Battle Log

Page 49

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Sunday, 2 October, 2022

Posted 2 October 2022, 2:14 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

Thank you for praying, and please keep praying that God would bring glory to himself by demonstrating his justice and mercy to those we encounter on the streets of Christchurch. This gospel ministry will be ineffective otherwise.

This week the four usual street outreaches occurred: Tuesday afternoon in Riccarton (Roger and I), Friday afternoon in the city (Roger, Steve, Andy and I), Saturday lunch time in Riccarton (just myself), and Sunday afternoon in the city (Susan and I).

I was first there on Tuesday, and set up my flip chart. Roger arrived a few minutes later, and I decided to go over with him to his side of the street to help him set up his flip chart. But as we were crossing the road, 4 teens in school uniform were there and looking at us, as they were walking past. I had to take the opportunity even before I finished crossing the road, and asked them a question. I think they were glad, because they actually wanted to talk (well a few of them anyway). So, without the use of a flip chart, a gospel conversation was underway.

I took them through the law, and started on the gospel, and then Roger took over, so I decided to set up his flip chart. Just as I finished, a young couple went past, and the guy was instantly interested in the faces on the front page of the flip chart. It was easy to engage him in a conversation, and they both came to hear the gospel.

But as that conversation was ongoing, Roger had finished his chat with the school kids and came to join me when a guy who was out on the street trying to gain votes for the upcoming city elections went past. Roger was instantly into a deep conversation with him. So two separate conversations were going on side by side! It made it a little bit harder, but it was fine :)

But it didn’t end there! A guy came past and stopped to stare at the conversations going on - he obviously wanted to say something. I hate distractions like this, because it can cause existing conversations to end prematurely. I decided to offer him a tract, which he took, but he was satisfied, he wanted to talk. So I asked him to give me a minute. The conversation with the couple had found a good stopping point, they had heard the gospel, it would have been good if I had been able to go through some more check questions, but I ended it there so I could give my attention to the new guy.

It turns out he had seen my flipchart on the other side of the road, and wanted to talk about the pictures on it! We ended up crossing over to do that (leaving Roger with his flip chart and still talking to the guy trying to get votes!)

Sadly, this guy was extremely self righteous. He was a “Christian” but had never done anything wrong. He wasn’t willing to stay and chat, he even handed the tract back. I think he really wanted to moan about politics.

Well, after that, the politician that had been talking to Roger, came over to talk to me for a few minutes before heading off to pound a few more streets.

I can’t really remember the rest of the outreach. I know Roger was busy, as per the pictures. I only remember one other conversation, it was with a guy who turns out to be the nephew of a fellow street evangelist who is praying for his salvation! Sadly, the guy is still resistant, but I was able to share the law and gospel with him.

Friday’s outreach was fascinating. It started with a chat with a guy with a girl's name. He took one of the first tracts I handed out (actually, he bee-lined over to get it). It was a long chat, where he asked the hardest questions. But he was given straight answers, and heard the law and the gospel. When he gave me his name, he was testing me. I ignored the bait and just proceeded with the conversation. I knew he was challenged by the law already, and I knew he knew I knew his position on sexuality is sinful - we actually both knew (have I said that right? ;) ).

Part way into the conversation, one of the guys (who claimed to be a satanist) I had talked to in Riccarton a couple of weeks ago came past, and as soon as he saw me, he joined the conversation. So the 3 of us continued to discuss the gospel and all the important questions surrounding it.

Eventually the first guy left. We were on good terms, but he was very resistant to the gospel. The other guy went to have a chat with Roger, while I was off sharing the gospel with others.

Eventually, that guy came back to me. So, I went straight for a check question, he got it very wrong. He was keen to chat, so we went and sat down so I could labour with him to understand. He wasn’t getting it, so I had a thought, I decided to use the flip chart app I had on my phone (Apple & Android). Maybe the pictures would help! It’s the first time I’ve used it in action, and it worked well - although I need to make the images fullscreen. By the end of the chat, he at least was able to articulate that it’s not his works that save him, but instead only Jesus' sacrifice that saves him. Although, I don’t think the reality of that has sunk in yet - In God’s timing, I pray that it does!

Saturday’s outreach was busy, but I’m only going to highlight 2 of those chats.

The first was with a guy with a Christian background who seemed to already have come to the understanding that it wasn’t his bible reading and prayer that saved him, but Jesus alone. He was just hungry to learn more, and so he was super happy to have found me on the street corner. His friend was Catholic, and she heard the gospel. She moved on, and I was able to encourage the guy in finding a church that would be able to feed him. I invited him along to my church, as he lived close.

The second was with a guy who had just lost his friend in a car accident the previous Wednesday! :( Times like these are pivotal in people's lives, and God gave me the opportunity to minister the gospel into his life! He questioned everything I said, but in a good way. He needed to challenge it - and I was happy for that, because maybe that will help him understand it.

Oh, one other cool chat. A kid I had talked to a couple of Saturdays ago came back, this time with a friend. He wanted his friend to hear the gospel! It was a pivotal conversation, because although the friend was a church goer, he admitted he was trusting in his works for salvation before the chat, and was professing faith alone by the end of it. Glory to God.

I’m out of time, Sunday’s outreach involved long conversations with streeties (homeless). One girl in particular was very keen to chat. She claimed to be Christian, but it was clear that her understanding of what that meant wasn’t right (close, but oh so far). So, we sat down and I laboured the gospel with her. There was a lot of distraction with all the other streeties around. I was able to semi-engage a few of the other ones, but the girl kept coming back from more gospel. I was slowly able to work through check questions with her.

To end the outreach, Susan and I headed down to the other end of the mall (bridge of remembrance), where I was able to have a great chat with 4 girls who go to a local church where I was able to clarify exactly what justifies us: Jesus' sacrifice alone! All glory to him!

Wednesday, 28 September, 2022

Posted 28 September 2022, 5:33 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Sunnybank on Wednesday September 28th, 2022 from 1300 – 1600

It was a normal day for outreach with just Johnny and Hung as all others are not available during school term break caring for their kids. Sunny bank was with more people flow than Toowong yesterday. There were mixed responses from people we met but at the end of the day, both of us had many chances to share the Gospel to people of all nations. Both Johnny and Hung had more chances to catch up with people from Mainland China with better successful rate. Recap below is the Battle Log of Hung:

1) I first caught up with a young lady who is an ABC. Her parent is from Hunan Changshaé•·æ²™. She has been back to Changsha a couple of time. So, I could identify with her and earned her trust to listen to the gospel with good and positive result.

2) Then I approached a young man from Beijing åŒ—äº¬ to come for study having arrived in Brisbane for 2, 3 months. å‰›é–‹å§‹ä¾†2ã€3æœˆHe claimed he is a member of the communist party yet he showed exceptional receptiveness to listen to the Gospel and took a tract. é»¨å“¡, è‚¯è´ & æ‹¿å–®å¼µ

3) Seksayhj , a Cambodian who came to Australia at young age. He claimed he has a few Christian friends and even followed them to go to church a couple of times yet still just pursuing. I went through the full gospel with him and he appeared quite receptive to the gospel message with better and clear understanding.

4) I sat beside an Old Aussie who was not interested but I still shared the full gospel to him.

5) Then I approached three Africans but they claimed they cannot speak English.

6) Then I approached an Indonesian girl who simply avoided me by walking away to a far distance.

7) Then I shared with a lady from Mainland China who was willing to listen and took a tract afterwards. ä¸åœ‹å¥³å.é¡˜æ„è½æ‹¿å–®å¼µ

8 ) Next I caught up with a Graffith student young man by the name of Jiang å§œfrom Nantung, Suzhou,å—é€šè˜‡å·žåŠ. He has come for half a year still adapting to the life in Australia. He was very talkative and willing to listen to the gospel.

9) Two young ladies from BeijingåŒ—äº¬ï¼Œand Shenzhen æ·±åœ³ respectively. They are students of UQ. Both were willing to listen to the gospel and we kept on chatting for a long while about the status of Christianity in China. é¡˜è½ï¼Œå¤šèŠ

10) A approached a local Aussie lady who was friendly. Yet the bus came too quickly so she could only get a tract from me.

11) Finally, I caught up with a young lady from Shanghai who quickly identified herself as Christian. She once attended SIC. I tested on her assurance of salvation but found that she does not have full 100% assurance of salvation. She thanked for my clarification.

Tuesday, 27 September, 2022

Posted 27 September 2022, 9:30 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday Sep 27th, 2022 from 1330 – 1500

It was a comparatively quiet day at least for Hung. There were not enough people flow coming to the bus stop and stayed long enough for a meaningful a fruitful chat. I anyway gave up more chances to Johnny and Winnie first whenever people arrived. So, they basically still had quite some divine opportunities for an effective sharing. Recap below is however my meagre chances that mostly could not end up with a complete gospel sharing occasion.

1) My first approach to an Indian girl was rejected. I however asked Winnie to have another go in case she did not want to chat with a man, but still Winnie faced same rejection.

2) Then I caught with a Christian from Hong Kong who has just come for 2 months. Even though he quickly identified himself as Christian, but I still could not beat the bus arrival as such could not carry out the test for assurance of salvation. é¦™æ¸¯åŸºç£å¾’ä¾†2æœˆ

3) Then my third target I approached was on the phone while I was about to start conversation with him. So, the chat was cut but he still was willing to take a tract.

4) Then I caught up with another Chinese student who claimed that he has got a tract from his UQ friend. Yet he cannot explain to me what message he has got from the tract. When I was about to supplement, the bus arrival again cut the conversation off right away. ä¸åœ‹äººæ‹¿éŽå–®å¼µï¼Œä¸èƒ½è§£é‡‹ï¼Œå‰›é–‹è©±é¡Œ

5) Then another lady from Quanzhou China who looks friendly initially but asked me to wait for her to answer all the emails. I waited for 3 to 4 minutes and tried to start the sharing but then she started to play trick to distract me from sharing the gospel. I tried my best but she finally laughed it off and left without a tract. ä¸å›¯å»£æ±ï¼Œè‡ªç¾©ï¼Œå˜²ç¬‘ï¼Œç…§è¬›ï¼Œä¸ä»¥ç‚ºç„¶ã€‚

6) Then a Croatia middle age woman asking for direction to take the right number of bus to UQ to meet her partner who works there. I gave her the needed advice but still not earning the chance to share, she bluntly rejected any more conversation on the gospel, so I kept chatting in casual way trying to find another chance to chip in the gospel message. It was failed finally up till the arrival of the bus.

7) Finally, I approached a Filipino lady who was busy in using the smart phone on some errand. Thanked God at least she took a tract to read afterwards,

Saturday, 24 September, 2022

Posted 25 September 2022, 10:52 AM by Glen Richards. Permalink

Three street outreaches this week: Tuesday (Riccarton), Friday (City) and Saturday (Riccarton). I ended up not using the flip chart on the first 2 outreaches, and so I decided to make it a no flip chart week! Nice spring weather, it was just me in Riccarton both days (more fish for me!). And Andy and I had a marvellous time together on Friday - climate change protests always lead to wonderful gospel conversations! :D

But on Tuesday, I rocked up to my usual spot, bowed my head in prayer, and then looked up wondering what the outreach would be like. It was one of the busiest outreaches I’ve ever had! Glory to God.

I walked down Riccarton Road and a small group was approaching me, so I offered tracts which were completely by them all, except one. He stopped and turned to accept it. I quickly took the opportunity to engage him in conversation, and to my amazement he stopped and fully engaged in spite of the fact that his friends kept walking. I was able to share the law, the gospel, and a couple of checks before he started to think about his friends again and had to go. I was really encouraged.

As he walked off, another guy was passing. He looked vaguely familiar. He accepted a tract and kept walking. I followed at a distance and watched his friend approach him and start discussing the tract I had given. So I caught up with them and the three of us ended up having a long chat on the street corner. The first guy knew all the answers, and was really supportive - one of the team must have talked to him before. And so my focus was on his friend. The first guy is going to a Roman Catholic church, but doesn't have a bible. So I gave him a contact card for my church and them both a New Testament. Another great chat.

I crossed the road to buy some mints and then came out and approached a couple waiting for a bus. Another great chat that started with one of them saying, “I hate Christianity, it ruined my life”! The conversation was amicable, and progress was being made, but their bus arrived before I could share the gospel. They left with tracts.

I instantly turned and engaged another couple. He was a Satanist, and she (or was it a he?) wasn’t, and yet they heard the law and the gospel before their bus came.

That’s how the outreach went, from one conversation, straight into another, with a little bit of walking down Riccarton Road in between.

Next up was a chat with 3 guys (early 20’s). 2 Believed in God, 1 didn’t. Initially they had little engagement in the chat, and yet the 2 believers quickly became really engaged when the flaws in their existing philosophies were exposed. Sadly they were resistant. Yet, they all heard the law and the Gospel.

A chat with a young guy who turned out to have a Jehovah Witness background.

And finally a chat with a young man called Sam who went from thinking his being good would get him to heaven to understanding the gospel. I left him with a bible too.

By this stage there was only 10 minutes left in the outreach! I was excited by, and praising God for, all the wonderful opportunities. But I was feeling tired, so I used that last 10 minutes to pump out some tracts.

Thank you to all those that are praying for this ministry. Our efforts are weak, and yet the simple gospel message, backed by the prayers of the saints, is the power of God for salvation!

Nice and sunny on Friday, and yet a cool wind. There was an event happening down at the bridge of remembrance, and so Andy I spent our time in ministry down at the Colombo / Cashel Corner.

I was excited to hear a protest coming. And I wasn’t surprised to see it was about climate change.

I started the outreach by pumping tracts out to the noisy protesters filing past. Many were curious and took them, which was great.

For the rest of the afternoon, small pockets of people who had been involved in the protest would pass through where we were and we had a busy time sharing the gospel!

It’s so easy to switch a conversation about climate change into a discussion of deeper things. Because we have the same goal: ultimately saving lives. And yet, as worthy as wise stewardship of our environment is, we are all still going to die anyway. Is there a life B? Yes!

My first chat was with a group of 7 guys from a local high school. I was fascinated to see that only 1 of them was really passionate about the issue of the climate - the others just seemed to be there for the experience. The one guy became very engaged in the conversation, where the others not so much, in fact, one of them peeled off and started walking away, and sadly the others joined him. But they all took tracts, and that one guy seemed challenged.

But soon after, I had a young couple from the same high school come past. They became very engaged in the conversation and seemed humbled by the law and captured by the gospel - which they grasped quickly. They both took New Testaments.

Andy was busy in conversations too. And we even had opportunities to get into conversations together. But once the conversation was rolling, I stepped back and let Andy continue. I might as well see if I can catch a different fish! After all, you can catch more fish with 2 nets in the water than just 1! Hey, do you live in Christchurch? Why don’t you join us? Get in touch :) Come be a Manerman with us!

My final chat of the day was long, and hard. It was with a guy, who heard the law and the gospel, and yet ultimately rejected it because of Idolatry. How exactly? He hated God for decreeing a world of suffering and evil. By the end of the chat he openly said he would rather go to hell than have anything to do with a God like that. I wasn’t phased, but just kept him faithful to logic and scripture as he kept trying to twist it to say something it’s not (if you go too far one side, you are in major error, and too far the other side: major error; and the balance point is very fine). I realise that this is an issue of emotion more than logic, and I kept that in mind through the conversation. But my attempts to convince him, of course, failed. I’m trusting that, although there was no outward indication, his worldview was deeply challenged by logic and scripture. The law convicts of sin, and the gospel is the power of salvation, for all those that believe!

The outreach went overtime, but it was well worth it. It was good to be able to have a good catch up with Andy over hot chocolate afterwards.

Saturday’s outreach wasn’t as busy as Tuesday, but was still off the charts good all the same.

I’ll just highlight one conversation, as this report is way too long! I was handing out tracts to people hopping off a bus. A young couple went past and politely refused. So I crossed the road and headed back down Riccarton Road. A few minutes later, a large ‘school’ of people went past, low and behold, that some young couple was among them. They again refused the tract, but the fact that we crossed paths again so soon caused a conversation to start. And what a great chat! He had a Christian background and was currently rejecting Christ, and she was encouragingly humble throughout the whole chat. He hit me with all the hard questions, which I did my best to answer and proceeded to share the law and the gospel with both of them. I was really encouraged by this chat :) They moved on, but about 15 minutes later we crossed paths again! She said, “wow, God is really on my case”. He is. He is seeking and saving the lost. And we have the privilege to be involved in what God is doing, for his glory!

Pray for labourers for the harvest, and consider being the answer to your own prayer! Need training? We have some coming up.

Wednesday, 21 September, 2022

Posted 21 September 2022, 9:23 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Sunnybank on Wednesday September 21st, 2022 from 1300 – 1600

It was a gloomy afternoon, but not bad for street outreach. Since it is the beginning of school holiday as such both Gary and Amy were not able to join us with their kids to be cared for. As usual, Johnny and Hung teamed up to serve as a team. And the team work amongst us was very prominently used by God that we support and complement for each other’s. For instance, a young boy rejected the approach of Johnny, but the Spirit still moved me to have another go. Surprisingly, he was happy to have a good chat with me. Later on, there were other instances that God used both of us to deal with a group of people with better result. Recap below is the battle log of Hung.

1) A boy from Harbin, China å“ˆçˆ¾æ¿± bluntly rejected the approach of Johnny, but surprisingly accepted my 2nd for a chat. Actually, he earnestly told me he has read the tract that his Mum got from us. I tested if he really read the tract and he was able to tell a few examples how a good person may have committed some nitty gritty approach offence at young age. But he could not elaborate further the whole meaning and purpose of the tract so it gave me an opportunity to go over the full gospel with him which he found very interesting and sensible. I gave him an English tract and hopefully, God will use it to open further his heart for the making the last step of redemptive faith.

2) Then I was moved to approach a Malaysiané¦¬ lady by the name of Lai. é»ŽShe recognized my accent and volunteer to speak in Cantonese with me as such I immediately recognized also she is from KL. She also wasted no time to declare she is a Christian and passed my diagnostic test for assurance of salvation æ¸…æ¥š. We were thankful for this divine encounter and happily took a selfie.

3) Then I approached William from Quanzhou of Mainland China.ä¸åœ‹äººå»£æ± He was quite opened to chat and willingly took a tract when the bus came a bit too quick.

4) Next I was moved to catch up with another young man Wu from Wuxi , Jiang So. I was thrill to share about our early year tourist experience to Wuxi when China was not yet opened for tourism. ç„¡éŒ«èŠå¤©å–®å¼µ. My visit to his home town served an ice breaker to get us close for further chat on the gospel. Yet it was a pity the bus arrived so he took a tract to read. Pray that God will still use this as a seed sowing tool to prepare him for next divine encounter.

5) A group of youngsters with Aborigine blood messed around at the bus stop while I was still chatting with Wu, but Johnny daringly approached them to share the gospel and handed out tracts. They however were youngster too used to remain in an unsettled condition, moving around and talking nonsense to each other. I thus immediately joined hand with Johnny to take up a few of them that had already wander off from Johnny. I picked up a small boy with a thin statute, but he actually was a State trained boxer. I jokingly asked him if he is a MMA fighter as he kept plunging fist to the electrical lamp post. He corrected me that he is with the UBC league and have regular boxing tournament. I made use of this line to share with him that even you earn your way to become a state elite sportsman, but you cannot earn your way to heaven. Of course, my sharing cannot last long and he was readily disturbed to start another conversation with one of his peers. Anyhow, many of them had got the tracts and heard about the nutshell of the gospel and all we can do is to ask God for His follow up.

6) Then I approached two girls from Hong Kong as I overheard, they were speaking in Cantonese. Full Gospel was shared but no time for interaction so just also left them with tracts to read. æ¸¯å¥³x2, æ‹¿å–®å¼µ

7) Then I was approached by two Mormon preacher whom they called themself Elder Xia from California and Elder Phelan from Arizona. I wasted no time to challenge and ask them what they do they see of Jesus if he was just a good man as depicted by the name of Mormon as "Jesus Christ the Latter Day Saint" They fishily said Jesus is God, and not even a lesser God. Though they refused to use the term of Trinity, but upon my query, they agreed Jesus is not a lesser God but of equal power, glory and substance with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. At a point Johnny joined in to hold debate with them that they cannot answer. But on the other hands, they seemed to have been fully aligned with the evangelical teaching about Christ, at least giving me correct answers to my challenge and questions. Of course, We all are not naive enough to believe the Mormon have corrected themselves from any wrong teaching, at least if they really regard Jesus as an equal God, they should have given up their misleading name of the Mormon faith. The only think I was benefited from this conversation is their zeal to preach what they believe. It reminds me we have a very diligent opponent working harder than most of the nominal Christians to witness for Christ.

8 ) Lastly , I caught up with an old man Mr LeeæŽä¼¯. Initially he declined to chat but later on expose he is a Catholic. å¤©ä¸»æ•™ I got hold of this to share what are the major difference between the Catholic and evangelical Christian faith. He looked very humble and receptive not arguing any points I clarified with him.

Wednesday, 21 September, 2022

Posted 21 September 2022, 9:23 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Sunnybank on Wednesday September 21st, 2022 from 1300 – 1600

3) Then I approached William from Quanzhou of Mainland China.ä¸åœ‹äººå»£æ± He was quite opened to chat and willingly took a tract when the bus came a bit too quick.

Wednesday, 21 September, 2022

Posted 21 September 2022, 9:23 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Sunnybank on Wednesday September 21st, 2022 from 1300 – 1600

3) Then I approached William from Quanzhou of Mainland China.ä¸åœ‹äººå»£æ± He was quite opened to chat and willingly took a tract when the bus came a bit too quick.

Tuesday, 20 September, 2022

Posted 20 September 2022, 6:04 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Toowong on Tuesday Sep 20th, 2022 from 1330 – 1500

Even though we come every Tuesday to this same bus stop around the same time to do gospel outreach, we still face new challenges every time. For instance, we started facing a long queue when we arrived around 1335 a month ago when the Uni resume semester running. The queue was long and the waiting time was used to be long, we could at least pick up one or two even three to chat before the bus came. But today, the Bus came quicker and together, so the long queue had quickly been cleared with all people boarding the two buses in swift orderly manner, we simply can't get any conversation started or just in time for a brief highlight and handing out a tract. After the long queue was digested, we started to be able to catch up with people in between other bus arriving schedule. Basically, the average time allowed to share was just 3 to 5 minutes time. Despite of all these constraints, we still managed to have some interesting and fruitful conversations as recap below for Hung:

1) First it was Sha a Muslim young man from Singapore. He is opened and show no resistance to listen to the gospel and even gave a thumb up to it at the end.

2) The I turned left to chat with Shen from æ±Ÿè˜‡ Nanjing. She was also extraordinary opened for religious chat despite she is not yet a believer.

3) Joker a Spanish born in Germany but was brought up in Madras. I greeted him with a few of my limited Spanish gaining his acceptance for further chat. He claimed to be a Christian but has become skeptical when he learns more about sciences. The Spirit moved me to use the 6 days creation account to demonstrate that it was all possible and logical for God to change the lifeless and dark status of the earth to what it looks like today. He was convinced again that the Bible is telling true story from God's perspective to train and save His elected people.

4) Then I turned to a girl from Arizona, USA by the name of Chole. She quickly identified herself as a Catholic Christian when the bus came. I was moved by the Spirit to still ask for her assurance of salvation which she gave me a correct and quick answer of 100.%. It was rare for Catholic Christian to have such clear understanding of the gospel and salvation.

5) Rejected by a Chinese man trying to pretend he does not understand Chinese.

6) Sam a local Aussie claimed he had heard before and grabbed a tract. But he was interested to know more.

7) Lina, a modernized Singaporean girl was hesitant initially, but ok the Spirit calm her down to take a relax mode to listen to the gospel for the first time. She showed good receptiveness to the message.

8 ) Shaun a Malaysia Chinese who could speak 7 languages and was happy to chat with me in Mandarin or even in Cantonese. He is not yet a Christian but again he appeared open to listen to the gospel and showed good comprehension about the salvation message is repent to receive Christ as Saviour.

Sunday, 18 September, 2022

Posted 18 September 2022, 4:01 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

So good to be at the end of another week of street outreach in Christchurch, NZ. Praying that Jesus will return, but if he decides to hold his patience, that I will have another week to proclaim his mercy.

Roger is away in Australia, so this week I’ve been alone in my 2 outreaches to Riccarton (Tuesday and Saturday). It was great to have Andy and John with me on Friday in the city. And Susan was with me on Sunday.

Tuesday afternoon's outreach in Riccarton was really slow for the first half hour - only one short engagement, but then I was busy with epic chats for the rest of the outreach. 2 chats in particular come to mind. (I had to really think, but I’ve finally remembered!)

The first with a young guy. He was very open to chat, so we talked for a long time, but I had to labour with him towards understanding the gospel (check questions to the rescue). By the end of it, he was professing faith even after counting the cost, and he was keen to start reading the Bible. So I gave him a copy of the New Testament (tract marking John) and told him to get in touch in regards to finding a church. I haven’t heard anything as of yet, so I leave him in God’s hands.

The second one was also with a young guy (maybe a bit older). It was a short chat, because he followed the logic of the law / gospel presentation flawlessly. He was making comments like, “that makes complete sense”, and “I’ve never had anyone explain it like that before”. He too left with a copy of the New Testament.

On Friday, it was great to see Andy and John busy in chats (pictured).

I started out with a difficult chat with a guy who was sadly drunk (he even pulled a bottle of beer out of his bag part way through the conversation). What was also sad was that he was also completely closed to reason. I couldn’t really make any progress in the conversation, because he kept cutting me off and taking the discussion off on tangents. I didn’t try to control the conversation, because he just wasn’t open to hearing the gospel. So I instead laboured the law, when I could, and even looked for opportunities to end the conversation (and spend the time talking to someone else). I was eventually able to do that, and we parted ways on good terms. He stayed in the vicinity, and I noticed him watching me from time to time as I handed out tracts and engaged people in conversation.

The highlight chat of the day was a difficult one. It was with two young ladies (there was a guy hanging around too, but he was on a phone call and so was never involved in the conversation). There was much resistance from both of them, and yet, I held much hope that they would open up. I managed to keep them engaged as I worked through the logic of how we know God is real and cares about justice. One of them, in particular, said “I really hope there is a hell, I really really do”. That was a sign that she had been deeply hurt. Yet, she really really hated Christianity. I was amazed that these girls had hung into this conversation as long as they did! I was able to explain the gospel, which was a joy, and even start working on check questions. The 2nd girl was rejecting it because, “I don’t like the rules” (in other words, I want to be god of my own life and live my life my own way). But, the first girl trusted me enough to share the tragic hurt in her life - and she had associated this hurt to Christianity negatively because her father prayed to God and yet condoned this terrible injustice. I pleaded with her to not make the mistake of misappropriation: to associate true Christianity with a misrepresentation of it. There was still much resistance, and yet she thanked me for being patient with her (seriously, my thoughts were the opposite, I thanked HER for being patient with me). I pray that she would be able to work through this pain, and find forgiveness for those that hurt her, and mercy from Jesus for the wrong she has done.

The highlight chat from Saturday was with a young couple. We talked for a long time where they seemed to come to an understanding of the gospel. They both left with: a challenge to accept the gospel, bibles and tracts. Later they came back and shared about the fact that they were to have a baby! What a blessing!

Speaking of babies. I grieve over the 13,000+ babies that are murdered every year in New Zealand through abortion. And yet, there is hope for forgiveness of this terrible sin because of Jesus! It was an honour to be able to take part in the March for Life in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon. Thank you to all those that were involved. May we continue to be a voice for the voiceless, and bring the hope of mercy in the gospel. The root of change is the gospel. God have mercy! Raise up labourers for the harvest, for your glory.

There were many short opportunities for gospel ministry on Sunday afternoon. I shared the gospel with a couple of teens who were interested, but seemed a bit distant. I shared the gospel with another couple of guys - one of whom was openly resistant. I was able to catch up with a regular (actually one of the owners of the SoYo I minister outside of on Tuesdays and Saturdays).

But the last chat of the day was interesting. I had my “What happens after life?” flip chart up. A group of late teens / young adults went past, and one of the kids was really interested in the question. I was able to get him engaged in conversation even though all his friends kept walking. He said he had been Buddhist for 2 years, having converted from Christianity (Catholic background). The conversation was warming up when his friends came back to pull him away, yet, they ended up becoming engaged in the conversation as well. Sadly, one of the guys kept pulling it off onto rabbit trails. I did my best to bring it back, but then the conversation was railroaded when a streetie walked into the middle of it ruining the flow that was there. Sadly, the kids walked off at that point, but Susan made sure they all had tracts.

God willing, those kids will have other opportunities to hear the gospel. Maybe from you? Are you ready and willing to share the gospel in your everyday life? Maybe you’d be interested in some training?

Wednesday, 14 September, 2022

Posted 14 September 2022, 8:19 PM by Hung Kwan. Permalink

Battle Log of Operation 513 for Sunnybank on Wednesday September 14th, 2022 from 1300 – 1600

Today still only Johnny and Hung were available with all others either was away or still sick to come. Since Johnny did not have to pick up wife after work, we decided to extend our outreach by one hour to four O' Clock. It was aimed to cover the East side of the Main Road to cater for school kids and parents after school hour. Even though we served for longer hours but time still passed quickly as by grace of God, we both got a couple of longer chats that made us forgot about time. The general situation of today was still of mixed result with both blunt rejection and willingness to chat. Gold intervention was also apparent that Johnny and Hung can cover and back up each other with good team work. Some one rejecting one of us but later, God would miraculously change their heart to go for a chat. In Short, the Street is still the best outreach mission field that you can easily feel the presence of God and how our lesser faith can be boosted by mean of the manifestation of His Mission Power. Recap is the Battle Log of Hung : -

1) Peter was a very willing listener despite it was interrupted by David Kong, one of my nonbelievers friend who took the trouble to show up to giving me the moral support. Peter obviously is not yet a believer but was very receptive to the Gospel and understand that his name bears significant biblical meaning as the rock of the church. He did show intention to pursuit for the free gift of eternal life.

2) Then I faced a set back after the first fruitful chat. A lady seemingly a Chinese but pretend she do not understand either Chinese or English. She also refused to take a tract.

3) Then I caught up with Mr Lau from Hong Koing. We only had a brief chat and he got the tract to read.

4) Arian, an ABC with father from HK and mother from SGP while he was born in Australia. His Cantonese is very good possibly because he was sent back to live and work in HKG for four years. As an Australian, he is very open minded and receptive to the gospel message showing seriousness to pursuit God and receive Jesus as Saviour. He was happy to take a selfie with me to let me remember his face for more chat in the future.

5) I then approached Two English speaking high school girls with one saying that she had got the tract before. But she was still happy to engage into conversation about the implication of the tract on her mindset. The understanding still needed refreshing so I went thru the gospel briefly with her till teh bus arrived.

6) Then I intercepted the conversation between on Cantonese speaking Hong Konger aä¸€æ¸¯äººï¼Œand one Mandarin speaking Mainlander Chinese ä¸€ä¸äººï¼ŒI ended up sharing Gospel in English with them. The Hong Konger took an indifference attitude claiming he is an atheist as such the gospel is irreverent to him.é–‹å§‹çŽ©ä¸–ä¸æ.ç¨±ç„¡ç¥žè«–ï¼ŒI pray for patience and positive attitude to emphasize that I was sharing a cross cultural concept rather than a pure religious message. As long as he admitted he and non one is perfect, and that imperfection attracted a consequence of punishment for eternal isolation that only Jesus can save, then the conclusion that every oen need Jesus can be established. After a skillful friendly chat, the Hong Konger did finally turned more inclusive rather than in an antagonistic manner.

7) Carman is an Aussie lady with no religious background though she claimed she was grown up in Christian school. Yet she still hold an open mind to listen to the gospel and promise to rethink if she really need to invite Jesus as her Saviour and Lord of Life.

8 ) Michael is a Half Maori and half Hungarian and his religious view is also a mixture of a bit of everything or half Christian and half the secular thoughts. I was surprised to find out later from Johnny that Michael initial rejected to chat with Johnny but let me sit side by side with him. Perhaps I first address his country of origin guessing right he is not just pure Maori but with other blood. It was a good long chat and finally, he cannot deny that every one need Jesus as long as we are not perfect.

9) Then I tried to catch up with a Chinese couple but the man pretend he does not speak Chinese while he was watching iPhone with app in Chinese. ä¸åœ‹äººè£ä¸æ‡‚ï¼Œè¢«è˜ç ´ï¼Œè¢«å‹•çš„è½. The Spirit moved me to disregard his trick and simply sat besides him to started sharing the full Gospel. He did not ask me to stop or left his seat, so I regarded this as the work of God to get him heard about the message.

10) Then we switched over to the East side of Main Road at 1500 hour. The first divine appointment was with Leow Yong Kwan and Yong Dan who were brothers from a Malaysian Chinese Christian family. Despite they are still young possibly just 12 to 14 years old, but they have the clearest understanding of the Gospel and had 100 % assurance of salvation. They attended Acacia Ridge Presbyterian Church.

11) The I stopped a McGregor big guy fro a brief chat but could not hold him for long as he needed to run for some personal matter.

12) Then I was rejected by a Chinese Grand Pa, waiting to pick up his grand children.

13) Next, I approached an Indian mum with a kid. She was not patient enough for a chat though the kids showed OK to listen. At the end, she asked for a tract to read by herself.

14) Then I had a longest chat of the day with a Singaporean old lady who was eating her quick lunch. She appeared hostile initially but melt down to have a sincere conversation on deeper thought of life. She initially tried to establish she is good enough and feel proud of herself as such she reckon she needs no faith adherence. But after a long chat, she finally came to her sense admitting no matter how good you are, as long as one is imperfect with sin, every one need Jesus. Her name is Lam Hoon.

15) The last for the day was with an Aussie lady who was unwilling to chat initially but still chatted on for a while till the bus came.

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