Battle Log

Sunday, 14 June, 2020

Posted 14 June 2020, 5:01 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

An exciting weekend of outreach in Christchurch (NZ).  Crisp but sunny days.

On Saturday I headed into the central city and decided to set up my flip chart close to the bridge of remembrance.  And I stayed in the same spot for four hours.  Initially it was a bit quiet, but as the day progressed, it became very busy.

Three other groups came to set up beside me: Falun Gong (very dedicated to street “evangelism” in Christchurch), Hare Krishna (I’ve shared the gospel with one of the leaders a number of times over the recent years, and we are friendly), and a group protesting the CCP involvement in Hong Kong.  For people walking past, they had to walk the gauntlet!  And I was right in the middle of it.

With patience, I ended up having many wonderful gospel opportunities.

One stand out involved a special conversation with a lovely Muslim lady.  I noticed her walk past me earlier in the outreach.  When she walked past a second time, she decided to take a tract from me, and I was able to start a conversation - she was mildly curious about the good person test.  Sadly, this lovely lady lost her husband just over a year ago in the Mosque shooting!  And she shed some tears in remembrance while she was talking with me.  She received my heartfelt sympathy.  She allowed me to discuss the gospel with her, but she was mildly resistant.

The other conversation that comes to mind was a long (but amicable) debate with a young man who was very intelligent - it turns out he studied physics at university.  Eventually I was able to move past his intellect and start addressing his conscience - the law is a powerful ally indeed!  But he admitted to loving his sin and was suppressing the truth.  It was fascinating watching him do it.  He denied a basis for truth, then made moral judgements, and then claimed he was the standard.  He could see the absurdity, but he didn’t want the alternative.  I eventually shut the conversation down, I was getting a headache concentrating on my discussion with him while filtering out the Hare Krishna’s and the music from the CCP protesters!  We parted on good terms, and he took a tract.

On Sunday I had two opportunities to open air preach!  In the morning I was teaching at my local church (Redemption Church) on 1 Peter 1:3-5, and just as I was coming to the end, a fire alarm went off!  I had to finish off outside without amplification!

It was also our church's monthly outreach Sunday where we wrapped up fellowship a little early so we could get into the city for gospel outreach.  There was a team of nine.  We paired up and spread out and had a wonderful time in flip chart and walk up conversations with people.  Super encouraging!

Andy had two follow up opportunities with people he had talked to on Friday.  Toby and Mark had some great opportunities - including with a group of teen boys (pictured).  Beth and Haley had a great conversation.  And Thomas had a wonderful conversation near the end on the flip chart.

To finish the outreach, we went to Cathedral Square for some open air preaching - my second opportunity! ;)

The team ended up having some wonderful one to one opportunities as well.  I finished the outreach with a couple from Canada who were very eager to talk with me, but resisted the truth I was trying to share.  They ended up disengaging - I left them to it.

Praise God for another week of gospel outreach in Christchurch!  Next week I’m taking a break from the front lines for some R&R - praise God for that.  Looking forward to recharging my batteries with my precious family and then getting back to the harvest fields!  Thank you for your prayer and support!