Battle Log

It’s been 7 years since I started getting supported by Operation 513 in evangelism.  It’s been hard work, but it’s been wonderful work.  Those first couple of years were tough - pure street work.  Now I have the ability to work online too, which brings some balance.  And also, in the early days, we spent 2 years bringing the gospel to the issue of abortion outside Christchurch Hospital on Friday mornings.  That attracted a lot of hate and tension, and I really struggled with it, yet I don’t regret it.  Sin is serious; God’s grace is amazing.

 

I’m so aware of how feeble my efforts have been.  I’m trusting that God has and will continue to show his strength through my weakness.  Who knows what the future will bring.  God knows.  And I’m trusting he will guide my path.  I’m holding everything lightly in my hands; may His kingdom come and His will be done.

 

If it be his will, I want to continue what I’m doing till I’m 96, pushing my walking frame down Colombo Street to the corner of Cashel Street, and telling the young people about Jesus.  (He is worthy!  Right?)  “Excuse me young man, can I ask you a question?  What do you think happens after life?”  But if it be His will that I do something else, so be it.  Even better, may Jesus return today!

 

So, what happened in the month of November?  We had a special outreach!  The 3 day Canterbury A&P Show Outreach.  It was great having Mike Ryan sorting the organisation this year - really appreciated that bro!  We had a solid team working shifts running a site where we set up our gazebo, a table with tracts and Bibles, and gospel flipcharts.  We were right across from the carnival this year.

 

The weather wasn’t so good on the first day, and yet, I still had some very special gospel chats.  I can still clearly see the face of one young lady, who believed in God but thought she was good enough for heaven.  Her face beamed as the logic of the gospel clicked in her thinking, in light of the law showing her her sin.

 

The weather was great on the 2nd day, which was the busiest day anyway.  The morning and early afternoon of the 3rd day was great too, but then an intense  thunder / hail storm hit.  It killed the rest of the afternoon, as everyone left, running for their cars.  We were huddling under our gazebo, when a kid ducked in for cover too.  He was right in front of me, and so I asked, “hey man, can I ask, what do you think happens after life?”.  “Nothing”.  “So, you don’t believe in God?”  “No”.  “But, if I told you the ferries wheel made itself would you believe me?”  “No”.  “Right, so, wouldn’t this universe have to have a maker too?”.  He stared at me and then he bolted.  Haha, he’d rather face the storm than stay in shelter with me talking about the true God of justice  he knows exists!

 

Of course, all the other usual street and online outreaches have been happening.  I’m going to have to let the pictures do the talking.

 

Thank you to all those who have actually read these reports over the years.  I hope they have been an encouragement to you for the evangelism opportunities in your own life.  May we all continue to grow in this.  Also, thank you for the financial and prayer support that you have been making to enable me to do this.  I’m looking forward to us being able to cast our crowns at the feet of Jesus.  Only He is worthy.  All glory to God alone!

 

(In loving memory of John Charles Mallett, 24th Jan 1963 - 31st October 2025)

---

I enjoyed going through the photos for this month's report.  There weren't as many as I haven’t been on the streets as much as usual, and all the photos I had were from the Riccarton outreach.  All 4 photos (that I’ve included) were taken on the same spot.  Roger, with his flip chart.  What I like about it is that, as you flick through the photos, it makes you realise how many people you can reach just by going to the same spot for a couple of hours each week.  Sure, 1 week might be a bit slower than the next week, but, if you are diligent, then over time you can reach a lot of people.

 

And it’s not like we are doing anything particularly special.  Just offering tracts with a smile and an offer to do the ‘good person test’.  Or asking “Can I ask you a question?  What do you think happens after life?”  Sure, many don’t want to stop, but, many do, enough to keep our small team busy week after week.  And when they do stop, we just get to show them how we know God is real, working against their suppression; and telling them of the serious nature of sin, attempting to reawaken the conscience.  And then telling of the wonder of the mercy of God found in the sacrifice of Jesus to pay for our sin.  Our job is simply to explain the message (what a joy!)  Only God can convict and convert.  The gospel (not our effort or ability) is the power of God for salvation.

 

So, since I haven’t been on the streets as much this month, I’ve been doing more work online: having 1 to 1 conversations with strangers via video chat, and text chat.  Also, I’ve been doing a lot of evangelism training with Christians all over the world (via video calls).

 

I’ve also included 2 screenshots from a text chat I was having with someone. It was super encouraging to me what they wrote, I hope it will encourage you too.  God is truly working on the hearts of people through the feeble efforts of his saints.

 

Also, I took a week off (today is my first day back; and it’s also the reason why this report is a few days late).  I discovered a new evangelism tip: each time you go to the barber, go to a different one.  Because, on my week off, I went for my regular groom at the barber, and I went on a day of the week I don’t normally go, and so there were 2 different barbers there.  Barbers like to talk, I think it’s in their job description, so the young man cutting my hair starts asking me questions.  It was so easy to naturally swing the conversation to spiritual things, and he was very open.  I was able to share the law and the gospel in a very natural way.  And the other young barber was listening in too!  Again, I can’t convert anyone, all we can do is plough soil, and sow seeds as we can.

 

This coming month (November) we will be running a special outreach to the Canterbury A&P Show.  We have hired a site, as usual, and we’ll be setting up a gazebo and flip charts to share the gospel to many over the 3 days: Thu 13th, Fri 14th, and Sat 15th - from 9:30 am till 4:30 pm each day.  Please pray for this endeavour, that the weather would be good, for favour with the authorities, for labourers to run the site, for good relationships among the labourers, that many people would come to understand the gospel, and most importantly, that God would be glorified through our feeble efforts – that He would show His strength through our weakness.

 

Thank you for continuing to pray for the gospel ministry of Operation 513 based in Christchurch, NZ!

 

   

---

Another month has passed.  Another month closer to eternity.  Time is moving fast.  The older I get, the more I want to forgo the pleasures of this life and invest in the kingdom to come - for God’s glory alone.  The best way I know to do that is to tell as many people as I can about who God is: His justice and His mercy.  And to try to encourage other believers to do the same - as much as I fail to do that.  My prayer is that He will use our feeble efforts to show His strength.

 

This month we had the joy of running a short term mission to… our own city!  Christchurch.  Why travel so far at so much cost, when you can just step out your door to the local streets, markets and meeting places to tell people there about Jesus.

 

For 1 week in September: Monday to Sunday, we spent our days ministering the gospel in our usual outreach spots: Cashel Mall and Riccarton, but we also got to re-visit some of our old haunts: the Eastgate and Northlands bus stops!  It was so good to be back in those spots - Andy and I talked about trying to visit them more often in the future.

 

One chat I had at Northlands is burned into my memory.  It was so encouraging.

 

A bus had just degourged its passengers and I managed to strike up a chat with one of them: a young man - probably in his late teens.  When I asked him what he thought happened after life, he became sad, “I hope it’s heaven, but, there will probably be nothing after I die”.  So, starting from there, I was able to explain to him how we know God is real.  This was when I was rewarded with his first facial change - it made sense to him, there must be a God - hope dawned on his face.  I then proceeded to explain how we know there is a heaven and a hell.  The look of hope on his face broke into a smile - again, it made sense – that means there won’t be nothing after life!  Finally, I was able to reason with him about the bad news: that we clearly deserve hell, but then the good news: what God has done so we can mercifully go to heaven.  And that was when I was rewarded with the final expression change - there is true hope for heaven!!  What a joy and a privilege it was for me to minister this good news to him.  How wonderful is it that God condescends to use a wretch like me to deliver such wonderful hope.

 

Suddenly he had to go, I was able to give him a tract before he scooted across the road and into the mall.  I didn’t have a chance to really work through any of the check questions.  I may never see him again, but, in those brief minutes I was able to pass him the bread of life.  I leave him in God’s hands - I didn’t even get a chance to learn his name; yet, God knows what it is.

 

On Saturday, Craig and I were in Riccarton.  I was handing out tracts when an older lady went past.  “Have you got one of these?”, I said.  She stopped and turned.  “What is it?”, she asked.  “It’s about Jesus”.  Her face beamed.  She bounded up to me and gave me a hug, and then she kissed me on the cheek!  “I’m a Messianic Jew, you’re doing a great job young man”.  She took the tract and bounded off before I had a chance to say anything further.  Haha, I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed for sharing the gospel before!  Always a first.  It made me re-evaluate, am I being faithful in my delivery?  I mean, if I’m being faithful, then the reaction is more often than not going to be that I’ll be spat at – people hate God because they love their sin.  But, no, I think if we are faithful, we will get a range of responses: including joy and hatred.  We must be gentle and respectful, but we must be faithful too, no compromise on the truth.

 

---

I can speak in tongues!  It’s true!  See the pictures for proof.  One of them you will see a snap shot of a TikTok direct message conversation in Arabic.  I don’t know Arabic, and yet I was still able to communicate the gospel (or at least start a gospel conversation).  All this, thanks to modern translation software.  It’s so great.  Whoever it was said, “there are no Christians around me, and I have many questions”.  I responded with, “Sure, what’s your first question?  Also, why can you go to heaven when you die”.  And we went from there.

 

Technology can be used for so much bad, but it can be used for so much good too.  E.g., Roman roads brought the destructive might of the Roman army, but it also brought the gospel.  The printing press has enabled the propagation of destructive ideas, but it also brought the gospel.  The Internet, same thing.  Social media, same thing, Translation software, same thing.  Let’s use these tools for God’s glory, and push back against evil with the most effective weapon we have: the gospel!  His Kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as in heaven.  Hallowed be His name!

 

This month has been great.  No special outreaches, just regular, routine outreaches: Street work, Online work.  Face to face chats, chats via text.  Training - one on one, both online and on the streets.  All glory to God, what a privilege it is to be able to serve Him and others in this way.  Please keep us in prayer!

 

The other pictures were selections from the month.  Many of them are “spot the gospel chat” style, with many different chats happening at the same time in them.

 

On the Friday just been, there was a spring-like feel in the air.  Nice sun, but a gusty wind.  Roger didn’t set up his flip chart, but Brian and Laura did.  There were heaps of school kids out fundraising for something, and I noticed many of them were having gospel chats with our team as well! (as per the pics)

 

I had plenty of good chats, but the one that stands out really felt like a divine appointment.  I was at the corner of Colombo and Cashel, handing out tracts, when a young man went past.  He took one and I was able to get a conversation started.  He had a fairly good gospel understanding (which is unusual), and yet he was lacking some clarity.  I laboured to sure that up.  He also had some personal struggles that I was able to bring some biblical advice to.  It turns out he had been sitting in the Cardboard Cathedral in contemplation just before our conversation - then he heads down the street and bumps into me!  There are no coincidences!  Is what we are doing effective?  Absolutely!  The gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16)

 

On Saturday, I was very encouraged to have Toby join me again.  He’s a member of the same local church as me.  We were at the corner of Riccarton and Rotherham.  I set up my flip chart, and we had a very very busy 2 hour outreach.  The highlight was being able to talk to multiple groups of school aged kids, including one group down from Nelson for the weekend.  Also, it was so good seeing Toby getting involved and giving it a go!

 

Also, on Tuesday, Roger, Sam and I were in Riccarton in the late afternoon.  Two stand out chats come to mind: the first was with a young guy walking past, I gently asked, “Excuse me sir, can I ask you a question?”  It was almost like he had been waiting for me to ask, knowing what I was going to ask, and really wanted to talk: “Yeah, sure”.  We had a 15 minute chat, where I was able to present the law and the gospel to him, and then work through the suite of check questions.  At one point he made this comment “No one has explained it this way before” - I think the gospel was starting to click with him.  He had been reading the Bible in the Old Testament, so I encouraged him to try again, starting with John.

 

Later, at the same spot, a guy came out of a store and walked past, I offered him a gospel chat.  “No thanks!”.  I responded with, “No problem, have a nice day”.  But he had to stop at the crossing till the light went green.  Because I was there too, he turned and made a comment about the weather.  We fell into a friendly chat, and when the light went green, I walked with him to continue the chat.  I was able to ask what he thinks happened after life, and it turns out that he is agnostic.  We kept chatting and walking, but I wanted to test his interest.  I decided that I would stop walking, and see if he would stop too.  He did!  We continued the chat, which was mainly apologetical in nature. He didn’t stay for too long, but when I offered him a gospel tract the 2nd time, this time he took it.  I was encouraged.

 

Soil ploughed, seed scattered.  God will bring the increase, in His timing.

 

---

It’s been a month of gospel chats with those that have been open - praise the Lord, may his mercy be magnified.  It’s been a month of gospel chats with those that have been resistant - praise the Lord, may his justice be magnified.  Yet, it may be those that are initially resistant that end up accepting the mercy of God; and likewise, it may be those that are initially open that end up rejecting the mercy of God.  Who knows?  God knows.  But either way, he will be glorified in him becoming more known through our feeble effort.

 

Often when people ask me how the street evangelism is going, I’ll tell them about a recent chat I’ve had where the person was resistant.  In my mind, I’m just excited that I had the opportunity to talk to them, and bring glory to God in the process.  But then the person I’m talking to will misinterpret that into thinking I need encouragement.

 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I do need encouragement, and I need the prayers of the saints, as we all do.  But, I’m content in my labour, without that allowing me to become slack in my labour.  I have the sufficient encouragement of scripture and the sound theology that comes from that.

 

Our job is to plough, sow and water.  It’s God’s job to bring the increase.  It’s hard work, and yet, the burden is light.

 

And when you are persistent, then the reward comes.  Yes, there is a lot of rejection and indifference from those walking past, but then someone will stop and you will have a gem of a conversation!  And so, to you: reader, I want to encourage you!  Don’t go soul winning once and give up!  Make a commitment to go regularly, and be persistent, and before you know it, years will have gone past and you will have memory after memory of God honouring gospel conversations where those you talked to may have been resistant or open, but you know God was glorified either way.

 

The opportunity for the gospel is unlimited.  And it’s been very encouraging for me to have a couple of the young men from my own local church joining me in outreach this month.  Rovin has been joining me on Sunday afternoons, and Toby joined me on a Saturday afternoon.  I’m loving having you guys join me!  And, if you are in Christchurch, I’d love to have you join me too.  Get in touch.

 

Here are a couple of highlight chats from the last month.

 

I’ve been working on being more disciplined in my personal devotions, prayer and Bible study.  One of my constant prayers is that, in my evangelism, I’ll be faithful to the word of God, and not compromising out of fear of man.  And yet, I pray that I’ll be gentle and respectful in my communication.  Now Society is fickle.  In one season, a particular issue (e.g., gender identity, or climate change) will be hot, but then the next, it’s not.  I’ve been through seasons where everyone will be asking / challenging me about homosexuality, but currently, it’s not an issue that comes up often.

 

But, two Fridays ago, I got into a gospel chat with four young people from Perth.  They were all in different spaces, and most of them were not taking the chat too seriously.  But, as the chat progressed, one lady did become serious.  She initially denied that God is real, but as she came to realise that it didn’t make sense that God was real, she challenged me: “well, I wouldn’t be welcome at church”.  “Why not?”, I responded innocently.  She shot back: “I’m gay”.  Faithful, yet gentle and respectful.  My initial response was to play neutral, “we are all sinners” - which is true, and yet, I knew that wasn’t faithful, and so, I had to be honest.  “Yeah, homosexuality is a sin”.  The air became icy.  It was uncomfortable.  But we must be faithful.  The conversation continued for a bit, but there was no real engagement at this stage, and so it was natural to let the chat wrap up.  As the four young people moved on, I offered follow up tracts, 2 took one, and to my surprise, the girl who claimed to be gay took one.  From her own mouth, her reason for saying God is not real is because she is gay, and yet, I made it clear that that didn’t make sense.  God is real, we all know it, yet we suppress that truth because we love our sin.  If we humbly face the truth of our sin, then there is mercy and forgiveness - because of Jesus.

 

Later on the same day, an older man went past.  “Excuse me sir, can I ask you a question?”, I say.  He was initially surprised by my question “What do you think happens after life?”, and yet he stayed to talk.  Yes, although most have their head in the sand, many want to talk about this - esp. with someone who is safe: that is, a stranger.

 

It turns out this man was Jewish.  As we chatted, he felt he trusted me enough to confess that he was grieving the loss of a close relative in Israel, he was a soldier who had been killed in Gaza.  He, like everyone else, is trying to process the evil and suffering and reconcile it all.  Glory to God!  I was giving the privilege of ministering to him.  Sadly, he was resistant to the gospel - it was like all his reasoning ability was turned off.  And yet, soil was ploughed, seeds were planted, questions were answered.  Although he was rejecting the gospel for now, nothing is wasted: God’s mercy or justice will be magnified.  As the conversation wrapped up, I was again able to express my sympathy over his loss. He teared up again in grief as he moved on.  God, have mercy!

 

On the following Sunday, I had a wonderful chat with a young lady, very resistant at the moment, and yet she was challenged by the reality of God’s law.  She moved on before I could share the gospel (although she did take a tract).

 

As I looked up, a lady was sitting on the bench across from me and watching intently.  She recognised me, but I didn’t recognise her.  I approached, and it wasn’t long before I remembered exactly who it was.  It was a young lady that I’ve been praying for.  I had a long chat with her, maybe a year ago(?).  She had opened up about some very painful and difficult situations at the time.  Things were no different now, and so I was able to continue the chat.  Amazingly, in spite of all the terrible things that had happened to her, she had no conception of her own wrong.  She seeked to justify all she did, to the point of absurdity.  She insisted on her goodness.  So I patiently laboured with her.  Although she is not outwardly open at this stage, I know there is something in her that is honest about the things we were talking about.  I gave her a gospel of John to read.  Pray that she does.  I hope to see her again and continue the conversation.  Or maybe you will be the one to continue that chat?  Come join us in the harvest!

 

---

Well, we are well and truly in winter's grasp now.  We’ve had to miss a few street outreaches due to weather.  But that didn’t mean we had to stop the outreach - online.  I still marvel at how much opportunity we have to share the gospel.  The opportunity is virtually unlimited.

 

Just yesterday, the Holy Spirit dropped me into the back seat of someone’s car in Auckland.  He was holding an implement I assume to be used for abusing substances for pleasure.  Later in the chat he did indeed light it up and start puffing from it.  I asked him what he thought happened after life and a conversation was away.  He didn’t take it very seriously initially.  At one point, he even reached over and pulled what looked like a little machine gun into view so I could see that he was a bad boy.

 

Yet, as the conversation progressed, I managed to trigger some serious reflection from him.  He turned to the issue of evil and suffering.  Why had all these horrible things been allowed to happen to him?  I’d say this is the most common question I get when a conversation breaks through silliness and superficiality.  I’m ready for it.  I have 3 answers that I usually give in order.  Answer 1) empathy, answer 2) people are responsible for their actions - they can’t blame God, and answer 3) God allows evil so he can demonstrate his justice (wrath), patience and mercy (Romans 9:22-23). In this case, my first answer: empathy caused the crack in his resistance, and he opened up to hear the law and the gospel.

 

It was interesting, because as I explained grace, he immediately articulated salvation by works back to me.  So I pushed back with grace.  The bomb hit, he understood, because he asked the classic question: “So, I can do whatever I want then?”  To solidify grace in his thinking, I affirmed his question, but then explained that, as a result of grace, we are now free from slavery to sin: the drunkard will put down his bottle, the wife beater will stop beating his wife.

 

He was provoked to confess that he had tried religion, but that it hadn’t worked.  As I asked for clarification, he gave up on me, reached out and skipped.  The Holy Spirit took me away.  I was sad by the sudden ending, but then I rejoiced.  I had been able to plant the gospel seed!  What happens to it is out of my control anyway, but my mission was complete.  Glory to God.  He can use that seed to magnify his justice, or he can use that seed to magnify his mercy.  Either way, God is glorified.  Our feeble effort is never wasted in God’s strong hands.  And so, I will never get sick of this hard, often repetitive labour.  I want to be anonymous.  I want to put my head down and work, telling the next person, then the next person, then the next person about Jesus!  Telling them about the wonderful gospel of Jesus!  And I rejoice in His glory.

 

On Friday, we (Andy, Roger, Brian, Laura, and myself) were at the Bridge of Remembrance.  A dreary day weather wise; I had my thermals on!

 

One special interaction stands out in my mind.  A young couple went past, and we got into a chat.  He was emotionless - indifferent to the conversation, and yet she was very engaged.  I could tell by the look in her eyes.  As she grasped the grace of Jesus, she said something that impacted me.  She said, “no one has ever explained this to me”.  As I write this, I’m considering my emotions.  Joy, that she came to understand about Jesus.  But then, anger.  Anger that she has never had someone explain this simple message to her.  She wasn’t resistant, she didn’t ask me any hard questions, I just stuck to the simple script.

 

Due to the dynamic of the situation, the conversation needed to be short - he wasn’t interested, and they obviously needed to be somewhere.  But in that short time, the seed had been planted.  I was able to point her to a Bible, specifically the book of John.  I could tell she was very engaged, because she articulated back to me which book in the Bible she needed to start with.  I was also able to point her to a church before they moved on.  In the hands of God.

 

Lord, help me to deal with my anger rightly.  Help me to be an encouragement to other believers in sharing the gospel.  Lord, may your church not be distracted.  Help us.

 

Two other conversations from the month stand out in my thinking, one was an online chat with two young guys who live in the suburb next to mine.  I said to my pastor just after, that even if I had 24 hours with them, I wouldn’t exhaust the need for biblical counselling in their lives; yet, gospel seed planted.  The other was a very short text chat with a guy, no religious background, the building builder analogy made sense to him and he opened up to hear the gospel.  He immediately expressed interest in the Bible, so I pointed him to John when he suddenly skipped; gospel seed planted.  But, I’m out of time to give any more details.

 

If you read this, can I ask 2 things of you: 1) join me.  We offer free training.  The opportunity beyond the opportunity in your everyday life (friends, family, etc) is limitless.  2) please pray for us.  I want to go to heaven, I’m eager for Jesus' return, but another part of me wants to keep doing this, as tiring as it is, till I’m at least 96.  I want to push my walking frame down Colombo street to the Corner of Cashel and tell the young people about Jesus.

 

---

The month of May is gone.  A wonderful month of gospel ministry, both on the streets and online.  As per the pictures, autumn is passing into winter here in Christchurch, New Zealand.  God has also blessed us opportunities for evangelism training, both online and on the streets.

 

We have also restocked our supply of tracts - a new pallet load arrived the other day.  You can get these tracts for free (just pay shipping) from here.

 

One of the pictures was a screenshot of an online gospel conversation with someone who seemed to have the penny drop - it was so good to read.

 

But the wacky quote of the month was from someone passing me on the street.  I offered him a tract and he said, “what is it?”.  I replied, “It’s about Jesus”.  He continued to walk, but then he turned and said, “it’s okay, I already know about Donald Trump”.  People turn to various messiah figures, but there is only one Messiah!  Not Donald Trump, nor Barack Obama.  Only Jesus.

 

So, in regards to the training.  It’s been great to have Sam joining us regularly.  He has moved back to NZ from the USA.  He has been shadowing us and learning from us, with a passion to bring Christ to his community.

 

Also, some friends of friends in my church wanted to check out the street outreach gig and joined me a couple of weekends ago in Riccarton.  I sometimes get a bit nervous when people come to investigate like this – what if the outreach is uneventful?  But it’s a sin to worry, and there was no need, because the outreach was very eventful!  I had the flipchart, and got into a good chat with 3 teenage lads. As that was happening, an older gentleman passed and interjected his thoughts into the conversation.  I must have talked to him before, because (good naturedly, yet seriously) he warned the young lads not to listen to me.  Then, 3 young early 20 ladies queued up to talk to us.  They had an intellectual worldview that was in rebellion to the logic of Christ, so we had a long chat as I laboured with them towards the gospel.  Just as I was getting there, someone in a car behind me asked what was happening.  It broke the moment, and one of the girls wanted to split.  I offered a tract to the lady in the car - she didn’t want it, but the guy driving said he wanted one - which I gave.  I was then able to offer tracts to the 2 other girls, who accepted.  Finally, a lady, named Sue, stopped to passively aggressively share her thoughts with us.  At one point she was judging us for judging.  She wasn’t open to any kind of dialogue, and I was relieved when she moved on.

 

I had some amazing face to face chats online this month.  A 30 minute chat with a young man from the Bahamas.  He had a Christian background, but he was thinking he got to heaven because of Jesus AND his goodness.  He was really grateful to gain clarity on the truth of Jesus alone for salvation.

 

But the most special was a 1 hour chat with a guy from the Netherlands who was in the navy.  A very intense conversation. A soldier who had seen and done many terrible things. Not able to process and so turned to alcohol. He is actually going to rehab for the 3rd time the next day. A wonderful conversation, where I was able to labour on evil and suffering, law, gospel.  At times he would weep as he started to process things.  In one moment he would say he knows he deserves hell, but yet he still held to his righteousness. He eventually skipped me. I pray for him!

 

Please continue to pray for this feeble ministry for God’s glory.

---

I love the winter months.  For me, all the special outreaches have been completed, and I can get back to a normal routine - I love routine!  Like clockwork, I can get out and share the gospel, both on the street and online.  Routine helps with discipline, and without discipline we simply won’t get done the things we need to do, like: personal devotions: time reading the Bible and prayer, family devotions, church gathering, and, of course, intentional evangelism!  So, if you don’t have a routine, build one!  Set regular times during the day where you do the things you need to do - no matter what.  Just think, no Bible, no coffee!  Just do it! ;)  Oh, and if setting a routine like this is new to you, start out small and grow.  E.g., Maybe start with reading the Bible for 10 minutes and prayer for 5 minutes each day before, or while you have your morning brew (and then increase gradually from there).  Or, maybe join a church outreach once a month, instead of every week - to begin with.  (Your church has some kind of outreach, right?  If not, talk to your elders, maybe you can start one!)

 

In March, I was doing some online evangelism training with Fran.  She lives in NZ too, and she just so happened to be coming down to the city I live at the beginning of April, and so we organised for her to join a street outreach.  On Friday the 4th, she joined Roger and I on a sunny afternoon outreach on Cashel Mall.  We had a great time having gospel conversations and giving away tracts.  Roger had his flipchart going, and Fran was able to see how it worked.

 

Fran was interested in getting a flipchart for herself, and since I have 6 of them, and only use all 6 on special outreaches, I said she could borrow one.  This she did, and took it back with her up north.

 

Well, much to my encouragement, Fran has been able to lead her first street outreach where she lives, with others in her church joining her, and using the flipchart.  I’ll include the photo she shared, and here is what she said:

“Today I took the Are You a Good Person flipchart into town for the first time. I managed to get a few people from my church to come along too. I was quite nervous as I usually only share the Gospel online. However, there were a few people praying for today and God answered. The flipchart drew quite a bit of interest and I ended up having six good chats, three of who had never heard the Gospel. This is now something I intend to do regularly. God is so good”

 

My prayer is that God would continue to raise up labourers like this, from amongst the churches, who will be in it for the long haul.  Jesus sacrificed his life for us.  I now want to sacrifice my life for his glory.  Be encouraged to use your gifts to the best of your ability!  He is worthy.

 

The only special outreach for the month of April was the Easter outreach.  For a very long time I’ve been leading hot cross bun and gospel tract outreaches over Easter weekend.  But, I just didn’t have the energy for it this year, and I didn’t want to drag people out that didn’t want to be there.  Instead, my wife, son in law, and a couple of friends spent 2 hours in Riccarton giving away Easter eggs and tracts.  All I needed to do was go to the supermarket, buy a few packs of eggs, grab a pack of tracts and go.  I had a good time.  Although people were a bit suspicious of why we were giving away chocolate, we ended up giving them all away.  May God use our feeble efforts for his glory!

 

---

It’s been a busy month.  I’ve just enjoyed going through the photo’s and remembering.  Some of them might seem a bit odd to you, but they have special meaning to me.

 

The one of Daniel and Bobby-Jean praying is special because they instigated a 6 am prayer time while we were in the Philippines.  Of course we were all praying anyway, but it touched me that they would make this extra effort.  We are so dependent on God, and prayer is so vital to everything we do.

 

The one with the green field & trees and the blue sky with the white clouds was taken on our last day in the Philippines, down at the University of the Philippines Dilliman - where we did all our ‘street’ outreach.  And then the one with the thrown away gospel tract in one corner, and then a discarded coin in the other corner - some people don’t realise the value of the treasure they are discarding.

 

Our site at the Oxford A&P Show outreach (29th March, one week after getting back from the Philippines) was between 2 sites both selling jewellery.  3 sites with treasure - 2 selling, and 1 giving away.

 

And then finally, the video.  I don’t think I’m going to be able to attach the video to this report.  If I can successfully upload it to Facebook, I’ll link to it here. <-- (if there is no link, then I haven’t done it yet, or I wasn’t able to upload it).  The video is amazing.  Taken at the Oxford A&P Show.  Daniel and Andy are in gospel chats, when a pipe band comes down the road.  Amazingly, they stop and start playing the classic hymn “Amazing Grace” - I’m not sure if they realised the significance?  But it was a special moment that I caught on video.

 

So, enough commentary on the photos.  What happened this month?  We spent a week or so in the Philippines.  And then the Oxford A&P Show.  In between that, our regular work has been happening.  Street outreaches, online outreaches, and we are continuing to distribute free gospel tracts across NZ via the web store (outside NZ here).

 

While in the Philippines, we spent 2 hours in online outreach, and 4 hours in street outreach.  There was a team of just under 20 from all parts of the world: NZ, Aussie, USA, Indonesia, and Chris from Norway!  Also, many from the Philippines who follow needGod.net via social media came to join us as well.

 

As I reflect, some of the memories are coming back.  I’ll highlight one.  Edson from the USA was a big encouragement to me.  There was a big group of students down in the ‘sunken garden’ and he challenged me to approach them.  He said he would take one side, if I do the other. Big groups can be very tiring, and I was tired!  But since he was keen, I swallowed my fear and just ‘did it’.  Normally with big groups you get people in different places, and 1 person will kill the dynamic so the rest don’t get to hear the gospel.  But that didn’t happen this time.  Instead, the whole group engaged.  Glory to God, it was like a Holy Spirit moment, where I had all their attention for about 10 minutes as I was able to minister the law and the gospel and then work through all the checks to make sure they were really understanding.  Thanks Edson for your boldness that enabled God to minister in that moment!  Glory to God alone.

 

There was much openness among the students, in spite of the intellectual environment that stands against the gospel.

 

I also had a random gospel opportunity on my day off.  I was at the mall with my youngest daughter (she joined me for this trip).  She was getting ice cream, and because the mall was so crowded, we ended up sitting close to a young guy.  He started the conversation, and it just naturally turned into a good gospel chat.  He accepted a gospel of John and a gospel tract in the end.  God is sovereign and uses us where we are at.

 

The Oxford A&P Show was a long hot day.  Plenty of people, but I wasn’t as busy as I normally am at outreaches like this.  Maybe that was God’s grace in knowing I was a bit tired?  Anyway, I still had plenty of chats.  But one in particular stands out in my mind as very special.

 

It was right at the start of the day with two young ladies who go to a local church - one even had a Bible on her sweatshirt.  They weren’t clear on the gospel, and yet they were very engaged in the conversation, so I was able to slow right down and work them through it.  One of the girls in particular seemed deeply impacted.  It was so good to see.  I treasure moments like that, because the gospel is such a treasure to me.  God is amazing, that he would die on a cross like me - it just brings me to tears.  I rest in this grace, and yet I’m driven to get out and share it!

 

Yet, I’m looking forward to a day off tomorrow ;)

 

This month we have Easter coming up.  We normally do a couple of hot cross bun outreaches for Easter, but we’ve decided not to do the hot cross buns this year.  Instead, I’m just going to do regular street outreach.  I guess I’m craving a bit of a ‘normal’ routine.  I’m looking forward to a winter with no ‘special’ outreaches and to recharge for the next year that God brings, if he wills.

 

Please continue to pray for us - we so need it and appreciate it.

 

---

I like the quote: “preach the gospel; die; be forgotten”.  It’s not about me primarily, but it’s about God and his glory.

 

I write these reports to encourage.  But, do you need the encouragement of these reports?  Don’t we already have the book of Acts?  Is that not sufficient?  It is sufficient.

 

Yet, I also appreciate the prayers of the few of you who read these reports, and so I will continue.

 

When I was in Dunedin, I read Matthew 6:1-4.

 

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 

- Matthew 6:1 (esv)

 

And then, once back from Dunedin, during my last weekly bible study with my local church small group, we were studying the very same passage.  It’s amazing how subtle we can be in stealing glory from God and boasting in what we do!

 

And yet, the balance can be found earlier in Matthew:

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 

 

- Matthew 5:16 (esv)

 

The bible study leader summed it up brilliantly: if you are tempted to hide it, you probably need to show it; but if you are tempted to show it, you probably need to hide it.

 

So, in writing these reports, there has been great temptation for me to boast in my efforts (which is crazy, because it’s only by the effort of Jesus that I’m even alive, saved and able to do anything at all).  I’m aware of this when I go back to the Facebook post and see how many ‘likes’ the post has had.

 

Rather than writing these reports, I could be telling more people about Jesus (one of the reasons I’ve dropped down to monthly reports).  And, rather than you reading these reports, you could be doing the same.  Something to consider, right?

 

And yet, all things in balance.

 

That all said, the team has had a very encouraging month.  The focus of this report will be on our week down in Dunedin, but we have also been busy on the streets of Christchurch and online.  There is *unlimited* opportunity for the proclamation of the gospel.  All glory to God alone.

 

So, we went to Dunedin during the University O (orientation) Week.  Dunedin has a big university, and is 1 of 2 medical universities in New Zealand.

 

We went in conjunction with Cornerstone Church, and also worked alongside members of OAC and other like minded ministries.  There was a lot of work in preparing for this trip.  I had to coordinate with the elders of the church, the local student ministries (who were working independent of us) and the other evangelists I would be working with.  That was hard work!  It led to much prayer on my part.  And did God answer that prayer!  As far as I know, the week went really smoothly from the coordination perspective.

 

But God also answered the other prayer: that He would be glorified in many hearing about Him and His gospel.

 

There were about 10 of us on the team.  Each day we would generally split into 2: half down at the Museum Reserve, where a big Uni O Week event was happening.  And the other half at the Octagon and everywhere in between (George Street, bus stops).

 

I’m going to relate a few experiences from my perspective.

 

Saturday morning we were in the Octagon, the foot traffic was a bit light, and so I ended up approaching everyone that came close.  This included 2 separate conversations with elderly people.  Generally, older people can be pretty resistant to new ideas.  This was no different with these 2 conversations, but I was encouraged that they at least stopped and continued talking with me in spite of the resistance!  We sometimes have no idea what’s going on in the heart.  I didn’t use my usual ‘script’ with them, instead I went at their pace and challenged them with where they were at.  They both took tracts for follow up.

 

In the afternoon, I started with a 45 minute gospel chat with a young man from Germany.  He was a carpenter on a working holiday.  His name was Mathias.  He resisted the building builder analogy, but I stuck to my guns, attempting to pry his hands off his suppression.  He opened up, and I was able to go through the law, the gospel, and all the checks.  Yet, he couldn’t help going back to his suppression.  I didn’t let him, reminding him of the certainty of the things we were discussing.  He said he needed time to think (which is fair to a degree – I can’t force him!), but I warned him he could die today and what I was sharing was simple.  I urged him to repent.

 

On Sunday we were at the church gathering in the morning, and then rested in the afternoon.  From Monday till Thursday it would be 6 hours a day of gospel labour.

 

It was wonderful to have a newbie with us Monday and Tuesday.  Xavier was paired with me on Monday morning.  We were in the Octagon.

 

We ended up getting into a very long chat with a high school student.  Early in the chat, I mentioned that I didn’t want him to be late for school, but he just said, “it’s okay, I’ve got an appointment”.  Near the end of the chat, he looked at his phone, so I checked again, “do you have to go?”.  “Oh, no”, he responded, “I’ve still got time to talk”.  So he was very engaged.  He was partly resistant, and yet partly open.  There were certain sticking points for him that we needed to labour on.  It was a wonderful chat.  As he finally left, Xavier turned around and rejoiced!  He was so encouraged.  And I was encouraged that he was encouraged!  From then on, you couldn’t hold Xavier back!  In the afternoon, he was paired with Roger, and Xavier ended up taking over his flipchart in his enthusiasm!

 

There are so many more stories I could write about like this.  I would encounter people in the Octagon on one day, and on another I would be able to follow up with them down at the Museum Reserve.  The bus stops were amazing.  In the late afternoon, they were teaming with fish - all in a barrel and I had a gospel shotgun to fish with.  So good!

 

This is where I have to be most careful about boasting.  A young man came up to me to say that the conversation I had had with him a year ago had impacted him - esp. The Fireman analogy.  He is now a Christian, being discipled by one of the student ministers and connected with Cornerstone church.  He wanted a selfie with me, I wanted to refuse - he should get a selfie with Jesus instead, but I conceded.  We already know this, but the gospel is truly the power of God for salvation, the Holy Spirit is truly active today!  All glory to God alone!!!

 

This report is long, and I have so much more to write.  I’m going to let those words drop.  Instead, I’ll finish up with this.

 

Andy and I have a good friend, Thomas, who has just moved to Timaru to take up a Pastoral role at a local church there (Covenant Grace Baptist Church).  On Friday, we did 2 hours of outreach in Dunedin before starting the long drive home.  We were going to do 3 hours, but instead we arranged to stop in Timaru for an hour of outreach with Thomas.  We parked on the top of the hill and prayed together before moving down the main drag to start gospel chats.  I was paired with Thomas.  There were 2 guys from a local high school walking towards us, and so I started a chat with them.  We talked for the whole hour.  And it was the best chat of the whole week.

 

One of the kids had already been learning about Jesus online, and had been reading the Bible.  Our conversation seemed to join the final dots for him.  We had to labour longer with the other guy.  We used all the analogies and check questions.  Before the chat was over, they had shaken our hands at least 4 times.  Thomas gave one a tract with his # and the name of his church.

 

Thomas let me know that they both came to church on the Sunday, and the sermon was just what they needed to hear.  The last I heard Thomas was going to be catching up with them again on the Wednesday following.

 

Oh, that they are good soil, oh that those seeds won’t be plucked away.  That God would not only be glorified through his justice, but by his greater mercy in their lives!  May they grow up and be able to continue the task of making disciples: proclaiming the gospel.  Either way, God will be glorified.

 

Please continue to pray for this feeble ministry.  We are weak, but He is strong!  In a couple of days we are flying to the Philippines for a week and a bit of ministry there.  We need God’s help!

 

All glory to God alone.  SDG.  To Him be all the glory, forever and ever!  Amen!!!

 

Edit: I have to mention the picture with the guy holding the pro life signs.  Lovely guy, been laboring for the cause of life for decades.  I think he mentioned since the '70s!  But, he is Catholic.  He said he was earning brownie points for heaven.  I spent 30 minutes with him, as I left, he was at least correctly articulating the gospel.  Pray that God would save his life, as he endevours to save lives.

 

---

Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 . . . 48

---