Battle Log

Sunday, 7 June, 2020

Posted 7 June 2020, 2:56 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

The weekend in Christchurch was contrasting.  Cold and wet on Saturday, cold and sunny on Sunday.

So I decided to do online outreach on Saturday :)  Some highlights include:

Having a wonderful conversation with at least three Catholic girls who became very engaged in the conversation.  At one point a landline rang.  It was loud and gave me a bit of a fright!  The girls ignored it, they were so interested in what we were talking about.  So I asked if they were going to answer it.  One of the girls said, oh, I’ll go disconnect it.  Sure enough, she jumped out of her chair.  A few moments later and the phone stopped ringing.  She came back, sat down and indicated I could continue!  There were moments in the conversation where their jaws literally dropped, as they came to grasp the gospel.  At the end of the conversation, one of the girls said, “thank you so much!”.  It was a very heartwarming conversation.

I also got into a conversation with a Muslim law student from Morocco.  Due to his English, the conversation was slow, but we both enjoyed trying to communicate as best as we could.  I used Google Translate, and also some Arabic tracts that I had.  I showed him the pages, and he read them!

I spoke with two Muslim girls from Kuwait - they were not interested at all.  Sadly, they were mocking.

I spoke to a retired US air force mechanic.

With online evangelism you can reach such a diverse mix of people, who can all understand the same gospel message.  It is such a wonderful harvest opportunity, and I praise God for it.

On Sunday afternoon there were a LOT of people out enjoying the sunshine and shopping.  Thomas and I had a very busy outreach.

I spoke with large groups of high school aged kids initially.  First a group of girls, then a group of guys.  Those conversations were difficult, because each individual was at a different place in their thinking, and I didn’t have the energy to capture their attention so I could share the gospel well.  Some would get distracted and disrupt the flow, and I was getting multiple competing questions.  But I persisted.

A guy turned up late to the conversation I was having with the guys, but when his friends left, he stayed so I could take him through the flip chart.  It was a great one on one conversation.  He seemed to grasp the gospel, and professed that he was now trusting that Jesus had paid his hell fine.  But as he walked off, he gave me a slight smile, which made me wonder if he was just playing along for fun.  I noticed he walked up to three girls in the distance, he spoke to them for a bit, and then gave one of them the tract I had given him.  Was he passing on the gospel?  Or were they making fun of me?  Either way, he heard the gospel.  With greater knowledge comes greater responsibility, so I hope he was sincere!

Later, Thomas and I ended up getting into separate conversations.  Mine was with a couple of guys from India.  One of them understood the implications of the gospel, and became resistant because he knew his life would dramatically change if he accepted it.  But he was open to reason and I was able to labour with him.

I finished with a walk up conversation with three young guys, who came to understand the gospel, but very quickly slipped back into the concept of works for salvation.  This still amazes me.  Repeating the gospel, and multiple checking questions are so important - which I did.

Thomas finished up with an odd conversation with three girls.  One seemed interested and sincere.  The second was laughing uncontrollably, while the third was just uncomfortable and walked part way down the mall to wait for her friends.  I tried to engage the other two, but it didn’t work out.  But Thomas was still able to complete the conversation with the first girl.  Odd - but God knows, and the gospel was shared.