Battle Log

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

A team of three were at the Northlands bus stops and a team of two then moved to the Eastgate bus stops on Thursday afternoon.

I’m often struck at how the most unlikely people will be open to a Gospel conversation.  One example of this was when I was crossing the road at Eastgate.  I had just come to the island in the middle of the road and was waiting for cars to pass before crossing again.  I noticed a young man who was on the other side of the road, and was waiting to cross towards me.  He looked to be in a hurry, and I didn’t think the middle of the road was going to be the best place to initiate a conversation.  But then he crossed to the island and I figured it couldn’t hurt to offer him a tract as he passed - so I simply said, “excuse me, do you ever think about the afterlife?”.  He looked at me, took the tract and, to my surprise, said, “yeah, I do actually”.  I ended up turning around and crossing back with him, and once safely on the footpath, I ended up having a wonderful opportunity to share the law and the Gospel.  Be encouraged to reach out anyway - sure, many people won’t be interested - just wish them a nice day, and move on.  But there are many who are interested and are waiting for someone to go to them.  God is with us!

Friday saw three outreaches: a team of six for the Gospel + abortion outreach in the morning.  A team of four (+ two from OAC) in the afternoon.  And a team of five for an evening outreach.

The Gospel + abortion outreach ended with two very challenging but encouraging conversations.  The first started when a nurse aide from the hospital approached us.  She had a question that a friend wanted to ask, and she pulled out a piece of paper.  The question was: if I was in a burning building and only had the time to rescue a baby or a thousand embryos.  Which would you save?  Going from this rather loaded hypothetical question we ended up having a good conversation that touched on some very difficult personal situations in which I was able to talk about the serious nature of sin (abortion is murder), and the forgiveness found in Christ for those willing to admit their sin, rather than justify it.

While this was happening, Andy got into a deep conversation with two seperate people: one pro life, and one pro choice.  Andy was challenged by the pro choice person to show sympathy for women in difficult situations.  But we can’t have sympathy for those who murder, no matter how difficult the situation!  Yet, there is hope of forgiveness for murderers, through the sacrifice of Christ.  To his surprise, the pro choice person didn’t respond with anger, but rather became thoughtful.

We thank God for our ability to be a witness for Him and to stand up for those that can’t stand for themselves.  May there be salvation!

The afternoon and evening outreaches had two contrasting conversations for me.

In the afternoon, I had a flip chart conversation with a young couple.  The guy was curious and so became engaged, but even though I was talking about the wonderful hope of eternal life, the body language of the girl was one of boredom and a desire for the conversation to finish so she could move on with important stuff (shopping)!  And sadly, the guy’s curiosity seemed to remain just that.  There was no conviction of sin.  In my mind I was processing this, and started to wonder what I was doing wrong, what I could do to convince them, to get them to understand.  And, yes, I should be doing my best to explain the Gospel.  But I realised where my thinking could lead: compromise.  If I soften or change the message, then maybe I could sway them?  NO.  The Gospel is the power of God to salvation!  God is the one who saves.  I have to trust Him in that.

In the evening, at the end of the outreach, a Gospel conversation got started with another young couple.  There was some initial sparring, but then a sombreness came upon the conversation as I was explaining the serious nature of sin through the law.  To my encouragement (and I hope yours), the young man became very thoughtful as I explained the Gospel, and the young lady’s eyes widened in understanding!  Praise God.  At this very moment, our main heckler came past and had a go at me: “don’t you have a wife to go home to Glenis, still out here telling people stories”.  Thankfully, this didn’t stop the wonderful conversation that was happening.  I challenged them to accept the gift of Christ, at the same time explaining the cost of following Him.  They are in God’s hands.
 

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On Tuesday at Woodridge a team of nine made it out and were able to spread all around the area finding people to share the simple message of Christ's death on the cross to save sinners with anyone willing to listen.

The first conversation was a lengthy one with two Mormon girls, Jacinta and Evonne. They were funny and engaged and the chat went a long way as they compared the text of scripture with what they had been taught about God. It was interesting as they read the words on the page, understood what it said and came to see how it is very different from what they have been taught. After a conversation at length they both took a copy of the New Testament and said they would do some more reading and consider what was said.

They also were able to explain in simple terms how someone can get right before God and what someone who is forgiven by God wants to obey Him. They understood it and saw how different it was from what they were saying originally and were challenged to count the cost of trusting in Jesus to pay for their sin and the persecution it will bring them as a result. Please be praying for these two girls that they would strongly consider what they have heard this day and that God would work in their hearts, making them alive in Him!

Later in the afternoon Regen a Burmese guy was spoken with. He had some simple understanding of Christianity but was unclear on the way to Heaven and therefore all his information was in vain as he was still heading to Hell. He saw his guilt, that he deserves Hell and therefore that there must be something that is done for him to be right before God and then he heard and came to understand the simple message of the gospel that simply by trusting that Jesus has paid for their sin on the cross a sinner can be made right before God!

He came to understand that this trust in Christ will cause him to want to live for God and serve God, in thankfulness for what he has received. He said that today he would consider trusting in Christ! Please be praying that Regen does take this seriously and will start reading his Bible as encouraged and that God will change him from the inside out!

There were also conversations with Julie, Vienna, Jonathan and Innocent who all were open and came to understand the simple message of the gospel and were left this day with the lingering decision to be made, whether to trust in Christ or to reject Him.

Praise God for such a wonderful day of outreach! May He glorify Himself however He sees fit through the conversations that were had today!

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

Tuesday gave a real hint that a change of season is on the way.  It was a warm day for outreach in Riccarton for a team of two.  After prayer, we set up on either side of Rotherham Street along Riccarton Road.  After the outreach, Roger commented about how many positive Gospel conversations he had.  At one point, he even came across the street asking if I had a Bible to give away (which I did).

For me the outreach started immediately after setting up my flip chart, with a young couple: one who claimed to be a satanist, and the other who believed God was an energy.  After a longish initial conversation, where I established how we all know God exists and some of his attributes, and why there must be an afterlife with heaven and hell - I then asked them if they wanted to try the good person test - they did.  After that, they started asking really good questions, which I did my best to answer.  They both appreciated the conversation and left with tracts.

I then had a short conversation with four young men from Christchurch Boys High School - they all heard the law and the Gospel - before moving into a conversation with some Americans.

The Americans were resistant to the logic of the existence of God.  One of them tried to turn to the problem of suffering to deny the existence of God.  Things started to get heated, and they all wanted to disengage, which they did.  But one of them was willing to take a tract.  We parted ways with a handshake.

I then had a Russian come past wanting to know what the flip chart was all about.  Sadly, he too was resistant, but was happy to go through the law before disengaging.  Sadly, he handed back the tract I had given him.

Wednesday had the sun, but a cold wind was blowing for outreach in Cathedral Square and Cashel Mall (I didn’t end up making it down to Ara today).

My first conversation was with a man who agreed with me in many ways, and yet flatly denied we were saved by grace through faith in Jesus.  He insisted that works were required for salvation!  It got worse from there, when it turns out that he didn’t attend a local church and denied that Jesus was God.  So I decided to do what I always do (especially since he considers that his works are required for salvation) - I showed him his sin by getting him to look at his reflection in the law of God.  And it seemed to do the job I wanted: to show that it’s impossible to be saved by our works; that we need a saviour: Jesus!

I was then encouraged to have my new Christian friend, that I meet on Sunday, join me.  He had just been to the local Christian book shop and bought some Living Waters Gospel tracts, and a poster with the ten commandments on it.  He dutifully unwrapped a pack of tracts and started to hand them out!  So wonderful to see.

We finished the morning outreach with open air preaching - I preached, while my new friend handed out tracts.  And it went really well.  I had an early heckler (that had listened to me preach on Friday).  I was able to show him respect and love in the face of his hostility.  This drew some more people to come and listen, two of whom started to engage me.  The preaching ended up turning into a time of them asking me questions and me responding, all the while I managed to stay on track in working through the law and the Gospel.  It was a very encouraging time of ministry!

After lunch, we headed to Cashel Mall.  On the way, I had a great follow up conversation with a young man.  He had a friend with him, and I was able to briefly go through the law and the Gospel with her.  I was encouraged to see that she seemed genuinely impacted!  She gladly received a tract.

The highlight conversation for me in Cashel Mall was with a Christian lady who became interested in the ministry.  While she was watching, I had two Gospel interactions with strangers, so she was able to see first hand how it works.  It would be great if her church was to decide to get involved!  We parted ways with a hug.

So a wonderful couple of days of Gospel ministry.  Thank you for your prayer and other support of the Christchurch (NZ) team!  Continue to pray for labourers! :)
 

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It has been pretty quiet on the streets of Warwick the past couple of weeks, still a steady amount of people are taking tracts. We have noticed that there are people who have already received tracts but still are taking more as we have different kinds of  Gospel tracts and booklets all with the clear message of salvation. We hope and pray that they are reading them and taking the message seriously.

When there is a opportunity we ask them a question to try to engage in conversation but some are workers and have limited time. So we know that God is doing a good work even when we don't have any conversations.

One lady that had received a tract a while back approached us briefly a few weeks ago and said she would be back to ask a question when she had her glasses with her. Well, she did come with her glasses and her question. She pulled out the "What will matter to you in 150 years" Gospel tract. She was agreeing in the first few lines that we are all sinners and that God will judge every thought and action and send us either to heaven or hell. And that the problem is that the standard to get to heaven is perfection.

She was in agreement in all this, as we were working our way through reading the tract...she had a problem with the line saying, simply trying to do better from now on won't undo our past. She was saying that her life changed when she believed in Jesus. I said that is good our life should change but our change in our life doesn't save us, so then I shared the Gospel to explain about salvation I got the Bible and we opened and looked to read Ephesians 2: 8 & 9 together, as she had her glasses I asked her if she would like to read. As she read I explained about receiving a gift, how you don't do anything for a gift you receive it. God's grace to save us is a gift and not of any change in our life or any works we have done in our past or future will save us so simply doing better won't undo your past. Only Jesus saves so no one can boast.

So we read what the tract was saying and she was seeming to understand. Hopefully we will get to see her and talk again to see how she is going and continue to point her to trust in Jesus and her salvation in and through Him alone. She is already involved at a church here in Warwick.

We had somewhat of a conversation with a gentleman who has been in the rodeo industry for many years from riding horses to transportation of the animals. When asked the question "will you go to heaven when you die?", he replied "yes" and told us that the Lord saved him.

He went on to tell us about a horse riding accident where he had so many bones broken in his body that he could have died and that is why he's driving a truck now. It sounded to us like he was talking about a physical saving. As we started taking him through the law he said he was from the Catholic Church and was declaring works righteousness. The whole time we were talking to him he was trying to edge away from us. He was friendly but he didn't seem to be very interested. As he left us he did say he would read the tract given to him. Please pray J would be convicted of his sin and that God's grace would draw him unto salvation.

All Honour and Glory to our God who reigns.

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On Monday in the surrounding areas of Brisbane it was the show holiday, meaning that businesses that would usually be open, were closed. People normally at work were off and as a result the team decided to head into the city, instead of to the usual location at Capalaba.

This also meant that instead of the usual team of three, there was a team of ten that were out over the course of the nine hours to share the glorious gospel!

There were many exciting conversations that took place. Hear Kane, Matt and Grace share short recounts of conversations they had in the afternoon and be encouraged to hear how God used them to share with people the way to Heaven!

What an exciting day of outreach! Why not come along on Wednesday, if you have the day off?

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Sunday night was in the theme of the previous two nights. It again was brutally cold with the wind and yet people were willing to stop and chat and new team members came out to share!

As Sunday nights have started to build there have been more and more people interested in coming out to learn how to share the simple message of the gospel. This Sunday was no different. Except on Sunday night, sixteen people came out! Three of whom were first timers and another few in their first five times. The team then paired up and spread out around the square to see who would stop, despite the temperature to engage in a conversation to hear about what Christ has done to save sinners.

What an exciting evening it was as many team members were thrilled to be able to explain to non-Christians what Jesus has to say about the way to Heaven.

Two exciting conversations took place back to back. The first with a man who was pleasant and at first was talking about spirituality, no judgement, no standards to live by, just personal preference and yet at one moment professed to be a Christian. Over the next twenty minutes he came to see that God must exist, that sin must be punished, that we are each individually sinful and he even came to see that if he faced God in judgement this day, he would be punished for how he's lived and end up in Hell eternity.

Off the back of that he came to understand God's immense display of love, that He came into this world, took on flesh, lived the perfect life and then suffered the full fury and wrath of God that sinners deserve, offering all those who will believe in Him a full and free pardon from sin and the right to become children of God! After the conversation, he too was able to explain the simple gospel message back to us and had understood the beauty of it.

The conversation would have gone a little further but he had to run off to catch his bus home. The following conversation with Alec, who before this point had never thought about it was also an exciting one.

Alec noted at one pointed during the conversation, "I have many friends who have said they are Christian but never have I met people who actually believe it". It was a very similar conversation to the previous one as he was encouraged to seriously consider what was said. At the end of the conversation he had a simple understanding and ability to explain the gospel message and the implication on a Christian's life and had some serious challenges to look into the claims that Jesus had made for himself.

He noted that it was a good conversation and it was all finished where it began. At first when asked Alec almost walked on with the simple answer, "Nothing happens after we die". He was challenged on how he knew that and to stress the seriousness of considering it. He was asked, "When are you going to die?" To which he acknowledged he didn't know and it could be at any time. At the end of it all to stress the seriousness of the discussion and the importance of considering it he was reminded once more that death is inevitable and it could take place at any time!

Please be praying for both of these men that God would draw them unto Himself! Please also pray for the new and growing team members that God would be equipping them, building them up and using them to proclaim His glorious gospel! And why not see if there is a time, this Ekka week to come on out with the team to share the gospel by which you were saved!

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On Saturday night the chilling breeze from Friday continued and meant there were less people around than usual. That being said, it was extremely exciting to see twelve team members out, many of whom are relatively new, still wanting to declare the gospel of our God and King! It was a night filled with team work in gospel proclamation and many wonderful conversations.

On a more sober note, the first two conversations were with three men. They were Buddhist and spiritual and desperately didn't want to believe that God existed nor that He would hold humanity accountable for their actions. The reason turned out to very simple, exactly as Paul described almost two millennia ago in Romans 1:20-23. These men wanted to live their own way and in their rebellion against God, to avoid feeling guilty and to justify their actions had rejected what they knew about God, in place of their love of sin.

Sadly these men remained adamant that there was no real problem and therefore they never had the chance to hear the solution.

This was followed by an absolutely wonderful conversation with Noah. Noah excitedly ran across the road and said, "I am starting high school at a Church school next year and I need a Bible". His father, not too far behind affirmed that this is true. Noah was then asked if he knew if he would go to Heaven or Hell after he died. He said, "I am pretty sure Heaven, I am a pretty good guy". Although he had the pride of assuming he was good, in great contrast to the foolishness of the adults he then very humbly listened and engaged in a very simple gospel presentation.

He was shown God's law that our lies, theft, anger and disobedience to our parents mean that we deserve Hell. At this information Noah was moved and visibly upset but then was asked what he could do to solve this. He as usual suggested his goodness would help but was shown that would not work and said it made sense. Then he was shown the simple and beautiful message of God's totally undeserved love for sinners and with a few questions Noah was able to understand and explain the simple message of Christianity.

With his young age came the humility to listen. With this also came the acknowledgement that he was guilty, without any need to pretend that he wasn't but it also came with curiosity and Noah was able to explain, after less than five minutes of conversation that the one condition to be forgiven is to trust that Jesus has paid for our sin and the reason a Christian desires to honour God with their live is out of thankfulness to Him for what He has done.

Noah was encouraged to begin reading the gospel of John he was given and to consider trusting in Christ this day!

There were other exciting conversation in the evening, both Amir and Jack also came to understand the simple message of salvation and were challenged this day to count the cost of following Christ. Please be praying for all those who heard the God would use these conversations to draw His people unto Himself!

  

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On Friday evening on the Gold Coast the wind had picked up greatly. Whilst it was warmer than it had been for the past weeks the breeze seemed to be keeping everyone inside and as a result it was harder to get into conversations as people were dashing between buildings, not as keen to talk.

This didn't stop the gospel from going out, it just meant it was a little harder to be able start conversations.

An early chat took place with a European guy, whilst his friend was talking to another team member. Sadly this conversation didn't last very long because he didn't like being guilty and therefore just tried to distract from God's law. He saw his sin but was not wanting to hear of a solution, preferred to be in denial about guilt. It was a sad conversation and he was challenged to reconsider and warned that he could face judgement at any moment.

This was followed by a very similar conversation with a young Kiwi couple, Don and Ibrahim (a Muslim). They each rejected the gospel without fully hearing or understanding it because they preferred to think their own way, that their goodness would be enough for them to enter Heaven. They were each warned and challenged with the seriousness of this decision and left with tracts.

One exciting conversation took place with Nazal and Lana two young ladies who came to hear and understand the gospel message at the end of the conversation they said today that would trust in Christ and were challenged to not make this decision lightly but that they should count the cost of trusting in Christ. They both took gospels of John and tracts and were encouraged to read what God had said.

About an hour later in the evening they walked past again and still remembered, without any prompting the way to Heaven! It was encouraging to see.

Please be praying for those who heard of their guilt and of the way to Heaven that God will use whatever it takes to draw people unto Himself. Please be praying for the initial rejectors, who were in denial about their guilt that God would cause them to remember their guilt over and over and cause them to seek out how a sinner can be forgiven.

   

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Christchurch (NZ) Team

As forecast, Saturday saw constant and heavy rain in Christchurch (NZ), so I decided to letterbox drop tracts instead of heading into Cathedral Square.

I ended up placing a tract into a letterbox (pictured) that used to belong to a friend, Russell Crawly.  Sadly, he passed away three years ago - after a sudden and short fight with cancer.  I had shared the Gospel with him a number of times - one of those times was just after I had learned about using the law before the Gospel.  I distinctly remember it having an impact on him.  But, as far as I know, he went to the grave rejecting the Gospel.  I attempted to share the Gospel with him a final time, on his deathbed, and his response was to roll his eyes.  How horrible and devastating is death!  How surely it will come.  How suddenly it can come!  And how wonderful is the good news of the Gospel: hope & grace - for those that place their trust in Jesus.

I’ve got no control over who responds to the Gospel.  But people can only respond to a message they have heard.  This is motivation for me to continue sharing it (and I’m so grateful to those that are supporting me to do that).  Maybe the new owner of the house will read the tract and respond with a repentant faith in Christ - accepting the gift of God?  Please be encouraged to keep sharing the Gospel with those that you can!  Death is sure; there is only hope in the Gospel of Jesus!

Sunday was overcast, but there was no rain.  To my surprise, there were no market stalls in Cathedral Square, so I could set up my flip chart right in front of the Cathedral.  Instantly I had a young couple interested, and I was able to share the law and Gospel with them both.  I then went straight into a conversation with a man who had received a tract from me before.  It turns out we agreed on a lot, he even had a fairly good definition of what repentance was!  But he still believed that works were required for salvation.  Sadly, he was now listening to Hare Krishna teachings and was resistant to listening to me.  I decided not to fight, and spent the rest of the conversation listening to him until he left.

I ended the outreach by open air preaching to the people walking past.  A few would stop to listen for a few moments, before drifting off.  There was a man sitting in the distance on the other side of the Square, he soon came over and leaned against the statue in front of speakers corner.  It turns out he is a Christian who had recently been watching Ray Comfort on YouTube and had plucked up enough courage to come to the Square a number of times.  He was very encouraged to meet me, and asked for some tracts to hand out while I finished preaching.  It was just at this time that Mr. Angry came past (I haven’t seen him for weeks).  And my new friend offered him a tract… and got an earful from him.  A nice way to get started!  :)  But he survived.

After I had finished preaching, I spent some time getting to know this guy.  He is keen to buy some tracts, and to start joining in with outreach.  Maybe next Saturday?

Very grateful to God for this encouragement, may more labourers be raised up!  Keep praying! :)
 

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On Thursday in Sunnybank the team had a wonderful outreach! The team of six made it out and spread around to see who would be willing to talk about the after life and would be willing to hear what Christ has done to save sinners.

The first conversation was with a man named Jason, he said he was a Christian and that asking for forgiveness would be getting him into Heaven. He came to understand the simple message of faith alone and said that today he would begin to trust in Christ. The reason he said this is, once he understood the gospel he was asked if he could see the difference between what he was saying at the beginning of the conversation and what Christ had actually said. He saw the difference and said he would read Romans 3-5 this week.

The next conversation was also with Jason. He had spoken to the team last week and had gotten to hearing the gospel but the chat had been cut short by the arrival of the bus. This week it was picked up where it had left off and came to hear that trusting in Christ alone is the way to Heaven. He was able to explain that back and then asked, "Doesn't that encourage people to do the bad things?"

This will have to be left till next week to answer though, as again his bus arrived.

There were a range of other exciting conversations but one good one was with a young couple who had some ideas about Christ but weren't sure of the way to Heaven. At the end of the conversation when their bus arrived, the young guy was able to explain the way to Heaven but the girl was still trying to squeeze her own goodness into the requirements to enter Heaven.

They both took tracts and were encouraged to read Romans 3-5 together to see what the apostle Paul says about how one is made right before God.

Please be praying for those who heard the good news today that God would work on their hearts, causing them to hate sin and trust in Christ!

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