Battle Log

No action shots in the photos for this week.  But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an action packed week of street outreach in Christchurch.

 

I was too busy for photos Tuesday afternoon.  Roger was with me.  Friday afternoon was busy too.  Roger and Mark were with me.  On Saturday and Sunday I was on my own, so no one to take photos of.  But those outreaches were wonderful too.  Let’s start with Tuesday.

 

I decided to take notes, because I usually forget the chats from Tuesday by the time I write this on Sunday.  Haha, it must be old age!

 

So, there was someone sitting close to my usual spot, so I decided to set up my flip chart in Roger’s spot till he got there.  I hadn’t even finished setting it up when I heard, “Hi Glen”.  I looked up and saw a group of school kids from Christchurch Boys and Girls High Schools.  My look must have been blank, because she said, “you don’t remember us do you?”.  I didn’t.  She said, “that’s okay, it would have been a year ago when we last talked”.  So encouraging to know that people remember the gospel conversations you have with them.  The gospel is the power of God for salvation.  I started with a check question, and I was pleasantly surprised that they (a girl and I guy) knew the right way to heaven.  Yet, they had friends with them that didn’t.  And so, I was able to use the flip chart to share the gospel with them.

 

I went straight from that chat into another.  2 guys passed, and 1 of them glanced at the flip chart, so I said, “would you like to give the ‘good person test’ a go?”  He was keen, to his friends' surprise.  It was a good chat, but an intense chat.  They were intellectual types from the University.  And they wanted to play the agnostic / atheist card.  I didn’t want to bolster their suppression by giving them an inch.  I held my ground as to how they know God exists and what the true motivation for denying Him is.

 

By this stage, Roger was there.  And the intensity of the conversation, although polite, was attracting others to stop.  I noticed Roger busy in conversations, and I had multiple people queuing up to talk.  Sadly, I wasn’t able to get to them.  Eventually a friend of the 2 guys turned up and joined the conversation.  She gave me a long winded explanation as to why justice is not universal.  I gave up and let her talk.  You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.  If I pushed any harder, it would have just gotten nasty.

 

It was then that I noticed a young lady standing nearby.  She was either interested in our conversation, or she was looking for directions.  I decided to ask if I could help.  It turns out she is a Christian, and was very interested in the conversation.  I was able to peel away from the ‘agnostics’, leaving them with Roger, and engage her for mutual encouragement.  It turns out she remembered our ministry from the Rangiora A&P Show outreach 2 seasons ago (the flip chart was the link).

 

Once the Christian had moved on, I decided to leave the ‘agnostics’ to Roger.  But, with all the activity, an hour and a half had gone by, and I realised I was tired.  Once Roger had finished up, we went for a hot chocolate.

 

It was so good to have Mark with us on Friday, at the Bridge of Remembrance.  Mark is a local pastor.  He has a different approach to his street evangelism.  And yet, he is willing to work with us and learn why we do it differently, even if he is not fully convinced yet.  I really appreciate his humbleness.

 

Mark was keen to see the flip chart in action.  I didn’t bring mine, but Roger brought his.  Roger was quickly into a chat a short distance away, and so Mark and I paired up on the flip chart.  A lot of kids about - teachers only day.  I noticed 4 high school aged kids that I thought might be keen, and so I ran over to engage them.  They were indeed keen, and I was able to get them to come over to the flip chart.  It went well.  One of the girls had an audible penny drop moment as she seemed to grasp the gospel.  And another girl literally laughed out loud, when I asked if she would punch the fireman in the face.  It illustrated my point perfectly.  A believer will never use Jesus as an excuse to sin.

 

We then had 5 more High School kids go past - they engaged well on the flip chart too.  And then yet another group of kids, this time from a local Christian School - they did well in articulating the gospel - yet one of them had important questions we were able to address.

 

It was a busy afternoon.  Mark was asking why I had been skipping the first picture of the flip chart (Eiffel Tower) when a guy passed who (to my surprise) was keen to give the flip chart a go.  He wasn’t sure about God, and so, the perfect opportunity to use that first picture presented itself.  He dug his heels in, and so I was able to demonstrate the use of some simple apologetics, e.g., where did God come from?  I wasn’t going to let arguing about this hold back sharing the law and the gospel, and so I did that.  It was a great chat.  And Mark and I were able to debrief afterwards.

 

Saturday I was back in Riccarton.  Warm weather for the first day of winter.  I had many wonderful opportunities to engage people with the bad news of the law, and the good news of Jesus.  I even saw the young couple from my first chat on Tuesday again (from Boys / Girls High School)!

 

Sunday was sunny but cold.  I was on my own, and feeling a bit tired, so I decided to hand out tracts.  My first chat really stands out in my mind.  A young man slows as he walks past.  I could tell he wanted to talk.  We engaged (even though his girlfriend didn’t want to stop).  It was a short conversation, but a powerful one.  He heard the law and the gospel.  He was interested, it was like God had already been preparing him.  All that was needed was a Christian to be in the right place and ready to share.

 

Are you ready to share?  Are you willing to go?  Yes, it’s hard labour, but is it worth it?  Absolutely!  Be encouraged.  Glory to God alone.

 

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