Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Christchurch (NZ) Team
• Page 5

---

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.

---

I love climate change marches.  Or any kind of gathering that brings people passionate about some form of justice.  Because I always end up getting to talk to a lot of young, intelligent, people about Jesus - who makes so much sense!

 

It was no different on Friday, with a climate change march just getting started as I arrived at the bridge of remembrance.  It was interesting profiling all the people there (gay rights, palestinian rights, animal rights) and seeing a common thread: hurt people with no answers, who need to hear the answer: Jesus.

 

Anyway, after the march, young people would be moving through the city in little groups, and I could hand out tracts, or get into gospel conversations with them.

 

There was one young man, in his last year in high school.  We started by talking about the march and what the ultimate goal / solution of the march was.  I was then able to gently swing the conversations to deeper things.  Interestingly, his parents went to a good local church, but he was at a crossroads with Christianity.  He reminded me of me at his age.  I wanted to save him some pain, and so I pleaded with him about Christ.  But I could tell he wasn’t interested.  He was being polite in continuing the conversation, and so I respected that and wrapped it up.

 

By this stage, Roger had engaged his friends, who didn’t want to engage with me.  Rogers' chat seemed to be going well, so the kid I talked to went down a bit to wait for them patiently.  That was good, but sad that he was rejecting Christ himself at the moment.

 

I ended up finishing up the outreach in an unusual way.  There are usually Jehovah’s Witnesses about, and I normally leave them to themselves, but today I decided to approach them.  Usually when I approach people in cults, I take a non standard approach, them being prepared for a frontal assault.  And today was no different.  I started by asking them about another cult that is rampant in Christchurch at the moment: World Mission Society Church of God (the mother god cult).  I was curious on how 1 cult deals with another cult.  Interestingly, they didn’t know much about it.  But we ended up getting into a friendly conversation and getting to know each other better.  We talked about things we believed, without ever directly attacking each other.  I guess it could be considered a ‘waste of time’, as I never got to work on sharing the law or the gospel with them.  But at least I know them better as people - I know their names.  God willing that will lead to more conversation opportunities in the future - if not with me, with another Christian who will be able to bring truth and clarity to them.

 

On Sunday, I had Joseph and Elijah - from my own church - join me for the afternoon outreach.  They are familiar with the flip chart, so I decided to bring that with me for this outreach.  We prayed, and then set it up on the corner of Cashel and Colombo.

 

The first 15 minutes of the outreach was slow.  No takers.  I was concerned that my boast about an outreach always ending with at least one meaningful conversation would fall flat!  Yet, God was faithful, 2 young ladies who had gone past earlier, came back and were keen to engage.  It was a set up: they were there for a fight.  It became clear early that climate change was something they were passionate about.  But I was able to swing the conversation away from that and to the question of how we know what is right and wrong.  That led to the Building / Builder analogy.  They fought hard, but I didn’t back down, just answering their objections and sticking to my main point: there must be a universe maker.  It was interesting to watch the main opponent eventually concede the point (without actually saying so), I was then able to move into the law and get to the gospel.  It was a great chat, but sadly they had to go.

 

From here the outreach was busy.  If we weren’t in a conversation, sharing the gospel, I was debriefing and training with Joseph and Elijah.

 

Next we had another 2 girls there, this time not to attach, but just curious.  Sadly, they weren’t really engaging, so I touched on the law and the gospel before giving them tracts.

 

There was a young Catholic guy, who was also in it to fight.  That was a great chat, as we got to wrestle with the tension of repentance (that our deeds don’t save us, but deeds will follow our salvation).

 

There was a young couple who didn’t believe in God, but when they heard the building / builder analogy, he said, ‘that makes sense’, and they opened up to hear the law and the gospel.

 

These chats would often draw others to find out what was happening.  And tracts were able to be distributed.

 

God truly answered our prayers.  I was encouraged, because I so want Joseph and Elijah to have a good experience and be willing to come again and to grow in their ability to share Christ, for God’s glory alone.

 

We ended the outreach with a chat with one of my regulars.  Sadly, he knows about Christian things, but is clearly trusting in his works for salvation and now willing to reason - just wanting to joke around instead.

 

No outreaches on Tuesday or Saturday.  I decided to work online instead, and regather my strength.  God willing I’ll be able to do a full week of street outreach next week.

 

Please keep the team in prayer.  Soli Deo Gloria!!

 

---

Happy Easter!  It’s been a busy week, with 2 special outreaches over the Easter weekend.

 

I took last week off (hence no report), but partly in preparation for this big week of outreach.

 

The Sunday afternoon before Easter I was able to have the opportunity to deliver a 1 hour lecture on ‘the bones of a gospel conversation’ to those in my church in preparation for the Easter outreaches.  Much thanks to the elders of my church for giving me this opportunity.  If you’d like to see my lecture notes, you can find them here.

 

So, Roger and I had our standard outreach to Riccarton on Tuesday afternoon.  So much has been going on, I can’t remember any of my chats from that outreach!

 

We didn’t do any street outreach on Friday, because it’s a public holiday, and all the shops are closed, there are not many people out.  I worked online in the afternoon, after a Good Friday gathering with my church family in the morning.

 

Saturday was the Oxford A&P Show outreach.  I have to admit it’s a bit of a blur for me.  I left home at 7am to be there by 8am, and set up by 8:30am.  My daughter Dani was with me with a solid team from my church (the Brown’s, the Linton’s and Jordan) plus Mike & Rebecca Ryan.  It was so great catching up with Sam Linton and Jordan the next day and to hear of how encouraged they were from the outreach.  Thanks for your support team!

 

We had a bit of drizzle (rain) during the day, which was a bit annoying, but we all were still very busy in gospel conversations.  We finished up at 4pm.  Great outreach, glory to God.

 

On Sunday, I spent a couple of hours in the city in the afternoon.  There was a Christian dance conference on during the weekend, and they were going to be doing some street dancing.  I was asked to share the gospel with those that passed by.  The dancing caused a lot of people to stop, which was great!  I handed out a LOT more tracts than I normally do, with a cheery “Happy Easter”.

 

I also got into a conversation with 3 young people who recognised me.  They said one of their friends loves our tracts and follows the content online - which is very encouraging.  But sadly, these young people weren’t really interested in the gospel.  While I was talking to them, I got pooped on by a bird!  I think that’s a first!  (I’ve had a few near misses).  Luckily it only hit my hat, which I sweeped off.  I didn’t let that kill the conversation, we moved and continued chatting.

 

On Monday, we ran our yearly Hot Cross Bun & Gospel Tract outreach in Cashel Mall.  We had 3 tables set up and gave away 1,200 hot cross bun halves (minus about 50 eaten by the Christians in the team!) over the 2 hours of the outreach.  It was a lot of fun.  A bit slower than previous years, maybe because the weather was cloudy?  But that was okay, I had opportunities to get into conversations, and give away hot cross buns and tracts myself - which was great.

 

So, no details of my actual conversations for this report.  But needless to say I had many interesting conversations.  God knows the fruit it will bear.  Thank you for your prayer and support.  Glory to God in the highest alone!

 

---

Only 1 street outreach this week.  The others were replaced with online work due to weather (Friday) or other events (engagement party on Saturday, and baptisms on Sunday).  So, this is probably going to be shorter than usual!

 

Roger was with me in Riccarton on Tuesday.  Autumn is in the air, it is cold!  I wasn’t prepared for it, so we ended up wrapping up a little early.  Yet in the time we were there we had gospel opportunities.

 

The highlight for me was a chat with a couple of guys - high school age.  I was frustrated to hear one of them say that their English teacher has told them: “There is only 1 thing you can be certain of: that you can’t be certain of anything”.  Not only is that statement a contradiction (yes, I know they are trying to play on words), but it is completely untrue.  There are many things we are certain of (for example, that your house had a builder).  And it’s a subtle attack against God, who is certain.  I wish they would teach Logic at school, and they should maybe get this English teacher to teach it - he might learn something!

 

Anyway, I spent time with this young lad showing him how we can be certain, and proceeded to share the law and gospel.  It was a good chat.

 

So, this affords me some time to talk about the online outreach I did this week.  

 

First up: on Tuesday, I was paired up with Jack for the first chat on the live stream: a duo chat.  We were paired up with a young man from the USA.  He wasn’t very talkative, but he followed along.  And it was wonderful watching him smile as he came to grasp the gospel.  He made a profession of faith.

 

On Wednesday, 2 highlight chats were with 2 young ladies from Tauranga.  I think there was some Adventist influence, because the sabbath came up.  But I didn’t let that become a distraction from sharing the gospel.  They also made professions.  And then a chat with a young man from the UK - there was resistance from him, but he stuck around for 30 minutes as I walked him through all the check questions.

 

On Thursday I had a duo chat with Jone with a guy who said he liked the 10 commandments.  But, it was his own form of the 10 commandments, with a whole lot of exceptions built in so he could sin as he pleased.  We spent 30 minutes with him before his resistance went up a few notches and there wasn’t much point in continuing.

 

On Friday I had a great chat with a couple of guys somewhere in New Zealand.  Catholic school.  They were being silly initially, but they stayed around for 16 minutes for a complete chat.  Ended up being a good chat.

 

And then, because the rain was so heavy on Friday, I went over to Rogers place to get him set up for online outreach again.  I ended up having an amazing chat with a young man who lives in the same city as Roger and I!  He was in home detention (he showed us the bracelet on his ankle).  Sadly, he is only 13, and the reason for the home detention is because he was involved with a ram raid (driving a car into a shop to rob it).  I was able to share the gospel with him, and start moving through the check questions.  It was so good when he had a penny drop moment.  From that point on (as he saw how the gospel made sense) he was weighing up the cost - he knew his life would change, and he didn’t like that idea.  E.g., he didn’t want to go to church.  But he stuck around for me to be able to point him to the book of John in the Bible, and 2 good local churches close to him.  He is so bored being on home detention, I hope he will read it.

 

Speaking of Roger, I got a text from him earlier saying he had a great online chat with a drug dealer up north.  This is what I responded with: “That’s who we want to reach!  Go for the sinner and go for the worst!  May he start dealing: Jesus”.

 

On Saturday I had a fascinating online chat with a young man for 23 minutes.  He was working in London in a warehouse picking stock for orders.  His job must be so boring that he can do it and have chats online at the same time!  Anyway, he thinks about the afterlife “all the time”, and although there was some resistance as I took him through the law, he ended up understanding the gospel, and seemed impressed enough to start reading the bible for himself.  It was so fun chatting with him while he was automatically moved around the whole warehouse.  May God have mercy on him!

 

But not only do we have face to face chats with strangers online, we also have text chats via Instagram and TikTok DM.  This morning I had a great chat with an intellectual young Mormon (well, I assume he is young; and I’m pretty sure it’s a he).  He wanted to argue about baptism?  But that was a distraction, I focused on getting him through the law, and towards the gospel.  The more we chatted, the clearer it was how uncertain he was about things that are obvious (logical).  And he was resistant, he was fighting to take the conversation off on a tangent, but I wouldn’t let him.  I love him too much.  Even if he is resistant now, may his suppression be shaken for future gospel seed to take root.

 

I’ve also had the privilege of training 2 young men in online evangelism this week.  Both from the USA, and both so different in personality, and yet both passionate to share these truths with others.  It was wonderful seeing these young men getting their feet wet!  Glory to God!

 

So, yet another wonderful week of outreach.  The opportunity to engage people with the gospel is limitless.  Evangelism is as essential in our lives as prayer, reading the Bible and church.  I hope you are encouraged to get involved with the harvest!  All glory to God alone.

 

---

Just got back from an awesome outreach in the city, but the whole week of outreach has been awesome - all four usual street outreaches ran this week: Tuesday afternoon in Riccarton with Roger; Friday afternoon in the city with Andy, Roger, and Ben; Saturday lunch time in Riccarton, and just now: Sunday afternoon in the city, with Thomas.

 

Casting my mind back to Tuesday, the highlight chat was with a group of 5 high school kids - Christchurch Boys High.  They already had a gospel tract, I guess from Roger over the street.  I saw them coming back, but Roger was already in a chat, and so they came over to me.  I smelled a set up, but I love these situations.  We got into a conversation, and the ring leader was being silly (no surprise).  I rolled with his jesting, but also answered the subtle questions he was asking.

 

As the conversation continued, his 4 friends started engaging in the conversation, which was great to see.  Eventually the ring leader realised he had lost control of the conversation - his response was to become outrageously silly, but by this stage, his friends were ignoring him, and one was even telling him to be quiet!  They all got to engage with the law and the good news of Jesus, and they all walked away with their own copy of the same gospel tract.  God is good!

 

Friday in the city.  It was great to have Ben with us.  Ben heard the gospel from a street evangelist up North, and when he moved to Christchurch last year, he encountered Andy on the street.  Well, Ben is now regularly attending our church and is even part of my home group.  He is getting baptised next week, but not only that, he is willing to come and join us on the street to share the gospel!  God is good!

 

Ben was paired with Andy, and Roger was running his flip chart, and so I went for a wander down Cashel Mall.  I had quite a few good gospel chats, but none with any real engagement from their part, and so they ended up being shorter chats.  That’s fine!  The law is still the law, and the gospel is still the gospel, they are powerful even without engagement - just maybe ploughing and sowing for a harvest later in time, by someone else.  All glory to God alone.

 

Anyway, Ben and Andy had had a string of conversations with tourists who were resistant - also not bad, still ploughing and sowing.  But, Ben joined up with me for the rest of the outreach.  We headed off down Cashel Mall, and the chat we got into was also with someone resistant!  Oh well.  It was a great chat, because his worldview was post modern: “The only thing I know is that I don't know anything”.  As soon as I said it, I pointed out his contradiction with “Do you know that?”, but in his suppression, he wasn’t willing to see it.  We sparred apologetically for a while, but then he started talking about all the things he knew, so I checked in again, “Do you really know it?”  I was able to touch on the law, and the gospel, but he wasn’t open to it.  Finally, for a third time he started talking about what he knew.  So I checked in again, “So, you know it, do you?”.  It hit home, I could tell by the way he cut his eyes at me.  It was at that point that I shook his hand, and wished him a good day.  There is no point in trying to reason with someone being unreasonable.  I think Ben was surprised that the conversation ended - I think he was enjoying it!  Yes, these discussions can be fun and interesting, but I don’t want to spend 2 hours arguing with someone who is resistant (at this time), when I could have conversations with others that are open (at this time).  God is in control.  And there is a time to move on.

 

Saturday in Riccarton, I had a number of good conversations.  I was beginning to wonder if it would be a slow outreach, when the first fish came on the line.

 

I ended up chatting with an American couple.  It turns out he was a PK, and she had recently been reading the Bible: the whole NT, and halfway through the OT (I think she said).  So there was interest there.  Yet, neither understood the gospel.  The engagement was very brittle, and as I was working to strengthen the engagement, it was broken when a group of guys interrupted.  They really wanted to talk to me.  So as the American couple moved on, I had no choice but to engage them instead.

 

But that wasn’t bad.  It was a great chat.  It turns out I had talked to one of them at the Canterbury A&P Show outreach at the end of last year.  I realised that they were Orthodox, and went to the local Orthodox church.  They had come to continue the apologetical fight.  They claimed to go to heaven because of Jesus, and not works, but then denied that with their explanations and interpretations of scripture.  I didn’t allow them to rest in their false hope.  I also ended up spending some time exposing Mark 10 (the rich young ruler).  They left holding on to their rejection of Jesus, but it was a good conversation, I hope to see them again.

 

I had other good chats too, including a long one with a young lad for Geraldine, and a short one with two young ladies - who wanted to argue about homosexuality.

 

It was great to have Thomas with me on Sunday afternoon!  He is from France and speaks French fluently.  Last Sunday, and on Friday, I spoke to people from France, and the lady from last Sunday didn’t have good English - so it’s great to have someone who can speak French.  Jordan cracked a joke before we left: “But you’ll end up encountering a German”.  Well, no French speakers today, but our last chat was with someone from GERMANY! Haha.

 

But the whole outreach was great.  The very first person I offered a tract to accepted it, and I was able to get into a good gospel conversation, an encouragement for Thomas (and an answer to prayer that Thomas would be encouraged).  And it went well from there.  Our next chat was with a young streetie.  She was open, but I had to really labour for her to see the gospel.  She had a click moment when I used the ‘sin again’ check.  And then she said something profound - I wish I could have recorded it: basically she said something like: “If Jesus does that for us, even takes our future sin, then I wouldn’t want to sin any more” - exactly!

 

By this stage, Thomas was warmed up (had shaken off the rust) and ready to get into his own chats.  Which he did (pictured).

 

We had other good opportunities as well, we even encountered some World Mission Society Church of God cultists - I had warned him they were rampant as we were walking in.

 

Anyway, I’ll leave it there.  I’m over time for this report.  But God is good in giving us so much opportunity.  May the lamb that was slain receive the reward of his suffering!

PS, I forgot to mention, in the first photo, there are 2 gospel chats happening.  But there are 2 school kids coming into the frame from the right.  Well, a few moments after I took that shot, I got into a good gospel chat with them.  God is so good!

---

It’s good to be back on home turf.  2 street outreaches this week, both in the city.  On Friday afternoon I was with Roger and Andy.  On Sunday afternoon I was with Andy.

 

These outreaches reminded me of the wonderful opportunity for the gospel that we have.  We need to make hay while the sun shines, because we don’t know when God’s patience will run out.  But it’s also a joy!  We are saved by God’s grace – totally underserved.  And now he is willing to involve us in what he is doing.  The sacrifice of Jesus is the ultimate motivation - out of thankfulness of him, let’s get out and tell others about him.  The opportunity is limitless.

 

3 significant conversations come to mind from Friday’s outreach.

 

The first was with a young Filipino guy.  He had just arrived in NZ, and he was cold in his t-shirt and shorts - not used to our cooler climate.  His English wasn’t good, and so I had to slow right down when trying to share the gospel with him.  In fact, in the end, I had to give up.  He wasn’t engaging - maybe too overwhelmed by all the changes in his life.  He needs work, and so I invited him to my church on Sunday (he is staying not far) because I have Filipino friends there that he could make connections with, and who can share the gospel with him in Tagalog!  Sadly he didn’t come, but he has my contact details.  Pray that he would get established in Christchurch, be able to find work, and that I’ll be able to encounter him again - or if not, another Christian who can share the gospel with him.

 

The second was a chat that Roger had.  Roger brought me into the conversation, because the kid he was talking to had been recruited into the cult “World Mission Society Church of God”.  Once he’d heard the true gospel from Roger, he was keen to get out of the cult!  I pointed him to a good church close to him, and also gave him a gospel of John to read for himself, as well as my contact details.

 

The third chat was with a young man from China.  When he realised that I wanted to talk to him about religion, he was interested.  His English wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough for me to be able to communicate the gospel.  I got to learn about him too.  He is struggling with his course, and he is concerned he will have to go back to China if he fails, so he is studying hard.  Sadly, at this stage, he wasn’t able to see that his eternal soul is more important than his worldly troubles - as significant as they are!  Yet, he was willing to take a gospel of John, a tract, and my contact details.  I pray that his conscience was pricked enough for him to investigate further.

 

I give these details to show that we are reaching people, real people - people with struggles and trials, people who need to know the truth about God’s wrath and mercy.  This is real and significant and well worth our time to make the effort to make and take the opportunities we get to share the marvellous gospel.

 

Sunday’s outreach was great too.  It was wonderful watching Andy engage multiple groups of kids through the outreach.

 

My most significant chat was the very first one - it was short.  I sat down to get a drink and get some tracts out, when I realised the 2 guys I was sitting next to were a golden opportunity.  I was able to spark up a conversation with 1 of them.  He thought that ‘whatever you believe will happen after you die’ - so I was able to address that.  It turns out he had a Christian background, and so I asked what he thought he had to do to get to heaven.  Answer: be good.  And so, I went to the law - which had its impact.  And then I explained the gospel, in contrast to his false way to heaven of ‘being good’.  It hit home, and his response was to say, “I fully believe that”.  And yet, his earlier words totally contradicted that he did.  Rather than point this out directly, I went to a powerful check question: “before this conversation, what did you think you had to do to get to heaven?”  Answer: “be good”.  “And so”, I said, “if you had died before this chat, where would you have gone, heaven or hell?”.  He was fixated as he thought, and finally responded with “hell”.  And so I pleaded with him to change his mind.  Stop trusting his good deeds to get to heaven, and instead, trust that Jesus is the only reason you are getting there.  He thanked me.  He told me this conversation (only a few minutes long) was very significant.  His friend (from Sri Lanka) and he (Zimbabwe) were working on a ship, and were only in Christchurch for the day.  Opportunity taken!  God is so good!  May that seed produce fruit.  It’s not about our ability.  God can use our feeble efforts in spite of us.  Get out and share the gospel of Jesus!

 

I had other good chats.  But the one that sticks in my mind was the last one, with a young man who was convinced that the ‘building / builder” analogy was a logical fallacy.  I was able, by God’s grace, to show him that the opposite is actually a fallacy!  And then I was able to take him though the law, and the gospel, and a few check questions.  The truth is powerful!  Don’t be put off by intellectual sounding people and vain arguments.  Get out there and serve your king: Jesus.

 

---

Wow, what a week.  This report is not going to do it justice.  Neither are the photos - when I was in Dunedin, I didn’t even have the focus to take too many photos, I was just having so many wonderful gospel conversations.

 

But yes, we were in Dunedin for the week, and then in Kaikoura on Saturday.  So a busy week, with the additional burden of travel.  But, well, well worth it.  Glory to God!

 

So, I ran some evangelism training, down in Dunedin, last Sunday, and so this week we were putting it into practice outside the University (it was orientation week), down at the Octagon, and in between (the bus stops were a great fishing hole too)!  All this in conjunction with Cornerstone International Bible Church, which is strategically positioned between these two locations.

 

So, like I said, I’m not going to be able to articulate all the wonderful chats I had, let alone the wonderful opportunities my coworkers told me about.  But here is what comes to mind.

 

Down at the Octagon I remember talking to a French tourist, a Czech tourist (closed), German tourists, a tourist from Canada, and a couple that were Dutch.  I shared with a couple of Americans - one was Jewish.  He became intensely angry when we started discussing how we know what is right and wrong in relation to Hitler.  I was quick to defuse the situation by making it clear I agreed that Hitler was evil, and he quickly rained himself in (he had lost a cousin in the holocaust), but then he quickly told me not to try to convert him!  When I challenged him to convert me, it was fascinating watching him make up a religion, and he decided it was ‘love’.  Well, that damns me, because I fail to love as I should.  He could see my point.  He was flustered, because he wanted to insist I was good, but I just kept showing him how I was bad.  I was able to touch on the gospel with him, but it came to an end when he nearly missed his bus back to the cruise ship he was on.

 

I had a long chat with a Christian Minister who was clearly missing the gospel.  Each time I checked, he would subtly point to himself for salvation.  He liked to talk, so I had to listen a lot, but I challenged him, because I love him.

 

A young lady had a click moment, when she finally grasped the gospel, after that, she nailed the check questions.  Later, she reflected, “why did you stop me?”.  That’s how I feel too!  Why me?  I don’t deserve it.  God’s grace is so good.

 

During one outreach, I saw Roger deeply impacted after 2 separate conversations.  In the first conversation he looked stunned. The young lady had come to tears as he ministered to her.  In the second, after talking with 3 young students,  he literally clicked his heels in joy!

 

I had great conversations with 2 separate sets of JWs.

 

A highlight chat for Andy was one when a young Iranian lady came who had to go to a lecture, but then came back!  She was full of questions as she wrestled with the truths she was hearing.

 

Many invites to church were handed out.  Many copies of the gospel of John, and gospel tracts were delivered to people.  What a joy!

 

But we were also focused on training.  Young Daniel was with us for the week.  It was wonderful watching him grow as he put into practice what he was learning on Sunday.  At the end of each day, we would have a time of debrief - an opportunity to rejoice and learn from each other's experiences.

 

It was wonderful to also work alongside: John, Gary, Jeff, Phil and Shane.  We had our differences, but iron sharpens iron!  And it was wonderful being able to catch up with the elders of Cornerstone - we so appreciated the support!

 

We travelled home on Friday afternoon, after a couple of hours of outreach in the morning.

 

On Saturday, I headed to Kaikoura for the A&P Show there.  Team: Joe, Elijah, Nic, Cam, Andrei, & Scott and Sharon down from Blenhiem.  Great weather.  And a wonderful view.  There were slow periods, but there were busy periods too.  Lots of great conversations.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking, but the highlight chat for me was with a young lad, I’d say he was 10 years old.  He was sharper than most adults I talk to.  Like an adult, he initially resisted the idea that he was bad, trying to justify himself, yet he was humble enough to follow along and hear the gospel.  He ended up sitting down on the grass, as I sat on my stool and we engaged.  Eventually he looked up at the chart and wanted to know what the other pages were about.  And so I was able to take him through all the check questions.  He nailed most of them!  And the one he got wrong only led to his understanding deepening as we discussed.  He accepted the gospel of John to read.  I rejoice thinking of the chat.  May God have mercy and save him.

 

All glory to God for using weak vessels like us in his great plan.  Thank you for continuing to pray for this ministry.  Join us in sharing about Jesus with those about you!

 

---

A delayed report.  I was supposed to write this on Sunday afternoon (18th Feb), but I’m travelling at the moment.  We are currently down in Dunedin - having a wonderful time working with the church down here to reach people with the good news of Christ.  I’ll write about this in my next report.  But this report is going to cover the week 13th Feb till the 18th of Feb.

 

So, in that week, we had 2 street outreaches: Tuesday afternoon in Riccarton, and Friday afternoon in the city.

 

Roger was with me on Tuesday afternoon.  I know I “had a wonderful couple of hours on the streets having gospel conversations with a wide range of people.  What a joy!  I'm constantly amazed at the interesting opportunities God gives us.”  – because I copied that from a Facebook post I wrote the day after.  But I really can’t remember the details now - except I remember talking to a group of school kids.  They were being a bit silly, and yet they heard the gospel anyway.  They wanted to take a selfie with me after.

 

Roger, Andy and John were with me for Friday afternoon’s outreach.  I remember it was hot, and so I moved down Cashel Mall to get into the shade of the buildings.  The only conversation I really remember is the one I had with 2 girls down by Colombo Street.  One was Christian, the other was all over the place with her worldview.  I remember spending my time on various check questions for the Christian, and trying to get the other girl to articulate the gospel reliably.

 

Roger, John, and Andy all seemed to be having very interesting chats, I was able to snap some great shots of them - attached.

 

On Saturday morning, I did some online work, including training a young lad from Israel.  He had come to grasp the gospel last November, via the needGod.net content.  And he said it had taken away all his fear of death, in light of the conflict going on around him.  He wants to share this good news with others!  We did some role play, before getting him set up with the protection tools, and getting him to have his first online chat for himself.  It was fascinating watching who he was connected with, considering he comes from Israel - a whole different demographic from me in NZ.  He was able to have a 13 minute chat with 2 young Israleis.  They were very resistant to the idea of God being real, and the young lad wrestled with them on that for a bit, but I told him to ask, “so, are you a good person”.  It worked - he was able to get them through the law, and offer the good news, when they snapped away from their conscience and started suppressing what they know about God again.  Tough crowd.  But so encouraged by this young man willing to proclaim anyway.  God’s mercy is great.

 

In the afternoon, Roger, Andy and I drove down to Dunedin for a week of outreach with Cornerstone International Bible Church.  On Sunday afternoon, I conducted some evangelism training.  There were about 8 people involved.

 

Well, a bit of a messy report.  But hopefully, the pictures fill in the lack of details.  I really like the photo taken of Andy trying to push a Moeraki Boulder.  It reminds me of an evangelist trying to encourage the church in evangelism (maybe the broken bit of rock at the front represents the elders?  – that’s a joke, so please don’t take it seriously, I love the church, and I love the elders of the church!).  Yet, it really does feel like that sometimes: impossible.  Yet, Jesus said about salvation: what’s impossible for man, is possible for God.  I’m praying that would be true about evangelism too.  The harvest is ripe, and the labourers are few, pray to the God of the harvest for more labourers, and then endeavour to be part of the answer to that prayer! May God bless you in your feeble efforts, as he blesses our feeble efforts.  All glory to him alone!

 

---

It’s the end of another week of outreach!  I haven’t been sleeping so well this week, and so I'm feeling tired.  Because of this I ended up only making it to 1 of the 4 usual street outreaches this week and doing more online outreach instead.

Speaking of online outreach, check on the encouraging screen shot.  That was taken from an Instagram direct message.

And speaking of images.  I really like the one I’ve included from the single street outreach I was involved with: on Friday at the Bridge of remembrance.  Can you spot the gospel conversation?  And in the other picture, can you spot the orange cone?  Christchurch was famous for these, being everywhere during the big Earthquakes (well over a decade ago now, wow, time sure goes fast).

Anyway, let me report on Friday’s outreach.  Andy, John and I were out for 2 hours in the afternoon.

I decided I was going to be bolder than usual in who I approached.  Because, we can so easily fall into the trap of approaching the people who are more likely to have a chat, where in fact we have no idea who will be interested and willing.  I need the reminder to not fear man, but to fear and honour Jesus.  He deserves the reward of his suffering.

I initially paired up with Andy.  I had a couple of short chats to start.  The first was with a Christian gentleman, who didn’t do so well in the initial check question.  He was nice, but sadly didn’t have the time to stay and talk.  He left with a tract.  The next was with a young man who had just picked up 2 handfuls of hired suits for a wedding.  He obviously had places to be, and so I knew this chat would be very short.  And glory to God, that short time wasn’t wasted.  He was familiar with the truths of Jesus, but needed essential clarity.  A couple of well placed check questions were revealing and challenging to him.  I wanted to take the suits and chuck them, so we could sit down and have a good chat, but instead, we gave him 2 types of tracts, and told him to get in touch if he wanted to discuss further.  We left him in God’s hands.

My 3rd opportunity was difficult, the lady was resistant from the get go due to her entrenched worldview.  I gently tried to point out inconsistencies, but due to her closedness, this only irritated her.  Andy ended up taking over, and the chat ended soon after.

John was with us by this stage.  Andy got into a chat with a couple from Japan / France (speaking of France, we had at least 3 interactions with people who spoke French - if only we had more French speakers with us! ;) ).  Due to language issues, that chat was a bit slow, so I ended up peeling off to get into other chats.

I had a great chat with a young couple.  It was great, because of their openness, I was able to take them through the whole suite of check questions.

John and I then had a chat with another young couple.  This time they were closed, taking an atheistic standpoint.  He talked, she listened.  I sparred with him for a while, before John took over and took the conversation to the law and gospel.

To finish the day, I had a great chat with a young lady.  She had grown up in various cultures, having been adopted, and so wasn’t clear on what religion was right.  She came to hear the law and the gospel, and even accepted a gospel of John at the end.

Even though I didn’t go out on Sunday afternoon, Mike did, he said he had a really good convo during the hour he was out.  Glory to God!  Well done Mike, thank you for your service and labour.

Edit: Here is what Mike said: About 20 minutes in a lady came over to talk about Gus [Mike's dog].. she owned a schnauzer, and turns out she was a believer and had been praying for God to show her someone to minister too. Shortly after that, a guy named John came up to the chart and wanted to talk. He had many doubts and didn't understand the gospel at all. He had been to some large churches and heard many conflicting things, but not a proper gospel. So this lady (Rachel) and myself went through the flip chart checking questions with him for 45 minutes and had a deep conversation, talking about justification and sanctification and the role of the Holy Spirit. It was a very timely conversation for him. Please pray for him as he starts to explore the gospels for himself!

And thank you for your prayer and support; thanks for reading to this point, and putting up with the fact that I never proofread what I write!  Haha.  Go serve your king!
 

---

Glory to God for another week of his patience, in holding back his wrath and justice so we could plead with people about his mercy.  Here is the weekly recap of the gospel street outreaches for the Christchurch team.  We were in the City on Friday (Roger, Andy and I) and Sunday (myself), and in Riccarton on Tuesday (Roger and I).

My most prominent memory from Tuesday’s outreach was a chat with a couple of guys who went to a Fijian Methodist Church.  Sadly, they didn’t understand the gospel, instead pointing to ‘reading the Bible’, ‘going to church’, and ‘prayer’ as the reasons they would go to heaven.  It was a pleasure to be able to labour with them about the gospel.  I had to labour, because it was confusing for them to realise it’s not their works that save them, but the gift of Jesus.

On Friday, I had 3 main conversations, all three with people originally from different parts of the world, and not Christchurch.  One was from the Philippines, another for Slovakia, and the last from England.

The guy from the Phillipines didn’t want a tract, but he was willing to engage in conversation, as long as I walked with him (no problem).  It was a short chat, because we went our separate ways at the lights, but it was enough time for me to touch on the law and the gospel.  He thanked me for what I was doing, and how I was doing it.  He still didn’t want a tract.

The guy from Slovakia had been in NZ for 11 months, his English was okay, but he wasn’t used to using the words you normally use in a deep and meaningful chat.  He ended up pulling out his phone to translate words, and I ended up doing the same.  But it became too difficult, he was entrenched in an eastern worldview, and wasn’t willing to be reasoned with.  Yet, we parted on good terms, and he did take a tract.

The chat with the guy from England was fantastic.  He eventually moved to the issue of evil and suffering.  I warned him the answer is easy, but it can take time to process.  As I was explaining, I was able to reference something from my recent personal / family devotional bible reading: 

     “What profit is there in my death, 
      if I go down to the pit? 
                  Will the dust praise you? 
      Will it tell of your faithfulness? 

Psalm 30:9

So, part of the reason there is evil and suffering, is because it’s part of God’s plan to demonstrate his justice and his mercy, for his glory.  Will dust praise him?  No.  But we can praise God.  We will praise him for his justice and his mercy upon us.  (Will the dust praise a person who just won the 100 metre dash in the Olympics?  No, but people will.)

He seemed to be profoundly struck by this, and other tensions in the gospel.  A simple message, and yet will give us a lifetime to ponder and praise God over.  He was willing to accept a copy of the gospel of John.

On Saturday there was a lot of rain, so I decided to continue working online instead.

On Sunday, I set up my flip chart, I pretty much instantly had a conversation started.  The girl was partially engaged, and so I worked to change that.  What made it hard was her friend standing at a distance and staring.  Eventually she said, “sorry, I zoned out, I’m not interested”.  She gave back the tract and moved on with her friend.

My next conversation was with a couple on a cruise from Sydney.  It was a good one, I was able to share the gospel, but eventually their stomachs became more important.  They left with a tract.  While this chat was occurring, I had two girls come and stand in a queue behind them.  They eventually sat down to wait.  But my chat was going too long for them.  They moved on before I could get to them.

My last chat was a bit of a set up.  But I don’t think they got what they were expecting.  He had to admit that what I was saying made sense.  But by the end of the chat, he said, “you haven’t convinced me”.  It would be great if he got in touch, I’d love to keep reasoning with him.

Thank you so much for your continued prayer for our feeble gospel efforts.  Be encouraged to step out and share about Christ with someone this week!
 

---

Another fantastic week of street outreach in Christchurch, New Zealand.  Glory to God.

There was rain on Tuesday, and so Roger and I decided not to head out.  I spent my time in online outreach instead.

But the weekend outreaches went ahead.  Friday and Sunday afternoons in the city - the Buskers Festival is on, and on Sunday people from a cruise ship were out and about as well.  So, lots of people, and gospel opportunities.  On Saturday lunch time, I was in Riccarton.  This week involved long chats for me, with: Cameron, Colin (Friday), Nathan (Saturday) & Alex (Sunday).

On Friday, it was great to have Andy back from summer leave.  Roger was with us.  I helped Roger set up the flip chart, but before we could even pray together, I noticed someone looking at the chart inquisitively.  I took the initiative and my first long street chat of the week was away.  It went on for over an hour.

Early in the chat he informed me he had had a psychotic episode that had caused him to jump off a cliff!  He is recovering from the resulting back injury.  Later in the chat he revealed that he was involved with alcohol and drugs - including psychedelics.  And so, that answered that question.  The Bible is clear that we should stay sober minded.  And Psychedelics are so deceiving: this guy was talking about the good it had brought into his life, specifically helping him realise how bad alcohol is.  Yet, not surprisingly, he still drinks to excess today.

Also unsurprising is his drift to new age religion.  He had started reading the Bhagavad Gita.

Anyway, through the chat I was able to labour with him in regard to the law and the gospel.   Yet, he wasn’t open to the gospel, because he wasn't appreciating the import of the law, and the serious nature of sin.  He did express an interest in reading the Bible, and he even accepted a gospel of John.  Praying this young man would come under conviction and be converted.  Yet, I leave him in God’s hands - God will be glorified through his justice if he rejects God’s mercy.

It had been a tiring conversation, so I spent some time handing out tracts.  In spite of all the people due to the Busking Festival, there wasn’t much interest.  I ended up over in Cathedral Square, where I tried to engage a young lad in conversation.  He wasn’t coherent, so I left him with a tract.

Back in Cashel Mall, I was still handing out tracts when an older gentleman stopped to engage.  It was a wonderful opportunity.  He had been wrestling with the issue of evolution vs creation - his resolution?  There must be God.  He was familiar with Christian teaching, but sadly he considered himself a very good person.  He was resistant to the law, and yet he was open for me to labour with him about it.  He also heard the gospel.

He said something very interesting that I will use in illustrations in the future.  He has had both prostate and bowel cancer, and has recovered from both.  Now, when he uses the bathroom in the morning, he praises God.  So, even horrible things like cancer can be good, in this case teaching us gratitude, and appreciation for the things we have - even the ability to go to the toilet!

This gentleman was also lonely, having recently lost his wife, and moving to Christchurch.  He needs salvation, and he needs the church!  He had an old and expensive KJV Bible, which he had never fully read.  So, I gave him a Gideon’s ESV Bible, and a church contact card with my number on it.  I also pray that he will come under conviction and be converted.  God have mercy!  Yet, I leave him in God’s hands.

On Saturday, the outreach started out quite slow (as did Sunday), but I ended up having a long chat with a young man who had had a rough life.  His sister had recently died, in prison.  As I shared the law and the gospel with him, he would stare into nothing, pondering deeply.  When I asked what he was thinking, he would explain things that had happened in his past.  One example was a bad car accident.  It led him to the question of: “why am I alive?”  He left with a tract, and I’m also praying for him.

After a slow start on Sunday, I ended up having a long chat with a young man.  He had also had trauma in his life, having been rejected by his Father.  He had philosophical tendencies (I.e., he was avoiding the truth).  I touched a nerve when I described the serious nature of sin when talking about pornography, but he quickly masked it.

During this chat, I had a young man break into the conversation.  I didn’t remember him, but he remembered me.  Apparently I first talked to him 2 years ago at the Canterbury A&P Show, and he had talked to me on the streets multiple times since then.  It was fascinating to see that the law and the gospel had had an effect on him.  Yet, he was still in suppression.  He explained how he was trying to hold the ball of truth under the water, I simply pointed out the flaw in his reasoning, and the ball burst up and hit him on the nose!  His Mum was with him, and calling him from down the street, but he wanted to engage.  As a compromise, I told him to go with his Mum, but to get in touch with me via socials!  I hope he does.

I finished the chat with the original young man, but all the interaction had gathered other people.  A pity I didn’t have more believers with me.  I was able to follow up with four people from Sydney who were on the cruise.  I was able to touch on the law and the gospel.  Three of the four of them took tracts as they moved on.

And then the original young man came back!  He had another question, which I answered, before I checked if he was understanding the gospel.  He got my question right!  God have mercy!

Please continue to pray for us, and even join us!  All glory to God alone.
 

---

« Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 ... 46 | 47 | Next »

---