was grasping what I was saying quickly.  He was initially quite resistant and I was wondering if I was wasting my time, but I held on, and I’m glad I did, because he slowly opened up after I explained that just because a building is broken, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a builder, instead we need to ask, what’s gone wrong with the building?  It turns out he didn’t want to believe God existed because of pain in his life.  He came to understand the hope of the gospel.  And he kept asking good questions, which I did my best to answer.  He was very thoughtful at the end of the conversation.  He knows how to get in touch via needGod.net.

On Sunday I made the decision to join the online practical training outreach with the team from Aussie rather than head into the city.  This allowed me more time for fellowship after the morning church meeting.

I had the honour of being paired with Ryan.  It was wonderful to be able to observe him and learn.  It was also good to be observed and get feedback from him.

Ryan had two wonderful conversations where the people he was talking to came to grasp the gospel and responded positively to it!

Later in the evening I did some more online outreach to catch up on the time missed on Saturday.  The highlight was a long slow conversation with a young lady who considered herself a Christian, but didn’t believe in hell and really struggled to comprehend the gospel - constantly falling back to her good deeds to get her to heaven.  But thankfully she slowly started to grasp the gospel of grace.  And she opened up as well, also asking about suicide.  She really appreciated the conversation.  I pointed her to a local church.
 

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On Thursday I spent a couple of hours online with the team in Brisbane before meeting Andy at Northlands for bus stop outreach.

When I arrived at Northlands, I was feeling tired, but bold.  We started with prayer.

I had a conversation with a guy till his bus arrived, and then I started handing tracts to people hoping off the bus.  One of them responded to my follow up question of “what do you think happens after life?” and I started walking down the street with him.  He was extremely open to the logic of what I was saying, and grasping the gospel very quickly.  His facial expressions and verbal responses confirmed that he was deeply impacted by the simple, yet glorious gospel!  Very encouraging.  I’m glad I was feeling bold and managed to get the conversation started!

It was a very productive time at Northlands, for both Andy & I.  We became very busy when the high school students started turning up.  I started a conversation with one, and then others started joining in.  There were at least five of them paying attention.  These kids seemed starved spiritually and were very attentive, asking very good questions.  One of them in particular seemed deeply struck and started asking questions about how to trust that Jesus died for his sins.  I was careful not to fall into the trap of giving him a formula.  When their buses came, some of them thanked me for sharing, and most of them received follow up tracts.

Before we knew it we had run overtime at Northlands and made the move to Eastgate where we continued to have gospel conversations with people, including follow up conversations with some.

You can read about Friday mornings gospel + abortion outreach here

In the afternoon, we ended up spending most of our outreach time in Cathedral Square with a wonderful open air preaching opportunity.

But I spent most of my time in one to one conversations on the periphery.  I had a wonderful gospel conversation with a construction worker who was a Catholic.  He was subtly trusting in his good deeds to get him to heaven, and so I needed to labour with him on this.  I was quite a distance away from the open air preaching - but I could still hear Marty!

Apparently there was some preaching that didn’t go so well.  Steve the atheist wasn’t given a fair go.

But then Andy stood up to preach.  It was wonderful!  As per the pictures, a crowd gathered.  The reason being that there was a good heckler asking good fiery questions!  Andy did a wonderful job of holding the crowd, answering questions and sharing the gospel.  While this was happening, I was able to continue to engage people leaving the scene one on one.

Eventually Andy tagged me in, and then it went pear shaped!  People started either going nuclear (getting really angry), or walking away.  My hat goes off to Andy for doing such a good job!

The good heckler ended up coming over and shaking our hands once it was over.  And there were lots of follow up one to one conversations.

By the time we made it to Cashel Mall, we only had thirty minutes of outreach time left - but we had many wonderful opportunities in that time!  We ended up going for forty five!

In the evening I finished up with some online outreach.  I had a really stellar conversation with two girls who came to understand the gospel.  They were super appreciative, and thanked me for doing what I was doing.  Lord, save them, because I can’t!
 

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