Battle Log

Wednesday, 30 December, 2020

Posted 30 December 2020, 10:43 AM by Glen Richards. Permalink

On Tuesday I was back out on the streets!  It was good to be back.  :)  I was in Riccarton for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

But before that I was online.  I was reminded afresh at the amazing tools we have at our access for reaching people with the message of Jesus.  Those tools: the Internet, the proliferation of English as a common language, Google Translate for those times when you encounter people that don’t know English (in the past I have successfully communicated the gospel with someone who doesn’t know English - purely with Google Translate).  The Internet is used for many bad purposes - but we are able to bring hope to many in dark places with this tool!

It was only a few decades ago, where reaching people in another people group would take years of preparation: learning a new language, learning a new culture, and getting established (often years of labour).  Now I can sit in my study, and at the click of a button, I’m talking to Ghilas (pictured), from Algeria.  He knows French and English well.  He described his people group as Amazigh - which if my Wikipedia search is right, means he is a Berber.  He was bored and looking for people to talk to.  In the providence of God, he found me.  We had a good long chat, for about forty minutes.

He grew up in a Muslim environment, but he had rejected Islam.  He came to understand the gospel but he clearly rejected it also.  His reason: he didn’t want to be a slave.  I challenged his thinking on this.  But ultimately I leave him in the hands of God.  May he not forget the conversation, may the law awaken his conscience - every time he sins now, may he remember our chat!  And may he remember the forgiveness, grace, and hope found in Jesus.  His name means “Son of Lion” (so he told me) - may God change his heart, and may his name prove true - may he become an adopted son of God.

I was then beamed into a chat with a kid from the USA - a much shorter chat, but I could tell from his response that he was impacted and intrigued in the new understanding he had gained.  Sadly, he had to go to work, but his friend was with him and so he passed the headset to him and encouraged him to chat with me.  The second guy wasn’t so open, and bailed on the chat - but now before he came to hear of the serious nature of sin.  Lord, use our feeble efforts to show your strength!  Convict and save, Lord.  May they have further opportunities to engage with your gospel.

I then had a twenty minute chat with a kid wearing a balaclava (like a robber).  He too came to grasp the gospel, but also clearly rejected it.  He was brutally honest in his reasons: 1) “I don’t enjoy thanking a higher power for what I have” (I couldn’t believe he so honestly said that).  And secondly, he thought as long as he was good enough he would be okay (at this point he was clearly not understanding the serious nature of sin, and the reality of the only hope of forgiveness being Jesus).  So I went back over the law, in different ways.  The robber started to feel conviction - he even said “ouch” at one point.  But by the end of the conversation, he was clearly articulating the gospel back to me.  Only God can change his heart.  Lord I leave him in your hands!

The outreach in Riccarton was wonderful.  My conversations were made up predominantly with white males.

The first was with a guy who often thinks about what happens after life - he’s talked about it with friends, and he has even tried reading the Bible.  He assumed that his goodness would get him to heaven, and so it was my pleasure to tell him the bad news and the good news.

On Wednesday I was again online and I had some great conversations.  Separate chats with Hindu guys from India, and a Google Translate chat with a girl from Brazil.

The last chat, with one of the Indian guys, went for nearly an hour.  It was wonderful in how I could see how challenged he was.  It was sad in the fact that he just couldn’t grasp the gospel.  He just couldn’t grasp that heaven would be a gift.  I just kept doing my best to explain in different ways, answer his questions, and continue to labour with him on the law and the gospel.  In the end he started to double down and would reiterate arguments for why what I was saying can’t be true.  I would gently reiterate my arguments that he had forgotten.  In the end he disconnected.  Oh Lord, may he try to ‘be good’ from now, and see how impossible it is, may he have other opportunities to engage with your gospel.  Save him Lord!