Battle Log

Quite an interesting week of outreach this week!  It ended with me needing to call the police.  And thankfully that wasn’t for my safety.  I’ll work backwards in this report till I get to the start of the week.

So, starting on Sunday afternoon (today) I was on the streets for a couple of hours, Susan joined me for the 2nd hour.  I was feeling tired, and so I decided I would just focus on handing out tracts.  But, lo and behold, I ended up having many interesting conversations.

The last one was with a young philosophy / economics graduate from the University of Canterbury.  Susan had handed him a “How we know God exists and why it matters” tract and I engaged him with my usual question: “what do you think happens after life?”.  Being a philosophy student, I wasn’t surprised by his resistance to the cosmological argument.  But we fell into a really good and friendly conversation that went quite long.  I was able to share the law and the gospel with him - but I could see it had little effect.  He liked to ponder other abstract ideas.  Interestingly, he noticed that everyone in his philosophy courses (mainly non religious people) would agree with him about things.  And so, he sought out Christian ministries on campus to get a different perspective!  He was even at Cornerstone Church today (near the campus).  Sadly, he still currently denies the reality of God, or at least says it can’t be proven.  But there is hope when someone is hearing the gospel.  I gave him my email address, and I hope he gets in touch to continue the conversation.

It was during this conversation that I became aware of a guy throwing something large at the glass doors of the BNZ bank!  I called the Police and stayed around until he was arrested.  So sad.  Earlier in the outreach, he went past me and even accepted a tract.  I hope he reads it while in custody.

There were at least 4 other interesting interactions from the outreach:

As I was walking into the city, I passed 3 young guys - I instinctively wanted to start a conversation with them, but I was torn - I needed to be at the outreach spot on time, in case someone else was going to join me.  I decided to be at the outreach spot on time, but I prayed that I would have an opportunity to talk to them later.  Well, lo and behold, during the outreach they indeed came past!  I didn’t hesitate, and I approached them for a conversation.  I was able to share the law and the gospel.  It was a great chat!

Earlier I talked to 2 guys, who were involved with “black magic” (his words).  They heard the gospel, and they seemed to understand it, but they were rejecting it for now, sadly.  They left with tracts.

Two young ladies stopped to take tracts, and even stayed to talk - but I could tell they wouldn’t stay for long - with that in mind I shared the law and the gospel with them.

Finally, one of my regulars, Rob, went past.  He can be a bit of a time waster, so I decided to be direct and lay the law thick.  Not surprisingly he wasn’t interested in the gospel.  I regularly pray for him, may God convict him and open him to the gospel!

Saturday’s outreach to Riccarton was busy and interesting too.  The first thing I noticed was that the JWs had set up not far from where I usually set up (pictured)!  They are becoming more active again, post Covid.

I was able to catch up with the owner of the SoYo (frozen yoghurt shop) - who I also saw on Friday in the city!

But as to gospel chats, I talked to couples: 2 guys, then 2 girls, and then a girl and a guy.

The 2 guys had Christian backgrounds (1 Anglican, the other Presbyterian) - but they were trusting their works.  It was a great, full, chat with the flip chart.  They really seemed to grasp and appreciate the good news, which was very encouraging.

The 2 girls had been watching me for a while on the other side of the street, before deciding to come over and engage, obviously curious about the flip chart I was using.  It was a good chat, 1 believed in God the other didn’t.  A standard law and gospel chat.  Interestingly, during this conversation, a lady interrupted and asked the girls if they were comfortable having the conversation.  They looked at her in surprise, and said, “yes”.  The lady said, “oh, okay, all good”, and walked off.  Because, talking to an old, religious, man on the street would make you uncomfortable - right?

The guy and the girl chat seemed to be a set up of some kind, they were mildly mocking at the start, but then they started asking all the hard questions at the end, when they realised what I was saying made sense.  Oh well, they heard the law and the gospel!

Also, I had a young lady approach me.  She said I had talked to her last year and I had given her a Bible.  I don’t remember it.  She said she had to “spread the gospel” to get to heaven, so I had to correct her on that!  I gave her a card for my church (she lives in the area).

And earlier I had a guy approach me to try to give me an opened energy drink (very odd)!  I tried to engage him, but he said, “I’ve already talked to you at the Ellesmere A&P Show”.

These engagements are actually encouraging.  It’s good to know that people remember being approached to specifically hear the gospel!

Friday’s outreach was good, Andy and Roger were with me.

I re-encountered the trans person I talked to a few weeks earlier.  This time he didn’t have the bright red lipstick or dress on.  He greeted me warmly, but said he didn’t have time to stop and talk.  I hope to see him again!

I spent time talking to the SoYo owner (and gave him a gospel of John), I didn’t know he had a money exchange place in the central city as well!

I also talked to a guy who knew a lot about the Bible, but was a philosophy type - interested in information and ideas, just not interested in the one who gave us the ability to think!

And finally, I want to mention the Easter Monday outreach.  A cruise ship was in, I heard someone say over 4000 people were in Cashel Mall!  800 tracts were distributed + all the hot cross buns.  (And 600 tracts were distributed on Easter Saturday.)   I’m out of time to talk about it, so I’ll let the pictures do the talking!

Jesus is risen indeed! Death and hell are defeated. Let's preach it to ourselves, all day and every day, and proclaim it far and wide!
 

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