Battle Log
Sunday, 1 November, 2020
Posted 1 November 2020, 2:26 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink
A busy Sunday afternoon of outreach. There were lots of Christians out sharing the gospel. At least four churches were represented.
I turned up slightly early and before I knew it one of my old regulars appeared. I was grateful I remembered his name. Sadly he is homeless again. The last time I talked to him, he was still resistant to the gospel - denying the logic of the reality of God. And nothing has changed. At least he was willing to sit down and talk to me.
By this stage, Sophie and her brother had arrived. It’s so good to have Sophie back after over a year overseas. Welcome back Sophie! :)
I was just starting to show them the new flip chart when we were interrupted by a man. He was deeply hurting - he had lost his wife in the Mosque shooting last year! He was rejecting his religion, not able to comprehend why God would allow such a tragedy. I did my best to listen to this guy, and express my care and sympathy - he accepted a sideways hug from me. I did my best with my words, knowing that cold hard logic is not always the best. I was able to touch on the hope of the gospel, and answer some of his questions about suffering. He had to move on, but he accepted a tract, with an explanation of how he can get in touch.
By this stage more Christians were turning up - many who were new to street evangelism. So I did a quick demo of the flip chart. A crowd draws a crowd, and in the middle of my presentation I had people from the street getting involved!
It wasn’t long before I was into a conversation with four teens. Christians gathered to watch. It was a great chat with the teens asking great questions and giving me great opportunities to demonstrate things I’d been explaining in the training earlier.
After this, other Christians took over the running of the flip chart, and I paired up with Sam for some walk up evangelism. We had quite a few rejections, but managed to have two conversations. The first was with a guy who was stoned (according to Sam) - that might explain why he didn’t seem to be grasping what I was sharing! The second was with a guy who was resistant. I did my best to share the gospel.
On Saturday I was online with the Aussie team. I live streamed first. I had a conversation with a group of guys who included works in their explanation of why they would be going to heaven. So I shared the law and the gospel. They didn’t disagree - one even seemed impressed with the way I explained it. Another wanted to chat further. We were talking about the bad things that can be encountered on the online service we were using - and so I explained the tools I had in place to protect me. I was shocked to learn, at this point, that he was a youth pastor! I was grieved. By this stage, the guy impressed with my gospel explanation had left the view of the camera. Oh God, convict them - save them!
Later, while no longer live streaming, I had a great conversation with a Jewish boy who was religiously all over the place (post modern, reincarnation). He was smart and was also impressed with the gospel presentation I gave. He called me a scholar! But he was completely unimpacted by the wonder of the gospel. Just so grieving.
And yet, I had at least two gospel conversations where the person I was talking to did seem deeply impacted. The second guy thanked me - “it was what I needed to hear”.
Glory to God alone. Lord, thank you for using us, in spite of us.