Battle Log
Friday, 2 August, 2019
Posted 2 August 2019, 6:59 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink
As per schedule, on Thursday, I was at the bus stops outside Northlands & Eastgate malls.
Two conversations outside Northlands stand out for mention - they were both follow ups.
After an initial burst of conversations, I had approached everyone that I could see, so I was waiting for buses to arrive bringing new people to talk to. As I was waiting and praying, a girl walked past - so I offered her a tract. She looked up, and to my surprise, she recognised me and knew my name! It turns out that I had had a long Gospel conversation with her in the central city earlier in the year. And she had obviously been thinking about it, as she was keen to talk about it more now - and she remembered key concepts that I had obviously shared the first time. She had grown up in a Christian home, but as a first year bio-chem student at Uni, she was questioning everything she had been taught. So we talked about evolution and creation for a while. Her bus arrived, cutting our conversation short - but she left with an After Life tract.
The second conversation was with an exchange high school student (from Germany). The last time we talked, he had expressed a postmodern worldview and wasn’t interested in God. This time he walked past and remembered me, but stopped keen to continue the conversation. He pretended to walk away when I moved the conversation to the subject of God claiming that he wanted to talk about anything else. But he stayed around long enough to miss two buses (as he revealed later) to talk about this very subject! Again, the conversation focused on evolution and creation and, to my surprise, he accepted a leaflet on this subject produced by Creation Ministries International. At the end of the conversation, he asked me if I would be here every Thursday, he is keen to keep talking. He knows how to get in touch with me!
Friday started with the Gospel + abortion outreach. It was very encouraging to have seven Christians turn up to stand for life, and share the Gospel - including a newbie for this outreach. The team had some opposition, yet much support (as usual). And as per the pictures, some good dialogue was had with various members of the public. No major “incidents” this time! We are thankful to God for that. We pray that God would continue to use this effort for His glory.
Later, two gathered for preaching in Cathedral Square. Marty preached in spite of some distracting live music in the background, and a new tactic from our main heckler. He had brought out a chalk board and had written some out of context Bible verses on it. The preaching led to a follow up conversation with a Christian couple who stopped to listen and support. And the chalk board led to a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with another couple that was confused by it! We are very grateful to God for the hecklers that he sends our way. :)
The afternoon saw a team of three on the corner of Cashel and Colombo, handing out tracts and having Gospel conversations via the flip chart. Roger has a wonderful ability to get people to stop for a chat, that wouldn’t give me the time of day! He had many fish on his line today, including one guy who seemed deeply impacted by the message - very encouraging.
Sadly, the evening outreach was cut short by a forecasted change in the weather - rain and wind. But before it came, one solid Gospel conversation was had, and tracts were handed out.
I thank God for the many opportunities we have to share of his love in the Gospel!
