Battle Log
Wednesday, 16 January, 2019
Posted 16 January 2019, 6:12 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink
Day 8 of 10 of the summer mission to Christchurch (NZ)
Today was a day of gospel conversations in the most unlikely of places and ways.
We loaded up the chilly bin with cold drinks to give away, with the intention of eventually making it to the beach for evangelism there. But we never ended up making it.
We decided to start in the central city, as we had to follow up with authorities in regard to the flip chart drama from the previous day.
Using cold drinks or tracts as conversation starters, or the flip chart - we had limited success in sharing the gospel message with people. Although some good conversations were had.
After lunch, we decided to head for the beach. But on the way to our cars, as we were walking down Cashel Street (the part outside the central city, and so with low foot traffic) we noticed a skateboarder who looked hot and in need of a cold drink! It was gratefully accepted, and turned into a wonderful gospel conversation (see picture).
While this conversation was going, another team member had other opportunities to hand out tracts & give away drinks as conversation starters. One of those conversations was with 2 construction workers on a break. This conversation was special for 2 reasons: 1) Every morning of this mission, as we have headed to the streets, we have passed a big group of construction workers on their morning break, some of whom received tracts. 2) 1 of the 2 construction workers approached today had received tracts on a previous day! This was a wonderful opportunity to follow up, and he started by saying "Religion doesn't make any sense". In as much time that was allowed, and starting with this statement, objections were answered, and the law and gospel was shared - with a call to repentance and faith. I'm hoping this will lead to some thinking on their part, and lead to more follow up questions in future mornings, God willing.
Once the conversation with the skateboarder had finished, we continued heading towards our parked cars, when a guy we had talked to the previous day saw us again, and was keen for a follow up conversation. This man had had some kind of powerful spiritual encounter a year or so ago, but was now believing in something that included Christianity, but wasn't Christianity. Specifically, he thought the Bible was interesting, and Jesus was important. But that God spoke to him directly. He was convinced that people are generally good, but yet he loved the hymn amazing grace (that saved a wretch like me). We continued to challenge this man about the sinfulness of man, and the gift of Jesus.
So, after all these conversations in the least expected of places, we had run out of time to head to the beach. But the day wasn't over.
One of the team decided to head back to Cashel Mall to do some more gospel sharing before the end of the day, and at the Colombo Street intersection an "Eternity" gospel tract was handed to a young man while waiting for the lights to go green to cross the road. A conversation got going, and neither of us ended up making the crossing. The young man was new to Christchurch and was lost. He needed to get to Riccarton Mall, and asked if he could walk there. It was too far, and since that mall was on the way home, a ride was offered and accepted. All the way to the car (back down Cashel Street), and on the drive over to Riccarton Mall, a wonderful gospel conversation occurred. This young man had gotten involved with Christianity through a youth group in his home town. But he had no understanding of the gospel, and was calling himself agnostic now, in spite of once being a passionate "Christian". He seemed to really appreciate the new gospel information I was giving him, and he gladly accepted a Bible, gospel booklet, DVD, and tract with contact details. The last photo on this report is of him just after being dropped off. Oh, may he understand, repent, and believe the gospel - to the glory of God alone!
