Battle Log

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

Posted 22 January 2020, 7:29 AM by Glen Richards. Permalink

The first two days of the second week of the NZ Summer Mission, in Dunedin, are now complete.

It has been testing coming out of our usual environment (Christchurch) - but it has been so worth it in so many ways.

It has been testing because we have had to adjust to so many things: meeting the elders of the local church we are serving and getting to know each other, being hosted in strangers homes for the week, finding the outreach locations, parking, the list goes on.

But so worth it because we are getting to know wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ in Dunedin: Elders, hosts, and others - the support has been amazing! And the people we have encountered on the streets to share the gospel with have been so open (compared to what I’m used to in Christchurch). Nerves about being in a new place for outreach have been quickly forgotten, as we have started conversations and shared the wonderful gospel of Jesus with many people in this city.

So a big thank you to the Christians and Churches that have welcomed us, are hosting us (strangers no more!), praying for us, and supporting us. Thank you!

As well as the many open hearted people we have been able to share the gospel with so far, there have also been many cults and false teachers out and about. We have had interactions with:

* Jehovah's Witnesses

* people who believe Baptism is required for salvation
a family teaching that we need to become perfect (in our own effort) to be saved (the father wore a big sandwich board and they had some kind of pre recorded preaching running through an amplifier). Matt engaged him with scripture and wonderfully he ended up leaving. We haven’t seen them since. But in the meantime, I had an opportunity to engage with his son and show him that it is impossible for us to be perfect in our own effort, but the only way to become perfect was through the imputed righteousness of Jesus that is received by faith alone. He was open until he was told by his mum that I was sharing a “false gospel”, he quickly shifted into a pre programmed mode and started quoting scripture at me. Sad.

* I had a guy who seemed to know scripture well and was saying the right things, but he was desperately looking for something to be divisive with me over. Once he knew I was a Calvinist, I was considered a heretic to be attacked. Sadly, this man is not connected with any church - a lone ranger.

And yet, we love all these people, we want them to understand the good news of the gospel, and we have done our best to respectfully do that.

On the Monday, Andy and Tom open air preached in the Octagon. There was an openness to it. People didn’t scatter, many were listening. People even asked questions of the preacher. To my amazement, two Christians (from overseas) who listened to the preaching were so encouraged that they are going to join the team for outreach on Wednesday!

Also on Monday, Nikos and Bronya ended up having a long gospel conversation with a young man. And I was able to follow up by taking him through the flip chart. He really appreciated the visual aids - he said it helped him to understand the gospel. And yet, counting the cost, he wasn’t ready to believe in Christ as Lord.

The next morning, he came back to the Octagon with his friend and found us. He wanted his friend to hear the gospel too! And so Matt and Emma were able to do that. Praise God. May they both come to know God’s grace!

Tuesday saw the first evening outreach outside the museum. As the evening progressed, there were less people around to engage with. But still there were enough to keep the whole team busy in gospel conversations for the whole time. We thanked God for answering our prayer in that regard.

So I’m amazed at how God has gone before us in so many ways for this trip to Dunedin. May people be saved, the church grow, and the community be changed for God’s glory as a result. Thank you keeping us in prayer!