Battle Log

All this week’s street outreaches went ahead.  The weather is getting warmer, which is great!

 

A team of 4 in Riccarton on Tuesday.  Some mixed theological positions among us, and so we had some robust conversation over coffee afterwards, yet we all agree on the essentials.  We had a great time in evangelism.

 

I had set up my flip chart and I was straight into a gospel conversation with 3 young people.  My memory of that chat is getting a bit dim now, but I remember it to be a good one: they came to grasp the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation.

 

Roger had a good sit down chat with a lady (pictured).  And I remember having a great opportunity at the end of the outreach, with a young Korean guy.  He had a Christian background.  I was able to bring some gospel precision into his thinking.  He seemed blessed, which was encouraging!

 

On Friday, there was a team of 3.  For me, I remember it being a difficult outreach.  I had 2 chats where the people I was talking to insisted that they were good and had done nothing wrong.

 

But, one encouraging thing happened.  In the morning I had been praying for a man I’ve talked to a lot on the streets.  I was praying for his salvation.  I haven’t seen him for a long time, maybe a year, or more?  I began to wonder why I continued to pray for him.  Well, in the afternoon, I saw him again!  Although we have vastly different worldviews (Atheist vs Christian), we have a mutual respect and friendship.  We were able to catch up briefly.  Sadly, the reason he is back in town is because of family health issues: sickness and death.  He teared up about it and had to move on, but he came back later and introduced me to some of his other family members.  I’m now encouraged to keep praying for him!  God’s timing is perfect.  Lord, save him, and his family.

 

Saturday’s weather was really nice.  I was in Riccarton.  I set up my flip chart, and prayed, and then I was straight into my first chat.  It was with a streetie (homeless).  He claimed to be a Chrisitan, and even talked about the church he attended.  Yet, he clearly didn’t understand the gospel.  I had to gently slow him down a bit, and start engaging him on and bringing precision about the law and the gospel with him.  Slowly, some light seemed to shine into his thinking - I could tell by his responses to my check questions.  I knew I needed to labour more, but he decided to move on at that point.  He had a gospel tract.

 

About a minute later, I looked down and noticed a bit of gospel tract on the ground in front of me.  I was a bit confused and picked it up.  There was some wind.  Slowly I put 2 and 2 together.  I went down Riccarton Road a little bit.  Sure enough, I found little bits of gospel tract down the footpath.  He had torn up the tract and thrown it away (pictured).  His reaction to the light was to scurry for the darkness.  He is currently rejecting the gospel.  What can we learn?  1)  Sometimes we don’t know what someone's response will be - yet that is out of our control.  Focus on what you can do, and leave the rest with God.  We share the gospel, God regenerates hearts.  He may have rejected, but someone else may accept.  2) It’s not too late.  He may be rejecting now, but soil has been ploughed, and seeds sown.  While he has breath, there is still hope.

 

I had some other good opportunities during this outreach (although it was slow).  The one that sticks in my mind the most was with 2 young teens.  1 was interested, the other was not.  They came to hear the gospel, and I was able to run through a few checks before the one who was not interested managed to pull her friend away.

 

In contrast, Sunday’s outreach was very busy.  Really nice weather and lots of people out and about.  There were various groups out.  There was an animal rights group and some JW’s.

 

When Thomas and I turned up, Andy was already in a chat (pictured).  It went long.  Andy said it was a really good one and reckons he’ll be in touch with the guy again.

 

I hadn’t even finished setting up my flip chart, when 3 young guys were there interacting.  Apparently I had talked to 2 of them before - but I don’t remember them.  They wanted me to share the gospel with their friend.  But I wanted to recheck where they were at.  All 3 of them were in different places.  And I couldn’t get a flow rolling with any of them.  It was a bit’s and pieces chat.  My checks revealed that they weren’t 100% clear on the gospel.  Yet, there is much interest in them.  I was able to invite them to church, which is now running a foundations Bible study (for new believers, or those investigating).

 

I had lots of interest in the flip chart for the rest of the afternoon.  One chat would roll into another.  I had a particularly great chat with a young Catholic guy.

 

Later, Thomas was with the flip chart, while I was freestyling.  3 young teens went past.  1 believed in heaven, one didn’t believe in God at all.  I was able to show him how we know God exists, which he conceded to.  And so I addressed all 3 of them on how you can get to heaven.  1 of them surprised me by giving me a really good answer: “believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins”.  I asked him what church he went to: he didn’t.  So?  Where did you learn that?  His answer: TikTok!  I was shocked. So, I moved into checks.  He wasn’t 100% clear in his understanding of the gospel, and so I was able to labour with all 3 on this, with the time they gave me.  They all accepted tracts and thanked me.  I pointed them, not to TikTok, but to the Bible.  Specifically, John’s gospel.  That kid gratefully accepted a copy, and said he would read it.

 

Thank you for continuing to uphold this ministry in prayer!

 

We will be in Wellington in 2 weeks, for a week of outreach.  We will be running some training on Saturday morning, 7th September.  For more details, and to register, go here.

 

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Raining hard all Sunday.  I decided to do online outreach instead!  But all 3 of the other outreaches for the week went ahead.

 

Some comments on the photos.  The irony of Andy and Craig evangelising a JW, while in the background, the JW’s are ‘evangelising’.  Also, in the background of that photo, you can see Roger and Lani talking to someone via the flip chart, and then in the picture of Roger and Lani, you can see Andy and Craig in the background.  I enjoyed the symmetry of that!

 

On Tuesday afternoon, in Riccarton, I decided not to bring my flip chart.  Instead, I intended to do outreach at the bus stops, while Roger used his flip chart on his usual corner.

 

As I turned up, there was a young man sitting in the seats.  I was able to get a conversation going.  It was a great chat.  He smiled multiple times as he grasped the concepts I was explaining.  I managed to get through many of my check questions before he moved on.  He came across as someone without purpose, not knowing what to do with his life.  May the gospel give him ultimate purpose.  He is in God’s hands.

 

It felt a bit awkward doing bus stop outreach again - you have to be direct, and you get many rejections.  But it’s such a fruitful opportunity, being a confluence of people.  I had some surprising opportunities - people you wouldn’t think would be interested in a chat, were.  Soil was ploughed, and seed scattered.

 

As I did my circuit, I would check in with Roger.  He seemed to be busy, in fact, he had a couple from China on the line, and they were very animated as Roger took them through the flip chart (pictured).

 

Later, I talked to a young Christian lad, also with Chinese descent.  He gave me 5 minutes, which was nice of him!  It turns out he wasn’t clear in his understanding of the gospel - subtly trusting his works.  I was able to point this out within those 5 minutes.

 

I noticed there was a guy floating behind me as I was talking to the lad.  So, as the lad moved on, I decided to delicately engage him (I could tell he was interested, but something was causing him to hang back).  I wasn’t direct, instead, starting with light conversation.  To my surprise he said I’d talked to him before, a month or so ago, in the city.  I don’t remember him.  He wasn’t interested in the gospel then, and he wasn’t interested now.  And yet, I sensed there was an interest there, something was under his skin?  Anyway, his wife turned up and they moved on.  He refused a tract.  I was encouraged.  Our feeble efforts for God’s glory are effective in God’s strength.  We cast the seed to the wind, and it finds purchase.  We plant, and have no idea how it grows - but it does.  Don’t give up!

 

We had a little evangelism revival on Friday in the city.  2 members of our church joined the usual team.  I wonder if the wonderful preaching from last Sunday was an encouragement?  So a team of 5: Roger, Andy, Lani, Craig and myself.

 

Nice weather, and lots of people about.  I was initially paired with Craig.  We were quickly into a conversation with a young couple (of whom both were in different places: he was closed, she was half open).  It was an apologetics heavy conversation, friendly, with many questions both ways - good engagement.  She accepted a tract at the end.

 

By this stage, Lani had arrived, and Andy was free from his chat.  So Craig went with Andy, while Lani paired with me.

 

Lani later went and joined Roger on his flip chart.

 

Everyone seemed busy.  My highlight chat was with a Fijian lady.  A very religious background, claiming the Bible as the ultimate authority.  And yet, she didn’t have a grasp of the gospel.  It was a fairly long chat, where I laboured with her on this point.

 

Interestingly, she had talked to some World Mission Society of God cult evangelists the previous day in Riccarton, and she was going to go along to their meeting on Saturday.  God providentially placed me on her path on Friday to warn her.

 

A highlight from the conversation was when I asked her, after much gospel labour, “so, if you died today and God asked, ‘why should I let you into heaven’, what would you say?”.  She thought and started her response with “Because I have done…”  I instantly stopped her, “now, think on what you’ve just said, do we go to heaven because of what we have done?”.  Her response was, “ohhhh”.  It was a powerful moment in the conversation.

 

She really appreciated the chat.  She recognised that it was no coincidence that we talked.

 

Saturday was slow.  I spent an hour, handing out a few tracts, and not getting any conversations.  Yet, right at the end of the hour, I was able to get into a conversation with two young teen guys.  They heard the gospel before they moved on.  I was encouraged.  The effort is always worth it.  Even if no one stops, God is still glorified in our obedience in going.  It’s about him, and it’s for him.  Don’t give up in this hard, but joyful labour of sharing the gospel of Jesus!

 

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It’s great to be back on the streets after a couple of weeks off for rest.  All four regular street outreaches ran this week: Tuesday afternoon in Riccarton with Roger, Friday afternoon in the city with Andy and Roger, Saturday morning in Riccarton, and Sunday afternoon in the City with Thomas and Binu.  A mix of rain and sunshine for the outreaches.

 

Before I get to my report for the week, I just want to mention that we will be up in the Wellington region for a week of outreach coming up soon.  We will be running a training session on Saturday morning, 7th September in Lower Hutt.  For more details, and to register, check out: https://tellmeconference.org.nz/training/  It’s free.

 

So, some really cool gospel seed opportunities this week.  I’ll start with Tuesday.  Nice weather.  I was straight into conversations after setting up, and it was a busy outreach.

 

I heard someone call from across the street.  When I turned to look, I recognised the guy from the suit shop in the mall.  My daughter is getting married next month, and so I was in this shop twice recently trying on and eventually buying a suit.  I had wanted to share a tract with him at the time, but to my shame I didn’t have any on me.  So, I ran across the street and gave him one now.  When he realised what it was, I was shocked to hear him say he is an ordained minister: pentecostal.  I was curious as to his career change and a conversation ensued.  Sadly, he was on a break from work and I could tell he had to go, yet based on the few things he said, I had a million questions for him.  I popped him a check question, and his answer confirmed I wanted to talk more.  I’d love to catch up with him for coffee, he seemed open, and so I intend to pop into the store again in the near future and see if I can tee that up.  It’s a reminder to make the most of the opportunities we get in our everyday life.  Would you hand a gospel tract to a shop assistant that has been helping you?  Let me encourage you to do that, always have tracts on you, you can get them for free here (NZ) or here (Worldwide).

 

This reminds me, during my 2 weeks break, I was able to share the gospel 5 times: 4 of them were tracts given to delivery people.  But one was a real God ordained opportunity (I didn’t have to go out of my way to make it happen).  Be encouraged to: pray for, take, and even make opportunities to share the gospel with people.  It’s real hope for eternal life, how can we not share it?

 

Friday was rainy.  Not ideal for street outreach, but Andy & I needed a break from the online ministry, and so we hit the streets anyway.  It was a reminder that, even in rain, there is ample opportunity for sharing the gospel: because that’s exactly what we had.  Like taking candy from a baby.

 

Suits don’t often stop to talk.  But this one did, to my surprise.  He had his umbrella up.  He gave me about 3 minutes.  But that was enough time for me to drop law and gospel seed.  He was engaged, and seemed impacted.  He gladly accepted a tract.  He may well walk away and forget what he heard, but maybe not?  Maybe it will lead to his salvation?  The gospel is the power of God.

 

Saturday was cold and dreary.  People weren't as willing to stop and talk, and yet I handed out many tracts.

 

Sunday was a lovely day, sunny and warm.  Lots of people were out and about.  I was pumped up from some great preaching from the Bible in the morning church gathering.  I love the elders of my church!  Thomas and I prayed, and before I even had the flip chart up, I was into my first chat.

 

A young man from Burnside High.  He walked past at just the right time, and he was keen to chat.  He had no religious upbringing, and never thought about the afterlife.  So, he was a little emotionally flat as we talked.  And yet, I could tell he was interested, as he considered the new information I gave him.  Great chat.  He had a Gideons Bible that had been given to him a couple of months ago, but he was happy to take a copy of the gospel of John from me (I said I’d only give it to him if he would read it).

 

It was a very busy outreach.  I’ve just got back, and my voice is a little hoarse.  Thomas was very busy as well.  Thomas is French, and I often goad him to do street outreach, as I often encounter French people without good English.  Well, today Thomas had a full gospel chat with 2 Frenchmen, pictured!  That pleased me so much!

 

I praise God for the great opportunity to share his love this week.  Limitless.  There are not enough labourers.  Praying for more!

 

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I’ve got a bit of a spine tingling report to give.  It’s a practical reminder of what we already know through logic and scripture: that God is sovereign, and that the Holy Spirit is active in seeking and saving the lost through the blood of Jesus.  All glory to God for his justice and mercy.

 

I’m so encouraged.

 

Our church has finished working through the book of Romans, and we are now working through the book of John (morning), and Colossians (afternoon).  The afternoon gathering is new for our church this year.  I’ve always had it in my head that it would be wonderful to talk to someone on the street between gatherings, and then have them come to the afternoon gathering.  Well, that happened today.

 

For the morning gatherings, we are currently in John 3.  Jesus talking to Nicodemus.  We have been learning a lot about ‘regeneration’.  The work of the Holy Spirit in making a person spiritually alive to be able to respond to the gospel.  We are saved by grace alone.

 

After the teaching, the men gather to discuss the teaching.  In my group, one of the guys mentioned his brother in law.  Over the last few weeks, he has seen an openness in him that he hasn’t previously had - which is wonderful.  I’ve actually  talked to this brother in law before, maybe 6 months ago?  So, I rejoiced to hear this report.

 

As I arrived on the street, Andy was already there, engaging a group of teens with the gospel.  After that, I had a brief conversation with Andy, I mentioned the report about the brother in law.  After prayer, we decided to pair up for our conversations for the outreach.

 

There were a lot of people about, and so we had many opportunities.

 

We decided to go for a wander, it was my turn to start a chat, and as we walked along Cashel Mall, I was considering who to approach.  Approaching people can be scary, and I didn’t approach some that I could have.

 

Eventually, we were walking down High Street, and a guy went past. I tried to engage him, but he ignored me, even after my 2nd attempt.  We kept walking when another guy went bounding pass, crossing our path.  So I said, “Excuse me, can I ask you a question?  What do you think happens after life?”

 

He stopped to engage.  And then I recognised him.  And so I said, “have I talked to you before?”  It was the brother-in-law.

 

I was astounded.  There is indeed a change in this young man since I last talked to him.  He was keen to talk, and so we went to a coffee shop, the 3 of us.  We spent about an hour (maybe less), talking through the gospel, motivations, and the basis for reason: the Bible.

 

As the conversation wound up, I invited him to the afternoon church gathering - his sister would be there!  He said he would come.  I’ve heard that many times before, so I was naturally skeptical.

 

I turned up at the afternoon church gathering, buzzing, and gushing at the sovereign opportunity God had given.  What if I had stopped and talked to some of those “scary” people.  What if the guy prior had stopped to talk.  This opportunity would never have happened.  And yet it did.  God is in control.  And even if it hadn’t, God would use other means.  We can rest in the knowledge that God regenerates (saves) people.  We have our part to play, but God saves.

 

The church gathering was starting, and he hadn’t arrived - not surprised.  When I saw his sister (and her husband) arriving, I went out to tell them about what happened.

 

And then, he turns up!  The preaching on Colossians 3 was timely, and wonderful.  And after the formal part of the gathering, we were able to hug and catch up.

 

This young man still has gospel truth to process.  My prayer is that he will see that truth: the seriousness of his sin, and the wonder of Jesus.  That he would repent and believe and become a member of the church - to use his gifts as God has given him (we all have a part to play), in service of others, and ultimately for the glory of God.

 

We were also on the streets on Friday.  I had 3 stand out conversations.  All 3 of them were very natural to start and felt like they were meant to be.  Strangers passing at a point in time and a life changing message shared.  God uses our feeble efforts for his glory as he radically redeems people who simply don’t deserve it.  His mercy is amazing.

 

On Tuesday, I was also in Riccarton with Roger.  I was able to have a follow up chat with the guy I had coffee with the previous week.  This time I cut to the chase.  He had ‘another’ gospel to share.  A gospel of ‘special’ knowledge, that couldn’t be shared quickly.  I resisted that based on clear teaching of the word of God (Colossians!)  He ended up leaving in a bit of a huff.  There was no openness in him at this stage, yet, he has heard the law and the gospel.  God can use our feeble efforts in his timing.

 

I also had an encouraging message from Roger tonight: “One of my contacts from Rotherham St [Riccarton outreach] turned up at Life Church today. Do you remember lending me a biro for him to write down church details ?”  Yes I remember!  Wow, double encouragement for today!  Spine tingling.  God is love.  He saves people, he is building his church, and we get to be involved!  Don’t give up hope for your loved ones.  Keep praying for them, keep sharing the gospel with them.  Who knows who he will bring in their path, just at the right time.  We serve a just and merciful God!

 

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Time for another report.  It always feels daunting when I have to write one of these, but then the hour goes fast and I have something to post.  I’m amazed that anyone actually reads these, maybe the hour would be better spent in actually doing evangelism?  Anyway, let’s summarise another week.

 

I made it to all four scheduled street outreaches this week.  The weather was poor for today, but I decided to go anyway (City).  If Joshua can do it in the rain, then so can I.  It rained as I walked to my outreach spot, but then it stopped as I started, the sun even came out!

 

I felt strangely invigorated.  It was like I had an extra dose of energy and joy.  I was able to enthusiastically hand out gospel tracts with a smile and a cherry ‘have a nice day’ to all those that refused them.  Who knows, maybe they will take one the next time, or even stop to chat to see why this crazy old man so persistently does what he does.  (Answer: glory to God for the good he works through wretches like us.)  If people stop, I want them to find out how amazing Jesus is.  He truly is.

 

I saw a lot of my regulars today.  I didn’t spend a lot of time with them, as I wanted to get the gospel to others.

 

But my highlight chat for the day wasn’t with unbelievers but with a couple of YWAMers who were out giving food to the poor. My encouragement to them was to not only give people practical help (Galatians 2:10), but to be precise in sharing the gospel.  Gospel precision leads to gospel understanding, which is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).

 

I had two rather daunting chats this week.  One on Saturday (Riccarton), and the other on Friday (City).

 

On Saturday, I didn’t feel very invigorated.  The outreach was slow.  I felt like an old man, in old clothes, on my own, looking like a fool standing next to a gaudy flip chart.  People in cars driving past must think I’m crazy.  I probably embarrass some Christians.  And yet, God uses what is weak and foolish as a means to show his strength and wisdom.

 

A young couple went past (teens).  I recognised them, I’d talked to them before.  We fell into an easy chat, and I was quick to swing it to spiritual things.  She was the main talker.  She thought about what happens after life, but her way of dealing with it was to put her head in the sand.  Enjoy this life and try not to worry about the next.  My focus was to not let her hold that attitude, but to make her realise that if she faced it, there was hope.  We ended up talking about evil and suffering.  I dealt with this in my usual way.  I gave hope that there would be justice for sin (no one will get away with anything) but also there was mercy and an everlasting life without suffering or evil.  We can respond to evil either with bitterness or forgiveness.  God gave us the ultimate example of what we should do: Jesus' sacrifice.

 

It was a daunting chat, because, sadly, we talked about some pretty dark things.  A very real reminder of the depravity of man.  Sadly, I didn’t get to finish giving my answer to why there is evil and suffering.  They had to move on.  But my heart goes out to them.  I’m going to be regularly praying for them, and I really want to talk to them again.

 

I was grateful to be able to process this chat with one of my elders at church today.  I’m reminded that, although talking about these deep issues can be daunting: the responsibility for salvation is not on us - we have responsibility, but not for God’s job; and we are part of a body of believers - we don’t have to do this alone.

 

Friday’s chat was with an older Muslim man.  It was a conversation that probably would never have started under normal conditions, but I was squeezed into a small spot (other conversations happening around me) and he just happened to be weaving through.  It was natural for me to look up and ask the question: “Excuse me sir, can I ask, what do you think happens after life?”

 

He was a bit taken aback.  But he got engaged anyway.  A few times he asked, “why are you asking me these questions?”.  I was always honest with my answer: I wanted him to understand the sure hope for heaven.  Part of him wanted to move on, but another part of him didn’t want to leave.  He was being forced to face the truth in contrast to things he has held to his whole life.  So, it was a bit of an awkward chat, a very deep tension between us was bubbling under the surface.  Both of us wanting to be polite as our ideologies clashed.  Part way through our chat, he asked for a tract - I think that was the part of him that really wanted to hear this wonderful truth.  I gladly gave him one, and then the conversation ploughed on.  He kept bucking away from the truth, and I gently kept bringing him back to it.  He used various techniques for this, eventually trying to bring political tension into the picture as a distraction.  I wouldn’t let him, pulling him back to the reality that he would be standing before God, alone, on judgement day.

 

The tension under the surface was so tight that I eventually cracked.  I lost my cool, ever so slight, sadly.  But it was good to break that tension and finish up then anyway.  I wasn’t going to make any more progress for the time being.  We parted ways with a handshake.  But, inwardly, I was shaking a bit after that chat.  It was a very real spiritual battle going on.

 

On Tuesday, Roger and I were both in Riccarton for an outreach in very crisp weather (sunny but cold).  The outreach was busy, I think because of school holidays.  I ended up finishing the outreach in a nearby coffee shop with a man who was keen to talk (it was dark and really cold by this stage)!  I think he is keen to talk again next Tuesday.  He knows where we are.

 

Thank you for your prayer for this gospel work, here in Christchurch, NZ.  Be encouraged in your own evangelism efforts, wherever you are.  Tell people about Jesus.  Glory to God alone.

 

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3 street outreaches this week.  Roger couldn’t make the Tuesday one, and the weather was poor, so I worked online instead that day.  But the team was out for the usual outreaches on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

 

I’m going to work backwards in my report (starting with Sunday).

 

But before I do, for those that read these reports (anyone? ;) ), and living in NZ, I want to let you know of some evangelism training opportunities coming up.  Within the next 12 months, we will be running our standard evangelism training sessions in: Wellington (Sept), Christchurch (Oct), Whangarei (Nov), and in Dunedin (Feb 2025).  There will be a couple of theory sessions in the morning, and then a street outreach in the afternoon.  Plus, in Wellington, Whangarei, and Dunedin, we will also be doing a week of street outreach (we do that every week in Christchurch).  So, if you’d be interested in being involved, check out the details here.

 

Okay, so, today (Sunday) I was in the city for a couple of hours.  It ended up being a busy outreach.  My first hour was focused on 2 conversations.

 

The first was with a man who had tattoos all over his face.  Like, across his nose, from ear to ear it was totally inked in.  He looked really rough.  But, I don’t want to discriminate, and so I smiled and offered him a tract.  He took it and we fell into an easy conversation.  When he realised who I was and what I was doing, he wanted to put his best foot forward.  He told me how long he had been drug free, and that he was trying to clean up his life.  Going from there, I was able to share the law and the gospel.  Cleaning up your life won’t remove the punishment for the wrong you’ve already done.  I had started on the check questions when some of his friends came past.  He decided to join them.

 

But, later in the outreach, he came past again.  I was able to give him the next check questions, and he got it right!  But it went downhill from there.  He was still nice, but he dropped the mask.  He started using bad language freely, and his bitterness and frustration about life circumstances came out.  I realised I wasn’t going to make more progress with him today, but a seed had been sown.  He accepted the gospel of John from me.

 

The other chat from the first hour was with a regular.  I’ve been talking to this guy from time to time on the streets for years.  Whenever we see each other, we wave.  Today he decided to chat.  And without me starting it, the conversation moved to spiritual things.  We ended up talking about why there is evil and suffering even though God is in control.  He also was cheating in some online mobile game he was playing, he felt convicted by this, and so I used this as an opportunity to remind him of the law (Matthew 5:48: you must be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect), and the gospel (through Jesus sacrifice, we can be made perfect).

 

For the second hour, I was feeling tired.  I decided to go for ‘walk ups’.  But ended up back where I was.  I focused on handing out tracts (I love it when people you don’t expect take one - you just don’t know where people are at), and ended up getting a few good opportunities to share the gospel.  The final opportunity was with 4 young teen guys.  2 ‘Christians’, 1 Muslim, and a guy with no religious background.  Great chat.

 

Saturday’s outreach in Riccarton was a bit slow, but I ended up having an awesome chat in the end.  It was with a young man (high school age).  It was a fairly textbook chat, I used the flip chart and hit every page.  This kid already had a Bible.  Some people had given him one outside his school.  I assume it was Gideon's, and I was so encouraged by that.  I pointed him to the gospel of John.

 

Friday’s outreach was busy.  Roger, Andy and myself.  The highlight chat was with 2 young guys.  I had been doing a bit of a wander, and I encountered them at the intersection of Hereford and Oxford.  We were crossing the road in opposite directions.  But instead of crossing, I waited for them to cross to me, and then I engaged them.  They were willing to talk, and soon became invested, so I was able to slow down a bit to labour with them.  One of them in particular seemed impacted - it was great to see.   I ended up giving them both a copy of the gospel of John, as they said they would read it.

 

Andy and I finished the outreach pairing up.  We managed to get into a chat with 3 young people.  They guy bolted, but the 2 ladies were keen to chat.  Sadly, the main talking became subtly resistant, and constantly pulled the conversation in a direction that would deliberately make things ‘muddy’.  I wanted to try to leave her to Andy, so I could engage the other lady.  It almost worked, but soon after, the conversation ended.  But not before we were able to give gospel tracts.  God willing we’ll have more opportunities to talk to them.

 

Thanks for your prayer and support, all glory to God alone!

 

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This week we ran 2 special outreaches for an NZ public holiday on Friday: Matariki.  We had great weather (unlike for the beginning of the week, when there was a lot of rain), although it was cold, so we needed our puffer jackets on!

 

It was great to have big teams, and many members of our own church, Redemption Church, involved.

 

In the morning we were in Riccarton.  Rudi, Vinil, Jonathan, Jerome, Elijah, were with Andy and I.  It was a bit of a slow start, I guess many people were taking advantage of an opportunity for a sleep in?  So, we had to work a bit to make some opportunities to share the gospel.  We had a flip chart up, which a pair would run, the rest of us did walk up.

 

When I was paired with Rudi, the pickings were slim.  But we wandered up to the bus stops distributing tracts.  I got into a short chat with a lady who was willing to chat while we walked. Within a minute she was at her destination, and so I had to wrap up with a tract.  God can use that!

 

Later, I was paired up with Jonathan.  I overheard 4 girls say something about ‘church’, and so I grabbed at that to see if I could get a conversation started.  It was a bit awkward, but it worked.  They were willing to engage.  But, a homeless guy overheard, and decided he wanted to ruin the conversation.  I couldn’t ignore him, so I had to abandon the girls to engage the homeless guy.  But, this wasn’t bad for 2 reasons: 1) Jonathan was with me, and 2) this was an opportunity for Jonathan to get involved: sharing the law and the gospel for himself!  It worked out well.

 

After that, we were able to get into a conversation with a couple.  They were tourists from Germany.  They were resistant to hearing the gospel, holding to a mix of philosophies, including concern for climate change, and maybe some eastern religious leaning?  And yet, they stayed around to hear a law and gospel, and she accepted a tract.  It’s a seed.

 

Back at the flip chart, Jonathan and I had a number of opportunities.  A young man, with a Christian background yet was subtly trusting works for salvation, stayed to go through the whole flip chart.

 

To finish off the outreach, we had a large group of kids on scooters come past and engage.  They were all in different places, and I couldn’t hold all of their attention, by the end of the chat I had 3 (+ stragglers) still with me.  Yet, those 3 were engaged.  And 1 even took a copy of the gospel of John.  It wasn’t a long chat, but gospel seeds were scattered on ploughed soil.

 

In the afternoon we were in the city, at the Bridge of Remembrance.  Big team: Mike, Guilaume, Jordan, Emma, Chloe, Josiah, Roger, Jerome, Elijah, Andy and myself.  2 flipcharts.

 

Lots of people about.  There was some military march happening.  The outreach was busy, I was really tired afterwards.  But it was great seeing pods of gospel conversations happening all over the place.  The picture tries to capture it.

 

I ended up in a chat with 2 young men who had Christian backgrounds and yet were rejecting Christ.  They became very engaged.  When Jordan turned up, I pulled him into the conversation.  Between the 2 of us, we talked with these 2 guys for well over an hour.  It was maybe an hour and a half.  I had to disengage from this chat to pair up with other newbies.  But I left them in Jordan’s capable hands.

 

I ended up pairing up with Josiah.  We had a number of good opportunities with people, but they were sadly resistant in different ways.  I ended up using a Minecraft analogy with one of them (building / builder) - and Josiah, being a Minecraft fan, enjoyed that.  It was great, because this guy could tell I was the main talker, and so he decided to pull Josiah into the conversation!

 

By the end of the outreach, I was back with Jordan in the original conversation.  He was talking to Justin, and so I continued with Issac.  After addressing all of Issac’s important questions, he was left with nothing but the truth: he is rejecting Christ because he loves his sin - he was honest about that.  His Mum is a member of a good local church - I even know the pastor.  This kid knew the gospel, and so I called him to repentance.  I pleaded with him that the pleasure of sin would be bitter and lead him to hell fire.  It’s not worth it.  I’m helpless to change him.  But God can.  Early in the chat, I suggested that he has parents or grandparents that are praying for him.  I now know he also has a pastor praying for him.  Our meeting on the street was no coincidence.  Sometimes hearing it from someone else can help.  I’m praying for Issac too now.  God save him!

 

On Sunday afternoon, Binu joined me in the city, and we handed out tracts for an hour.  I had a couple of good chats.

 

One in particular was a highlight.  A young couple stopped to engage (it amazes me that so many blast past me, and yet some are keen to stop and chat).  They were open.  He thought there was ‘something’, she didn’t like thinking about the afterlife.  And so starting from there I was able to reason with them about the reality of the bad news, and then the hope of the good news.  Such a good chat.  They walked off with the gospel seed planted.  I have no idea what the result will be.  They are in God’s hands.

 

Thank you for continuing to pray for this ministry.  Be encouraged as you make and take gospel opportunities in your day to day life.  All glory to God alone.

 

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Some of my report for this week is going to be 2nd hand information: from Andy.  He had a very encouraging day on Friday.

 

But as I write this, I would normally be on the streets, but it’s pouring with rain, so I’m taking the option of working online this afternoon, where it’s dry!  Yes, I’ve had many wonderful conversations - even out in the wet and cold, and yet, I can have wonderful conversations in the warm and dry as well!

 

So, only 2 street outreaches this week.  In the city on Friday afternoon with Andy, and in Riccarton on Saturday morning.

 

But before I go further, I just want to mention that we have just confirmed a 2nd evangelism trip to the Philippines that I want to let you know about.  The team is going in September 2024 - Andy and I can’t make that one.  But, we are now also going in early March 2025.  It’s a wonderful opportunity to come out of your normal environment and focus on sharing the gospel with the lost in another cultural context.  We get to work alongside an awesome local church, Rock of Refuge in Manila, plus other churches as well in a shared mission to reach the lost with the gospel.  These trips are for a week and a half each.  If you’d like to learn more, and apply, check out the details here.

 

Okay, so now back to the usual report.

 

Andy had an amazing chat online on Friday morning.  It was with a young man who had already been considering the claims of Christ; a friend of his went through a very difficult time in his life, and as a result he came to Christ and so he had been witnessing to this guy, yet he wasn’t yet ready to commit.  Andy had the privilege of coming in and ‘closing the deal’ (I hate that term, because we are not selling anything, and yet, it conveys what happened).  Sometimes it helps to hear it from a different avenue I guess, but Andy was able to clarify concepts, answer questions and challenge him to respond.  He realised he had no reason not to do so.  What a joy!

 

Then on the street, he had a string of wonderful chats.  First with a group of 3 Americans (pictured).  After a few minutes, they warmed up to the conversation and engaged, asking good questions and hearing the good news of Jesus.

 

We then headed down towards Ara, attempting to strike up chats on the way.  Once at Ara, Andy had an amazing chat with a young Catholic high school student (also pictured).  The kid even had a Bible with him, and so Andy was able to use it to clarify concepts with him (from Romans).

 

While this was happening, I had a great chat with a young man called Nat.  Nat grew up within a Christian context and yet he was unsure about it all.  I had a wonderful opportunity to minister: clarifying the gospel and how we can know these things to be true.  I was also able to answer questions.  Eventually we walked down the street and found a good spot where we could sit and finish the conversation comfortably (there was a lot of traffic noise).  He thanked me at the end, as he moved on with a gospel tract.

 

Once that chat had finished, I noticed a large group of students - some of them I’ve talked to on previous outreaches.  I said hello, but none of them seemed interested in a chat.  By this stage Andy was with me, when a guy walked past and so I prompted him with: “Hey, can I ask you a question, it’s a deep one, what do you think happens after life?”  He engaged, and Andy and I ended up having a long conversation with him.  He was an atheist.  He understood that you can have infinite regresses; and yet he was stuck on the problem of “Who made God?”.  The answer is, because we can’t have infinite regresses, God must have had no beginning (and so needs no maker) because the universe did have a beginning (and so does need a maker).  When you think about it, the answer is clear, but he just couldn’t (or didn’t want to) see it.  I laboured with him for a few cycles before cutting to the law, and then the gospel.  We discussed evil and suffering.  But, sadly, it all seemed a bit wasted on him, he just didn’t see it.  Yet, the gospel is the power of God for salvation, in time it may bear fruit?  And at the very least, Andy and I got to bask in the wonder of the gospel for ourselves.  That Joseph understood that his brothers sold him into slavery so God could save his brothers just blows my brain!  God truly uses all things for the good of those who love him, and ultimately for his glory.

 

When I checked the time, the outreach was well past over.  So, we walked with this guy to his destination (the bus exchange) before heading off for a hot chocolate for ourselves.

 

I spent an hour in Riccarton on Saturday morning.  I had 2 special encounters.

 

The first was right at the beginning, the first person to walk past accepted a gospel tract.  She was a Muslim lady - she was interested in the front page of the flip chart.  It was a short chat, yet a powerful one.  She was trusting in her works, and the law seemed to pull the rug out from under her, before I was able to explain the good news of Jesus.  She accepted a tract.

 

Then I had a young man approach me, he knew me, but I didn’t remember me.  Once he gave me his name, a vague recollection came back.  He used to be a Christchurch Boys’ High student.  But he now works for a furniture removal company.  Sadly, he didn’t remember the gospel.  And so I was able to point him to it again.

 

Well, that’s the week.  I’ve got a few more hours of labour online before having a day off tomorrow.

 

God bless you as you take and even make opportunities to share the gospel with those around you this coming week.  Thank you for your prayer and support.

 

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A more difficult week of outreach this week.  Yet, no chat is in vain!  For all I know, those difficult opportunities will lead to an increase: salvation of souls.  God uses us in our weakness for his glory.

 

So, we skipped 2 street outreaches due to rain (Friday and Saturday).  So I was only at each location once this week.  Riccarton on Tuesday afternoon with Roger and in the city on Sunday afternoon.

 

But, this meant I did more online (and even that was difficult this week!)  Yet, the work online (via needGod.net) is so encouraging.  Not only are we reaching thousands of people with the gospel, I’m seeing individual Christians growing in their apologetics and evangelism.

 

I’m seeing massive growth in the ability of some people who I have been involved with during their initial training.  To listen to their conversations, then and now - the contrast is amazing, glory to God!  So, don’t give up, keep practising, that’s the key.  And online, it is so easy to do!  We offer free training, so if you are interested, get in touch!

 

So, reporting on the 2 street outreaches.  Last week in Riccarton, I was really busy in conversations, this week it was very slow.  So slow in fact that I decided to abandon my flip chart and go look for conversations to have.  This did the trick.  I wandered down Riccarton Road and I was quickly engaged in a conversation with 2 high school students.

 

I then had a special chat with a young lady right outside the bus terminal.  She was going to a church, but her motive for attending wasn’t right, and she wasn’t understanding the gospel.  I had a short opportunity to engage her.  She eventually asked an interesting question: “why isn’t God doing more to reach people”.  My answer was that I was talking to her right now!  God is raising up an army of people to go to the world with the gospel.  That’s you and me.  Regular Christians with an amazing, yet deep, yet simple message of Jesus.  Let’s be polite, and yet, let’s be bold in proclaiming it to the world around us.

 

Roger and I ended up wrapping up the outreach a little bit earlier than usual.  It finished with Roger having a conversation with a young Muslim man (pictured).  I could tell he wasn’t really interested in engaging, because he would keep avoiding the subject by asking questions about other topics.  I think Roger even said that he had rung his Iman for help!

 

On Sunday afternoon, the sun was back, and plenty of people were out and about.  Yet, I struggled to get conversations started.  I moved over to the sunny side of the street, and then I decided to go for a wander.

 

I approached someone down by the Avon river, but he wasn’t willing to engage, as I moved back to Oxford Terrace, I finally got some engagement with 2 guys.  But, sadly they had hot pizza and coke, and they wanted to move on and eat.  They took tracts.

 

Finally, back at the corner of Cashel and Colombo, I got into a short chat with 4 teen guys.  They didn’t really want to engage, so I had to work to keep them, but I was able to share the law and the gospel, before letting them move on.  Seed dropped.  May others be able to come and water it.  Are you ready?  I decided to head home early and work online.  Thanks for your prayer and support of our feeble efforts for his glory!

 

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I think I’m getting back into the routine of the regular weekly outreaches now that the summer special outreaches are well and truly past.  All four street outreaches went ahead this week - which was great.

 

Roger was with me in Riccarton on Tuesday afternoon.  My notes say “Straight into a chat with Hunter: had a lack of interest”.  I have no recollection of that particular conversation now, but it’s great that I was straight to work.  The outreach was busy!  It went for the full 2 hours, and so it was dark by the time we finished.

 

I also can’t remember the chat I had with “2 guys with glasses”, but I do remember the chat with the 2 Burnside High School kids very well.  Roger was busy with another chat, and the 2 kids were intrigued by his flip chart, even to the point where they were looking at the 2nd pages on their own!  So, I popped over to Roger’s side to engage them.  It was an awesome conversation.  Sadly, neither of them had ever heard the gospel.  Yet, gladly, they were very open.  The chat was textbook, and they followed the logic smoothly.  When I challenged them to respond to the gospel, there was a pause, and one of them said, “this is the first time I’ve heard this, I need some time to process it”.  That’s fair.  And yet, I explained how this message is simple and urgent to respond too.  I think they’d be prime candidates for my church's new foundation Bible study.

 

A third Burnside High School student tried to join this chat, but by this stage, Roger was free again, and so I directed him to Roger - which was great.

 

Back on my side of the street, 3 more high school students passed and were willing to chat (Roger had talked to 2 of them on the previous Friday’s outreach, so it was a partial follow up).  There wasn’t yet gospel clarity, and so I went back to the start.  It was wonderful seeing the reaction of one of them in particular.  She became very engaged as she got check questions wrong and learned why.  Glory to God, it was a wonderful chat.

 

As they moved on, a young man on a scooter came over, he wanted to try the good person test.  We ended up having a long conversation.  He struggled to grasp the gospel, not able to believe that salvation would be a gift.  I had to labour with him on both the law and the gospel.  I’m very grateful for the wonderful suite of check questions I have to utilise for this purpose.  I ended up giving him a church contact card with my contact details and an invite to our next Sunday gathering and the foundation Bible study.  I haven’t heard from him, yet he has the gospel seed.  I leave him in God’s hands for others to follow up and water.

 

On Friday, Andy and Roger were with me in the city.  I ended up doing a wander to Cathedral Square and back to the Bridge of Remembrance, having chats as I went.  I had a great chat with a young man who was in a Catholic school uniform.  He seemed to have a click moment with the gospel, which was great.  I also talked to a flat earther, and then a group of 3 european tourists.

 

But the highlight chat was with a young man from Italy.  In God’s providence, He had 2 Christian evangelists talk to him today!  He showed me a Gideon’s New Testament and gospel booklet that had been given to him earlier in the day - probably one of the OAC guys.  God is good!  So I had a wonderful follow up chat with him.

 

Back at the Bridge of Remembrance, it was great to see both Andy and Roger busy in conversations.  The harvest field is so ripe, the opportunity is endless!

 

I was also able to have a couple more conversations.  This outreach ended up going longer than usual, which is great.  God is good.

 

On Saturday I was back in Riccarton.  From memory, this outreach was a bit slower than usual.  And yet, I was still there, with my flip chart, a banner, with the name of Jesus on it (figuratively) being salt and light in the community.  I would hand out tracts, and I had a number of conversations, often shorter ones.  Ploughing, sowing.

 

After getting back from this outreach, I joined the online training outreach.  I had a very memorable conversation with a Sikh who lived in Portugal.  The conversation went for 45 minutes.  He was engaged enough to stay that long, but he really struggled to grasp the gospel, constantly defaulting back to ‘be good’, as the reason to get to heaven.  After much labour to show him how we are not good, and that Jesus is the only solution, I think he was finally grasping it - but maybe not, even at the end, some final checks and he had already started to slip in his thinking.  He is now in God’s hands to convict and convert - in His timing.

 

On Sunday, I had Elijah from church join me in the city for outreach (also Binu turned up to share tracts).  We had a very busy outreach at the corner of Colombo and Cashel.

 

There were a lot of young people out and about (the weather was nice at the start of the outreach).  So our first chat was with 2 young guys.  There was subtle resistance, and one of them was being particularly silly.  And yet, I rolled with that, and proceeded to share the law and the gospel anyway.  2 young girls joined the chat at one point, and so I decided to start fresh with them.  But they didn’t want to engage and walked off.  The 2 guys followed, but I was able to give them tracts before they left.  Interestingly, they soon came back.  And the conversation became more serious, and they engaged more sensibly.  It was great talking to them (we also saw them again right at the end of the outreach).

 

And it’s great seeing Elijah growing in confidence and ability in engaging with people.  By the end of the outreach, he was even engaging people on his own with the flip chart, as I would engage with others a few paces away.

 

One highlight chat was with 2 young ladies.  Fairly open and engaged well.  Elijah did most of the sharing.  The gospel hit home for one of those girls in particular, I could tell in a few ways, but particularly in the questions she would ask.  She accepted a gospel of John.

 

Near the end of the outreach, I had 2 particularly interesting encounters.  The first was when a large group of kids engaged.  Some of them said they had done the flip chart before.  I vaguely remembered some of them.  Yet some of them hadn't done it before.  There were too many for me to engage them all, and so I just cast my line and engaged with whoever responded.  I ended up with 3 of them in conversation.  But they soon had to split.  But as they did, one of them came back, and changed his tone and said something like, “hey man, what you said to me the first time made sense, I’ve started going to a church, thank you so much for what you do”.  Wow, that was encouraging.  Glory to God!  He didn’t have a Bible yet, and so I was able to give him a gospel of John before he went to catch up with his friends.

 

The last encouragement was when 2 guys stopped, I didn’t remember them initially, but when they said they had talked to me before, I remembered it from 3 weeks ago.  His answer to my check was “the mercy of God” which is not as precise as “because Jesus died on the cross”, and so I did some follow up.  But, I think the real reason they stopped was to encourage me, they had been impacted by the first chat (even though 1 of them in particular had been silly at the time).

 

All this to say: DON’T GIVE UP.  The law brings the knowledge of sin, and the gospel is the power of God for salvation.  God has the power to work in the hearts of people through our feeble efforts for his glory.  Don’t give up.  Continue to proclaim the wonderful good news of Jesus, wherever you may be.

 

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