Battle Log
Sunday, 9 October, 2022
Posted 9 October 2022, 2:18 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink
Busy week this week, and a bit of a routine change - that I hate - but it was worth it, because on Saturday I had the privilege of running some evangelism training. The start of the week was cold! We even got a dusting of snow! But the end of the week was hot!
The routine change was on Saturday. On Tuesday I was in Riccarton with Roger, as per usual. Friday was in the city with Roger and Andy. Saturday was the training in the morning, and then a street outreach in the city in the afternoon. And finally, it was back to normal on Sunday with an afternoon street outreach in the city - Susan joined me.
I’m going to start with talking about Saturday. So, there were about 15 people at the training. 3 churches were represented, but most of the attendees are also part of the same church as me :) The training involved 3 sessions, the first 2 were theory, and the optional 3rd session was a street outreach in the afternoon to put it into practice. In the first session I covered the biblical basis for the method of evangelism I was teaching, based mainly from Romans 1 - 3, but also other parts of Romans, Galatians, Acts and Proverbs. Then we discussed 2 difficult issues that often come up in relation to evangelism: sexuality, and evil and suffering. Before we got into the nitty gritty of how to practically share the gospel using the method, I covered some general tips and techniques.
I was a bit nervous going into the training, as I really wanted it to go well. I want the church to be encouraged, equipped and blessed in and through evangelism - all to the glory of God alone. I was concerned that I would have too much time and not enough to say. I was very wrong there! I had the opposite problem! Oh well, I think it went okay.
So, there was a team of 9 to hit the streets in the afternoon, in Cashel Mall. There were HEAPS of people there, out enjoying the nice weather. There were 4 religious groups out (the JWs were taking 2 spots!) and lots of buskers. We joined the fray! I was so encouraged to see everyone in the team getting good opportunities to put into practice what they had been learning about in the morning. That was a real answer to prayer! :)
I didn’t really have any chats of my own, I spent my time making sure people were focused on their task, balancing pairings, and pulling distractions away (e.g., regulars who didn’t really want to discuss the gospel). But it was a thrill to know I was enabling 8 others to get some practical experience! I was excited to hear the good reports in the debrief afterwards.
I’m planning to run the training again in the Autumn (18th of Feb), all the details are here: https://tellmeconference.org.nz/training/
Going to Sunday’s outreach. It was hot! In fact, I’m not used to the heat, and I felt quite tired. I set up quite close to the JWs. They had their tract boards set up. So I set up my flipchart.
I had a stellar flipchart chat with a trio. One of the guys was very resistant to the building builder analogy, so I laboured with him for a bit, but I didn’t want them all to miss hearing the gospel, and I sensed that they might walk off at any moment. So I gently cut to the law, and was happy that they stayed to hear the gospel, and go into the checks. I didn’t end up needing to go back to how we know God is real, the whole presentation made sense of it all. One of the other guys thanked me for explaining it the way I did - he said it really made sense. And the girl seemed impacted too.
Later, I had a guy go past who said he had already received a tract. I asked if he read it, and he said, “no, not yet”. I could tell he really wanted to talk, and talk we did: about evil and suffering. He couldn’t reconcile this with an all powerful, all knowing, and all loving God. He hoped there was nothing after he died. And so the whole conversation focused on discussing this question. At one point, he started to get a bit angry, but he contained himself, as I wrestled with him to hold the balance rightly. He also couldn’t reconcile hell, and we discussed this as well. I gave him the answers he needed, but as I had warned him, the answers can take some processing. During the chat, I was able to take him through the law and share the gospel multiple times.
The chat ended prematurely, as a protest came down the mall. Before he left, I checked in to see if he remembered the gospel - he got it wrong! So, once again I reiterated the gospel and told him to get in touch if he had further questions. He left with a tract - maybe he’ll read it this time?
Friday was also a busy time of ministry. I talked to a few anti-vaxxers (one was a follow up) and was able to share the gospel with them. You know, I just can’t think of any more details from that outreach now. Saturday and Sunday were so busy, and I’m too tired to draw up those memories now!
But, something cool happened as a result of that outreach. Today, I was early to our church gathering to do setup duty. A young couple turned up early and so I welcomed them. They are from Chile, South America. And it turns out that Andy had shared the gospel with them during Friday’s outreach and invited them along. It was so awesome to have them gather with us today, and to continue ministering to them.
Lastly, Tuesday’s outreach, the only thing I can remember was catching up with a doctor who had supported us in our ministry in bringing the gospel to the issue of abortion outside the hospital. It was so cool to see him again.
Okay, that’s it for this week. Quite a few pictures today, there are 1 for Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday, all the rest were from the training outreach on Saturday.
I praise God for answering our prayers. All glory to God alone. I love him so much!
