Battle Log

I’m feeling a bit tired as I come to write this on Sunday afternoon, I’m looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow.  It ended up being a good street outreach today, but I’ll get to that soon.

Reviewing the week, there was a team of 2 on Tuesday in Riccarton, 4 on Friday in the city, just myself on Saturday in Riccarton (anyone want to join me?  It’s a day off for you, right?), and then, to my joy, a team of 4 today in the city.  2, 4, 1, 4 - they are all a power of 2 – that fills me with joy too! ;)

The weather is warming up!  Spring has arrived :)  On Saturday I was thinking I need to get the sunscreen out.  And just now I have put my sunscreen in my outreach bag for the next outreach (God willing)! :)

On Tuesday Roger was with me. I’ve just taken a minute to think all the way back to Tuesday to remember what happened, I knew something cool happened… and now I remember…  2 things actually.

The outreach was a bit slow initially, and so I went for a wander down Riccarton Road to seek the lost.  On my way back down the other side of the street, as I was going past the bus stops, I saw 3 young ladies and simply asked them, “Excuse me, may I ask you a question?  It’s a deep one, do you ever think about what happens after you die?”.  To my pleasant surprise, they were all keen to stop and talk.  One of them responded with, “yeah, I think about that all the time”.  It was a straightforward conversation.  One of the girls knew a fair amount of Christian lingo, one was quet, but they all listened.  It was so awesome seeing them get it.  The simple message of the gospel is truly powerful.  At the end of the chat I asked if they had any questions, and the first girl asked if I had any recommendations for churches in Christchurch.  I certainly did!  They all left with tracts.

The other cool thing that happened was similar.  At the end of the outreach, a security guard went past, he took a tract and stopped when I said: “it comes with a question if you have a moment”.  Again, it was a fairly straightforward conversation.  The penny really seemed to drop when I was asking him the ‘sin again’ check question: “if someone trusts that Jesus died for them today, but then tomorrow do 10 more sins and then die, is it heaven or hell?”  His initial response was hell, but when I explained that Jesus even pays for our future sin, the doctrine of justification by faith alone really seemed to strike him: “ahhhhh, I get it now”.  I followed up with a for more checks, he was getting them perfectly right now.  He made a profession, so I got him to consider the cost of the gift - it didn't put him off.  He accepted a bible with a tract bookmarked at John, and he was considering checking out the church I’m part of.  He didn’t turn up this Sunday, yet he is in God’s hands.

Friday and Saturday’s outreaches were busy.

On Friday I set up my flip chart near the bridge of remembrance, but I never used it the whole time, instead I just approached people.  First there were a couple of buskers taking a lunch break, then a chat with a kid from the UK whose dad was a soldier.

Next, a chat with a guy who was struggling with how meaningless life is - he was depressed and we discussed suicide a bit (these things are all very familiar to me, I’m so grateful for the book of Ecclesiasties!)  I laboured with him in regards to the law and the gospel, but he wasn’t really soaking it in at all.  I decided not to push it, but give him some time to ponder.  He had 2 tracts (1 from me, and John had also talked to him prior and given him a tract).

I approached 3 girls who were discussing one of our tracts, one of the girls in particular didn’t want to have another chat about it!  But they did accept a different kind of tract from me.  I turned and immediately 4 guys were walking past, and I got straight into a conversation with them.  It was a difficult chat, because they were in different places and it was hard to get a flow going with all of them at the same time, they all kept interjecting different questions (good ones), I did my best to answer the questions without getting distracted from my goal of sharing the gospel, when I feel like I made a mistake (or did I?)  The MP for central Christchurch, Duncan Webb went past, I’ve talked to him a couple of times before (briefly, he won’t stay to engage).  As soon as I saw him, I said, “Oh, Duncan, I want to talk to you”.  I wasn’t expecting him to stop, but he did.  The mistake was that I should have kept my focus on the four guys I was talking to.  Those guys instantly lost interest and split without hearing the gospel - I feel bad about that!  Yet, I’m pretty sure I gave them all tracts at the start.  I have to leave them in God’s hands.

Anyway, now I was into a discussion with the MP.  And, I feel like I fluffed that opportunity too.  I really wanted to challenge him on some social political issues, and so my questioning turned philosophical.  What I should have done is stick to the script from the word of God, I should have gone with Romans 1:19 and asked him, “Hey Duncan, if I told you that building made itself, would you believe me?” and then took him through the law and the gospel.  He didn’t have much time, and lost interest in the conversation and bailed on me.

So, I was now doubly disappointed with myself!  And yet, who knows?  God can use even our most feeble mistakes to show his power.  I’m praying I get further opportunities to talk with Duncan, as I want the best for him and want him to truly understand the grace of Christ (I know he had a Christian background).  Lord, raise up labourers who will faithfully share the gospel with the leaders of this nation!  Change our culture through the power of the gospel.

I think that was the end of that outreach (I can’t remember having any more chats).  I left that outreach with Andy in deep conversation with one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses there.  Oh, and earlier the Hare Kristna’s went through, I’ve read their pamphlet, and I have a million questions, God willing I’ll find some time to write some of those questions down to give to them next Friday (also, God willing).  Oh, and I was able to have a brief catch up with Simon the Atheist at the start of the outreach - that was nice.

Saturday I was on my own, and it was really busy.  I turned up to my usual spot, and there was a guy there who was sitting looking at his phone.  I ended up having a long chat with him.  He wasn’t grasping the gospel well.  With the check questions he kept slipping back to “because I’m good” as the reason he would get to heaven.  I continued to gently labour with him as best I could.  The chat was interrupted as an old workmate stopped to talk.  I was stuck, I wanted to share the gospel with both, but I couldn’t do that.  I let my work mate go - he left with a tract.  Lord, raise up more Saturday labourers!

Later, I was sharing the gospel with a couple of kids, when two people joined the conversation and kinda killed it.  The two kids left.  And then the conversation for the new couple didn’t last long.  It was subtle, but she wanted to justify being her own god, and so denied clear logic. She wasn’t willing to back down and so the conversation died.   Apparently I talked to the guy before?
I had a long chat with a guy who knew some of the right language, but didn’t understand the gospel.  He seemed truly blown away when he did come to understand it.  He said he needed time to process it.

The outreach ended late with a chat with a young lady and her partner.  She knew the Christian lingo really well.  She was talking about Jesus, and quoting John 3:16, she said abortion is murder, don’t be unequally yoked, etc, etc.  But as we talked it became clear she wasn’t saved.  “I think I’ll go to heaven because I sin less”.  By the end of the chat she agreed that she would be currently going to hell.  She now understands the gospel.  She made a comment: “now I know why God got me to come over here today”.  She was happy to take a tract, “I’ve got heaps of these, there is even one on my fridge” (did she ever read them?).  I was grateful for the opportunity to labour in the gospel with them.

I left with a feeling of frustration: the harvest is ripe!  I will pray for labourers.

Wow, this report is too long.  Well done if you are reading this - maybe you are the answer to my prayer? ;)

Sunday’s outreach I was tired.  And the outreach was slow to start.  Susan joined me, then Binu, and finally Mike!  Binu was handing out tracts, and when Mike arrived, I left him to man the flip chart with Susan while I went to roam a bit.

I approached a young man and it turned into a great chat!  He gave me a strong handshake at the end.

I then found out that Binu had started a chat with a tall, open hearted basketball player.  Binu brought him over to Mike and Susan who shared the gospel with him (a real team effort).  I was really encouraged.

And then Mike got into another flip chart chat with some kids, while I followed up with a guy who was watching the chat from a distance.

I ended up leaving the outreach with Mike in yet another gospel conversation with a guy I’ve semi-talked to many times before over the years.  May Mike make progress where I failed!

Well, that wraps the week.  Heaps happening online too!  God is so good.

(I’m starting to feel a slight sunburn on my face.)
 

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