Battle Log

What a wonderfully tiring week of outreach!  We had another A&P Show this Saturday, this time in Rangiora, north of Christchurch.  And all the other normal outreaches were still running: Tuesday in Riccarton, Friday and Sunday in the city, and Online work as well.  Glory to God alone for enabling it all!

The Rangiora A&P Show was amazing.  I have some testimony that rings of the sovereignty of God!  There was a team of 8: Andy, Ollie, Glen, Angelica, Joffy, Vinil, Greg and myself.  All but Greg were members of Redemption Church.  We had a half and half mix of experience, so good to see more Christians getting involved in this way! :)

So, now to the testimony.

Firstly, I was showing Glen and Angelica how the flip chart works, when 3 young guys walk up and want to know what it’s about.  It was a great opportunity to demonstrate the use of the chart for real!  Early in the conversation it became apparent there was a language barrier.  It turns out the guys came from Brazil, and spoke Portuguese.  Amazingly, Angelica is from Colombia and speaks Spanish (similar to Portuguese), and so she played a pivotal role in translation in her very first flip chart chat!  That was so encouraging.  One of the guys was doing most of the talking.  (I tried to include the other 2 as much as possible.)  But at the very least, he was grasping the gospel by the end of the chat.

Soon after Andy got into a chat with a Polynesian lady, she had two young boys with her, yet in spite of their distraction, the lady was very engaged in the conversation.  Andy tells me that she heard the gospel, but when he was going through the “6 people” page of the flip chart (which is designed as a check to make sure people understand the false ways to heaven, and the only right way to heaven) she said, “oh, I thought it was Jesus AND my good deeds to get to heaven”.  Andy was able to clarify that, no, it’s Jesus alone.  She came to tears!  All these years she had been subtly misunderstanding the gospel, and this awakening moment was very emotional for her!  The power of the gospel!!  Andy invited her to sit down, and was able to continue with some more checks - she was now indeed understanding.  Glory to God.

By this stage, the site was getting busy, and all the flip charts were busy.

An old highschool friend passed by!  It was good to see him again.  I’ve shared the gospel with him many times, and he has been resistant to it, even though he would consider himself a Christian, he is very liberal leaning.  Yet, it was good to catch up.  :)  His young adult daughter was with him. She is studying at University, I asked her what she thought happened after life and we quickly fell into a really good gospel conversation!  My highschool friend listened to the whole thing!  It turns out she had a good grasp of the gospel, and is even a professing Christian.  I had a few question marks, which we discussed.  Yet another very encouraging conversation.

The highlight chat of the afternoon was with two brothers.  The first brother walked past, and I noticed him, but he didn’t look interested.  I saw him walk past again.  And then 5 minutes later he approached me.  He was armed for an intellectual fight (a nice one)!  He used big words on me, some of which I didn’t understand (e.g., inductive logic and deductive logic).  I was honest when I said I didn’t know what those terms mean, and asked him to explain them - which he did.  Eventually, he brought the conversation to his presuppositions.  I knew what that word meant!  He was baiting me to go to presuppositional apologetics.  But it was the early afternoon, and I was mentally exhausted. I didn’t have the energy for it… but I knew someone who would be keen, and he was right next to me: Andy.  I pulled Andy into the conversation, and then gently stepped back so that Andy could continue the conversation.

Andy, this guy's family was hanging around, and so I decided to engage one of them: his brother.  He told me his family was all Christian, except his brother (whom Andy was now engaging).  Fascinating!  We talked about church, before I decided to check: “So, what do you think you have to do to get to heaven?”.  His response was, “keep the 10 commandments”.  “Interesting”, I said, “would you like to check out the good person test?”.  He was keen.  So we fell into a straight forward gospel chat.  He was full of “Ooo’s” and “Ahh’s” as he came to grasp the gospel!  He agreed that if he died before the chat, he would have gone to hell, but now he was professing faith in Jesus alone to get to heaven.

So, while one brother was resisting entry to the kingdom of God, the other was entering it!  That is so biblical (Jesus said he would divide families, for example).

This just scratches the surface, so many wonderful chats had by the whole team.  The morning and early afternoon were so busy.  I took about 15 minutes to have my sandwiches before getting back into it!  I was at it for 7 hours, grateful that the late afternoon wasn’t as busy.  But, so worth it!  Glory to God alone.

Tuesday’s outreach in Riccarton was awesome.  Roger couldn’t make it, but Jermaine was able to join me.  It had been a hot day, but as I set up my flip chart, the rains came hard!  Once Jermaine arrived, I decided to put the flip chart back in the car and we just went freestyle.  We both had great opportunities to have chats, including some follow ups, as we went up and down Riccarton road, sticking to the shelters.  I gave away 3 bibles on that outreach.  It was great to be able to catch up with Jermaine over hot chocolate afterwards too. :)

Friday was a very slow outreach in the city, especially for me.  But it was great to see Andy and Roger having some good chats.  Daniel was there as well, faithfully handing out tracts.

And I’ve just come in from Sunday’s outreach in the city.  Great to have Mike and Susan with me.  Again, some interesting opportunities,  I don’t think I really got to have a full gospel conversation, but some ploughing was done with some partial sowing into the soil.

And that’s about all the energy I have left for this report!  I’m going to have some Online chats now, to finish the day.

Thank you so much for reading this far, and supporting this ministry in prayer!  God bless.
 

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A&P show outreaches are back! :)  Over the last few years, many have been cancelled due to Covid restrictions, but that is now a thing of the past.  What is an A&P show?  A&P stands for agricultural and pastoral.  It’s an event where people from the local farming community come together.  There are horse riding competitions, wood chopping competitions, people hire sites to sell tractors, and all kinds of farming related stuff.  There are food stalls, machinery exhibits, side shows, bands playing.  It’s a fun day out for the family.  We hire trade or craft sites at these shows where we set up flip charts and spend the day sharing the gospel with those going past.

On Saturday we were at the first spring show of the season: Ellesmere, about 30 minutes south of Christchurch near a little place called Leeston.

Andy and I were there by 7:30 am to set up our site.  It’s the smallest site we have ever had!  Normally we have enough room to set up 3 flip charts, but there was only enough room for 2.  We set up a gazebo, laid out a table of tracts and bibles, set up the flip charts, and slapped on some sunscreen.  A nice sunny day, but there was a cold wind, so I still wore my puffer jacket for most of it! :)  The site was ready by about 10 past 8.  Ollie had arrived, and so the 3 of us started the outreach with some prayer.  But, even as we were praying, our first 2 customers approached a flip chart!  I peeled off to engage them, and the long, busy day of gospel outreach was underway.

And it was a very busy day, glory to God.  There was a team of 9 (if I counted right), in the last picture, only Lani is missing as she had already left by that stage.  We were ministering for a total of 7 hours - right through to 4pm.

It was interesting watching the crowds walking past our site and reading the front page of our flip charts.  Often I would lip read them asking: “the good person test?”  As the site got busy, some of us would come out into the flow and try to encourage people to give the flip chart a go.  It was interesting having people say, “I’ve done it before at a previous show”, and so there would be an opportunity to follow up.

One of my early chats was a tough one.  A couple went past - she wasn’t interested, he was, but he wasn’t interested in the gospel, only arguing.  She said she would leave him with me and went off to enjoy the show.  He (an atheist) wasn’t there to listen or discuss, but only make assertions and assumptions about me.  I knew there was no real point in trying to engage, because he simply wasn’t interested.  And so I just listened, and defended when I could (he would cut me off).  After 5 or 10 minutes of this, his partner came back.  She joined the conversation for a minute, before it became obvious to her and me that it was pointless to continue.  They moved on to enjoy the show.  We parted with a handshake and he refused a tract.  Interestingly, his brother is a Pastor.  I’d love to have an opportunity to talk to Sam again, God willing.

The rest of the outreach was a bit of a blurr.  I talked to many people about the law and the gospel.  And it was so awesome to see everyone else running the site busy having chats as well.  Some were hard, some were easy, some were open, many were closed.  Yet, as long as we were faithful to the message of the gospel, God was glorified in every chat.

Jordan arrived at lunch time, and in the four hours he was there, he had only 2 chats!  The first one went for over 2 hours!!  But, that time was well spent in labouring the law and the gospel, and answering the hard questions of life.  Rebekah had a chat with a lady who heard the law and the gospel, and yet was struggling with some related issues and the time and the place wasn’t appropriate to get into it, and so contact details were exchanged, so a follow up coffee can be arranged - so encouraging!

For all the rest of the chats, I’m just going to let the pictures do the talking :)

But one other encouraging thing I’ll mention.  I normally do outreach in Riccarton on Saturday’s, and over recent times I’ve had 2 great opportunities to minister to a young man and his friends.  Well, he saw me at the show, and came over to say g'day.  He looked so wrapped to see me, and he told me he had been reading his bible.  May he continue to grow for God’s glory.

I was taking some R&R earlier in the week, so I wasn’t in Riccarton on Tuesday.  And on the Sunday (the day after the A&P show) I was just too tired to go to the streets.  But there was a team of 4 in the City on Friday.  It was great to have Connor (pictured) out with us.  Connor is back from living in Auckland!  I paired up with him and we had some great opportunities to minister the gospel together (firstly with a group of 4 girls, and then later with a group of 4 guys, plus a great short and sweet chat with a tradie in between).

Well, that wraps the week!  Praise God that we have another A&P show outreach opportunity next Saturday (22nd), in Rangiora.  Please pray that that goes well.  SDG!
 

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Busy week this week, and a bit of a routine change - that I hate - but it was worth it, because on Saturday I had the privilege of running some evangelism training.  The start of the week was cold!  We even got a dusting of snow!  But the end of the week was hot!

The routine change was on Saturday.  On Tuesday I was in Riccarton with Roger, as per usual.  Friday was in the city with Roger and Andy.  Saturday was the training in the morning, and then a street outreach in the city in the afternoon.  And finally, it was back to normal on Sunday with an afternoon street outreach in the city - Susan joined me.

I’m going to start with talking about Saturday.  So, there were about 15 people at the training.  3 churches were represented, but most of the attendees are also part of the same church as me :)  The training involved 3 sessions, the first 2 were theory, and the optional 3rd session was a street outreach in the afternoon to put it into practice.  In the first session I covered the biblical basis for the method of evangelism I was teaching, based mainly from Romans 1 - 3, but also other parts of Romans, Galatians, Acts and Proverbs.  Then we discussed 2 difficult issues that often come up in relation to evangelism: sexuality, and evil and suffering.  Before we got into the nitty gritty of how to practically share the gospel using the method, I covered some general tips and techniques.

I was a bit nervous going into the training, as I really wanted it to go well.  I want the church to be encouraged, equipped and blessed in and through evangelism - all to the glory of God alone.  I was concerned that I would have too much time and not enough to say.  I was very wrong there!  I had the opposite problem!  Oh well, I think it went okay.

So, there was a team of 9 to hit the streets in the afternoon, in Cashel Mall.  There were HEAPS of people there, out enjoying the nice weather.  There were 4 religious groups out (the JWs were taking 2 spots!) and lots of buskers.  We joined the fray!  I was so encouraged to see everyone in the team getting good opportunities to put into practice what they had been learning about in the morning.  That was a real answer to prayer! :)

I didn’t really have any chats of my own, I spent my time making sure people were focused on their task, balancing pairings, and pulling distractions away (e.g., regulars who didn’t really want to discuss the gospel).  But it was a thrill to know I was enabling 8 others to get some practical experience!  I was excited to hear the good reports in the debrief afterwards.

I’m planning to run the training again in the Autumn (18th of Feb), all the details are here: https://tellmeconference.org.nz/training/

Going to Sunday’s outreach.  It was hot!  In fact, I’m not used to the heat, and I felt quite tired.  I set up quite close to the JWs.  They had their tract boards set up.  So I set up my flipchart.

I had a stellar flipchart chat with a trio.  One of the guys was very resistant to the building builder analogy, so I laboured with him for a bit, but I didn’t want them all to miss hearing the gospel, and I sensed that they might walk off at any moment.  So I gently cut to the law, and was happy that they stayed to hear the gospel, and go into the checks.  I didn’t end up needing to go back to how we know God is real, the whole presentation made sense of it all.  One of the other guys thanked me for explaining it the way I did - he said it really made sense.  And the girl seemed impacted too.

Later, I had a guy go past who said he had already received a tract.  I asked if he read it, and he said, “no, not yet”.  I could tell he really wanted to talk, and talk we did: about evil and suffering.  He couldn’t reconcile this with an all powerful, all knowing, and all loving God.  He hoped there was nothing after he died.  And so the whole conversation focused on discussing this question.  At one point, he started to get a bit angry, but he contained himself, as I wrestled with him to hold the balance rightly.  He also couldn’t reconcile hell, and we discussed this as well.  I gave him the answers he needed, but as I had warned him, the answers can take some processing.  During the chat, I was able to take him through the law and share the gospel multiple times.

The chat ended prematurely, as a protest came down the mall.  Before he left, I checked in to see if he remembered the gospel - he got it wrong!  So, once again I reiterated the gospel and told him to get in touch if he had further questions.  He left with a tract - maybe he’ll read it this time?

Friday was also a busy time of ministry.  I talked to a few anti-vaxxers (one was a follow up) and was able to share the gospel with them.  You know, I just can’t think of any more details from that outreach now.  Saturday and Sunday were so busy, and I’m too tired to draw up those memories now!

But, something cool happened as a result of that outreach.  Today, I was early to our church gathering to do setup duty.  A young couple turned up early and so I welcomed them.  They are from Chile, South America.  And it turns out that Andy had shared the gospel with them during Friday’s outreach and invited them along.  It was so awesome to have them gather with us today, and to continue ministering to them.

Lastly, Tuesday’s outreach, the only thing I can remember was catching up with a doctor who had supported us in our ministry in bringing the gospel to the issue of abortion outside the hospital.  It was so cool to see him again.

Okay, that’s it for this week.  Quite a few pictures today, there are 1 for Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday, all the rest were from the training outreach on Saturday.

I praise God for answering our prayers.  All glory to God alone.  I love him so much!
 

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Thank you for praying, and please keep praying that God would bring glory to himself by demonstrating his justice and mercy to those we encounter on the streets of Christchurch.  This gospel ministry will be ineffective otherwise.

This week the four usual street outreaches occurred: Tuesday afternoon in Riccarton (Roger and I), Friday afternoon in the city (Roger, Steve, Andy and I), Saturday lunch time in Riccarton (just myself), and Sunday afternoon in the city (Susan and I).

I was first there on Tuesday, and set up my flip chart.  Roger arrived a few minutes later, and I decided to go over with him to his side of the street to help him set up his flip chart.  But as we were crossing the road, 4 teens in school uniform were there and looking at us, as they were walking past.  I had to take the opportunity even before I finished crossing the road, and asked them a question.  I think they were glad, because they actually wanted to talk (well a few of them anyway).  So, without the use of a flip chart, a gospel conversation was underway.

I took them through the law, and started on the gospel, and then Roger took over, so I decided to set up his flip chart.  Just as I finished, a young couple went past, and the guy was instantly interested in the faces on the front page of the flip chart.  It was easy to engage him in a conversation, and they both came to hear the gospel.

But as that conversation was ongoing, Roger had finished his chat with the school kids and came to join me when a guy who was out on the street trying to gain votes for the upcoming city elections went past.  Roger was instantly into a deep conversation with him.  So two separate conversations were going on side by side!  It made it a little bit harder, but it was fine :)

But it didn’t end there!  A guy came past and stopped to stare at the conversations going on - he obviously wanted to say something.  I hate distractions like this, because it can cause existing conversations to end prematurely.  I decided to offer him a tract, which he took, but he was satisfied, he wanted to talk.  So I asked him to give me a minute.  The conversation with the couple had found a good stopping point, they had heard the gospel, it would have been good if I had been able to go through some more check questions, but I ended it there so I could give my attention to the new guy.

It turns out he had seen my flipchart on the other side of the road, and wanted to talk about the pictures on it!  We ended up crossing over to do that (leaving Roger with his flip chart and still talking to the guy trying to get votes!)

Sadly, this guy was extremely self righteous.  He was a “Christian” but had never done anything wrong.  He wasn’t willing to stay and chat, he even handed the tract back.  I think he really wanted to moan about politics.

Well, after that, the politician that had been talking to Roger, came over to talk to me for a few minutes before heading off to pound a few more streets.

I can’t really remember the rest of the outreach.  I know Roger was busy, as per the pictures.  I only remember one other conversation, it was with a guy who turns out to be the nephew of a fellow street evangelist who is praying for his salvation!  Sadly, the guy is still resistant, but I was able to share the law and gospel with him.

Friday’s outreach was fascinating.  It started with a chat with a guy with a girl's name.  He took one of the first tracts I handed out (actually, he bee-lined over to get it).  It was a long chat, where he asked the hardest questions.  But he was given straight answers, and heard the law and the gospel.  When he gave me his name, he was testing me.  I ignored the bait and just proceeded with the conversation.  I knew he was challenged by the law already, and I knew he knew I knew his position on sexuality is sinful - we actually both knew (have I said that right? ;) ).

Part way into the conversation, one of the guys (who claimed to be a satanist) I had talked to in Riccarton a couple of weeks ago came past, and as soon as he saw me, he joined the conversation.  So the 3 of us continued to discuss the gospel and all the important questions surrounding it.

Eventually the first guy left.  We were on good terms, but he was very resistant to the gospel.  The other guy went to have a chat with Roger, while I was off sharing the gospel with others.

Eventually, that guy came back to me.  So, I went straight for a check question, he got it very wrong.  He was keen to chat, so we went and sat down so I could labour with him to understand.  He wasn’t getting it, so I had a thought, I decided to use the flip chart app I had on my phone (Apple & Android).  Maybe the pictures would help!  It’s the first time I’ve used it in action, and it worked well - although I need to make the images fullscreen.  By the end of the chat, he at least was able to articulate that it’s not his works that save him, but instead only Jesus' sacrifice that saves him.  Although, I don’t think the reality of that has sunk in yet - In God’s timing, I pray that it does!

Saturday’s outreach was busy, but I’m only going to highlight 2 of those chats.  

The first was with a guy with a Christian background who seemed to already have come to the understanding that it wasn’t his bible reading and prayer that saved him, but Jesus alone.  He was just hungry to learn more, and so he was super happy to have found me on the street corner.  His friend was Catholic, and she heard the gospel.  She moved on, and I was able to encourage the guy in finding a church that would be able to feed him.  I invited him along to my church, as he lived close.

The second was with a guy who had just lost his friend in a car accident the previous Wednesday! :(  Times like these are pivotal in people's lives, and God gave me the opportunity to minister the gospel into his life!  He questioned everything I said, but in a good way.  He needed to challenge it - and I was happy for that, because maybe that will help him understand it.

Oh, one other cool chat.  A kid I had talked to a couple of Saturdays ago came back, this time with a friend.  He wanted his friend to hear the gospel!  It was a pivotal conversation, because although the friend was a church goer, he admitted he was trusting in his works for salvation before the chat, and was professing faith alone by the end of it.  Glory to God.

I’m out of time, Sunday’s outreach involved long conversations with streeties (homeless).  One girl in particular was very keen to chat.  She claimed to be Christian, but it was clear that her understanding of what that meant wasn’t right (close, but oh so far).  So, we sat down and I laboured the gospel with her.  There was a lot of distraction with all the other streeties around.  I was able to semi-engage a few of the other ones, but the girl kept coming back from more gospel.  I was slowly able to work through check questions with her.

To end the outreach, Susan and I headed down to the other end of the mall (bridge of remembrance), where I was able to have a great chat with 4 girls who go to a local church where I was able to clarify exactly what justifies us: Jesus' sacrifice alone!  All glory to him!
 

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Three street outreaches this week: Tuesday (Riccarton), Friday (City) and Saturday (Riccarton).  I ended up not using the flip chart on the first 2 outreaches, and so I decided to make it a no flip chart week!  Nice spring weather, it was just me in Riccarton both days (more fish for me!).  And Andy and I had a marvellous time together on Friday - climate change protests always lead to wonderful gospel conversations! :D

But on Tuesday, I rocked up to my usual spot, bowed my head in prayer, and then looked up wondering what the outreach would be like.  It was one of the busiest outreaches I’ve ever had!  Glory to God.

I walked down Riccarton Road and a small group was approaching me, so I offered tracts which were completely by them all, except one.  He stopped and turned to accept it.  I quickly took the opportunity to engage him in conversation, and to my amazement he stopped and fully engaged in spite of the fact that his friends kept walking.  I was able to share the law, the gospel, and a couple of checks before he started to think about his friends again and had to go.  I was really encouraged.

As he walked off, another guy was passing.  He looked vaguely familiar.  He accepted a tract and kept walking.  I followed at a distance and watched his friend approach him and start discussing the tract I had given.  So I caught up with them and the three of us ended up having a long chat on the street corner.  The first guy knew all the answers, and was really supportive - one of the team must have talked to him before.  And so my focus was on his friend.  The first guy is going to a Roman Catholic church, but doesn't have a bible.  So I gave him a contact card for my church and them both a New Testament.  Another great chat.

I crossed the road to buy some mints and then came out and approached a couple waiting for a bus.  Another great chat that started with one of them saying, “I hate Christianity, it ruined my life”!  The conversation was amicable, and progress was being made, but their bus arrived before I could share the gospel.  They left with tracts.

I instantly turned and engaged another couple.  He was a Satanist, and she (or was it a he?) wasn’t, and yet they heard the law and the gospel before their bus came.

That’s how the outreach went, from one conversation, straight into another, with a little bit of walking down Riccarton Road in between.

Next up was a chat with 3 guys (early 20’s).  2 Believed in God, 1 didn’t.  Initially they had little engagement in the chat, and yet the 2 believers quickly became really engaged when the flaws in their existing philosophies were exposed.  Sadly they were resistant.  Yet, they all heard the law and the Gospel.

A chat with a young guy who turned out to have a Jehovah Witness background.

And finally a chat with a young man called Sam who went from thinking his being good would get him to heaven to understanding the gospel.  I left him with a bible too.

By this stage there was only 10 minutes left in the outreach!  I was excited by, and praising God for, all the wonderful opportunities. But I was feeling tired, so I used that last 10 minutes to pump out some tracts.

Thank you to all those that are praying for this ministry.  Our efforts are weak, and yet the simple gospel message, backed by the prayers of the saints, is the power of God for salvation!

Nice and sunny on Friday, and yet a cool wind.  There was an event happening down at the bridge of remembrance, and so Andy I spent our time in ministry down at the Colombo / Cashel Corner.

I was excited to hear a protest coming.  And I wasn’t surprised to see it was about climate change.

I started the outreach by pumping tracts out to the noisy protesters filing past.  Many were curious and took them, which was great.

For the rest of the afternoon, small pockets of people who had been involved in the protest would pass through where we were and we had a busy time sharing the gospel!

It’s so easy to switch a conversation about climate change into a discussion of deeper things.  Because we have the same goal: ultimately saving lives.  And yet, as worthy as wise stewardship of our environment is, we are all still going to die anyway.  Is there a life B?  Yes!

My first chat was with a group of 7 guys from a local high school.  I was fascinated to see that only 1 of them was really passionate about the issue of the climate - the others just seemed to be there for the experience.  The one guy became very engaged in the conversation, where the others not so much, in fact, one of them peeled off and started walking away, and sadly the others joined him.  But they all took tracts, and that one guy seemed challenged.

But soon after, I had a young couple from the same high school come past.  They became very engaged in the conversation and seemed humbled by the law and captured by the gospel - which they grasped quickly.  They both took New Testaments.

Andy was busy in conversations too.  And we even had opportunities to get into conversations together.  But once the conversation was rolling, I stepped back and let Andy continue.  I might as well see if I can catch a different fish!  After all, you can catch more fish with 2 nets in the water than just 1!  Hey, do you live in Christchurch?  Why don’t you join us?  Get in touch  :)  Come be a Manerman with us!

My final chat of the day was long, and hard.  It was with a guy, who heard the law and the gospel, and yet ultimately rejected it because of Idolatry.  How exactly?  He hated God for decreeing a world of suffering and evil.  By the end of the chat he openly said he would rather go to hell than have anything to do with a God like that.  I wasn’t phased, but just kept him faithful to logic and scripture as he kept trying to twist it to say something it’s not (if you go too far one side, you are in major error, and too far the other side: major error; and the balance point is very fine).  I realise that this is an issue of emotion more than logic, and I kept that in mind through the conversation.  But my attempts to convince him, of course, failed.  I’m trusting that, although there was no outward indication, his worldview was deeply challenged by logic and scripture.  The law convicts of sin, and the gospel is the power of salvation, for all those that believe!

The outreach went overtime, but it was well worth it.  It was good to be able to have a good catch up with Andy over hot chocolate afterwards.

Saturday’s outreach wasn’t as busy as Tuesday, but was still off the charts good all the same.

I’ll just highlight one conversation, as this report is way too long!  I was handing out tracts to people hopping off a bus.  A young couple went past and politely refused.  So I crossed the road and headed back down Riccarton Road.  A few minutes later, a large ‘school’ of people went past, low and behold, that some young couple was among them.  They again refused the tract, but the fact that we crossed paths again so soon caused a conversation to start.  And what a great chat!  He had a Christian background and was currently rejecting Christ, and she was encouragingly humble throughout the whole chat.  He hit me with all the hard questions, which I did my best to answer and proceeded to share the law and the gospel with both of them.  I was really encouraged by this chat :)  They moved on, but about 15 minutes later we crossed paths again!  She said, “wow, God is really on my case”.  He is.  He is seeking and saving the lost.  And we have the privilege to be involved in what God is doing, for his glory!

Pray for labourers for the harvest, and consider being the answer to your own prayer!  Need training?  We have some coming up.

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So good to be at the end of another week of street outreach in Christchurch, NZ.  Praying that Jesus will return, but if he decides to hold his patience, that I will have another week to proclaim his mercy.

Roger is away in Australia, so this week I’ve been alone in my 2 outreaches to Riccarton (Tuesday and Saturday).  It was great to have Andy and John with me on Friday in the city.  And Susan was with me on Sunday.

Tuesday afternoon's outreach in Riccarton was really slow for the first half hour - only one short engagement, but then I was busy with epic chats for the rest of the outreach.  2 chats in particular come to mind.  (I had to really think, but I’ve finally remembered!)

The first with a young guy.  He was very open to chat, so we talked for a long time, but I had to labour with him towards understanding the gospel (check questions to the rescue).  By the end of it, he was professing faith even after counting the cost, and he was keen to start reading the Bible.  So I gave him a copy of the New Testament (tract marking John) and told him to get in touch in regards to finding a church.  I haven’t heard anything as of yet, so I leave him in God’s hands.

The second one was also with a young guy (maybe a bit older).  It was a short chat, because he followed the logic of the law / gospel presentation flawlessly.  He was making comments like, “that makes complete sense”, and “I’ve never had anyone explain it like that before”.  He too left with a copy of the New Testament.

On Friday, it was great to see Andy and John busy in chats (pictured).

I started out with a difficult chat with a guy who was sadly drunk (he even pulled a bottle of beer out of his bag part way through the conversation).  What was also sad was that he was also completely closed to reason.  I couldn’t really make any progress in the conversation, because he kept cutting me off and taking the discussion off on tangents.  I didn’t try to control the conversation, because he just wasn’t open to hearing the gospel.  So I instead laboured the law, when I could, and even looked for opportunities to end the conversation (and spend the time talking to someone else).  I was eventually able to do that, and we parted ways on good terms.  He stayed in the vicinity, and I noticed him watching me from time to time as I handed out tracts and engaged people in conversation.

The highlight chat of the day was a difficult one.  It was with two young ladies (there was a guy hanging around too, but he was on a phone call and so was never involved in the conversation).  There was much resistance from both of them, and yet, I held much hope that they would open up.  I managed to keep them engaged as I worked through the logic of how we know God is real and cares about justice.  One of them, in particular, said “I really hope there is a hell, I really really do”.  That was a sign that she had been deeply hurt.  Yet, she really really hated Christianity.  I was amazed that these girls had hung into this conversation as long as they did!  I was able to explain the gospel, which was a joy, and even start working on check questions.  The 2nd girl was rejecting it because, “I don’t like the rules” (in other words, I want to be god of my own life and live my life my own way).  But, the first girl trusted me enough to share the tragic hurt in her life - and she had associated this hurt to Christianity negatively because her father prayed to God and yet condoned this terrible injustice.  I pleaded with her to not make the mistake of misappropriation: to associate true Christianity with a misrepresentation of it.  There was still much resistance, and yet she thanked me for being patient with her (seriously, my thoughts were the opposite, I thanked HER for being patient with me).  I pray that she would be able to work through this pain, and find forgiveness for those that hurt her, and mercy from Jesus for the wrong she has done.

The highlight chat from Saturday was with a young couple.  We talked for a long time where they seemed to come to an understanding of the gospel.  They both left with: a challenge to accept the gospel, bibles and tracts.  Later they came back and shared about the fact that they were to have a baby!  What a blessing!

Speaking of babies.  I grieve over the 13,000+ babies that are murdered every year in New Zealand through abortion.  And yet, there is hope for forgiveness of this terrible sin because of Jesus!  It was an honour to be able to take part in the March for Life in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon.  Thank you to all those that were involved.  May we continue to be a voice for the voiceless, and bring the hope of mercy in the gospel.  The root of change is the gospel.  God have mercy!  Raise up labourers for the harvest, for your glory.

There were many short opportunities for gospel ministry on Sunday afternoon.  I shared the gospel with a couple of teens who were interested, but seemed a bit distant.  I shared the gospel with another couple of guys - one of whom was openly resistant.  I was able to catch up with a regular (actually one of the owners of the SoYo I minister outside of on Tuesdays and Saturdays).

But the last chat of the day was interesting.  I had my “What happens after life?” flip chart up.  A group of late teens / young adults went past, and one of the kids was really interested in the question.  I was able to get him engaged in conversation even though all his friends kept walking.  He said he had been Buddhist for 2 years, having converted from Christianity (Catholic background).  The conversation was warming up when his friends came back to pull him away, yet, they ended up becoming engaged in the conversation as well.  Sadly, one of the guys kept pulling it off onto rabbit trails.  I did my best to bring it back, but then the conversation was railroaded when a streetie walked into the middle of it ruining the flow that was there.  Sadly, the kids walked off at that point, but Susan made sure they all had tracts.

God willing, those kids will have other opportunities to hear the gospel.  Maybe from you?  Are you ready and willing to share the gospel in your everyday life?  Maybe you’d be interested in some training?
 

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Three street outreaches to report on this week (I’m taking tomorrow off! :) ).  The usual schedule.  This week it was just me in Riccarton on Tuesday and Saturday, and there was a team of 5 in the City on Friday (although there were heaps of other Christians out sharing the gospel with other groups - praise God).  So, that was 1, 5, 1.  All odd numbers.  I guess I like patterns ;)

As Roger was away on Tuesday, I took his usual spot on the other side of the street.  And it’s a great little fishing hole!  I had a busy time with all the fish to myself ;)  I literally had people queueing up to talk to me!

I know I talked to plenty of people, but the only two conversations that come to mind at the moment are the ones I had with groups of school kids.  It was two groups of four kids each.

In the first group, one kid stands out the most in my mind.  I remember him being very impacted by the bad news of the law.  I even remember his eyes bulging at one moment.  It was such a pleasure to finally share the good news with him.  All four of those guys were in different places, but they were all very engaged, and it was a wonderful conversation.  At one point, one of them asked about abortion.  So I simply said, “Think of it like this, if you had a 2 year old toddler would you kill them?”  He thought for a second and just responded with “that makes complete sense” and the conversation moved on.  After I had shared the gospel,, one of the other guys asked about “gays”.  So I simply said, “who gets to make the rules?”  His answer: “God, oh so therefore it’s sinful, but, Jesus died on the cross for their sin, but that means you won’t want to keep doing it”.  I was amazed, by God’s grace, they were joining the dots so quickly.  I was super encouraged by that chat.

The conversation with the second group of guys (one of whom was the brother of one of the guys in the first group) didn’t go so smoothly.  One of the guys dug his heels in hard and refused to acknowledge that God is real.  I gently reasoned with him while continuing to move the whole conversation through the law and the gospel.  But he wasn’t having any of it, and it was interesting seeing the impact on the other guys (one in particular started agreeing with his friend).  Who knows, maybe he is under conviction and close to the kingdom?

Friday was a busy and exciting outreach.  Nice sunny weather, I even put sunscreen on for the first time of the Summer! Yay :)

I was straight into a chat with a tourist from Ireland!  Double Yay - more people from overseas coming to NZ to hear the gospel.  The chat went amazingly well.  A smooth, short and sharp gospel conversation.

I then went seeking around the area politely approaching people and fell into another amazing chat with a young lady who I’m pretty sure I’ve talked to before.  Again, it was another smooth, short and sharp gospel conversation.  I asked if she had any questions at the end and she said, “no, you explained that really well, it makes sense”.

I love it when unexpected chats occur.  Certain demographics tend to never stop, e.g., older people.  But today, an older Asian lady stopped to engage!  I could tell she wasn’t going to stay long, so I just did my best to labour the law, and point her to the grace of Jesus.  She left with a tract.

The outreach ended up going long - 30 minutes over, but it was so good.  A couple of years ago I had to call the police on a guy.  Well, today he was back spewing his anger on members of the team.  I simply went over and told them to ignore him.  I then moved away and started taking some pictures of him (attached).  He pointed to me: “Are you taking pictures of me!! How dare you?”  He came over to me then, as he approached I simply said, “If you touch me, I will call the police”.  He came right into my face and started spewing his hate, but he didn’t once touch me.  And I wasn’t phased at all.  All bark, no bite (little yelps actually, it was so sad to watch).  I ignored him and he got sick of me, so he went over to abuse the other guys again.  Roger finally got rid of him.  In the meantime, I continued the gospel conversation that Roger had started with a young autistic guy.

The outreach finished with prayer, but it was interrupted with chats with 2 regulars, the last one was Simon the Atheist.  Unlike last week, we actually engaged in spiritual conversation, with a focus on how we know God is real via logic.  Simon doesn’t have the same ‘bite’ he used to, is he softening?  God, please have mercy on him!

Saturday was busy and amazing.  A flat earther and his girlfriend heard the gospel.  A young couple with Biblical foundation and yet still trusting in works came to grasp the gospel and left challenged and encouraged.

And to finish off, one of my regulars that I haven’t seen for a long time came past.  It was so good to catch up!  I was shocked to hear that he was considering suicide earlier today, and had even pre attempted but bailed on it (thank God).  He seems to have remembered nothing of what I’ve shared before, so I went hard on the law with him today.  Great chat.  We shaked hands multiple times before he left.  Oh God, please answer my prayer, have mercy on him, for your glory alone.
 

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I’m feeling a bit tired as I come to write this on Sunday afternoon, I’m looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow.  It ended up being a good street outreach today, but I’ll get to that soon.

Reviewing the week, there was a team of 2 on Tuesday in Riccarton, 4 on Friday in the city, just myself on Saturday in Riccarton (anyone want to join me?  It’s a day off for you, right?), and then, to my joy, a team of 4 today in the city.  2, 4, 1, 4 - they are all a power of 2 – that fills me with joy too! ;)

The weather is warming up!  Spring has arrived :)  On Saturday I was thinking I need to get the sunscreen out.  And just now I have put my sunscreen in my outreach bag for the next outreach (God willing)! :)

On Tuesday Roger was with me. I’ve just taken a minute to think all the way back to Tuesday to remember what happened, I knew something cool happened… and now I remember…  2 things actually.

The outreach was a bit slow initially, and so I went for a wander down Riccarton Road to seek the lost.  On my way back down the other side of the street, as I was going past the bus stops, I saw 3 young ladies and simply asked them, “Excuse me, may I ask you a question?  It’s a deep one, do you ever think about what happens after you die?”.  To my pleasant surprise, they were all keen to stop and talk.  One of them responded with, “yeah, I think about that all the time”.  It was a straightforward conversation.  One of the girls knew a fair amount of Christian lingo, one was quet, but they all listened.  It was so awesome seeing them get it.  The simple message of the gospel is truly powerful.  At the end of the chat I asked if they had any questions, and the first girl asked if I had any recommendations for churches in Christchurch.  I certainly did!  They all left with tracts.

The other cool thing that happened was similar.  At the end of the outreach, a security guard went past, he took a tract and stopped when I said: “it comes with a question if you have a moment”.  Again, it was a fairly straightforward conversation.  The penny really seemed to drop when I was asking him the ‘sin again’ check question: “if someone trusts that Jesus died for them today, but then tomorrow do 10 more sins and then die, is it heaven or hell?”  His initial response was hell, but when I explained that Jesus even pays for our future sin, the doctrine of justification by faith alone really seemed to strike him: “ahhhhh, I get it now”.  I followed up with a for more checks, he was getting them perfectly right now.  He made a profession, so I got him to consider the cost of the gift - it didn't put him off.  He accepted a bible with a tract bookmarked at John, and he was considering checking out the church I’m part of.  He didn’t turn up this Sunday, yet he is in God’s hands.

Friday and Saturday’s outreaches were busy.

On Friday I set up my flip chart near the bridge of remembrance, but I never used it the whole time, instead I just approached people.  First there were a couple of buskers taking a lunch break, then a chat with a kid from the UK whose dad was a soldier.

Next, a chat with a guy who was struggling with how meaningless life is - he was depressed and we discussed suicide a bit (these things are all very familiar to me, I’m so grateful for the book of Ecclesiasties!)  I laboured with him in regards to the law and the gospel, but he wasn’t really soaking it in at all.  I decided not to push it, but give him some time to ponder.  He had 2 tracts (1 from me, and John had also talked to him prior and given him a tract).

I approached 3 girls who were discussing one of our tracts, one of the girls in particular didn’t want to have another chat about it!  But they did accept a different kind of tract from me.  I turned and immediately 4 guys were walking past, and I got straight into a conversation with them.  It was a difficult chat, because they were in different places and it was hard to get a flow going with all of them at the same time, they all kept interjecting different questions (good ones), I did my best to answer the questions without getting distracted from my goal of sharing the gospel, when I feel like I made a mistake (or did I?)  The MP for central Christchurch, Duncan Webb went past, I’ve talked to him a couple of times before (briefly, he won’t stay to engage).  As soon as I saw him, I said, “Oh, Duncan, I want to talk to you”.  I wasn’t expecting him to stop, but he did.  The mistake was that I should have kept my focus on the four guys I was talking to.  Those guys instantly lost interest and split without hearing the gospel - I feel bad about that!  Yet, I’m pretty sure I gave them all tracts at the start.  I have to leave them in God’s hands.

Anyway, now I was into a discussion with the MP.  And, I feel like I fluffed that opportunity too.  I really wanted to challenge him on some social political issues, and so my questioning turned philosophical.  What I should have done is stick to the script from the word of God, I should have gone with Romans 1:19 and asked him, “Hey Duncan, if I told you that building made itself, would you believe me?” and then took him through the law and the gospel.  He didn’t have much time, and lost interest in the conversation and bailed on me.

So, I was now doubly disappointed with myself!  And yet, who knows?  God can use even our most feeble mistakes to show his power.  I’m praying I get further opportunities to talk with Duncan, as I want the best for him and want him to truly understand the grace of Christ (I know he had a Christian background).  Lord, raise up labourers who will faithfully share the gospel with the leaders of this nation!  Change our culture through the power of the gospel.

I think that was the end of that outreach (I can’t remember having any more chats).  I left that outreach with Andy in deep conversation with one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses there.  Oh, and earlier the Hare Kristna’s went through, I’ve read their pamphlet, and I have a million questions, God willing I’ll find some time to write some of those questions down to give to them next Friday (also, God willing).  Oh, and I was able to have a brief catch up with Simon the Atheist at the start of the outreach - that was nice.

Saturday I was on my own, and it was really busy.  I turned up to my usual spot, and there was a guy there who was sitting looking at his phone.  I ended up having a long chat with him.  He wasn’t grasping the gospel well.  With the check questions he kept slipping back to “because I’m good” as the reason he would get to heaven.  I continued to gently labour with him as best I could.  The chat was interrupted as an old workmate stopped to talk.  I was stuck, I wanted to share the gospel with both, but I couldn’t do that.  I let my work mate go - he left with a tract.  Lord, raise up more Saturday labourers!

Later, I was sharing the gospel with a couple of kids, when two people joined the conversation and kinda killed it.  The two kids left.  And then the conversation for the new couple didn’t last long.  It was subtle, but she wanted to justify being her own god, and so denied clear logic. She wasn’t willing to back down and so the conversation died.   Apparently I talked to the guy before?
I had a long chat with a guy who knew some of the right language, but didn’t understand the gospel.  He seemed truly blown away when he did come to understand it.  He said he needed time to process it.

The outreach ended late with a chat with a young lady and her partner.  She knew the Christian lingo really well.  She was talking about Jesus, and quoting John 3:16, she said abortion is murder, don’t be unequally yoked, etc, etc.  But as we talked it became clear she wasn’t saved.  “I think I’ll go to heaven because I sin less”.  By the end of the chat she agreed that she would be currently going to hell.  She now understands the gospel.  She made a comment: “now I know why God got me to come over here today”.  She was happy to take a tract, “I’ve got heaps of these, there is even one on my fridge” (did she ever read them?).  I was grateful for the opportunity to labour in the gospel with them.

I left with a feeling of frustration: the harvest is ripe!  I will pray for labourers.

Wow, this report is too long.  Well done if you are reading this - maybe you are the answer to my prayer? ;)

Sunday’s outreach I was tired.  And the outreach was slow to start.  Susan joined me, then Binu, and finally Mike!  Binu was handing out tracts, and when Mike arrived, I left him to man the flip chart with Susan while I went to roam a bit.

I approached a young man and it turned into a great chat!  He gave me a strong handshake at the end.

I then found out that Binu had started a chat with a tall, open hearted basketball player.  Binu brought him over to Mike and Susan who shared the gospel with him (a real team effort).  I was really encouraged.

And then Mike got into another flip chart chat with some kids, while I followed up with a guy who was watching the chat from a distance.

I ended up leaving the outreach with Mike in yet another gospel conversation with a guy I’ve semi-talked to many times before over the years.  May Mike make progress where I failed!

Well, that wraps the week.  Heaps happening online too!  God is so good.

(I’m starting to feel a slight sunburn on my face.)
 

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The street work this week felt a bit slower than usual.  I often found myself praying in those moments - and that was a real blessing.  Just reflecting on how impossible it is for me to save anyone.  Just praying that God would be glorified.  And knowing that he will, people will come to know more about God, he will demonstrate either his justice or mercy, that his kingdom will come.  I’m so grateful that we get to be involved in all of this. He condescends to use us, in our weakness, to proclaim who he is, and allow his strength and power to be displayed in spite of us.

On Tuesday (in Riccarton) it was so slow that twice I went for wander down Riccarton Road in search of people to talk to.  I looked down a side street (which has an entrance to the mall) and I noticed a large group of kids.  I was up for the challenge, so I headed towards them.  It turns out there were about 20 of them!  Oh well, they need to hear the gospel too.  So I dove in.  I tried to get a conversation going with as many of them as I could, and I passed out a few tracts.  Suddenly a large part of them took off, and then the rest of them ran off as well.  A guy in a tie ran past me chasing them.  Then another guy came past and told me that a car had been broken into :(  Putting it all together, I guess the kids were involved?  I told them I was trying to tell them about Jesus.  He smiled, knowing that’s exactly what they need!  He accepted a tract from me as well.  Anyway, there wasn’t much I could do, so I headed back to our normal outreach stop via the bus stops.  Low and behold, the group of kids were coming past from the other direction (they had done a loop).  I was able to offer more tracts as they piled on to a bus, I don’t think any of them accepted one, and sadly, as I continued to walk, I found discarded tracts that I was able to pick up.  God willing, I (or other Christians) will have opportunities to engage with them in the future.

I can’t remember anything from the rest of the outreach, I’m confident I had other chats - I just can’t think of them right now.  I know Roger did, I took a photo of one of them (attached).

On Friday (in the city), the Hare Krishna’s went through, and this time they remembered to bring a pamphlet for me! :)  I exchanged it for a gospel chat.  They didn’t want to stop to chat.  But I’ve started reading it and it is interesting getting some more background about what they are all about.  I’m hoping I’ll have more opportunities to engage them.

But the conversation that stands out the most for me from Friday was the last one.  A young lady came over and accepted a tract from me.  She started out by saying she used to be involved with Christian ministry, but is no longer, because she is queer.  We fell into a long conversation starting from there.  I think she was challenging me with her introduction, so I decided to not give her the answer she expected, but instead ignored it for the moment.  It was one of those conversations where I couldn’t take the standard direct approach, I just had to be patient.  Her worldview involved no absolutes, and yet her conversation was full of absolutes.  From time to time I would gently point this out, but she wasn’t open.  Through the conversation, I was able to talk about the law, and even explain why homosexuality is sinful.  And I was even able to explain about Jesus - as closed as she was.  We could have talked for a very long time, yet I don’t think we would have made much progress, and so I wrapped up the conversation.  She left with a tract and an offer to continue the conversation via electronic means.  But I won’t be surprised if I don’t hear from her.  What overwhelmed me in the conversation is how selfish relativism is.  Basically what it’s about is ‘me’.  What ‘I’ want.  It’s idolatry.  And it grieves me.  Oh God have mercy.

This theme rolled into Saturday’s outreach in Riccarton.  Again, a slow start, and prayer.  Finally a couple of guys stopped (and a girl who kept her distance).  They were very pleasant and respectful.  One of them really seemed to respect what I was doing.  I took them through the script and was working through the law, when the demeanour of the main guy suddenly changed.  “Are you telling me I’m going to hell?”.  “Yes”, I said, “God is angry at us for our sin, but I’m here to talk to you about God’s mercy”.  That didn’t help, he suddenly declared that he is Mormon, and then his friend parroted what he said, “yeah, I’m Mormon”.  The main guy ripped up the tract and threw it and stormed off.  His friend went with him, and the girl laughed as she joined them.

I grieved, and yet I rejoiced at the obvious conviction that came upon him.  God, please have mercy upon them.

Later in the outreach, a young lady stopped.  She had deep questions and was open to chat.  She had a Russian Orthodox background, but considered herself to be agnostic.  Due to the nature of the questions, I responded with deep answers.  The key question was over why God allows suffering and evil.  So I addressed that, as well as explaining how we know God is real, the law and the gospel.  In hindsight, I think I needed to labour the law more.  None of what I was saying was making sense.  I checked in to see if she could remember what was getting her to heaven, and her answer was, “keep the ten commandments”.  Totally wrong answer.  So I went back to explain, but I think she had checked out.  She was esp. offended when I explained that even murderers and rapists can be forgiven (touching on a question she had earlier) - she just wasn’t understanding the mercy of God and that’s because she wasn’t understanding the justice of God, or how they work together in Jesus.  We parted on pleasant terms, but there was a real look of disgusted in her eyes as she left.  I think that’s partly my fault for not explaining well - I’m reflecting on that a lot and want to improve.  But also, I had an overwhelming sense of how much she hated the idea of God telling her how life was to be lived.  She wanted to make her own rules and be her own god.  Again, it so grieves me.  God, have mercy on us all.

Sunday was interesting.  I received a text in the morning from the Russian guy I had talked to a couple of Tuesday’s ago in Riccarton.  He was interested in coming along to church.  I gave him the address and he came.  It was perfect timing, because we are working through Romans at the moment, and today’s preaching was on Romans 3:9-20 - this is exactly what my Russian friend needed to hear (Jerome preached this passage really well) and it had the desired effect.  After the meeting, Andy and I were able to continue the gospel conversation.  I ended up leaving Andy in that conversation as I headed for the streets.  (It’s now evening and I’ve now got some fresh texts from him. I'll be responding with an invite to come to church next Sunday where we will be studying from Romans 3:21 - the good news!)

Sunday’s outreach in the city was again a bit slow, but the time went really fast.  I had one solid gospel conversation with a couple of guys - it was a really good one where they seemed to grasp the whole message well.  I challenged them to count the cost and respond.

James the glue sniffer turned up later in the outreach.  He wasn’t in a good state at all. :(  I came over and sat next to him to see how he was.  His speech was very slurred and his eyes were glazed.  But he was keen to talk about religion, and I was surprised at how well he was understanding (by the questions I was asking and the answers I was getting I could tell he was actually processing what I was saying).  As I was taking him through the law, he took the two tracts I had given him and found a pocket to put them in.  Maybe when he has a clear head he will read them?  But suddenly he said he wanted to die, and then got up and walked off.  I went back to my usual spot away from my flip chart.  A minute later, he comes back and goes over to my flip chart and steals my outreach bag!  I was close enough to stop him.  I told him all it had were tracts and Bibles.  Realising there was nothing of value (but ironically the greatest value), he gave it back.  And then we wanted to talk about religion again.  2 minutes later he suddenly got up, went and got his glue bag he had left and walked off.  Interesting.  Apart from the grace of God - that’s me.  God have mercy!

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I posted last week's report on my personal Facebook wall, and I was really encouraged to see some friends commenting about their own gospel sharing endeavours!  Good stuff!  Keep it up.  If these reports are encouraging you to get out and share Jesus, then the effort is worth it! :)

You see, I’m no one special when it comes to evangelism - really.  I think the difference is that I’ve just persisted in it, and out of much practice at sharing the same message over and over I could possibly give an illusion that I’m somehow gifted - I’m not.  All it is is: study of the Bible, practice and discipline.  Yes, it’s scary when you first do it.  It’s counter cultural, etc, etc, I can list all the excuses, I know them all, because I’ve said them all.  But, what does the Bible say?  Go.  Go and tell others about Jesus.  Let’s change culture, one person at a time.  Join me.  If you look past all your fears and excuses, you know you really want to.  Jesus is amazing!  He took ALL our sin, there is no better message to share! :)  Step out, be bold, be polite, be faithful, share the gospel.

Live in Christchurch, and want some equipping and encouragement?  Consider joining some training we have planned.  Check out the details here.

Anyway, this week I was on the streets Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.  I didn’t go out today (Sunday) because instead my daughters were baptised!  It was wonderful listening to their testimonies (and the testimonies of others being baptised).  Glory to God alone.

Tuesday I was in Riccarton with Roger.  I turned up a little early and was straight into a chat with a couple of Indian fellas (who refused to hear the gospel and walked off).  Roger and I were so busy that we didn’t even have a chance to greet each other till the outreach was over!  My very next chat was a long one.  A Russian guy, where I laboured over the law and the gospel multiple times.  He seemed to be impacted a little, but he was really completely blind to what I was trying to share.  Eventually the chat came to a natural end (there is only so many times you can go over something before needing a break!) and he moved on.  But, then he came back and offered to buy me a coffee.  The outreach was practically over, and so I agreed.  When Roger finished his last chat, he came and joined us too.

The gospel conversation naturally continued.  At this point, I even had my Bible out correcting what he thought it said.  But it was getting late, and I needed to get home.  I sent him a text with some verses to check out (I helped him download a Bible on his phone).  He walked with me till I got to my car, and we finally parted ways.  He was lovely and I really enjoyed spending time with him.

Well, the next morning, I was surprised to see him texting me asking questions about what he was reading in the book of John in the Bible!  And then Saturday (yesterday) he was texting me again, where I was able to bring him back to the gospel (still completely blind to the truth, sadly).  But I’m glad he is staying in touch.  Please pray that I will continue to have the opportunity to witness to him and that he will encounter other Christians that will continue to witness to him.  That the blindness would be removed so he can see the seriousness of his sin (and smell its stench), and then the amazing mercy of Jesus and trust in him.  But, ultimately that God would be glorified through his life.

Friday was also busy, in the city, there was a team of 4: Roger, Andy, John and myself.  It was great to see Simon the Atheist out!  I’ve been praying for him, and I haven’t seen him for a long time.  He was out earning gold stars from the cosmos by telling the Jehovah Witnesses how wrong they are.  Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to catch up with him myself - this time.

I spoke with a man with a Mormon background.  The Hara Kristina’s went through, but they had forgotten to bring the book they said they would bring for me.  God willing next Friday!  And maybe I’ll be able to start deepening the conversation with them?  Please pray.  God’s mercy is not beyond anyone.  I spoke with another couple (he was resistant, she was open).  I spoke with a young man who used to play cricket.

To end the outreach, I stopped two young ladies who were walking around playing loud music.  Sadly, one of the first things one of them said was that she was suicidal :(  As our conversation progressed, the volume on the music dropped and was eventually switched off.  They heard the law and the gospel, and then I circled back to plead with your not to commit suicide - there is hope!

It was great to have John join me on Saturday (a different John from Friday’s outreach).  We were in Riccarton on what was a warm sunny day.  Spring is nearly here! :D  It was also a fairly busy outreach too.  John and I took turns at running the flip chart.

We shared the gospel with three girls, then John was sharing with a guy when a lady broke into the conversation!  I distracted the lady off to the side and left John with the guy.  I only had about 5 minutes with her, but those 5 minutes seemed significant.  She was a 7th day adventist.  She seemed stunned when I asked why she could go to heaven.  She thought for a bit, and then said, “keep the 10 commandments”.  So, we started looking at the 10 commandments.  Had she lied?  She looked like she had just been caught!  Had she stolen?  “Well, when I was 13”, she responded.  So I asked her what you call someone who steals things when they are 13.  But then she said that God is forgiving.  If you ask for forgiveness, you’ll be okay.  And I was able to explain why that wouldn’t help.  But then I switched to the good news, and explained about Jesus.  She processed this for a bit, but then she just wanted to talk about the Sabbath.  I pleaded with her that that was the least of her concerns at the moment.  But, I think that was all she could cope with for now.  She had to go.  But she did accept a tract before she went.

The final chat of the day was with a young man who had been involved with churches in the past, but was now suppressing the truth of the reality of God.

I love my job.  It’s so easy.  The message is the same, and you just repeat it.  And there is a small set of questions that are always asked that the Bible has the answer for.  Practice and discipline is all you need to add (as well as a huge dollop of love for the people you are talking to).  It is so rewarding.  And then, you rest: physically, and in the sovereignty of the one and only triune God of the universe.  All glory to him alone.
 

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