Battle Log

Saturday I was back to my usual spot at the Bridge of Remembrance.  Eventually, there ended up being quite a few groups there.  There was a group protesting child abuse, Falun Gong, the Hare Krishnas, a group protesting the CCP in relation to Hong Kong.  And me!  The lonely Christian.

The highlight conversation of the morning was with a lady who had come in support of the child abuse group.  She had been raised an atheist, but was wrestling with the reality of evil in the world.  We had a lovely conversation where I would listen to her and appropriately challenge her thinking.  I was able to touch on the gospel a few times.  She received a phone call which, unfortunately, ended our conversation.  But she did accept a follow up tract.

In the afternoon, I joined the Aussie team for a couple of hours of outreach online.  The gospel conversation that stands out in my memory was with a girl who went to a Catholic school in Australia.  She was very open to the logic of what I was explaining, and thanked me afterwards - before we disconnected.

Today was Outreach Sunday for Redemption Church.  There was a good sized team handing out tracts and having conversations via flip charts.

I hadn’t even finished setting up the flip chart, when Andy noticed some guys that looked interested - sure enough they were, and Andy had a long chat with them (pictured).

While that was happening, the local member of parliament went past: Duncan Webb.  I stopped him and asked why I should vote for him.  It turns out his PhD is in Ethics.  So I challenged him on where we get ethics from.  The conversation quickly turned religious and he mentioned that he had grown up in an evangelical Christian environment - I challenged him on what the core of Christianity was about: what do we have to do to go to heaven?  He wanted to bail from the conversation at this point, so I switched the conversation to politics.  I asked him about freedom of speech (something his party wants to restrict) and abortion (something his party liberalised earlier in the year).  Sadly he really had to go by this point.  But he accepted a gospel tract.

Later I ended up having some good conversations with resistant young people (2 x 2 late teen guys) - I never made it to the gospel, and yet they all accepted tracts.

After this, I ended up pairing up with a member of Redemption Church to set up a new flip chart further down the mall.  Sadly, we didn’t get any good conversations going.  But I did notice that Andy was being interviewed back where he was!  Turns out they were some guys doing a school project who wanted an alternative point of view.  They certainly got it from Andy - they had a long chat!

[Edit: I just remembered, one of my regulars came up to say hi at this point.  He said he is a Christian and wants to get baptised!  I queried him on the gospel and what local church he is connected to - he gave good answers!  How wonderful.  Glory to God for that!]

It certainly was an interesting outreach!  So grateful to have members of Redemption Church out with us today.  May Christians continue to be encouraged in sharing the gospel, and the lost continue to hear the gospel!  All glory to God alone.
 

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Thursday I joined the Aussie online team for a couple of hours in the morning, before joining Andy at the Eastgate and Northlands bus stops in the afternoon.

There was a lot of opportunity to share the gospel at the bus stops.  There were a few highlights, but the one I’ll mention was the very last conversation of the day.  I was heading towards my car and I decided to offer a tract to a guy waiting for his bus.  To my surprise, he was eager to talk.  I think he may have been listening to my previous conversation with a guy who had just got out of jail.  He drank in the gospel like someone who was really thirsty.  What a privilege to be able to talk with him about Jesus!

Friday started with the gospel + abortion outreach outside the hospital.  I was the first one there, and one of our main counter protesters was there waiting for us.  I smiled and said good morning - I was ignored.

I got out one of our signs and took my place.  The counter protester stood right in front of me.  Andy joined me soon after, and we prayed together.

There ended up being about four counter protesters.  And six of us.

A lady stopped to actually engage us in a discussion.  Andy did a wonderful job at calmly reasoning with her.  But all I could hear her say is, “I think...”, “I think...”, “I think...”.  She was blind to to the fact that, without God, she wouldn’t even have a brain to think with, let alone the breath to voice her opinions.  I was thankful to God for his common grace, and his patience in holding off his justice so people (who don’t deserve it) can hear of his amazing mercy!

The support for the counter protesters well outweighed any support for us.  Every time a car tooted support for them, they gleefully cheered.

I started to feel burdened and grieved.  Grieved because they are cheering for the murder of children.  Burdened because, apart from the grace of God - that is me.  One day soon, very soon, we will be facing the God we all know exists and be judged by the law written on our hearts.  His justice will be perfect.  And that is terrifying.

I wept.  And I prayed for the mercy of God for these counter protesters.  Apart from the grace of God - that is me!

I may not be charismatic, but that does not mean I’m not passionate, and it doesn’t mean I don’t have emotions.  And that passion and emotion burst out of me in Cathedral Square in the speaker's corner.  Marty had done a wonderful job preaching before me, and one of the hecklers was using his God given breath to mock God.  I was overwhelmed and wept as I preached, pleading with the lost within earshot to accept the mercy of God before it’s too late.  I wept for the hecklers, whom I love.  Oh, if only my passion and emotions could save people!  But it can’t.  Only God can do that, only through the gospel.  We have to trust him.

Andy did a wonderful job preaching after me.

We then moved to Cashel Mall where Roger joined us.  I was feeling pretty exhausted by this stage, so I set up my flip chart, sat down, and just started handing out tracts with a smile and politeness.  To my surprise, I ended up having a busy couple of hours talking with various people.

It really was a day of tears.  The first person to stop was a young lady.  Strangely, she thought Donald Trump was the best person on the chart, and Bill Gates was the worst!  Turns out she was into some conspiracy theories.  Going from there, I was able to gently steer the conversation to the most important question of life: death.

I was able to explain the gospel to her.  I could tell it was familiar to her, but it was like I was saying something she hadn’t heard before.  I moved on to checking questions, and the penny seemed to drop with the “man crossing the road” analogy.  She finally understood the grace of God.  I could tell - because tears came to her eyes.  She forced them back, but later in the conversation, they came again.  Eventually she stopped trying to hide it, and she cried in understanding of the wonder of the gospel.  I cried too as I basked in the wonder of the fact that, apart from the grace of God - that is me!  Yet her tears are no guarantee that she is saved.  But with everything in me, I pray that God would save her, by his grace, and that she would start getting discipled in a good local church.

I finished the day of outreach with a couple of hours online.  I barely survived.  I had to work hard to be patient with people who were fighting against God and the gospel.  Lord have mercy.  Thank you for having mercy on me.  I love you Lord, with every fiber of my being.  Give us strength to continue ministering your gospel to person after person, after person.  Be glorified in bringing your justice and mercy.
 

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I tried a new outreach location today: Hornby (pictured).  I never really felt it would be suitable - lots of car traffic, but not much in foot traffic in public locations.  Yet there will be people that I’ll never encounter if I don’t go to where they will be!  So it’s worth a try. :)

I did a lot of walking to really scout out the location.  And I was really surprised at the spots where I ended up having conversations with people.

First up was outside a stadium, there was an older gentleman in a mobility scooter - with a beer in his hand on a Tuesday morning!  I said a cheery hello and managed to strike up a conversation.  He gave me some good intel on the area.  I tried to switch the conversation to spiritual things, but sadly he closed up - he wanted to go to hell, where he thought he would drink beer forever.  He scootered off soon after.

I then discovered a big park area, with a BMX track in it.  Barely a person to be seen!  Yet, my best conversation of the morning occurred here.  A lady walked past and accepted a tract.  She hesitated, wondering what it was and I jumped at the opportunity to explain.  We ended up having a long gospel chat.

For the rest of the morning, I managed to strike up a few conversations which didn’t go far, and hand out a few tracts.

Yet I don’t feel like the excursion was wasted if not for that one long conversation.

After lunch I was online before heading to Riccarton with Roger.  I forgot my flip chart, which was a good thing, as I ended up wandering down to the bus stops and having some good conversations with various groups of people.  Roger seemed pretty busy and content on his flip chart as I approached people elsewhere.

I encountered plenty of high school kids and was able to challenge them with the gospel.  One kid was sitting on a bench and I was able to get a conversation going while I fished more tracts out of my pack.  The kid went to a Christian school and a local church, but was completely ignorant of the gospel.  I gently guided him to what I knew he knew but was completely missing.  Eventually he got it, but I was shocked at how glibly he talked about Jesus and what He did for us on the cross - and I hit him up about it.  He had to leave soon after, but I hope our conversation was a bit of a wake up call.  He left with a gospel tract.

I headed back to where Roger was, and noticed a couple of guys over in my usual flip chart spot.  I ended up getting into a decent gospel chat with them and another of their friends who arrived soon after.

On my second run down to the bus stops and ended up having a couple of good chats.  The first was with a couple of guys, one of whom went to a Christian school.  Encouragingly, he had a very good grasp of the gospel.  The second was with a very intellectual guy from Chile.  Evolution was a big issue for him and I felt I needed to address it.  He was very resistant to my argumentation, so I switched to two very clear and concrete examples to back up what I was saying (that evolution goes in the wrong direction - it can’t add information).  I was encouraged that these seemed to make him pause and think.  Sadly I wasn’t able to get to the gospel with him.

Wednesday brought some very hot weather!  Zack joined me for a couple of hours of outreach in the city, starting at the Square and finishing at Ara.  There was no shortage of gospel opportunity and conversations.

I encountered Bradly again!  He was the guy who walked up to me a couple of weeks ago and said “you made me believe in God”.  I was amazed to hear that he been out “sharing the gospel”.  He said he and some friends had bought food and were giving it away to people on the streets while telling them that Jesus loves them!  Probably not how I would go about it - but has a heart change occurred?  He is articulating the gospel well when I challenge him.  He is still reading the Bible on his phone, and is even attending a local church!  I told him to get in touch.  I hope to see him again (many more times) and, God willing, see him start to flourish.  Pray for him.

I finished the outreach with a chat with a guy who goes to a local church but, without realising it, basically said he wants to be the God of his own life!  I was shocked.  He seemed completely blind to what he was saying.  And the gospel seemed pretty meaningless to him.  I felt sad as we parted ways.

I was pretty tired as I finished my day with some online outreach.  But I managed to have some wonderful conversations with some deep thinkers.  The last conversation was with a guy from Ethiopia.  His gentle resistance melted as he came to grasp the gospel.
 

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Saturday was a devastating day for me.  I found out that Terrance had died.  Cancer.  With all the evangelism I do in the central city, I get to know the regulars.  Terrance was one of them.  Over the last year and a half, I’ve tried to share the gospel with him a lot.  He wasn’t interested.  And now he’s going to hell (unless he repented since the last time I saw him).  I’m devastated.

I can now think of three people that I’ve shared the gospel with in the central city, and they are now in eternity having rejected the good news of Jesus.  This job is impossible.  And yet, the impossible is possible for God.  I might not see any change in anyone, but God has told us to GO.  We have to trust him with the results.  And I do.  I’m just motivated more to tell as many people as I can about Jesus.

I had a number of good gospel conversations in front of the Bridge of Remembrance on Saturday morning, including with three army soldiers.  A guy in a wheelchair, and a guy (with a praying mother) struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.

I joined the online team in the afternoon, and I was still feeling the deviation of the news earlier in the day.  I think it bubbled out of me in my conversations online.  Life is not a joke, it’s serious.  God is real, justice is real, and mercy is available while we have breath and know the gospel.

I spoke with a guy smoking marijuana in his car.  He was shocked to be paired with me for a chat - but he became very sober as I pleaded with him about his eternity.  He was able to articulate the gospel before we parted ways.

Two kids from Aussie (if I remember right) from a Christian school taking the questions I was asking lightly.  They thought they would be good enough to get to heaven.  The picture shows them looking a bit more thoughtful by the end of the conversation.

I then was paired with some teen guys from the States (I’m pretty sure).  By the end of the conversation, all three of them were staring at me as I pleaded with them to stop fooling around with their souls.

On Sunday there was a team of six out in the afternoon.  I had a busy outreach.  The conversation that stands out was another follow up with a guy I wrote about a few Friday’s ago (on that Friday he came up to me and said: “you made me believe in God”).  Well he’s not yet trusting that Jesus died for his sins.  So I went over the gospel with him again and another girl friend.  The girl seemed to grasp the gospel well and was challenged to count the cost of trusting Christ.

Please, don’t stop sharing the gospel - it’s the power of God for salvation!
 

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I have a lot to write about the outreaches over Thursday and Friday.

I started with online outreach Thursday morning.  My first conversation was with a young lady who didn’t know who Adolf Hitler was! :(  She heard about the serious nature of sin as I explained the law of God to her.  But she wasn’t taking the conversation seriously.  I didn’t share the gospel with her.

For the afternoon, Andy and I were at Northlands and then Eastgate bus stops.

At Northlands I had a guy walk past who responded to my opening question by staring at me for a while.  I couldn’t read him.  He finally said something very intellectual.  He was very resistant, but he wanted to talk - so we had a long conversation.  Early on, one of his friends joined the conversation.  I persisted with the conversation because the friend was not as resistant - he even helped his friend understand the logic he was so resistant to.  When the conversation finally wound down, after I’d been able to take them through the law and the gospel - they accepted tracts as we parted ways.

Friday started with the gospel + abortion outreach which you can read about here.

After that, as we were walking past the Bridge of Remembrance on the way to Cathedral Square, a guy biked past who suddenly slammed on his brakes!  It turns out it was a guy I had talked to at the Northlands bus stops a month or so earlier.  He had been thinking deeply about the gospel conversation we had had - which was very encouraging.  The conversation became quite pastoral, as we talked about why we can have an assurance of salvation, and why we should take drastic measures to flee from sin!  He said our meeting again had been an answer to prayer, and he said he would see me again in heaven!  I certainly hope I see him again before then!  I encouraged him to join an outreach team.  He knows how to get in touch.

There was the unusual gathering of preachers and hecklers in Cathedral Square.  The lone ranger preacher was preaching when we turned up.  At one point, he had two hecklers getting stuck into him.  To the shock of everyone, a third guy walked past and pulled the preacher off the statue he was standing on!  He crashed to the ground on his back!  He was very startled, but he quickly jumped back up and continued preaching.  He wasn’t himself initially - he became very defensive.  After a few minutes, our eyes met - I mouthed: “are you ok?”  He smiled back - thank God he was okay!  Sadly, one of the hecklers continued heckling him in a nasty way.  The guy who committed the assault left the scene so fast, everyone was trying to work out what had happened.  We will be extra careful in the future.

Marty and Andy preached.  I spent my time in one to one conversations.  Last week I wrote about a man who completely lost it when I told him: “the root of change is in Jesus”.  Well, he turned up again today, and he came over to me to apologise.  It was very good to see him in a more sound state.

Later in the afternoon a team of five were at the Bridge of Remembrance for one to one gospel conversations.  Roger seemed to have a busy time on his flip chart (pictured).  I went roaming and managed to have a number of wonderful conversations.

Firstly, I approached a group of kids on the grass and managed to get a good conversation going (pictured).  Many of them were “Christian”, sadly, none of them knew the gospel which I attempted to remedy before they had to go.

But the stand out conversation was with an elderly couple (pictured).  I approached them in my usual manner completely expecting them to reject me.  But to my surprise, the gentleman was open enough to allow me to continue, and continued to open up as the conversation progressed.  Just before I was going to share the gospel, he switched the conversation from spiritual matters to natural matters (where are you from, what do you do, etc).  I followed his lead, but gently kept trying to get the conversation back to the gospel.  Eventually I was direct, and asked if he wanted to hear the good news.  He did!  He accepted a follow up gospel tract too.  I was overjoyed.

Mike and I headed out for the Friday night outreach in the central city.  One of Mike’s conversations is pictured.

But before Mike arrived, I had a number of opportunities to talk to people (3 in fact) - all of whom heard the bad news, but didn’t want the good news!  One of the guys, just suddenly turned and ran off!  He ran straight into a pole, which he dodged at the last minute, and then ran down the street!  Welcome to my life!  I gave a tract to his mate (who had a bemused smile on his face), and asked him to give it to him.

The evening finished with conversations with some of the “punks” (for want of a better word) who were getting drunk.  I was able to finish a gospel conversation with one of them that I had started two weeks earlier!  Glory to God.

 

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On Tuesday, to get myself going, I started with an online text chat, and it didn’t start well:

You: In the same way, we know there is a universe maker, that had no maker that made this universe
Stranger: <bleep> and stop spreading that <bleep>
You: It is hope
You: Because God is so rich in mercy
Stranger: no it is <bleep>
You: Why the anger and hate?
Stranger: because you are trying to force me to believe in something i don't
You: Impossible
You: I can't force anything on you.

I ignored the toys being thrown out of the cot and persisted, and surprisingly the person calmed down a bit:

Stranger: wait time out can i ask a question

Amazingly, I was able to share the gospel!  Yet they were still very resistant.  Eventually they opened up about suicide - and I was able to speak words of hope before they disconnected on me.

I then switched to video chat and had a number of conversations.  The final one went long.  I was talking to a guy from India early in the conversation he asked me about “batting”.  I instantly knew he liked cricket - something I enjoy myself!  Instantly the conversation became very warm.  We talked about cricket players from New Zealand and India for a while.  But I brought the conversation back to spiritual matters.  He heard the gospel.  But the concept of justification by faith alone was so foreign to this guy, that I would explain it to him, and then ask him to explain it back, and he would instantly revert to his goodness as why he would be justified!  He was open, and so I took the time to labour with him.

Later, there was a team of four in Riccarton - Roger had two friends with him.  We had a good time sharing the gospel with a number of people.

The highlight conversation for me was with an older guy who had been with the Jehovah’s Witnesses for three years - but he “couldn’t hack the pace”.  He was very aware of the fact that he wasn’t a good person, so I was able to focus on the good news of the gospel, and labour with him on it.  He came to understand (checking questions confirming) and really appreciated the chat.  I gave him follow up contact details - oh Lord, change his heart!

Wednesday was sunny, but there was a strong wind.  I’m glad I didn’t have my flip chart!

I started in Cathedral Square.  I approached all the construction workers.  A lot of them said they had already received tracts and weren’t interested in talking.  But I persisted and one of the Phillipino guys opened up to a chat.  I didn’t have long with him, as he had to go to work, but I was able to share the gospel.

I started to move towards Cashel Mall when I encountered a fellow evangelist, and we ended up sitting down for a brief chat of encouragement.  In the middle of the conversation three people walked past, and I suddenly decided to engage them.  One was not interested, another so so, but the third decided to take me on.  It was quite a fiery conversation - he was very resistant to the logic I was presenting.  I soon discovered why.  He had been a Christian for ten years, and it hadn’t worked out for him.  I instantly asked him what Christianity was about - specifically, what you have to do to go to heaven.  Unsurprisingly he explained how you need to go to church, and be a good person, and maybe you would go to heaven.  I told him he had never understood what Christianity was.  His comeback was, “I was taught by good Southern Baptists”.  Inwardly I sighed.  He’d had enough and decided to disengage.  We parted on good terms and with hand shakes.  To my surprise, he accepted a gospel tract!

From there I started walking towards Ara.  At the basketball court on Manchester street, I saw a guy with a camera and decided to approach.  We fell into an easy conversation.  It turns out he was American and worked with the Antarctic program.  He heard the gospel, but he wasn’t interested.

To finish the day, I was back online with the Aussie team.  I had two highlight conversations:

The first was with a guy from South America.  Using Google Translate, he came to understand the gospel.  But then he asked: And what if I am bisexual?  A very good question, I was honest yet loving in how I answered.  Sadly he disconnected.

The other one was with someone who didn’t show their video and only typed in reply to what I was saying.  He heard the gospel, and then I started working through the checking questions, explaining repentance, and the cost of trusting Jesus died for our sin.

I started talking as though Jesus had died for his sin.  I asked him when he had done that, his response: 5 mins ago.  So I pointed him to a Bible and to a local church: 9marks.org/church-search/  He is from Toronto in Canada.

He then started asking questions, e.g.:
Stranger: i don't wanna be rude but are u from new zealand or australia?
Stranger: does it cost money to go to church?
Stranger: are u at a church right now?

So a wonderful couple of days filled with gospel conversations.  The gospel is so wonderful, and I’m blessed to listen to it time and again as I try to explain it to people.  Thank you for your support of this work in Christchurch (NZ).
 

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I really enjoyed my two hour outreach on Saturday morning in front of the Bridge of Remembrance.  It was a cool morning, but nice and sunny.  There seems to be a different demographic of people on Saturday morning at this spot - I think that’s part of the reason why I enjoy it so much - it’s different.

I had three long gospel chats, and three smaller interactions in the two hour outreach.

The Hare Krishnas were out.  There were two evangelists at the same spot as me.  I approached one to talk.  The guy recognised my flip chart from up north where he lives.  He was nice, but didn’t want to waste time with me.

I then had an older man stop to talk.  My opening question of “what do you think happens after life” seemed to intrigue him.  He said he wouldn’t normally stop to talk about that, but he was waiting for someone.  We ended up having a good long chat where I calmly listened, and gently gave reasons for the hope within me.  He heard the law, and the amazing good news of Jesus.  He was resistant, but something kept him from leaving.  Eventually his phone rang - it was the person he was to meet, that ended our conversation.  He left with a tract I had handed him during our chat.

A guy was curious about the flip chart, and I was able to start a conversation with him.  He kept trying to steer the conversation into conspiracy theories.  Each time I would cut him off with the reality of a deeper problem: that we will all die one day.  And then move back to explaining why.  He disengaged, but left with a tract.

The next chat was special.  It was with an Asian lady.  This was probably the longest conversation of the morning.  She had Christian friends that had impacted her, but she wasn’t willing to commit herself.  She ended up asking very deep questions, without even realising it.  Like, why is God only merciful to some people.  I calmly, logically, and biblically addressed her questions, and kept coming back to the gospel.  She was trying to work out why I would spend so much time doing what I do, in the face of so much rejection.  The answer is Jesus.  I love Jesus.  And he has asked me to go and tell people about him - what other motivation do I need?  I warned her that she may not have another opportunity to accept the gift of eternal life provided by Jesus.  I pleaded with her to respond to the gospel today.  She also left with a gospel tract that I had given her during the conversation.  I vividly remember watching her put it into her bag.  A silent missionary, ready to remind her of the conversation and what was said when the time is right.  Salvation is of the Lord!

By this stage, a larger group of Hare Kirishnas had gathered and were singing.  I approached a young lady who was listening - she smiled at me.  So I offered her a tract.  At her query, I said I was a Christian.  The smile on her face was replaced by a look of revulsion!  I ignored it, and responded pleasantly.  She handed back the tract before moving on.

Another older gentleman approached me for the last conversation of the outreach.  He was very pleasant, and wanted to know what I was up to - he wanted to know what I was smiling about (I didn’t know I was smiling).  He didn’t look it, but it turns out he was a Hare Krishna!  He was open to talk, and so I just asked him about Krishna, and going from there I was able to take him through the law and the gospel.  He was mildly resistant, but much more open than I was expecting.  He left with a gospel tract.

So a wonderful couple of hours sharing the gospel.  What a privilege and an honour being able to do what I do.  Thank you so much for your prayer and support.

 

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On Friday, we had rain in the morning.  So Andy (pictured) & I did some online evangelism.

The weather improved, so at lunch time we headed into Cathedral Square to preach the gospel in the open air.  It was a fascinating time.

I had just sat down when a guy, I’ll call him “Bob” came and sat next to me.  I recognised him as someone Andy & I had interacted with a long time ago - he was very resistant to the gospel.  But I smiled and said hello.  Instantly he started talking about his depression and thoughts of suicide!  I had immediate empathy, and wanted to share hope.  I said that the root of change is in Jesus.

He exploded in rage.

I listened for a while, but he just got worse, I had to move away.

He started loudly proclaiming his hatred of “evangelists”, and how we are not loving (a very false assertion).  The irony was lost on him.

Ari (the younger “wizard”) turned up and managed to get the guy to calm down.  Ari was sitting next to me, and Bob came and sat next to Ari.  Bob was talking to Ari (relatively camly) - but he was really firing barbs at me, which I just ignored.

Andy took the lull in activity as an opportunity to start preaching the gospel and It was going well.

Then one of our newer hecklers turned up and sat down to listen.  I decided to go over and say hello.

Bob exploded in rage again - even worse than last time.

I assume Bob had interpreted my movement as me withering from his “logic” and he went into attack mode against me again!  Very loud and verbal attacks.  Andy had to stop preaching.  And I just had to walk away - it was bizarre.  Amazingly, Bob started verbally abusing the heckler I went to talk to!  Other people had to get the guy to calm down.  Thankfully he did, and Ari managed to hold his attention for the rest of the time.  I stayed away and, thankfully, there were no more outbursts.

All I said was: the root of change is in Jesus (in the context of empathy)!

Andy was able to finish preaching in relative peace, and Marty was able to preach as well.

It was interesting, as one of the “punks” that I’ve had many gospel conversations with, made a comment about the exchange - he understood the irrational reaction was because we are speaking truth - and people don’t like the truth.  Lord, save the punk!  He knows it's true!

I had a great gospel chat with a guy on Colombo street, as I was walking back to my car.  God is good!

And I had some wonderful gospel chats online later in the day too.  God is so good!

Thursday - the weather didn't look good, so I decided to reach out online instead.  Although, the weather did improve and Andy ended up spending his time at the Eastgate bus stops reaching out there.

My prominent memory from Thursday was having difficult gospel conversations with people who were resistant.  But even the difficult gospel conversations are good conversations.  People are hearing truth, in love, and God can use His word powerfully in people’s lives - even when we don’t see it outwardly.  The gospel is the power of God for salvation!

 

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On Tuesday I was online sharing the gospel before heading to Riccarton for a couple of hours.  I spoke to a lot of high school students.

The first kid barely stayed initially, but as the conversation continued, he became more engaged.  He heard the law and gospel.  He opened up about being a Buddhist and we were able to talk about that some before he finally moved on with some gospel tracts.

Next up I had three guys stop.  They made it all the way through the flip chart - including the counting the cost page.  One of them said that nothing was stopping him.  They didn’t have any questions, but I asked him to get in touch if he did.

The next guy also made it all the way to the last page of the flip chart.  I used some examples to explain the cost of accepting the gift of Jesus - the examples hit home, and he started to really understand what I was meaning.  I challenged him to respond to the gospel and left him in God’s hands.

The last conversation of note was not with a high school student.  It was with a man originally from Chile.  He was engaged right from the beginning.  He didn’t like “ism’s” (e.g., atheism, communism, Buddhism, etc.)  He felt that it was used by powerful people to control.  Starting from here, I was able to share the gospel with him.  He rejected it, and started fighting against it.

Interestingly, while I was talking with him, four teens sat across from us and started listening to the conversation.  It was like they wanted to talk, but were waiting their turn.  They eventually left - I was able to hand one a tract though.

Wednesday was a nice warm spring day.  I went into the city before going online afterwards.

I headed for Cathedral Square first.  There was a preacher getting severely heckled - it sounded terrible, but quite a few people were hanging around watching.  It ended up being a gold mine of gospel conversations.  There were two other Christians out (from different ministries) as well, so we were all sharing the gospel.  I had about six one to one gospel opportunities.

The first was with a Christian lady who was enjoying the sun and listening to the preaching / heckling.  She was lovely, but when asked why she is going to heaven, she pointed to her obedience!  I explained that we will want to be obedient, but why can we be forgiven - she drew a blank.  I was able to explain the gospel to her, it was like she had never understood it before.

I then shared with a young couple with a young family.  They had been listening to the preaching, but hadn’t understood the gospel yet.  When I explained it, the guy came back with “that makes sense”.  He seemed relieved.  Yet I was careful to help them understand the cost of the gift.

Next up, two young men - one wasn’t interested, but the other was keen to talk.  I suspect he had a Christian background - he wasn’t interested in the gospel that he heard.

A construction worker rejected a tract but was open to chat about the preaching / heckling.  He heard the gospel and seemed very open.  He had to head back to work - he took the tract the second time.

As much as I disagree with the preacher being a lone ranger (not connected with a local church), the heckler was getting really nasty - and demanding evidence.  I decided to take him on and explain why he didn’t need evidence - that he already knew God exists.  He wouldn’t let me speak.

But he did calm down, and started talking directly with the preacher instead of yelling at him and calling him names.  I was grateful for that.

One of the other Christians (who is associated with a local church) took the opportunity to preach (pictured).

The highlight conversations from my time online was with a young Jewish lady who had been through some terrible stuff and was suicidal.  She gently argued with me, but I was able to slowly work through the gospel with her (she wanted to hear it in the end).  Eventually I ended the conversation.  And it was then she changed tune.  She apologised for arguing (she didn’t need to - she was fine), and said she would check out needGod.net.

My last conversation was with a Muslim from Egypt.  I focused on how God can be just and merciful - something that Islam can’t explain and Christianity can.  During the Tell Me Conference, James White had talked about a particular Hadith that leads to the gospel.  This guy brought up this very Hadith!  And I was able to use it in our conversation!  But sadly, he was resistant to the gospel.
 

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The end of another weekend of outreach in Christchurch (NZ).

Saturday was a bit slower than normal - I positioned myself in my usual Saturday spot near the Bridge of Remembrance.  I managed to have a few good follow up conversations, and hand out a few tracts.  Even the busker who was near me said it was slow!

I did have two good opportunities.

A middle aged couple walked past.  The wife beelined away from me, but to my surprise the husband walked past and accepted a tract.  I asked him what he thought happened after life, and he stopped to engage!  His wife abandoned him - but he wasn’t concerned.  It was a straight forward gospel conversation where he grasped the concepts quickly.  I challenged him to respond before he moved on to catch up with his wife.  The gospel is the power of God to salvation.

I approached a father and son.  Later it turned out I had talked to the father (a Christian) on a previous Saturday, but at the time he subtly indicated that I should talk to his son - which I did.  The son considered himself a Christian, but pointed to his good deeds as the reason he would be going to heaven (sigh).  He seemed impacted when I explained the gospel.  This is not a judgement, but a plea: Fathers - It’s not the ministers job to share the gospel with your children, it is yours.  You need to be constantly going over the gospel with them!

By this stage, the buskers act was in full swing, and it was loud, I decided to move locations to the Colombo and Cashel corner to finish the outreach.

Sunday afternoons outreach was the opposite of Saturday, it was busy and interesting - very interesting.

I started the outreach on my own, but I had Daryl join me.  I prayed for gospel opportunities.

First up was a conversation with a liberal American Muslim whose son (with her) and husband (who survived) had been shot in the terrible mosque shooting of the previous year.  We ended up talking for about forty minutes.  Her defensive walls to objective truth were very high, and she really liked to talk.  I knew tackling her defenses directly would be futile.  So I just patiently listened, and waited for opportunities to communicate.  Amazingly, I found a way to be able to explain the gospel to her a number of times and then watch her process it and reject it.  Every opportunity I could, I would gently lead her back to the critical issue of how God (who made the universe and has the right to make the rules) can be just and merciful.  And how Jesus is the only answer that makes sense.  When we finally parted ways, I re-expressed my deep sympathy for what she, her family, and community had been through.

By this stage, Daryl was with me - it had been a long while since he had joined me for outreach, and so I took him through the new flip chart we use.

Low and behold, two girls walked up and wanted to give the flip chart a try!  I quickly read it as a set up - they just wanted to attack.  It turns out I was only partly right.  One of them was Wicken.  Like Friday, the issues of why God allows suffering and homosexuality came up.  And also the issue abortion.  They were following the logic of my explanation of the gospel, and picked it up quickly, when one of them suddenly got angry at me.  I asked why, and she quickly calmed down - but it rattled me.  She was deeply resistant.  Later, she asked me why I do what I do.  She even said it annoys her that I’m out on the streets - it was actually a very encouraging thing for her to say.  I work very hard to not be offensive myself, but the gospel will offend!

We got into another conversation with a couple of girls - but it was quickly interrupted by a guy I’ve spoken to before who was in passive intellectual attack mode!  We lost the conversation with the two girls.  I had to work to turn the guys attack mode off - I refused to engage him otherwise.  It worked, things calmed down, we didn’t have the time for a proper conversation so I offered contact details so we could continue the chat.  He initially refused, but then he gave me his email address.  I’ve emailed him, and he has responded!  I will continue that conversation on Tuesday.

Sunday afternoon was exciting, I don’t think my writing has captured it.  We are standing against this culture with the gospel, and I’m seeing little signs that it is having an effect (all glory to God alone).  Please pray for strength and protection to continue the fight.

Excuse the photo, it’s the only one I took over the weekend of outreach!
 

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