Battle Log

Today, Wednesday, 2 gospel outreaches: city in the morning, and a new outreach outside the hospital in the afternoon.

I was feeling really tired this morning. It can take a lot of energy to start conversations from cold - and then maintain them. So I needed to pace myself by planting my flip chart, and relying on tracts (and prayer) to allow conversations to come to me more naturally.

And I was incredibly encouraged with the first conversation.

When Andy Barlow and I were in Aussie last year, we had an opportunity to do some (intense) ministry outside an abortion clinic with Andrew & Tom from the Project 139 team. A guy turned up at the clinic with his girlfriend (not for an abortion) and he stayed to talk (argue) with all of us.

Well, this morning, in Christchurch, NZ - this same guy and his girlfriend walked past and recognized me from the previous encounter. They were very keen for a chat (he approached me), and wanted me to explain the flip chart to them. (Always my pleasure!) I think the guy was quite impacted by meeting me again. He has had a 2nd opportunity to hear the gospel - he may not get another, today is the day of salvation. May they trust in Christ.

Later, I preached in the Square before taking a break for lunch and then heading to the Hospital.

I was a bit concerned that this new outreach would be slow, but I was pleasantly surprised by all the gospel conversations I managed to have.

The stand out conversation was with a hospital worker who had seen me standing on the sidewalk from within the orange hospital building (see pic), and took the time to come down and find out what I was doing. It turned out she was a Christian, and she gave me some wonderful encouragement and feedback. I'm looking forward to coming back to this spot next week.

I appreciate all the prayer, support and those that are making time to join me. Thank you so much. SDG

---

Tuesday outreach involved trying a new location: Riccarton Road. It turned out to be a decent spot. I was there in the afternoon, and there were plenty of high school students open to a gospel chat. In 1 conversation I had 6 students gathered around the flip chart. One of them said he thinks about death every night (not in a suicidal way, but in a "I don't want to die" way) - he accepted a gospel booklet from me.

Earlier in the day, I was in the central city and it was wonderful to have Graeme serving our Lord along side me.

I had a really difficult conversation today. It was with someone who had been to Bible College and was working in Christian ministry, but who had seen the flip chart (the law and the gospel) before but wasn't a fan, as it made people feel bad. We had quite a long discussion, and the subject swung to homosexuality - another area where we disagreed.

I became concerned that this person didn't understand the gospel, and didn't have their trust in the finished work of Jesus upon the cross for their salvation. Out of my love for them, I raised this concern. And it didn't go well. They stayed to discuss, but they eventually said that they felt judged, and started crying - leaving in that state.

I felt stink. My prayer is that this person wouldn't harden their heart and become bitter, but that this would lead to soul searching and new life in Christ.

I've been working the conversation through my mind, looking for ways I could have done better. Oh, how I want to represent God correctly. I know how short I fall - and this motivates me to study more. I am open to correction and reproof.

Some of you may know this person. Some of you might agree with them over me on this. I understand that. And as much as I want to be liked by people, and please them, I must be faithful to the truth of scripture. I must fear God over men.

In gentleness, and as best as I can, I will be honest with you.

---

A team of 4 out sharing the gospel on a sunny Sunday afternoon - so wonderful to have a new team member. We met her during the summer mission a few weeks ago.

There were many opportunities for gospel conversations - much to the irritation of our atheist heckler, who came through to interject his opinion into the various 1 to 1 conversations that were happening. In my case he said "all he wants is your money" - which couldn't be further from the truth! No, my motivation is the truth: the seriousness of sin, reality of hell, and the amazing grace through faith in Jesus' finished work on the cross! We must get out to share the good news with those that don't know it!

Amazingly, the conversation that our heckler tried to interrupt ended up in the listener (a tourist from Berlin, Germany) understanding the good news of Jesus and saying there was nothing stopping him from trusting in Christ. May he do so! He is leaving Christchurch tomorrow, so I left him with a booklet and a way to get in touch if he desires. I'll leave the "follow up" to God.

We finished the outreach with preaching in Cathedral Square.

Thank you for your prayer and support, and please consider joining the team! The harvest is ripe, laborers required.

---

2 outreaches today: 1 x Central City and 1 x New Brighton. Both outreaches were supposed to be 3 hours but, praise God, the city outreach went half an hour longer due to a wonderful gospel conversation with three men.

During this discussion, after they asked good questions to clarify they understood the message I was sharing, and after I had asked a checking question to confirm they had understood the message I was sharing - one of the men said he was gay.

I don't think he did this to challenge / attack me, but because he felt safe enough to disclose this and inquire as to where this fit with God.

And I was honest: homosexuality is a sin, and if we are trusting in Christ for salvation we will want to repent (change our mind) about this - as well as other sin. I also had the opportunity to explain why homosexuality was sin.

After this, I could see him trying to deny the true God as he wanted to hold on to his sin. I understood this reaction, but I just kept coming back to Romans 1:18-20 - we know the true God exists, but we suppress this knowledge because we love our sin. I gave all 3 guys the tract "How we know that God exists and why it matters".

I was also able to talk about 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - that our sin is serious, including homosexuality, but that all sin, including homosexuality, can be forgiven through faith in Jesus. The guy accepted the booklet "God and Sexuality" that explained more.

As the discussion ended - I said, with a smile, "I don't hate you, man". And he smiled back and said "I know".

I had many other wonderful conversations in the city, I was able to preach in the Square, and my friend, Gary, joined me by handing out tracts. It was so wonderful watching the polite way he did this.

The 2nd outreach was going to be in Sumner, but I ended up diverting to New Brighton because 1) Gary was going to New Brighton and so I offered him a lift, and 2) the Coast to Coast event was ending there attracting lots of people.

I found it hard witnessing in a new location, but I was able to have some good conversations, including with 2 homeless guys (separate conversations) and a guy relaxing on the beach, but very open to a conversation and who kept exclaiming afterwards - "I understand, it makes sense". Yet, understanding and actually trusting are different things. I challenged him to trust in Christ today.

---

I had to call an ambulance tonight.  Mike and I were both sharing the gospel with people, when a lady collapsed on the road behind us! I think she'll be fine, so once the ambulance arrived, we went back to work and Mike ended up having a great gospel conversation with 2 sets of people at the same time (see pic with ambulance in the background).

We had some encouragement from a Christian tourist who said she had seen Christians on the Gold Coast, Australia sharing the gospel. She showed me a photo - and I recognized an Operation 513 team member! (see pic). So cool that people are encountering Christians sharing the gospel multiple times in different places on one trip.

We also had some discouragement with our main atheist heckler turning up and wasting our time. :( Although, ultimately, nothing is wasted. I have compassion for this angry man - and I know God has used him to grow me in many ways. God uses all things for the good of those who love Him.

Earlier in the day a team of 6 - including 2 newbies - were out sharing Jesus via preaching, flip chart conversations, and tracts. 3 of the OAC team were also out, and a new evangelist is in town, with his own way of presenting the gospel. So that's at least 10 Christians sharing the gospel in the afternoon, and 2 in the evening. Very encouraging. May more laborers be raised up, and more churches get involved with the great commission on the streets - all to the glory of God.

(It's great to see some progress being made on the broken Cathedral too.)

---

Back on the streets of Christchurch today, doing my best to share the gospel. The time went fast, as I was either open air preaching or talking to people most of the time - which is good - but, sadly, there was much resistance to Jesus.

I continued a conversation with a guy I met, and shared the gospel with (as well as answering many questions) at the end of the summer mission to Christchurch (just over 2 weeks ago). But sadly he seemed more closed than the first time I talked to him.

And I set up my flip chart for the last 30 minutes of the outreach which attracted some conversations. But sadly, 3 elderly people openly mocked the concept of hell, making jokes. And after that, a man got angry with me and walked off in a huff while we were discussing the basis for truth. None of these people stayed long enough to hear the gospel.

Honestly, I went out dragging my heels today, and I left feeling dejected. It's hard work bringing a message to people that don't want to hear it. I guess I feel like Jeremiah today.

But I'm not discouraged. Jesus has asked us to go. I love Him and will obey, even when it's hard. We are not always going to be clicking our heels after an outreach. And I can't judge what is going on in people's hearts. May God use our fumbling attempts to share Jesus for His glory. (And yet, I'm motivated to be the best ambassador for Jesus that I can be.)

Looking forward to heading out again tomorrow. :) At the very least, it will be an opportunity to worship. Who's joining me?

---

A nice Sunday afternoon to get out and chat with people about eternity and the gospel, after enjoying worship and fellowship with our local churches.  A team of 3 today from 2 local churches.

We decided to go to our old fishing spot just outside Ballantynes - a spot we have only recently been able to start using again now that the construction next door is complete giving the foot path its good flow of foot traffic again.  We also set up a flip chart on the opposite side of the mall.

The Christchurch (NZ) team are loving the use of the Eternity tract.  It's a great conversation starter: "Hi, we are talking to people about eternity today.  What do you think happens in Eternity?" (while handing them the tract), and if people aren't keen for a chat, they will often keep the tract which explains the good news.

Today, a young lady walked past my flip chart and took a tract, but didn't stop to chat.  Soon after, an older Catholic gentlemen stopped for a chat.  Then I noticed the young lady was back, and patiently waiting for the conversation to end - she obviously had something to say.  My assumption was that she was going to give me a piece of her mind over offense at the gospel message on the tract.  The gentlemen moved on and my attention was with the young lady again.  But to my pleasant surprise, she didn't want to give me a piece of her mind, but she had many good and genuine questions about God, and Christianity - and the gospel was shared.  She had read the tract and it had motivated her to follow up - praise God for tracts!

It just goes to show that we can often think the worst might happen, when in fact it's often the opposite.  And this often stops us doing what we should.  I know evangelism often invokes a great fear, which holds us back, e.g.: "I'll be asked a question I can't answer" or "they'll get angry at me".  And yes, that might happen from time to time.  But more often than not a wonderful conversation will occur with people walking away with an understanding of the good news of Jesus - which is "the power of God for salvation" (Romans 1:16).  And with training and experience, we will get better at dealing with those few times where we get asked hard questions, or people are upset.  There are many teams of Christians out sharing the love of God that you can join to get that training and experience.  I want to encourage you to step past your fears and take the first step by getting in touch!

Another wonderful conversation started with the "Eternity" approach.  But the man wasn't interested, and wouldn't take the tract.  But I noticed he was wearing a cap advertising a technology I was familiar with (my background is in IT).  I was genuinely interested in why he was wearing the cap, and a conversation occurred naturally.  It turns out that a conference was starting the following day, at the university, and he had flown in from Australia to attend.  We talked about IT for a while, when he asked: "So what do you do now?".  This opened up an opportunity to come back to the Eternity tract.  He clearly said he didn't want to talk about religion -- and I respected that.  But he did say he would take the tract and read it.  He popped it into his shirt pocket, and the conversation drifted back to IT.  Soon after we parted ways with a hand shake.  But a silent missionary was sitting in his shirt pocket.  God willing, it will come out and witness the gospel to him at exactly the right time.

---

Day 10 of 10: Christchurch (NZ) Summer Mission + Friday Night Outreach

Today we had a solid team of 9 out sharing, including 3 children.  So wonderful to have people of all ages (including a retired pastor), abilities, experience levels and walks of life unified on the need to get the gospel of Jesus to the lost.  I want to encourage ALL Christians to get involved.  The gospel message is not complicated, and if you have the ability to smile, and simply hand out tracts to people walking past - then you can do this!  And outreach teams are being established that you, and your church, can join to get training and grow in confidence and experience.

The photos only show a sampling of the many gospel interactions that occurred.

Thank you so much to those that have been praying for the Christchurch team while we were on our yearly mission to our own city. And the encouragement and support has been so appreciated.  God bless! :) 

---

Day 9 of 10: Christchurch (NZ) Summer Mission

Today we took the chilly bin of cold drinks and focused on walk up conversations with people: both in the City (including an excursion down to the Botanical Gardens), and at Sumner Beach.

Using soft drinks to start conversations is a wonderful tool (something unique to our Summer Mission).  Proverbs 18:16 (ESV) "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before the great."  It is only a tool - a non essential, unlike the gospel message - which is essential.  But many times today it caused people to stop when it was clear they wouldn't have otherwise - and often a wonderful gospel conversation was able to occur.

An example of this was first thing this morning, as we were walking down High Street towards Cathedral Square, a young man ended up walking parallel to us.  An Eternity tract was offered and accepted, but it didn't look like he would stop for a conversation.  When offered a free drink, he seemed genuinely surprised and gratefully accepted.  By this stage we were waiting at the lights to cross into Cathedral Square and I was able to start discussing the law and gospel with him.  He became engrossed, and we slowed down to a stand still in the Square as I finished explaining the gospel and offered a booklet with more details.  I was surprised when he said yes, and that he would sit down right then and read it!  I've never had that happen before.  This young man sat down, read through the Eternity tract, and then picked up the booklet and started reading through it (see first picture, where another of the team is also sharing the gospel with someone else).  I took the time to write out my contact details for this young man and gave them to him.  I then moved elsewhere and had a separate gospel conversation; when I came back, he was still reading.  Praise God!  Our job is to share the gospel, God does the saving - for His glory alone.

Many other gospel conversations were had today.  We thank God for the opportunities He provided to share of His mercy and grace - and we trust Him with the results.  Your prayers and support are a vital part of this mission - please continue to pray as we move into the final day tomorrow.

 

---

Day 8 of 10 of the summer mission to Christchurch (NZ)

Today was a day of gospel conversations in the most unlikely of places and ways.

We loaded up the chilly bin with cold drinks to give away, with the intention of eventually making it to the beach for evangelism there.  But we never ended up making it.

We decided to start in the central city, as we had to follow up with authorities in regard to the flip chart drama from the previous day.

Using cold drinks or tracts as conversation starters, or the flip chart - we had limited success in sharing the gospel message with people.  Although some good conversations were had.

After lunch, we decided to head for the beach.  But on the way to our cars, as we were walking down Cashel Street (the part outside the central city, and so with low foot traffic) we noticed a skateboarder who looked hot and in need of a cold drink!  It was gratefully accepted, and turned into a wonderful gospel conversation (see picture).

While this conversation was going, another team member had other opportunities to hand out tracts & give away drinks as conversation starters.  One of those conversations was with 2 construction workers on a break.  This conversation was special for 2 reasons: 1) Every morning of this mission, as we have headed to the streets, we have passed a big group of construction workers on their morning break, some of whom received tracts.  2) 1 of the 2 construction workers approached today had received tracts on a previous day!  This was a wonderful opportunity to follow up, and he started by saying "Religion doesn't make any sense".  In as much time that was allowed, and starting with this statement, objections were answered, and the law and gospel was shared - with a call to repentance and faith.  I'm hoping this will lead to some thinking on their part, and lead to more follow up questions in future mornings, God willing.

Once the conversation with the skateboarder had finished, we continued heading towards our parked cars, when a guy we had talked to the previous day saw us again, and was keen for a follow up conversation.  This man had had some kind of powerful spiritual encounter a year or so ago, but was now believing in something that included Christianity, but wasn't Christianity.  Specifically, he thought the Bible was interesting, and Jesus was important.  But that God spoke to him directly.  He was convinced that people are generally good, but yet he loved the hymn amazing grace (that saved a wretch like me).  We continued to challenge this man about the sinfulness of man, and the gift of Jesus.

So, after all these conversations in the least expected of places, we had run out of time to head to the beach.  But the day wasn't over.

One of the team decided to head back to Cashel Mall to do some more gospel sharing before the end of the day, and at the Colombo Street intersection an "Eternity" gospel tract was handed to a young man while waiting for the lights to go green to cross the road.  A conversation got going, and neither of us ended up making the crossing.  The young man was new to Christchurch and was lost.  He needed to get to Riccarton Mall, and asked if he could walk there.  It was too far, and since that mall was on the way home, a ride was offered and accepted.  All the way to the car (back down Cashel Street), and on the drive over to Riccarton Mall, a wonderful gospel conversation occurred.  This young man had gotten involved with Christianity through a youth group in his home town.  But he had no understanding of the gospel, and was calling himself agnostic now, in spite of once being a passionate "Christian".  He seemed to really appreciate the new gospel information I was giving him, and he gladly accepted a Bible, gospel booklet, DVD, and tract with contact details.  The last photo on this report is of him just after being dropped off.  Oh, may he understand, repent, and believe the gospel - to the glory of God alone!

---

Page 1 . . . 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

---