Battle Log

Sunday, 21 July, 2019

Posted 21 July 2019, 7:32 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

Friday night and Saturday saw the Christchurch (NZ) team at the Stand for the Gospel conference where the main speaker was Joel Beeke.  Because of this (and the heavy constant rain all day!) there were no outreaches on Saturday.  But it was wonderful to be challenged and encouraged from the word of God and to enjoy a time of fellowship.

I was surprised to learn that people actually read these battle logs that I write!  So I was very encouraged by that.  Thank you! :)

Sunday afternoon saw a team of four (including a newbie!) head out for the usual outreach to Cashel Mall.  There was rain in the morning, but there was respite by the time we headed out, allowing us to minister the Gospel without the need to find shelter!  The sun even decided to come out for a short period.  :)

I started the outreach talking to a young Chinese man who was finishing a holiday and flying home in the evening.  Sadly, just as the conversation was warming up, the rest of his family came out of a shop and he had to move on.  But he took a Gospel tract to (hopefully) read on his flight!

I then approached an older man with a Gospel tract and was surprised when he responded with hostility.  He was a Catholic who wasn’t happy with us rebel Protestants!  I tried to calm him so I could start to reason with him, but he wasn’t open to it.  He initially wouldn’t shake hands with me, but in the end he did (but he said it doesn’t mean anything!).  He kept the tract I had initially given him.

Meanwhile, Tim and Sophie were busy handing out tracts, and ended up having conversation after conversation (see all the pictures in this report, with others on the cutting room floor!).  Praise God for that.

I ended up having a follow up conversation with the two young men.  It turns out one of them was doing an essay for school trying to make sense of the Israel Folau controversy.  It was a wonderful opportunity to talk about how we know things to be true which challenged his postmodern worldview.  The young man ended up taking a copy of God and Sexuailty by Ray Comfort to read.

This is the last outreach for Sophie for a season, she is about to embark on an exciting adventure to Israel.  We will miss you Sophie, and we’ll be praying for you!  Have a safe, and blessed trip!  :)

After the outreach had ended, and as I was loading my flip chart into my car, I encountered a man whom I’ve spoken to a number of times before, but is resistant to the Gospel.  He was drunk, but I still took the time to reason with him about the seriousness of sin, and the grace of Jesus.  This Gospel is the power of God for salvation!