Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Christchurch (NZ) Team
• Page 27

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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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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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On Tuesday I spent a couple of hours online before heading to Riccarton for a couple of hours.

I was a touch late to Riccarton - Roger was already deep in conversation when I got there (pictured).  He had a good early run of conversations.

It started a bit slowly for me, I had two good follow up conversations, and then I got into an interesting chat with a young lady who was mildly intrigued at what I was doing.  She saw my flip chart which said “the good person test” and instantly assumed I was in a religion that taught good deeds to “make it”.  She said she could be good without religion, and the conversation went from there.  She accepted a tract, but handed it back - she was resistant but, strangely, she opened up and hinted at serious trials she was facing in her life at the moment.  She didn’t stay long, but she did accept the tract back again.  I was encouraged.

We had a bit of a lull in the middle of the outreach, and I was beginning to think on new locations for outreach when it finished with a bang.  The outreach went nearly 30 minutes over!

In a recent Riccarton outreach report I talked about some Christchurch Boys High students who I took through the flip chart.  I was discouraged because of their resistance.  I specifically remember the one who understood it the quickest being the most resistant!

Well, three of them were back - including the most resistant one - and they had four friends with them!  We had a long conversation, where I took them all through the flip chart and then spent time working through an excellent series of questions they had.  The most encouraging thing was seeing Mr. Resistant thinking deeply.

Roger ended up coming over to join the conversation.  He had frozen yoghurt for me that the Muslims in the shop had given us.  I gave it to the boys, who seemed to appreciate it.

Just then, one of my regulars went past - a satanist.  I left the boys with Roger and fell into an easy conversation with my satanist friend (yeah, those words were as weird to write as they are to read!)

Then the strangest thing happened, the CBHS boys had finished talking to Roger and had moved past me.  One of them came up to me and gave me a hug!  My satanist friend was as surprised as I was!  I chucked a checking question at the kid… and he got it right.  I challenged him, “when should you start doing that”?  He said, “I already am”, and he ran off to catch up with his friends.  I pray that that is so.

But it only gets stranger.  I wrapped up my chat with my satanist friend, and I shook his hand and said, “I’ll be praying for you, I want the best for you.”  As we were parting ways he said, “oh, why not… I’ll give you a hug too”.  And so we did.  If only hugs could convert - this guy would be saved.  But it’s only God who saves, through the gospel.  Oh God, save his soul for your glory!

What a fantastic outreach!

On Wednesday I decided to spend the whole afternoon in online outreach.  One of the conversations that stands out was one with a couple of teens.  One said they were a Christian, so I asked them what they had to do to go to heaven.  They both said, “be good”.  I shared the law and the gospel with them, and moved straight into my first checking question, the response from the Christian was still, “be good”.  So I re-explained and checked again, and to my shock it was still “be good”.  I was lost for words.  She looked at me like I was queer and then disconnected.  She seemed completely blind.  I encounter it so often, I shouldn’t be surprised.  But it’s so frustrating.  Luckily my last conversation of the day was with a “Christian” who did come to grasp the true gospel.

Thank you Lord for the many gospel opportunities of these two days.  And thank you for your support of the Christchurch (NZ) team.  We so appreciated it!  To God, alone, be the glory.
 

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It’s election time in NZ, and on Saturday I had one of the candidates for my electorate knock on my door.  I had a wonderful opportunity to share my thoughts on some important social issues that affect our society, like abortion - which needs to end.  The candidate and the person with them both received a “How we know God exists and why it matters” tract, and a “Life is precious” tract.  Do you have tracts at your door ready to give to whoever comes knocking?  Order some today: NZ, AU, UK.

I also spent four hours in online evangelism.  I was able to join the Aussie team’s online outreach.

Some of the conversations I remember include:

A chat with a young man who instantly started calling me grandpa!  But he sobered up quickly when he realised why I was on Omegle.  He was quiet and didn’t ask many questions, and yet he seemed to grasp the gospel very quickly.  He was very appreciative at the end.

I also had a good chat with a Muslim guy who seemed to be challenged.  Although resistant, there were moments where he was quiet as he contemplated the gospel.  I pleaded with this guy to respond to it.

Sunday was outreach Sunday for Redemption Church.  I had two families join me.  And we also had an old street evangelism friend from years back join us again.  Great to have you with us Daryl!

It was a difficult outreach.  In last Sunday’s report, I mentioned a guy who got arrested (and I didn’t know why).  Well, today he was out again, and I understood why he may have been arrested.  He was obnoxious, and threatening.

Sadly, he disrupted one of my flip chart conversations.  Because of this I lost an opportunity to share the gospel, and also an opportunity to demonstrate how the flip chart works to some team members.

The guy finally went away, but it wasn’t long till he was back.  For this reason, we decided to pack up and move locations.  God in his providence used it for good, as we had some wonderful gospel opportunities in Cathedral Square.

Andy was going to open air, but ended up having a great one to one (well, one to two actually) instead.  Pictured is that conversation - it shows Andy using the “Says Who?” tract.  It has a great “cross” illustration that you can see him using.

I ended up falling into a very long and intellectual conversation with a fellow software engineer.  I kept coming back to how we know that God exists, and it started to frustrate him.  Yet the logic is sound and I refused to budge.  He did get to hear the law and the gospel and he left with a “Says Who?” tract.

While I was in that conversation, some of the less experienced team members had some great opportunities to use the flip chart and share the gospel!  Well done team.  :)
 

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This week I was at the OAC Conference at a camp just north of Wellington.  It was wonderful to be able to spend time in fellowship with fellow evangelists from across New Zealand.  It was encouraging to know I’m not alone in what I do.

On Thursday, we split into teams and drove down to Wellington for outreach.  Our team was based at the waterfront.  We divided into pairs and after some lunch made the most of our time to reach people with the gospel.  I was with Maria, and we focused on starting walk up conversations.  Maria and I agreed we would take turns so that we could learn from each other.  Central Wellington seems to have a lot more people than central Christchurch, so I felt like a kid in a candy shop trying to decide who to approach!

I started with a conversation with a guy on his lunch break, as usual, I was upfront with why I was interrupting his day - but it didn’t put him off, he was happy to talk about what happens after life - although he did mention that he had to head back in five minutes.  He heard the law and the gospel, but he wasn’t convinced that heaven or hell were real. I went back to explain how we all know there is a God and that there must be justice quite a few times.  By this stage we had been talking a lot longer than five minutes, so I wrapped up the conversation saying I didn’t want him to be guilty of stealing time from his employer! ;)  He left with a follow up tract.

Later I approached a guy and struck up a conversation in my usual, direct, way.  He had his bike with him, and was working on a laptop.  It turns out the guy works in behavioural change which led to an interesting conversation where I explained the gospel was the only thing that could make a behaviour change in someone. He agreed that postmodernism didn’t make sense, but there were things (like God) we just couldn’t know.  I agreed that there were many things we didn’t know, but that God wasn’t one of them, and I was able to explain why.  He heard the law and the gospel.  He seemed curious at what I was saying, if not challenged.  He also accepted a follow up tract.

Maria then had a long chat with a young man who had been through some difficult times in his recent past.  It looked like he was trying to discover himself.  He asked deep questions and heard the gospel.

To finish the outreach, we approached two young girls.  Maria took the lead on this conversation and used a little mini flip chart (different to the one I use) to take them through the law and the gospel.  Both these girls had had Catholic backgrounds, but both had heard the gospel before and were wrestling with it (in different ways).  We were able to work through an objection one of the girls had that was holding her back from placing her faith in Christ for the forgiveness of her sins.  They really seemed to appreciate the timely conversation and we left them with multiple gospel tracts.

It’s always wonderful to outreach in new locations - I love it.  And it was great to work alongside evangelists I don’t normally work with it.  It was a great time of idea exchanging.

But it’s great to be home, and looking forward to getting back to my usual outreach routine.  Thanks for your prayer support of the Operation 513 outreach team in Christchurch (NZ).
 

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