Battle Log

Only 1 street outreach this week.  The others were replaced with online work due to weather (Friday) or other events (engagement party on Saturday, and baptisms on Sunday).  So, this is probably going to be shorter than usual!

 

Roger was with me in Riccarton on Tuesday.  Autumn is in the air, it is cold!  I wasn’t prepared for it, so we ended up wrapping up a little early.  Yet in the time we were there we had gospel opportunities.

 

The highlight for me was a chat with a couple of guys - high school age.  I was frustrated to hear one of them say that their English teacher has told them: “There is only 1 thing you can be certain of: that you can’t be certain of anything”.  Not only is that statement a contradiction (yes, I know they are trying to play on words), but it is completely untrue.  There are many things we are certain of (for example, that your house had a builder).  And it’s a subtle attack against God, who is certain.  I wish they would teach Logic at school, and they should maybe get this English teacher to teach it - he might learn something!

 

Anyway, I spent time with this young lad showing him how we can be certain, and proceeded to share the law and gospel.  It was a good chat.

 

So, this affords me some time to talk about the online outreach I did this week.  

 

First up: on Tuesday, I was paired up with Jack for the first chat on the live stream: a duo chat.  We were paired up with a young man from the USA.  He wasn’t very talkative, but he followed along.  And it was wonderful watching him smile as he came to grasp the gospel.  He made a profession of faith.

 

On Wednesday, 2 highlight chats were with 2 young ladies from Tauranga.  I think there was some Adventist influence, because the sabbath came up.  But I didn’t let that become a distraction from sharing the gospel.  They also made professions.  And then a chat with a young man from the UK - there was resistance from him, but he stuck around for 30 minutes as I walked him through all the check questions.

 

On Thursday I had a duo chat with Jone with a guy who said he liked the 10 commandments.  But, it was his own form of the 10 commandments, with a whole lot of exceptions built in so he could sin as he pleased.  We spent 30 minutes with him before his resistance went up a few notches and there wasn’t much point in continuing.

 

On Friday I had a great chat with a couple of guys somewhere in New Zealand.  Catholic school.  They were being silly initially, but they stayed around for 16 minutes for a complete chat.  Ended up being a good chat.

 

And then, because the rain was so heavy on Friday, I went over to Rogers place to get him set up for online outreach again.  I ended up having an amazing chat with a young man who lives in the same city as Roger and I!  He was in home detention (he showed us the bracelet on his ankle).  Sadly, he is only 13, and the reason for the home detention is because he was involved with a ram raid (driving a car into a shop to rob it).  I was able to share the gospel with him, and start moving through the check questions.  It was so good when he had a penny drop moment.  From that point on (as he saw how the gospel made sense) he was weighing up the cost - he knew his life would change, and he didn’t like that idea.  E.g., he didn’t want to go to church.  But he stuck around for me to be able to point him to the book of John in the Bible, and 2 good local churches close to him.  He is so bored being on home detention, I hope he will read it.

 

Speaking of Roger, I got a text from him earlier saying he had a great online chat with a drug dealer up north.  This is what I responded with: “That’s who we want to reach!  Go for the sinner and go for the worst!  May he start dealing: Jesus”.

 

On Saturday I had a fascinating online chat with a young man for 23 minutes.  He was working in London in a warehouse picking stock for orders.  His job must be so boring that he can do it and have chats online at the same time!  Anyway, he thinks about the afterlife “all the time”, and although there was some resistance as I took him through the law, he ended up understanding the gospel, and seemed impressed enough to start reading the bible for himself.  It was so fun chatting with him while he was automatically moved around the whole warehouse.  May God have mercy on him!

 

But not only do we have face to face chats with strangers online, we also have text chats via Instagram and TikTok DM.  This morning I had a great chat with an intellectual young Mormon (well, I assume he is young; and I’m pretty sure it’s a he).  He wanted to argue about baptism?  But that was a distraction, I focused on getting him through the law, and towards the gospel.  The more we chatted, the clearer it was how uncertain he was about things that are obvious (logical).  And he was resistant, he was fighting to take the conversation off on a tangent, but I wouldn’t let him.  I love him too much.  Even if he is resistant now, may his suppression be shaken for future gospel seed to take root.

 

I’ve also had the privilege of training 2 young men in online evangelism this week.  Both from the USA, and both so different in personality, and yet both passionate to share these truths with others.  It was wonderful seeing these young men getting their feet wet!  Glory to God!

 

So, yet another wonderful week of outreach.  The opportunity to engage people with the gospel is limitless.  Evangelism is as essential in our lives as prayer, reading the Bible and church.  I hope you are encouraged to get involved with the harvest!  All glory to God alone.

 

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Just got back from an awesome outreach in the city, but the whole week of outreach has been awesome - all four usual street outreaches ran this week: Tuesday afternoon in Riccarton with Roger; Friday afternoon in the city with Andy, Roger, and Ben; Saturday lunch time in Riccarton, and just now: Sunday afternoon in the city, with Thomas.

 

Casting my mind back to Tuesday, the highlight chat was with a group of 5 high school kids - Christchurch Boys High.  They already had a gospel tract, I guess from Roger over the street.  I saw them coming back, but Roger was already in a chat, and so they came over to me.  I smelled a set up, but I love these situations.  We got into a conversation, and the ring leader was being silly (no surprise).  I rolled with his jesting, but also answered the subtle questions he was asking.

 

As the conversation continued, his 4 friends started engaging in the conversation, which was great to see.  Eventually the ring leader realised he had lost control of the conversation - his response was to become outrageously silly, but by this stage, his friends were ignoring him, and one was even telling him to be quiet!  They all got to engage with the law and the good news of Jesus, and they all walked away with their own copy of the same gospel tract.  God is good!

 

Friday in the city.  It was great to have Ben with us.  Ben heard the gospel from a street evangelist up North, and when he moved to Christchurch last year, he encountered Andy on the street.  Well, Ben is now regularly attending our church and is even part of my home group.  He is getting baptised next week, but not only that, he is willing to come and join us on the street to share the gospel!  God is good!

 

Ben was paired with Andy, and Roger was running his flip chart, and so I went for a wander down Cashel Mall.  I had quite a few good gospel chats, but none with any real engagement from their part, and so they ended up being shorter chats.  That’s fine!  The law is still the law, and the gospel is still the gospel, they are powerful even without engagement - just maybe ploughing and sowing for a harvest later in time, by someone else.  All glory to God alone.

 

Anyway, Ben and Andy had had a string of conversations with tourists who were resistant - also not bad, still ploughing and sowing.  But, Ben joined up with me for the rest of the outreach.  We headed off down Cashel Mall, and the chat we got into was also with someone resistant!  Oh well.  It was a great chat, because his worldview was post modern: “The only thing I know is that I don't know anything”.  As soon as I said it, I pointed out his contradiction with “Do you know that?”, but in his suppression, he wasn’t willing to see it.  We sparred apologetically for a while, but then he started talking about all the things he knew, so I checked in again, “Do you really know it?”  I was able to touch on the law, and the gospel, but he wasn’t open to it.  Finally, for a third time he started talking about what he knew.  So I checked in again, “So, you know it, do you?”.  It hit home, I could tell by the way he cut his eyes at me.  It was at that point that I shook his hand, and wished him a good day.  There is no point in trying to reason with someone being unreasonable.  I think Ben was surprised that the conversation ended - I think he was enjoying it!  Yes, these discussions can be fun and interesting, but I don’t want to spend 2 hours arguing with someone who is resistant (at this time), when I could have conversations with others that are open (at this time).  God is in control.  And there is a time to move on.

 

Saturday in Riccarton, I had a number of good conversations.  I was beginning to wonder if it would be a slow outreach, when the first fish came on the line.

 

I ended up chatting with an American couple.  It turns out he was a PK, and she had recently been reading the Bible: the whole NT, and halfway through the OT (I think she said).  So there was interest there.  Yet, neither understood the gospel.  The engagement was very brittle, and as I was working to strengthen the engagement, it was broken when a group of guys interrupted.  They really wanted to talk to me.  So as the American couple moved on, I had no choice but to engage them instead.

 

But that wasn’t bad.  It was a great chat.  It turns out I had talked to one of them at the Canterbury A&P Show outreach at the end of last year.  I realised that they were Orthodox, and went to the local Orthodox church.  They had come to continue the apologetical fight.  They claimed to go to heaven because of Jesus, and not works, but then denied that with their explanations and interpretations of scripture.  I didn’t allow them to rest in their false hope.  I also ended up spending some time exposing Mark 10 (the rich young ruler).  They left holding on to their rejection of Jesus, but it was a good conversation, I hope to see them again.

 

I had other good chats too, including a long one with a young lad for Geraldine, and a short one with two young ladies - who wanted to argue about homosexuality.

 

It was great to have Thomas with me on Sunday afternoon!  He is from France and speaks French fluently.  Last Sunday, and on Friday, I spoke to people from France, and the lady from last Sunday didn’t have good English - so it’s great to have someone who can speak French.  Jordan cracked a joke before we left: “But you’ll end up encountering a German”.  Well, no French speakers today, but our last chat was with someone from GERMANY! Haha.

 

But the whole outreach was great.  The very first person I offered a tract to accepted it, and I was able to get into a good gospel conversation, an encouragement for Thomas (and an answer to prayer that Thomas would be encouraged).  And it went well from there.  Our next chat was with a young streetie.  She was open, but I had to really labour for her to see the gospel.  She had a click moment when I used the ‘sin again’ check.  And then she said something profound - I wish I could have recorded it: basically she said something like: “If Jesus does that for us, even takes our future sin, then I wouldn’t want to sin any more” - exactly!

 

By this stage, Thomas was warmed up (had shaken off the rust) and ready to get into his own chats.  Which he did (pictured).

 

We had other good opportunities as well, we even encountered some World Mission Society Church of God cultists - I had warned him they were rampant as we were walking in.

 

Anyway, I’ll leave it there.  I’m over time for this report.  But God is good in giving us so much opportunity.  May the lamb that was slain receive the reward of his suffering!

PS, I forgot to mention, in the first photo, there are 2 gospel chats happening.  But there are 2 school kids coming into the frame from the right.  Well, a few moments after I took that shot, I got into a good gospel chat with them.  God is so good!

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It’s good to be back on home turf.  2 street outreaches this week, both in the city.  On Friday afternoon I was with Roger and Andy.  On Sunday afternoon I was with Andy.

 

These outreaches reminded me of the wonderful opportunity for the gospel that we have.  We need to make hay while the sun shines, because we don’t know when God’s patience will run out.  But it’s also a joy!  We are saved by God’s grace – totally underserved.  And now he is willing to involve us in what he is doing.  The sacrifice of Jesus is the ultimate motivation - out of thankfulness of him, let’s get out and tell others about him.  The opportunity is limitless.

 

3 significant conversations come to mind from Friday’s outreach.

 

The first was with a young Filipino guy.  He had just arrived in NZ, and he was cold in his t-shirt and shorts - not used to our cooler climate.  His English wasn’t good, and so I had to slow right down when trying to share the gospel with him.  In fact, in the end, I had to give up.  He wasn’t engaging - maybe too overwhelmed by all the changes in his life.  He needs work, and so I invited him to my church on Sunday (he is staying not far) because I have Filipino friends there that he could make connections with, and who can share the gospel with him in Tagalog!  Sadly he didn’t come, but he has my contact details.  Pray that he would get established in Christchurch, be able to find work, and that I’ll be able to encounter him again - or if not, another Christian who can share the gospel with him.

 

The second was a chat that Roger had.  Roger brought me into the conversation, because the kid he was talking to had been recruited into the cult “World Mission Society Church of God”.  Once he’d heard the true gospel from Roger, he was keen to get out of the cult!  I pointed him to a good church close to him, and also gave him a gospel of John to read for himself, as well as my contact details.

 

The third chat was with a young man from China.  When he realised that I wanted to talk to him about religion, he was interested.  His English wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough for me to be able to communicate the gospel.  I got to learn about him too.  He is struggling with his course, and he is concerned he will have to go back to China if he fails, so he is studying hard.  Sadly, at this stage, he wasn’t able to see that his eternal soul is more important than his worldly troubles - as significant as they are!  Yet, he was willing to take a gospel of John, a tract, and my contact details.  I pray that his conscience was pricked enough for him to investigate further.

 

I give these details to show that we are reaching people, real people - people with struggles and trials, people who need to know the truth about God’s wrath and mercy.  This is real and significant and well worth our time to make the effort to make and take the opportunities we get to share the marvellous gospel.

 

Sunday’s outreach was great too.  It was wonderful watching Andy engage multiple groups of kids through the outreach.

 

My most significant chat was the very first one - it was short.  I sat down to get a drink and get some tracts out, when I realised the 2 guys I was sitting next to were a golden opportunity.  I was able to spark up a conversation with 1 of them.  He thought that ‘whatever you believe will happen after you die’ - so I was able to address that.  It turns out he had a Christian background, and so I asked what he thought he had to do to get to heaven.  Answer: be good.  And so, I went to the law - which had its impact.  And then I explained the gospel, in contrast to his false way to heaven of ‘being good’.  It hit home, and his response was to say, “I fully believe that”.  And yet, his earlier words totally contradicted that he did.  Rather than point this out directly, I went to a powerful check question: “before this conversation, what did you think you had to do to get to heaven?”  Answer: “be good”.  “And so”, I said, “if you had died before this chat, where would you have gone, heaven or hell?”.  He was fixated as he thought, and finally responded with “hell”.  And so I pleaded with him to change his mind.  Stop trusting his good deeds to get to heaven, and instead, trust that Jesus is the only reason you are getting there.  He thanked me.  He told me this conversation (only a few minutes long) was very significant.  His friend (from Sri Lanka) and he (Zimbabwe) were working on a ship, and were only in Christchurch for the day.  Opportunity taken!  God is so good!  May that seed produce fruit.  It’s not about our ability.  God can use our feeble efforts in spite of us.  Get out and share the gospel of Jesus!

 

I had other good chats.  But the one that sticks in my mind was the last one, with a young man who was convinced that the ‘building / builder” analogy was a logical fallacy.  I was able, by God’s grace, to show him that the opposite is actually a fallacy!  And then I was able to take him though the law, and the gospel, and a few check questions.  The truth is powerful!  Don’t be put off by intellectual sounding people and vain arguments.  Get out there and serve your king: Jesus.

 

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Wow, what a week.  This report is not going to do it justice.  Neither are the photos - when I was in Dunedin, I didn’t even have the focus to take too many photos, I was just having so many wonderful gospel conversations.

 

But yes, we were in Dunedin for the week, and then in Kaikoura on Saturday.  So a busy week, with the additional burden of travel.  But, well, well worth it.  Glory to God!

 

So, I ran some evangelism training, down in Dunedin, last Sunday, and so this week we were putting it into practice outside the University (it was orientation week), down at the Octagon, and in between (the bus stops were a great fishing hole too)!  All this in conjunction with Cornerstone International Bible Church, which is strategically positioned between these two locations.

 

So, like I said, I’m not going to be able to articulate all the wonderful chats I had, let alone the wonderful opportunities my coworkers told me about.  But here is what comes to mind.

 

Down at the Octagon I remember talking to a French tourist, a Czech tourist (closed), German tourists, a tourist from Canada, and a couple that were Dutch.  I shared with a couple of Americans - one was Jewish.  He became intensely angry when we started discussing how we know what is right and wrong in relation to Hitler.  I was quick to defuse the situation by making it clear I agreed that Hitler was evil, and he quickly rained himself in (he had lost a cousin in the holocaust), but then he quickly told me not to try to convert him!  When I challenged him to convert me, it was fascinating watching him make up a religion, and he decided it was ‘love’.  Well, that damns me, because I fail to love as I should.  He could see my point.  He was flustered, because he wanted to insist I was good, but I just kept showing him how I was bad.  I was able to touch on the gospel with him, but it came to an end when he nearly missed his bus back to the cruise ship he was on.

 

I had a long chat with a Christian Minister who was clearly missing the gospel.  Each time I checked, he would subtly point to himself for salvation.  He liked to talk, so I had to listen a lot, but I challenged him, because I love him.

 

A young lady had a click moment, when she finally grasped the gospel, after that, she nailed the check questions.  Later, she reflected, “why did you stop me?”.  That’s how I feel too!  Why me?  I don’t deserve it.  God’s grace is so good.

 

During one outreach, I saw Roger deeply impacted after 2 separate conversations.  In the first conversation he looked stunned. The young lady had come to tears as he ministered to her.  In the second, after talking with 3 young students,  he literally clicked his heels in joy!

 

I had great conversations with 2 separate sets of JWs.

 

A highlight chat for Andy was one when a young Iranian lady came who had to go to a lecture, but then came back!  She was full of questions as she wrestled with the truths she was hearing.

 

Many invites to church were handed out.  Many copies of the gospel of John, and gospel tracts were delivered to people.  What a joy!

 

But we were also focused on training.  Young Daniel was with us for the week.  It was wonderful watching him grow as he put into practice what he was learning on Sunday.  At the end of each day, we would have a time of debrief - an opportunity to rejoice and learn from each other's experiences.

 

It was wonderful to also work alongside: John, Gary, Jeff, Phil and Shane.  We had our differences, but iron sharpens iron!  And it was wonderful being able to catch up with the elders of Cornerstone - we so appreciated the support!

 

We travelled home on Friday afternoon, after a couple of hours of outreach in the morning.

 

On Saturday, I headed to Kaikoura for the A&P Show there.  Team: Joe, Elijah, Nic, Cam, Andrei, & Scott and Sharon down from Blenhiem.  Great weather.  And a wonderful view.  There were slow periods, but there were busy periods too.  Lots of great conversations.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking, but the highlight chat for me was with a young lad, I’d say he was 10 years old.  He was sharper than most adults I talk to.  Like an adult, he initially resisted the idea that he was bad, trying to justify himself, yet he was humble enough to follow along and hear the gospel.  He ended up sitting down on the grass, as I sat on my stool and we engaged.  Eventually he looked up at the chart and wanted to know what the other pages were about.  And so I was able to take him through all the check questions.  He nailed most of them!  And the one he got wrong only led to his understanding deepening as we discussed.  He accepted the gospel of John to read.  I rejoice thinking of the chat.  May God have mercy and save him.

 

All glory to God for using weak vessels like us in his great plan.  Thank you for continuing to pray for this ministry.  Join us in sharing about Jesus with those about you!

 

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A delayed report.  I was supposed to write this on Sunday afternoon (18th Feb), but I’m travelling at the moment.  We are currently down in Dunedin - having a wonderful time working with the church down here to reach people with the good news of Christ.  I’ll write about this in my next report.  But this report is going to cover the week 13th Feb till the 18th of Feb.

 

So, in that week, we had 2 street outreaches: Tuesday afternoon in Riccarton, and Friday afternoon in the city.

 

Roger was with me on Tuesday afternoon.  I know I “had a wonderful couple of hours on the streets having gospel conversations with a wide range of people.  What a joy!  I'm constantly amazed at the interesting opportunities God gives us.”  – because I copied that from a Facebook post I wrote the day after.  But I really can’t remember the details now - except I remember talking to a group of school kids.  They were being a bit silly, and yet they heard the gospel anyway.  They wanted to take a selfie with me after.

 

Roger, Andy and John were with me for Friday afternoon’s outreach.  I remember it was hot, and so I moved down Cashel Mall to get into the shade of the buildings.  The only conversation I really remember is the one I had with 2 girls down by Colombo Street.  One was Christian, the other was all over the place with her worldview.  I remember spending my time on various check questions for the Christian, and trying to get the other girl to articulate the gospel reliably.

 

Roger, John, and Andy all seemed to be having very interesting chats, I was able to snap some great shots of them - attached.

 

On Saturday morning, I did some online work, including training a young lad from Israel.  He had come to grasp the gospel last November, via the needGod.net content.  And he said it had taken away all his fear of death, in light of the conflict going on around him.  He wants to share this good news with others!  We did some role play, before getting him set up with the protection tools, and getting him to have his first online chat for himself.  It was fascinating watching who he was connected with, considering he comes from Israel - a whole different demographic from me in NZ.  He was able to have a 13 minute chat with 2 young Israleis.  They were very resistant to the idea of God being real, and the young lad wrestled with them on that for a bit, but I told him to ask, “so, are you a good person”.  It worked - he was able to get them through the law, and offer the good news, when they snapped away from their conscience and started suppressing what they know about God again.  Tough crowd.  But so encouraged by this young man willing to proclaim anyway.  God’s mercy is great.

 

In the afternoon, Roger, Andy and I drove down to Dunedin for a week of outreach with Cornerstone International Bible Church.  On Sunday afternoon, I conducted some evangelism training.  There were about 8 people involved.

 

Well, a bit of a messy report.  But hopefully, the pictures fill in the lack of details.  I really like the photo taken of Andy trying to push a Moeraki Boulder.  It reminds me of an evangelist trying to encourage the church in evangelism (maybe the broken bit of rock at the front represents the elders?  – that’s a joke, so please don’t take it seriously, I love the church, and I love the elders of the church!).  Yet, it really does feel like that sometimes: impossible.  Yet, Jesus said about salvation: what’s impossible for man, is possible for God.  I’m praying that would be true about evangelism too.  The harvest is ripe, and the labourers are few, pray to the God of the harvest for more labourers, and then endeavour to be part of the answer to that prayer! May God bless you in your feeble efforts, as he blesses our feeble efforts.  All glory to him alone!

 

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It’s the end of another week of outreach!  I haven’t been sleeping so well this week, and so I'm feeling tired.  Because of this I ended up only making it to 1 of the 4 usual street outreaches this week and doing more online outreach instead.

Speaking of online outreach, check on the encouraging screen shot.  That was taken from an Instagram direct message.

And speaking of images.  I really like the one I’ve included from the single street outreach I was involved with: on Friday at the Bridge of remembrance.  Can you spot the gospel conversation?  And in the other picture, can you spot the orange cone?  Christchurch was famous for these, being everywhere during the big Earthquakes (well over a decade ago now, wow, time sure goes fast).

Anyway, let me report on Friday’s outreach.  Andy, John and I were out for 2 hours in the afternoon.

I decided I was going to be bolder than usual in who I approached.  Because, we can so easily fall into the trap of approaching the people who are more likely to have a chat, where in fact we have no idea who will be interested and willing.  I need the reminder to not fear man, but to fear and honour Jesus.  He deserves the reward of his suffering.

I initially paired up with Andy.  I had a couple of short chats to start.  The first was with a Christian gentleman, who didn’t do so well in the initial check question.  He was nice, but sadly didn’t have the time to stay and talk.  He left with a tract.  The next was with a young man who had just picked up 2 handfuls of hired suits for a wedding.  He obviously had places to be, and so I knew this chat would be very short.  And glory to God, that short time wasn’t wasted.  He was familiar with the truths of Jesus, but needed essential clarity.  A couple of well placed check questions were revealing and challenging to him.  I wanted to take the suits and chuck them, so we could sit down and have a good chat, but instead, we gave him 2 types of tracts, and told him to get in touch if he wanted to discuss further.  We left him in God’s hands.

My 3rd opportunity was difficult, the lady was resistant from the get go due to her entrenched worldview.  I gently tried to point out inconsistencies, but due to her closedness, this only irritated her.  Andy ended up taking over, and the chat ended soon after.

John was with us by this stage.  Andy got into a chat with a couple from Japan / France (speaking of France, we had at least 3 interactions with people who spoke French - if only we had more French speakers with us! ;) ).  Due to language issues, that chat was a bit slow, so I ended up peeling off to get into other chats.

I had a great chat with a young couple.  It was great, because of their openness, I was able to take them through the whole suite of check questions.

John and I then had a chat with another young couple.  This time they were closed, taking an atheistic standpoint.  He talked, she listened.  I sparred with him for a while, before John took over and took the conversation to the law and gospel.

To finish the day, I had a great chat with a young lady.  She had grown up in various cultures, having been adopted, and so wasn’t clear on what religion was right.  She came to hear the law and the gospel, and even accepted a gospel of John at the end.

Even though I didn’t go out on Sunday afternoon, Mike did, he said he had a really good convo during the hour he was out.  Glory to God!  Well done Mike, thank you for your service and labour.

Edit: Here is what Mike said: About 20 minutes in a lady came over to talk about Gus [Mike's dog].. she owned a schnauzer, and turns out she was a believer and had been praying for God to show her someone to minister too. Shortly after that, a guy named John came up to the chart and wanted to talk. He had many doubts and didn't understand the gospel at all. He had been to some large churches and heard many conflicting things, but not a proper gospel. So this lady (Rachel) and myself went through the flip chart checking questions with him for 45 minutes and had a deep conversation, talking about justification and sanctification and the role of the Holy Spirit. It was a very timely conversation for him. Please pray for him as he starts to explore the gospels for himself!

And thank you for your prayer and support; thanks for reading to this point, and putting up with the fact that I never proofread what I write!  Haha.  Go serve your king!
 

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Glory to God for another week of his patience, in holding back his wrath and justice so we could plead with people about his mercy.  Here is the weekly recap of the gospel street outreaches for the Christchurch team.  We were in the City on Friday (Roger, Andy and I) and Sunday (myself), and in Riccarton on Tuesday (Roger and I).

My most prominent memory from Tuesday’s outreach was a chat with a couple of guys who went to a Fijian Methodist Church.  Sadly, they didn’t understand the gospel, instead pointing to ‘reading the Bible’, ‘going to church’, and ‘prayer’ as the reasons they would go to heaven.  It was a pleasure to be able to labour with them about the gospel.  I had to labour, because it was confusing for them to realise it’s not their works that save them, but the gift of Jesus.

On Friday, I had 3 main conversations, all three with people originally from different parts of the world, and not Christchurch.  One was from the Philippines, another for Slovakia, and the last from England.

The guy from the Phillipines didn’t want a tract, but he was willing to engage in conversation, as long as I walked with him (no problem).  It was a short chat, because we went our separate ways at the lights, but it was enough time for me to touch on the law and the gospel.  He thanked me for what I was doing, and how I was doing it.  He still didn’t want a tract.

The guy from Slovakia had been in NZ for 11 months, his English was okay, but he wasn’t used to using the words you normally use in a deep and meaningful chat.  He ended up pulling out his phone to translate words, and I ended up doing the same.  But it became too difficult, he was entrenched in an eastern worldview, and wasn’t willing to be reasoned with.  Yet, we parted on good terms, and he did take a tract.

The chat with the guy from England was fantastic.  He eventually moved to the issue of evil and suffering.  I warned him the answer is easy, but it can take time to process.  As I was explaining, I was able to reference something from my recent personal / family devotional bible reading: 

     “What profit is there in my death, 
      if I go down to the pit? 
                  Will the dust praise you? 
      Will it tell of your faithfulness? 

Psalm 30:9

So, part of the reason there is evil and suffering, is because it’s part of God’s plan to demonstrate his justice and his mercy, for his glory.  Will dust praise him?  No.  But we can praise God.  We will praise him for his justice and his mercy upon us.  (Will the dust praise a person who just won the 100 metre dash in the Olympics?  No, but people will.)

He seemed to be profoundly struck by this, and other tensions in the gospel.  A simple message, and yet will give us a lifetime to ponder and praise God over.  He was willing to accept a copy of the gospel of John.

On Saturday there was a lot of rain, so I decided to continue working online instead.

On Sunday, I set up my flip chart, I pretty much instantly had a conversation started.  The girl was partially engaged, and so I worked to change that.  What made it hard was her friend standing at a distance and staring.  Eventually she said, “sorry, I zoned out, I’m not interested”.  She gave back the tract and moved on with her friend.

My next conversation was with a couple on a cruise from Sydney.  It was a good one, I was able to share the gospel, but eventually their stomachs became more important.  They left with a tract.  While this chat was occurring, I had two girls come and stand in a queue behind them.  They eventually sat down to wait.  But my chat was going too long for them.  They moved on before I could get to them.

My last chat was a bit of a set up.  But I don’t think they got what they were expecting.  He had to admit that what I was saying made sense.  But by the end of the chat, he said, “you haven’t convinced me”.  It would be great if he got in touch, I’d love to keep reasoning with him.

Thank you so much for your continued prayer for our feeble gospel efforts.  Be encouraged to step out and share about Christ with someone this week!
 

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Another fantastic week of street outreach in Christchurch, New Zealand.  Glory to God.

There was rain on Tuesday, and so Roger and I decided not to head out.  I spent my time in online outreach instead.

But the weekend outreaches went ahead.  Friday and Sunday afternoons in the city - the Buskers Festival is on, and on Sunday people from a cruise ship were out and about as well.  So, lots of people, and gospel opportunities.  On Saturday lunch time, I was in Riccarton.  This week involved long chats for me, with: Cameron, Colin (Friday), Nathan (Saturday) & Alex (Sunday).

On Friday, it was great to have Andy back from summer leave.  Roger was with us.  I helped Roger set up the flip chart, but before we could even pray together, I noticed someone looking at the chart inquisitively.  I took the initiative and my first long street chat of the week was away.  It went on for over an hour.

Early in the chat he informed me he had had a psychotic episode that had caused him to jump off a cliff!  He is recovering from the resulting back injury.  Later in the chat he revealed that he was involved with alcohol and drugs - including psychedelics.  And so, that answered that question.  The Bible is clear that we should stay sober minded.  And Psychedelics are so deceiving: this guy was talking about the good it had brought into his life, specifically helping him realise how bad alcohol is.  Yet, not surprisingly, he still drinks to excess today.

Also unsurprising is his drift to new age religion.  He had started reading the Bhagavad Gita.

Anyway, through the chat I was able to labour with him in regard to the law and the gospel.   Yet, he wasn’t open to the gospel, because he wasn't appreciating the import of the law, and the serious nature of sin.  He did express an interest in reading the Bible, and he even accepted a gospel of John.  Praying this young man would come under conviction and be converted.  Yet, I leave him in God’s hands - God will be glorified through his justice if he rejects God’s mercy.

It had been a tiring conversation, so I spent some time handing out tracts.  In spite of all the people due to the Busking Festival, there wasn’t much interest.  I ended up over in Cathedral Square, where I tried to engage a young lad in conversation.  He wasn’t coherent, so I left him with a tract.

Back in Cashel Mall, I was still handing out tracts when an older gentleman stopped to engage.  It was a wonderful opportunity.  He had been wrestling with the issue of evolution vs creation - his resolution?  There must be God.  He was familiar with Christian teaching, but sadly he considered himself a very good person.  He was resistant to the law, and yet he was open for me to labour with him about it.  He also heard the gospel.

He said something very interesting that I will use in illustrations in the future.  He has had both prostate and bowel cancer, and has recovered from both.  Now, when he uses the bathroom in the morning, he praises God.  So, even horrible things like cancer can be good, in this case teaching us gratitude, and appreciation for the things we have - even the ability to go to the toilet!

This gentleman was also lonely, having recently lost his wife, and moving to Christchurch.  He needs salvation, and he needs the church!  He had an old and expensive KJV Bible, which he had never fully read.  So, I gave him a Gideon’s ESV Bible, and a church contact card with my number on it.  I also pray that he will come under conviction and be converted.  God have mercy!  Yet, I leave him in God’s hands.

On Saturday, the outreach started out quite slow (as did Sunday), but I ended up having a long chat with a young man who had had a rough life.  His sister had recently died, in prison.  As I shared the law and the gospel with him, he would stare into nothing, pondering deeply.  When I asked what he was thinking, he would explain things that had happened in his past.  One example was a bad car accident.  It led him to the question of: “why am I alive?”  He left with a tract, and I’m also praying for him.

After a slow start on Sunday, I ended up having a long chat with a young man.  He had also had trauma in his life, having been rejected by his Father.  He had philosophical tendencies (I.e., he was avoiding the truth).  I touched a nerve when I described the serious nature of sin when talking about pornography, but he quickly masked it.

During this chat, I had a young man break into the conversation.  I didn’t remember him, but he remembered me.  Apparently I first talked to him 2 years ago at the Canterbury A&P Show, and he had talked to me on the streets multiple times since then.  It was fascinating to see that the law and the gospel had had an effect on him.  Yet, he was still in suppression.  He explained how he was trying to hold the ball of truth under the water, I simply pointed out the flaw in his reasoning, and the ball burst up and hit him on the nose!  His Mum was with him, and calling him from down the street, but he wanted to engage.  As a compromise, I told him to go with his Mum, but to get in touch with me via socials!  I hope he does.

I finished the chat with the original young man, but all the interaction had gathered other people.  A pity I didn’t have more believers with me.  I was able to follow up with four people from Sydney who were on the cruise.  I was able to touch on the law and the gospel.  Three of the four of them took tracts as they moved on.

And then the original young man came back!  He had another question, which I answered, before I checked if he was understanding the gospel.  He got my question right!  God have mercy!

Please continue to pray for us, and even join us!  All glory to God alone.
 

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Glory to God, all the regular street outreaches went ahead this week - although shorter than usual.

Last week, Tuesday's outreach was super busy.  But this week it was incredibly slow.  I think I went for half an hour before getting into my first chat.  It made me think of my last half decade of full time street ministry.  I think in that whole time, there have only been 2 outreaches where I didn’t talk to anyone, and both of those were in my first year.  When you think about that, it’s amazing that there is so much opportunity to share the gospel.  It’s limitless.  And, more often than not, the conversations I get to have are really special.  And yet, even when they are not, the gospel is still amazing and the power of God for salvation.  I wonder how many of those ‘regular’ chats I’ve had, that have led to salvation.  God knows.  And even if no one is saved, it’s still worth it, to make known the great God of the universe, of his justice and his mercy.  What a privilege!

So, I was standing there, looking like a dork – a crazy old man, next to a brightly coloured flip chart.  People on the buses going past would stare.  When a couple of young guys went past.  I tried to engage them.  One of them turned his head and stared at the flip chart and made a comment.  But they didn’t stop.  But about ten minutes later they came back, going the other direction.  His mate blasted past, but his curiosity got the better of him, he wanted to do it - to his friends surprise.  And it was a really good chat.  He followed along with the logic of what I was explaining, and it seemed to really make sense to him, but there was a problem.  They were Muslim, and he knew what I was explaining was Christian.  Yet, he was open to reason and so I was able to labour with him about the gift of Jesus in spite of the cost of accepting him.  He got to a point where he had enough to chew on for the moment, and they decided to move on.  He gladly took a tract.

Friday’s outreach involved one of those special chats.  It was hot!  But bearable in the shade.  Roger was with me.  The busking festival has started now, so there were a lot of people out.  Our usual spot at the Bridge of Remembrance was taken by buskers, so we moved down to the corner of Cashel and Colombo.

Roger set up his flip chart (I didn’t bring mine).  But I was quickly into my first chat using Rogers chart.  A young couple passed - I asked if they wanted to do it.  She said, no and moved on, but he said, “yeah, actually”, and came over (to her shock).  She joined him, and we had a good gospel chat.  Glory to God, I had even gained engagement from the girl, because considering their time, I gave them an out expecting them to take it, but she said they had another ten minutes!  After the chat, they left with tracts.

I decided to let Roger use his own chat, and to get off his ‘patch’.  Everytime I glanced his way, he seemed to be busy in a chat.  And I had other opportunities too.  But, then I fell into my ‘special’ chat.  I crossed over to the shade on the other side of Colombo to hand out some tracts.  There was an older gentleman sitting in the shade.  I could tell he was watching me, and so I offered him one.  “Is that religious?”, he says.  “Yes, it’s about Jesus”.  “What a load of rubbish, it’s not logical!”, he says.  He had a loud bark, but I could tell he wouldn’t bite, and so I sat and engaged him.  I think he was very surprised by this!  I had to spend a fair amount of time listening, and I wasn’t able to deal with everything he was saying, but I was able to interject at times and challenge him.  I had to be patient, and work to keep him calm, but to my joy I was able to touch on the law and the gospel with him.  We were even able to talk about personal things - in spite of his very broken worldview (which centred on self happiness) he was really nice!  We talked for maybe 30 minutes before I think he’d had enough.  We shook hands before he moved on, refusing a tract.  He is 85 and has a bad heart.  He knows he is going to die soon, so during the chat, not only was I reasoning with him, but pleading with him on the urgency of accepting God’s mercy.  Please join me in praying for God to have mercy on Barry!

Saturday’s outreach (Riccarton) involved a long chat with two young girls.  They were waiting for the SoYo to open.

And then on Sunday I spent 30 minutes in the city again.  I had a couple of shorter chats, before bumping into one of my regulars that I’m praying for.  It was great to catch up with him.  I tried to swing the conversation to deeper things.  “Yes, I’ve been thinking about it, but I don’t want to talk now - maybe we could catch up sometime and have a long chat”.  No problem with me!  He remembered which church I went to, but I gave him my personal email.  The ball is in his court.

Thank you for your continued prayer for Operation 513.  May we continue to be faithful in preaching the gospel on the streets and online, and always open to correction.  Glory to God alone!
 

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Happy New Year!  The writer took a week off over new year for a camping holiday.  But this week it was back to the normal outreach schedule (finally)!  So, outreaches on Tuesday afternoon (Riccarton), Friday afternoon (city), Saturday morning (Riccarton), and Sunday afternoon (city, with Mike and Binu).  Tuesday’s outreach was very busy (good, but exhausting), Friday’s outreach was a bit slow, Sunday was good, but Saturday’s outreach stands out in my mind the most so I’ll start there.

I had my flip chart, and as soon as I set it up and prayed, 3 people passed, one of them obviously interested in what the ‘good person test’ was all about.  All I needed to do was say, “would you like to give it a try?” and the conversation was going.  It was a short chat, but the law and the gospel was explained.  They had a Greek Orthodox background.  They left with literature.

But what made the outreach interesting was the next chat.  An older lady passed and I offered her a tract.  She looked interested and took it wanting to know what it was about.  From there we fell into a very deep conversation.  There is something about being able to open up with a stranger where you might not otherwise do so.  Anyway, this lady had knowledge about Christian things, but didn’t understand what Christianity was at its core.  She knew about hell, and (rightly) feared it.  But she only knew about God’s justice, not also his mercy.  Sadly, she was actually very hardened to the gospel message.  I explicitly shared the core of the gospel 4 times through the chat, before it started to scratch that hardness.  She really wanted to talk, and process things she struggled with in her life (which is fine, I was happy to listen), but she needed to slow down a bit and process the answers too.  I had to interrupt a few times and work at swinging the conversation as gently as I could.

Sadly, in the middle of this conversation, and completely out of the blue, a man (or was it a woman?) stopped and spewed some really hateful things toward me and God, who I was representing.  It was especially jarring because of the fact that I was in the middle of the conversation with the lady.  He was using angry and filthy language, and right in front of the two little children who were with him – who seemed completely oblivious to the way he was acting.

I said I would be happy to talk to him, but that at the moment I was in a conversation, would he mind waiting.  He just continued with his hatred.  The lady I was talking with wasn’t leaving.  Again, I asked him to wait, and he said, “this is a public place, I can say what I want!”.  I simply responded with, “yes, but we should treat people without hate but with respect”.  I think it shamed him a bit, because it was obvious what his agenda was, and it was clear how hypocritical he was being.  So he decided to move on, but not without firing a few more shots.

I was shaken by the suddenness & intensity of the attack, but I quickly recovered, the lady was still there, and we went right back to our conversation.  Afterwards, I actually felt encouraged, although I do my best to be gentle, respectful, and loving - people don’t like the truth, and I don’t want to compromise that truth just to please people!

Going to Friday’s outreach, it was slow.  I didn’t have my flip chart, and it was hot.  I wasn’t really getting any decent chats going.  I decided to wait for a few minutes, and if nothing got started, I would head home early.  As I was leaving, I was putting a rubber band back on my tracts when a guy passed in the other direction. I asked if he wanted one, and lo and behold, I fell into a great gospel chat with him!  He was extremely open, and so the ‘presentation’ went quickly, as he grasped the concepts so well.  He made a profession.  I told him to start reading the Bible from John,  and  asked where he lived: Chievot (up north).  I didn’t know any churches up there, so I gave him some tips on how to find one.  I left him in the hands of God, but he knows how to get in touch if he wants to.

I can’t really remember any specific conversation from Tuesday’s outreach, but I was very encouraged by how busy it had been.  A great way to start the year off!

It was great to have Mike and Binu join me this afternoon in the city.  Both Mike and I had our flip charts up.  I had many opportunities to engage people with the gospel.  Mike was in a chat as I left, he sent me this: “That last chat was really good, they were both into works based salvation, and the gospel was good news to them both”.

So great to be back to my normal schedule.  Feeling tired, and so looking forward to a day off tomorrow, before getting back into the harvest next week.  Please continue to pray for the Op 513 team here in Christchurch.  May the church grow in gospel activity to the glory of God alone!
 

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