Battle Log

It’s the end of another awesome week of gospel outreach.  Another week of God’s patience.  A standard week this week, although I stayed online on Friday due to rain.  I’ll work backwards in my report, starting with today’s (Sunday) outreach in Cashel Mall.

It was a mini outreach revival.  There was a team of 6!  Binu, Mike, David, Susan, Tanush and myself.

I started out on my own in my usual spot, corner of Cashel and Colombo.  They JW’s had taken my flipchat spot; so I stashed it and decided to hand out tracts close by.  I got into a good chat with one of my regulars when Susan turned up.  And then Tanush turned up.  We grabbed the flip chart, and moved down the mall to a nice sunny spot half way down, we prayed and got into it.  Tanush and Susan paired up and moved off to do ‘walk up’, while I manned the flip chart.

I was instantly into a chat with a ‘journeyman’ (he defined it as someone who travels for 3 years to learn).  He was from Germany.  Since he was keen to learn, I said I had something to share, and we fell into a gospel chat.  It was a short one, but a good one.  He started out as an atheist, but couldn’t argue with the logic I was giving him.  I was able to share the law and the gospel, before he had to go.

I turned around, and David was standing by my flip chart!  Oh, hello!  It’s been a while!  It was so good to have you join the team today David!

As we were catching up, four young ladies approached the flip chart.  I sensed a setup, and I wasn’t wrong.  They were nice, but it turned into an apologetics battle and the tension of it had become uncomfortable.  So, I decided to defuse it and switch it to the conscience rather than the intellect.  They were curious about the pages of the flip chart, and so I used that to switch to the law, and then the gospel.  We parted on good terms, and all but 1 took tracts.

And lo and behold there were 2 more!  Mike and Binu had arrived.  I was exhausted from the tension of that chat, and so I let Mike join David on the flip chart and left Binu to hand out tracts, while I went to get some snaps.  Tanush and Susan were going strong!  Afterwards, Tanush told me they had 3 gospel opportunities.  So good to see you growing in your passion for evangelism Tanush!  Keep up the good work for the glory of God!

The outreach went long when Tanush and I had a good conversation with a young couple.  And David was having a separate chat beside us (he took over my flip chart, haha).  Such a good outreach!

Saturday I was on my own in Riccarton, but it was a wonderful and busy outreach.  It started with a brief chat with a young Muslim.  Before Matthew, who I talked to the week before, came past again.  Being a Christian, we ended up discussing predestination - a difficult subject that Christians wrestle with.

The outreach ended with an interesting situation: two high school aged boys approached the flip chart - I recognised one of them, I’ve talked to him before on a Tuesday outreach.  He was resistant, but his friend engaged.  As I was explaining the gospel, another couple stopped and listened from a distance.  These situations are difficult, because there is only 1 of me!  I suspected the new couple were resistant and thought they were going to break up the conversation.  I was going to wrap up my current chat and engage them.  But then I realised that they were going to interrupt, so I decided to continue my first chat and labour through the checks.

Once the 2 guys had left, I was able to engage the new couple.  And then I realised I recognised him.  He is a good friend of a friend who used to join me in street outreach.  He is a passionate Catholic!  I’ve had a long chat with him before.  We are Facebook friends and he had seen the link to a video I had shared the day prior of a conversation Ryan had had with a Catholic.  He hadn’t watched the video, but in God’s providence, he was standing in front of me now!  We got into a good chat.  He loves to debate, but the outreach was ending.  He was keen to take my email address so we could continue the chat.  I hope he gets in touch.

On Tuesday it was a team of 3: Jermaine and Roger were with me.  It was a busy outreach with all 3 of us in separate conversations at multiple times.  My highlight chat was with a young lady who obviously had a religious background but had never grasped grace.  As I was working through the check questions I could see it starting to click into place for her.  It was so encouraging.

Later, Jermaine pulled me into a chat with a young man who already seemed to have a good grasp of the gospel, claimed to be a Christian but wasn’t in a church.  He had recently immigrated to New Zealand.  Both Jermaine and I invited him to our churches: I gave him my contact details.

Well, this morning (Sunday) he rang me!  He was coming to church.  I met him outside, and brought him in to sit with my family.  Afterwards I was able to introduce to other members of the church and he was connected with a home group leader.  I’m hopeful that he will continue coming and we will get to know him better!

All glory to God for this wonderful week of street outreach.  The online outreach work is still going strong.  We have more message requests on Instagram than we ever have.  And they all lead to gospel conversations.  Some of those conversations are wonderful, when people truly seem to grasp what Jesus is all about.  Here are a couple of comments from one person I talked to this week:

“I literally was crying when you were breaking stuff down and this is good news and I’m soooo happy I thought I knew the full truth about Christ!!! How foolish am I. Now now now now I trust he paid for my sins I understand completely”  and then, in response to the ‘2 things’ check: “no because they still didn’t accept his salvation. I get it now. The only way of true salvation is to accept the free gift of him paying the price for my sins.. past present future sins and nothing I could have done could have saved me. Spreading the gospel, feeding the poor,tithing , loving everyone,worshiping repenting daily, even in his name - nothing I could do to bring me to heaven except… accepting his true loving wonderful freeeeeeeeeeeee giiiiiiiiiftttt!!!! I’m so happy my brother I’m saved”.

All glory to God alone.
 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed! :)  Happy Easter, the time when we can start a gospel chat by asking, “why do you think we call good Friday ‘good’, when we remember a man dying on a cross?”

This week, the outreach schedule was very different.  With the shops closed on Friday & Sunday (today), we didn’t do street work on those days.  Instead I worked online.

But on Saturday (and then again tomorrow, Monday) we ran a special Easter outreach that we call the Hot Cross Bun and Gospel Tract Outreach.  Also, on Tuesday, Roger and I ran our usual afternoon outreach to Riccarton.

So, the focus of the Easter outreaches is giving tracts, along with a gift of a hot cross bun or easter mini egg.  People are always blessed to receive the gift!

During the outreach on Saturday we gave away 500 buttered hot cross bun halves.  We had 3 buttering stations down Cashel Mall, and trays were loaded up and taken by Christians to offer to those going past.  Also, flipcharts were up and many gospel conversations were had.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking!  From my perspective it went really well.

I didn’t have many gospel chats myself, as I spent my time, during the 2 hour outreach, going from station to station to make sure everything was going well.

Down one end, we had the JW’s across the road, and then the Hare Kristina's turned up and set up on the other side of us.  It wasn’t a problem, we just kept to our own tasks.

I offered hot cross buns to the JW’s.  And at the end of the outreach, one of the Hare Krishna's came over to chat with me.  I’ve actually talked to him a few times before, I had some in depth chats with him years ago.  But today he approached me and told me he was a bad Catholic!  I found that odd, but we fell into conversation, and it turns out that, as a child, he never got satisfactory answers to questions from the Catholic church.  So, I did my best to address those questions and was able to share the law and the gospel with him (again) in the process.  I hope to be able to see him, and some of the other Hare Krishna's that I’m getting to know, again to be able to continue the conversation.

I love the photo I took at Riccarton on Tuesday, the autumn colours in the trees are lovely - with Roger in conversation below their canopy.

He seemed to be having a good conversation with the ladies in that photo, but then a group of high school kids came and started interrupting it.  I took the initiative, and went to engage the school kids.  Eventually I was able to get them to come across the street to my flip chart.  They were rowdy!  I couldn’t engage them as a group, and so I tried to focus on individuals.  The girl of the group seemed to be the most resistant - asking me hard questions initially.  But to my surprise, she was the one that stayed to hear the gospel (all of her friends left her and went to the mall).  It ended up being a good conversation with her.  It turns out she has Muslim influences in her life, and she wanted to go and get her brother to talk to me.  Sadly, I would have left the area by the time she got back, but I told her to get her brother to contact me.

Well, 1 more special outreach tomorrow: 11 am in Cashel Mall, central Christchurch - giving away the gospel + hot cross buns.  The weather forecast is not looking the best - but God will get us through!  Please come and get involved!  And please pray that it will go well: that God will be glorified!
 

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Another busy week for the Christchurch team!  Mainly because of the Oxford A&P Show outreach on Saturday.  But we were out on the streets in the city on Friday and Sunday as well.  For the 2nd week in a row, Tuesday’s outreach in Riccarton was a wash out!  But that time was well spent online.  It’s almost a full time job keeping up with the messages we receive on Instagram - at one point we had 256 unread messages! :O  Such a good problem to have, because each thread is a gospel conversation!  Very grateful for the opportunity we have to work online sharing the gospel there!

But let me start with Friday’s outreach.  It was a hard day!  I spent the morning sharing the gospel on Instagram, before having a difficult video chat on the YouTube live stream.  The girl I was talking to was very resistant, and had a deep hatred for God: that he would allow the world to be the way it was.  My heart was really pumping through that chat - because I found it so difficult to stay calm in the face of such hostility.

Roger joined me on the street.  He had his flip chart up.  I decided to work without a flip chart.  I was busy, but pretty much all my chats were difficult.   First up was a young man with a Sri Lankan background - he was intelligent, and willing to talk, but was resistant to the idea of God being real.  We sparred for a while, before he said he had to go.

The next chat was probably the hardest of the day.  A guy wearing bright red lipstick and a dress came past.  As always, I smiled and offered a tract.  He looked at my eyes, and he stopped to accept it.  I smiled and said, “it comes with a question: if you have a moment; what do you think happens afterlife?”.  He contemplated for a few seconds and said, “I guess I have some time”.  So, we fell into a law and gospel conversation.  As I took him through the law, it was obvious that he was uncomfortable with the conversation. From time to time, his eyes would dart around, instead of look at me.  Yet, I was giving him the respect I would give any person.

Part way through the chat, a lady approached us, and then asked him if he was okay.  We were both surprised, and there was an awkward pause.  Then he said, “it’s okay, we are just having a conversation”.  The implication was obvious, and I actually felt very hurt by the insinuation that I was doing something wrong.  But I smiled and shook her hand as I politely included her in the conversation.  But once she realised “all was well”, she moved on, and I could continue the conversation.

The issue of homosexuality was raised and discussed.  And I didn’t shy away from saying what it is: sin.  And it’s not okay to stay in sin.  But, that God’s forgiveness is totally a free gift.  It was obvious he didn’t like the answer.  But the truth is the truth.

He wanted to know what church I was part of, he even wrote it down, just before his phone ran out of battery life.

The way our culture is going, the biblical position on sin and sexuality is not going to be tolerated.  I know there will be consequences for this.  But I will continue preaching the gospel in love.  If I go to prison, I will preach to the other prisoners.  And if they kill me, I will preach to my persecutors and pray for them before I expire and go to heaven.  God, have mercy.

I then moved into another difficult chat.  With a guy who was obviously struggling with the reality of evil and suffering.  Again, the guy's subtle anger towards God was evident.  And my emotions couldn’t take it.  I told him I’d had a hard day, and I wasn’t up for a fight.  He was happy to take a tract as he left.

My last chat of the day was with a young university student.  Again, deep resistance, but he was friendly and happy to chat.  I was able to work with him for a long while.  The outreach even went long as a result.  There was a focus on apologetics, but I was able to share the law and the gospel.

The Oxford A&P Show outreach was a long and busy day of outreach.  A bit slow at the start, and at the end, but really busy in the middle.  A good solid team of Christians ran the site, I think exclusively made up of members or prospective members of Redemption Church.

Again, my daughter Dani joined me, and also Haley.  I know Julia was keen, but she has a new job now and had to work!

It was so encouraging seeing the church getting involved with the great commission: struggling with the realities of life with people and sharing the hope of Jesus with them!

Haley found herself in a difficult conversation with a Hindu man, and she said she really needed my help - but I wasn’t available.  But in the end she had enjoyed the conversation and had learned a lot!  Well done Haley!

I’ll let the photos do the talking for the rest of the outreach.  But I do want to mention that I had some intense conversations with a large group of teens.  I had a long talk in the morning - it was a bit of an apologetics battle - and they were giving as good as they were taking! :)  But it was in a good way.  Their worldview was challenged, and they were testing the new information they were getting.  Those kids came back and talked to other members of the team throughout the day.  They even came back with other friends to get them to do the “good person test”.  I don’t think those kids changed their minds.  But they were challenged, and had something to think through.

I’ve got a few minutes of writing time left to reflect on the Sunday afternoon outreach.  It was a busy outreach.  Mike and Susan were with me.  A highlight was having Malachi come over to catch up.  I first met Malachi about 4 years ago.  At the time he was living on the street.  And I had many gospel conversations with him.  He got off the streets a few years ago, and I see him from time to time.  Today he had a friend with him, and so I started sharing the gospel with him.  And then I spent a lot of time working through check questions with them both.  They agreed that if they had died before our conversation they would be going to hell.  So I challenged them to respond to the gospel today.  They left with tracts, a gospel of John each, and cards for my church.  Lord, have mercy!

Later in the afternoon, I had a challenging chat with 2 couples on a bit of a (drinking) road trip from up north.  They have a long drive home, and they have some reading material to go with them! :)

Next weekend is Easter, and we have 2 special outreaches planned: hot cross bun and gospel tract giveaways in Cashel Mall 11am till 1pm Easter Saturday, and Easter Monday.  If you are in Christchurch, come join us in this fun outreach. All glory to God alone.
 

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Well, it wasn’t a standard week this week.  Heavy rain on Tuesday and so I decided to stay online rather than head to Riccarton.  And on Saturday we were at the Malvern A&P Show (Sheffield, just past Darfield - inland from Christchurch).  But I was able to do my regular city outreaches on Friday and Sunday afternoon.

The main event of the week was the Malvern A&P Show outreach - so I’ll start with that.

I was wondering if I wouldn’t have enough Christians to run the site earlier in the week.  But it turns out we had more than enough!  Sadly, the foot traffic was a lot lower than previous years.  I wonder if this had something to do with us being right down the far end of where all the trade sites were situated.  Oh well, at least there was some foot traffic, and so everyone on the team had an opportunity to get involved.  And still managed to keep myself very busy.  I had many gospel conversations.  Yet, my focus was in trying to encourage the other Christians.

I was super proud of my youngest daughter Daniella, who was often busy in gospel conversations.  Well done Dani!  She started the last conversation of the day, with an older Hindu couple.  I could tell it was a harder conversation, but I wanted her to have the experience of having to deal with it.  She did well!  But eventually she called me over for help.  The couple were engaged, so I just rolled back to the start to recover the ground Dani had already covered, but I slowed down to address their objections as they came up.  I got them all the way to assenting to a just universe maker and heaven and hell, an admission that ‘good deeds’ were the way to heaven.  I took them through the law, where they resisted hard.  They had never stolen anything!  I gave examples of when I had stolen as a child, and they laughed along and then agreed they had done similar with their parents.  And so, I asked, “so, you’ve disobeyed your parents too?”.  They got the point.  Suddenly, the lady started resisting the idea of a universe maker again, and so I had to roll back again.  Eventually, I realised that I wasn’t making progress.  They had heard the law (which brings knowledge of sin), so I decided to cut to the gospel - which is the power of God for salvation.  The man now started trying to include Jesus into Hinduism!

The chat ended with the lady becoming offended.  I challenged her to change her mind about her worldview.  That was offensive to her, “you don’t challenge people like that”.  The man smiled, he understood that I was coming from a place of love and concern.  I changed the word to ‘plead’.  “I’m pleading with you: the issue of the afterlife is too important”.  One of the pictures shows Dani talking with this couple.

I’m going to let the pictures do the talking for the rest of the outreach, which ran from 9am till 4pm.  It was so awesome seeing everyone in the team giving it ago!  I was super encouraged.

On Friday, I was on my own initially, so I decided to wander around the inner city to see what gospel opportunity I could find.  I ended up in Cathedral Square where a group of construction workers working on the Cathedral repair were taking a break.  I approached 2 of them and started a conversation.  Soon after I was interrupted by one of the other workers across the way who was listening - she had a few things to say on the matter.  I engaged her till she said she didn’t want to talk about it any more.  So, I went back to the original 2.  But, not long after, the lady across the way decided to interject again!  Quite a few of the workers got involved in the conversation - it was quite funny, but a bit disjoined.  In the end I decided to hand them all tracts and move along - their break was about to end anyway.  But I was encouraged, I hope I’ll have an opportunity to engage with some of them again.

Later, I was back at the Bridge of Remembrance, and John was with me.  I spotted 3 Filipino kids right in front of the JW stand.  Having recently been to the Philippines, I was eager to engage them.  They stayed to hear the whole gospel presentation - which was so good.  And I hope the couple of JWs I was standing in front of were listening too!

Sunday’s outreach was busy.  I was feeling quite tired from the Malvern A&P Show outreach the day before, so I set up my flip chart and focused on tract distribution.  Susan and Binu were with me.

I ended up getting into some good gospel conversations.  2 young ladies heard the gospel (one had a Christian background, but they were both agnostic).  Sadly they both rejected it (for now).

And I had a great chat with another group of 5 or 6 young people.  It was a difficult chat in the sense that they were all easily distracted.  But one of them in particular was audibly understanding each point of the presentation.  It was making so much sense to him.  So I focused my attention on him and got him to the point of hearing the gospel.  I decided to leave it with that, and handed them all tracts.  I hope the logic of what I was explaining: the seriousness of sin, and the amazing grace of Jesus will stick with them.  May God, in his timing, save them for his glory!
 

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It was so good to be in the Philippines to share the gospel with the church there, but it’s also so good to be home.  This week I was on the streets in Riccarton on Tuesday afternoon, and in the City on Friday afternoon.  I wasn’t able to make it out on Saturday (wedding: congrats Toby and Mel!) or Sunday (family get together: Rach is home!), so this will hopefully be a briefer report than usual.

It was a wonderful outreach on Tuesday.  My first conversation was with 3 senior high school guys.  2 of the guys believed in God, but the other didn’t, so I started with explaining who God is.  They were open and the conversation went smoothly.  The 2 guys made professions - so I got them to consider the cost.  Where the ‘atheist’ seemed genuinely appreciative of the conversation: “I’ve never heard that before”.  Very encouraging.  As I was talking to them, another group of about 5 or so guys from the same high school went past (they were juniors apparently).  One of them in particular was ‘hostile’, but as I was already in a conversation I couldn’t engage.

My next conversation was with an older gentleman.  He seemed to be homeless, and yet as we got talking, he seemed to be very educated.  We had a long conversation, sitting on the seats next to where I had set up my flipchart.  He had just come from hospital, discharged post some heart issues.  Afterlife was a pertinent conversation topic!  He acknowledged there was a God, a heaven and a hell.  He acknowledged he was a sinner.  But he thought he would be good enough for heaven.  I actually spent quite a while labouring with him in the bad news because of this, before explaining the good news of Jesus.  I know it was 4:50pm when the conversation ended, because he needed to find accommodation - it turns out he was homeless :(  I sent him off to the place he needed to be before it closed at 5pm.

During that chat, those 5 high school guys (including the hostile one) came back - they were interested in my flipchart, but I didn’t want to break the original chat to engage them.  But all but the hostile one took tracts.  I remember being busy for the last 30 minutes of the outreach, but the details have escaped me.

Friday’s outreach came with a sense of futility, which is strange for me. I tend to be good at acknowledging the sovereignty of God and just putting my hand and my mind to the task, leaving the results to God.  I did this anyway, even though the feeling lingered - I left it in God’s hands through prayer.

I ended up having a couple of separate conversations with Christians, both in Christchurch from out of town.  I received some encouragement from them - which was nice.

But the highlight chat of the day was with a young man who had a goal of joining the navy one day.  He had a Christian background, but had recently converted to Nordic mythology!  We talked for a long time, and I was able to work through the whole flipchart with him.  He left with a tract and a gospel of John.

It was good to be able to have a hot chocolate with Roger after the outreach, and debrief a bit with him.

God willing, I’ll be completely back to normal schedule next week, although I have 3 special outreaches coming up, that I’d appreciate prayer for: next Saturday is the Malvern A&P Show (25th March), then the following Saturday is the Oxford A&P Show (1st April), and then the weekend after that will be the Easter hot cross bun outreaches (8th & 10th April 11am till 1pm in Cashel Mall)!
 

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We ran another special outreach this week (Saturday): the Kaikoura A&P Show outreach.  And we had some special people join us for outreach this week (Friday): Kane & Damo all the way from Brisbane!  So good to have them with us!

But I’ll start the report with Tuesday afternoon’s outreach to Riccarton.  Roger was down sick, so I got to set up my flip chart on his side of the street.  :D  I had 3 significant chats.

The first was with a young man down from the Hawkes’ Bay.  He is starting university in Christchurch.  It was a good chat in the sense that he was open to hearing the law and the gospel and going through all the check questions.  He seemed to respond positively, but he hedged a bit when I got him to count the cost in this life of accepting the gift of eternal life.  I can’t save him, only God can!

Next I had a long chat with a streetie.  Sadly, she loved the sound of her own voice.  She talked a lot!  So self absorbed.  I didn’t give her the gospel, she was obviously not ready for it.  When I had opportunities to speak, I would gently but directly labour the law of God into her life, trying to reignite her conscience.  Eventually she got tired of being challenged, and decided to move on.  She did take a tract.  I saw her again on Friday in the city, but I was in a chat and wasn’t able to follow up with her.

The last chat was with 3 teen girls.  They accepted tracts on their initial pass, but my question of “what happens after life” was cheekily rebuffed!  Yet, a minute later, they came back, they wanted to talk, and they each had a machine gun of questions to fire at me.  It was a bit overwhelming!  But the questions were very good ones, showing they cared deeply about life, and what happens after life.  As the conversation progressed, I was of course sharing the law and the gospel.  But we finally hit the two hardest questions: 1) evil and suffering and 2) homosexuality.  I actually felt honoured that they trusted me enough to ask about what were obviously very sensitive questions for them.  I did my best to give them answers that were: compassionate, yet faithful to the truth.  It’s only the truth that sets us free!  Sadly, they weren’t able to give me the time to do the subjects justice - they had to leave; I did my best.  One of the girls had been twisting her tract as we were talking.  She accepted another that she could read.

Friday poured with rain!  Yet, we had a team of 6, and it was an awesome outreach in spite of the rain.  There were heaps of people out and about, and everyone was making the most of the sheltered spots where we were able to spark up chats.

I heard a wonderful report from Roger, who had a fantastic chat with a guy who’s flight had been delayed and was wandering the city aimlessly till he encountered Roger.  They guy was so impacted by the gospel conversation, that he headed back to his hotel room to start reading a Bible!

I was paired up with Damo, and he needed to go to the bathroom before we started, so I took him to where some were.  As he was going in, 2 guys passed and I asked them, “hey, what do you think happens after life?”  They were keen to chat, and stopped to engage.  But, as I was talking to them, a streetie who knew me passed, and wanted to talk.  He waited in line!  Damo came back, and I passed the 2 guys to him (pictured), while I addressed the streetie.

Damo’s chat was much longer than mine, and so I ended up going to Lichfield street to see if I could get into a chat there.  Four Catholic high school students went past, and I had a fantastic chat with them.

Damo and I then headed back to Cashel Mall and found a spot down by Ballantynes.  We had 2 outstanding chats.

One with a guy who knew all the Christian lingo, but was subtly missing the gospel.  After labouring with him, I could see a breakthrough starting.  At points he seemed to almost come to tears.  And he left saying we had given him something to consider.

The other was with a young couple (also going to a Catholic high school).  The guy looked so happy, he said, “I’ve seen others being asked that question, but no one has ever asked me”.  It turns out he was very familiar with Ryan via TikTok!  He was very deep in thought throughout the chat, often with a distant look, and often taking a long time to answer questions as he processed what he was learning.  It was so good.  By the end of the chat, I could tell they were taking what we were sharing seriously.

Kaikoura is two and a half hours north of Christchurch, so it was an early start for the team of 5.  It was so good to have Andy, Mike, Jerome and Elijah with me for the drive up.  We were joined by a team coming down from Blenheim, led by Scott.

It was raining when I left home, but, although the ground was very damp, the rain held off for the whole outreach at the Kaikoura A&P Show.

This show wasn’t as busy as some of the others we attend, and yet, there were still plenty of opportunities to engage people with the good news of Jesus.  I’m running out of time to talk about the details of some of those chats.  But the highlight for me was having opportunities with the type of people who wouldn’t normally give me the time of day.  One farmer stayed to hear the law before bailing on me (the fact that I got that far was amazing).  Another elderly couple stayed to hear the gospel, but there was such a hardness that my very first check was answered with “be good”.  Again, I was amazed they stayed as long as they did.  I hope I left a pebble in their shoe, and that God turns it into a rock!  While we have breath, there is hope, God can do what is impossible for us.  They left with tracts.

Susan joined me for the Sunday afternoon outreach in central Christchurch.  It was a busy outreach, and so the time went fast.  Some very encouraging chats with some High School kids, who were challenged to urgently trust Christ, yet left thinking deeply while counting the cost.  Also a great chat with a young man from Australia among other chats.  Out of time!

A small team from Australia and New Zealand is heading to the Philippines to hopefully be an encouragement to the church there in evangelism.  We leave on Tuesday for just under 2 weeks of outreach.  Please keep us in prayer!  I intend to keep writing reports, keep your eye out for them here or on Facebook.

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A wonderful week of gospel outreach. (But then, every week is a wonderful week of gospel outreach!)  It wasn’t a usual week, because on Saturday I ran some evangelism training sessions and, from my perspective, it went really well!  Thank you for praying for this.

But before mentioning how that went, I want to talk about Tuesday’s outreach in Riccarton.  Roger was with me, as usual.  It was an incredibly busy outreach.  Pretty much non stop gospel conversations for over 2 hours.  I set up my flip chart, and prayed, and before long I had 7 university students go past and I was into my first chat.  The larger the group, the harder it can be to hold all their attention.  And this was certainly true for this group.  They were all in different places.  Some of the guys were quite interested in the conversation, but one of the girls, in particular, was quite resistant.  She ended up leaving, which caused some of the others to leave, and then the guys had to go too.  They left with tracts.

But as soon as they walked off, a guy went past who I was able to stop and engage in conversation.  And it was like that for the rest of the outreach.

A lady went past and she said, “Are you Mormon?”  No.  “JW?”  No.  “Oh” she says, “then what are you?”.  We fell into a good conversation.  But it was a difficult one, because I had to be gentle in trying to untie some of the really bad theology she was holding on to.  It was an extreme form of pentecostalism / charasmania.  Where she believed God was giving her and her husband visions that clearly contradicted scripture.  And, unfortunately, this was impacting her soteriology in a subtle way: she was trusting in her ability to deal with generational sin and ask for forgiveness.  She talked about having “enough” faith for salvation: that’s works in disguise!  Anyway, her husband had had visions of a military build up in NZ, and that there would be some kind of coup and all Christians would be rounded up and killed.  And so her husband was preparing to flee to the bush.  I was able to gently work with her to the point where she understood that these “visions” might not be from God.  But unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make much progress in working on her soteriology.  There were other issues as well, and I would have loved to have more time with her.

While I was talking to her, I had 2 groups of people go to the flip chart and start looking at it.  With the 2nd group, she encouraged me to go and talk to them.  I thought I would do that, hoping she would stay and listen too, and get a chance to hear the gospel.  She stayed for a while, but then had to go before I got to the gospel.

So many other interesting gospel interactions throughout the outreach.  And I just don’t have time to talk about them.  But I will mention that a young lady, who I have shared the gospel with before, came over to say hi.  Sadly, she didn’t remember the gospel (to my grief), and the guy that was with her hadn’t heard it.  So I shared it.  And I got a touch emotional.  I was pleading with them to respond to the gospel today.  I’ve talked to people on the streets who I now know have died.  We don’t know when we will die.  There is urgency!

I’m heading to the Philippines for an evangelism trip very soon.  And in last week's report I mentioned a conversation I was able to have with a young Filipino girl.  Well, what’s interesting was that exactly one week later, on Friday, I was able to have another great gospel chat with a young Filipino guy!  It just goes to prove that we don’t need to travel on expensive trips to bring the gospel to the nations these days!  And yet, I want to take every opportunity to encourage the church, worldwide, to rise up where they are at and bring the gospel to their community!  May God bless our (feeble) efforts for his glory.

Like the girl from the previous week, the guy was a church goer.  He said he needs to 'follow the word of God' to get to heaven.  So, I took him through the law. When I asked how he could remove his hell punishment, he said 'repent'.  I asked him what that meant, and he said, "ask for forgiveness".  I explained why that wouldn't help him and proceeded to share the gospel - finally he started mentioning Jesus as the reason for salvation. He agreed that if he had died before our conversation he would go to hell.  And so I called him to repent!  Trust only in Christ as the reason he is saved.  His 2 mates didn't want to talk to me, they were waiting down a bit.  So I gave him 3 tracts.

Please be praying for this young man, and for the young lady from the previous week.  And please be praying for the upcoming evangelism trip to the Philippines (28th Feb till 10th Mar): That the church will be encouraged.  That the church would have a backbone, and stand up and proclaim the gospel.  In the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and beyond.  Pray for the team, that there would be no sickness that would hinder us; that we would be able to resist the many opportunities that there will be for unnecessary division among us.  Pray that this trip would have a lasting effect on the lives of many.  That we would be like fearless warriors, our swords reflecting the glory of God!

So, the evangelism training seemed to go well.  A week ago, there was only 1 person registered, and I was going to cancel it, but we ended up with about 15 people there!  ‘We’ being Andy and I.  It was wonderful being able to take them through the biblical basis for how to do evangelism, deal with too difficult, but common issues: evil and suffering, and sexuality and then finally go over the specifics of the evangelism method we use.

Many of the attendees came to the optional street outreach afterwards.  I had a great flipchart conversation with 3 young ladies while many of the attendees were watching, it was almost a mirror conversation to the role play I had done earlier, and so it was encouraging that they could see the theory being put into action!

It was a very busy outreach as well (cruise ship was in port).  I had so many gospel opportunities.  For the next training, I need to arrange to have more experienced Christians with me to pair up with the trainees.  A good problem to have!

I had opportunities to continue getting to know some of the Hara Khrisian’s that I interact with, which was a great encouragement to me.  (I’m out of time to give details.)

Finally, Sunday’s outreach proceeded as normal.  It was hot, and there were not as many people out.  I had 2 great conversations.  The first was with some climate change activists.  And then lastly, with a guy who identified as trans - this was a long chat.  Initially, he cut to the chase, and wanted to know what I thought of trans people.  I refused to answer without giving context to my answer: how do we know what is right and wrong?  He was deeply resistant, but I was able to show how we know God is real, who God is, what God’s law is, and about the incredible mercy of God.  I was then able to cycle back and explain why homosexuality is a sin: because God makes the rules.  He said the Bible was wrong.  So I asked him on what basis he was judging the Bible.  His answer: himself.  That’s shorthand for, I love my sin, and I want to be god and make my own rules.  Idolatry.  He was really unhappy with me by this point, he wouldn’t shake my hand.  But I made it clear that I cared for him, and that I wanted him to know God’s mercy before he walked off.  We can’t compromise the truth, but we need to do that with gentleness and respect.  I’m making enemies.  But if I’m trying to please man, I’m not a servant of Christ (see Galatians 1:10)
 

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Just a short report to cover last week, as I took the weekend off to be involved with my church camp - which was awesome!  Roger joined me on Tuesday in Riccarton, and John was with me in the city on Friday.

Tuesday’s outreach felt special, as I had a couple of memorable gospel chats with people, as well as follow-up opportunities with some high school students.

But firstly, I want to mention that I had 4 university aged kids go past, they saw my flip chart, and joked with me as they went past.

Then I fell into a chat with a young lady who seemed to have an understanding of the gospel, but not precisely.  It turns out she had an ‘Orthodox’ and ‘Latin’ background.  So I focused on being precise in how salvation doesn't involve works (something the Orthodox sadly teaches).

As she moved on, I noticed some people sitting in the seats behind me.  It was the 4 university students!  They came back and wanted to talk.  I think they were curious as to why I was on the street corner.  We fell into a gospel conversation (1 was a Christian, 2 were atheists, and 1 didn’t want to think about it).  And after sharing the gospel with them, it turned into a bit of a Father speaking to his children kind of discussion.  I remembered when I was their age, at a crossroads - I took the wrong path.  And I wanted to save them some pain.  I pleaded with them to trust in Christ today, and not follow the path I took.

On Friday I was handing out tracts when a young lady went past and took one.  She said she thinks about the afterlife all the time.  She believed in God and heaven & hell - so I asked her what she had to do to get to heaven.  She immediately pointed to her works: bible, prayer, church.  I gently tried again, and so she went to the greatest commandments (the law) as the reason she’ll get to heaven.  I prompted again, and she finally swung to the right answer: Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  It was very concerning.  What concerned me more is that she was on her way to the library to prepare a talk for a church group she is involved with.  Without asking her to respond to me, I pleaded with her to examine herself and check if she was really still trusting in her works for salvation, or in Jesus' sacrifice alone.  Strangely, she started talking about how many think they are Christians and are not.  I don’t know if she realised that this was my concern for her!  She left with a tract “Who Made It”, and I asked her to review it carefully, and get in touch if she had any questions.

I’m moving into a busy period of special outreaches.  And I’d appreciate you keeping the team in prayer:
Sat, 18th Feb - Training + Training Outreach: https://tellmeconference.org.nz/training/
Sat, 25th Feb - Kaikoura A&P Show (in conjunction with Christians coming down from Blenhiem).
Tue, 28th Feb till Fri, 10th Mar - Philippines Trip
Sat, 25th Mar - Malvern A&P Show
Sat, 1st Apr - Oxford A&P Show
Sat, 8th Apr - Easter Outreach
Mon, 10th Apr - Easter Outreach

Thanks and God bless! :)
 

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What a surprise!  I invite a lot of people to church, but not many of them accept the offer.  Well, today at church I had a double surprise!

On Friday, Roger fell into a conversation with a young man at the end of the outreach, a Christian struggling with assurance.  To me, he seemed to be overthinking it, and so I tried to reiterate the gospel, with an emphasis on its simplicity.  He’s on holiday, and was looking for a reformed church in Christchurch to attend.  I invited him along to the church I attend.  It was wonderful to have him turn up and be able sit with me through the meeting.  Our church is working through Romans and today we were up to Romans 6:1-2 learning about the transition between justification and sanctification.  It’s just what this young man needed to hear!  After the meeting ended, he said he felt a bit overwhelmed with all the information, but that didn’t surprise me with what I know of his personality.  He is keen to go and listen to last week's sermon (a recap of Romans 1 - 5) now.  Please pray that he would be able to digest the rich truths taught and that he would come to an assurance of his salvation.

But, also, on Saturday, I was in my usual spot in Riccarton, when a couple of ladies from Zimbabwe came past and we fell into a good gospel chat.  One of the ladies seemed to have a good grasp of the gospel, the other said some questionable things but didn’t resist correction.  They are new to Christchurch and looking for a church.  They have a pentecostal background, but that’s not a problem. I invited them along to my church, as they live close by.  Well, low and behold, this morning as I was walking towards the hall where our church meets, these 2 ladies were coming up the path and I was able to be the first to greet them and welcome them!

And so, the guy from Friday sat on one side of me, and the two ladies sat on the other side through the meeting.

And wow, how wonderful was that church meeting!  The singing, the Bible reading, communion, fellowship, but the teaching was phenomenal.  I felt like we were all pieces of meat marinating in a rich and spicy curry (the depths of the word of God).  After the teaching, I felt like if anyone took a bite of me, their head would explode with the heat!  I unashamedly wept as we sung the final song of praise and glory to God.

And I took that teaching to the streets today, directly applying what I had been marinating in this morning into the conversations I was having this afternoon.  Applied theology at its best! :)  God is so good!

I was also on the streets on Tuesday, with Roger.  I love the picture’s I have for this report, smiles all round!  The one with Andy was from Friday’s outreach.  The guy Andy was talking to got a double dose.  Andy talked to him near the start of the outreach, but near the end of the outreach, I approached him at the other end of the mall.

I’ve forgotten to mention how hot it’s been.  On Friday and Saturday it hit around 33 degree Celsius.  We had a reprieve on Sunday, with rain coming during the outreach.

The online outreach is going as well as ever.  Some of the video’s on social media must have gone viral, because the amount of direct messages coming through on Instagram has spiked, keeping us busy sharing and clarifying the gospel.  Also, I had a great online chat yesterday, with a young man who lives near me, you can check that out here.

Many other conversations, and tracts were distributed this week too.  Keep up the good work in sharing the gospel in your contexts.  All glory to God alone.
 

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