Hi Everyone

Well, I can’t believe that today is the last day of the Wellington Outreach! It’s gone so fast, but at the same time I feel quite tired at being constantly on my feet for six hours a day. The Lord has has sustained us all. It has been cool and windy all week, but praise God, He has kept the rain away. That’s the downside of a Wellington spring, it’s always a mixed bag. 

Roger left this morning, leaving Glen, Andy and myself. Matthew and Warren joined us for the whole day, and June for the afternoon. Today we are back in Wellington city. We had planned on going to Victoria University for the morning. But the wind was cold, and the area the university is in is devoid of a lot of shelter from it. So we decided to stay in the city centre. In the morning we were along Lambton Quay, and in the afternoon down at my regular lunchtime spot, the Wellington Waterfront. 

Lambton Quay:

Warren paired up with Andy, and Matthew and I went with Glen. It turned out that 3 people doing chats together was a bit intimidating, so I went off on my own passing out tracts, and looking for people to talk to.

Aussie guy – this young guy came out of the Whitcoulls bookshop, and was an affable chap. He said he was a good person, and went on to tell me how he was a special needs teacher back home. I thanked him for the work he was doing, but asked him if it was doing good things that gets us to heaven. He thought so. Then we went through the law. I asked him again if he was a good person, and he said “By those standards, no.” So should God lets us into heaven then? He said no, probably not, in fact no one would make it. I asked him how he could avoid his hell punishment, and he came up with the usual ones – saying sorry, changing his ways going forward. With analogies, I was able to explain how none of these would work. He said “Well, there’s no hope then, is there?”. I was then able to move to the good news – someone taking his hell punishment for him. He asked me if I was talking about Jesus, and I said “Yes, that’s why He died on the cross.” I could see it now made sense to him. His friends came out of the bookshop, and he said he had to go. I managed to keep him for another minute while I explained the Gospel to him. I shook his hand and said he was the nicest Aussie I’ve talked to for a while. He appreciated that!

Cameron  – this guy was a bit off with me to start with, but soon calmed down a bit. He wanted to give me an explanation of how God was not a very nice person – condoning killings, isolating certain members of the society. I think Cameron may have been homosexual, and had an axe to grind. But he listened to my explanations respectfully. He was happy to go through some of the law with me, and gave honest replies. When it came to the good news, he had to go back to work, so again I had to do a condensed version of the Gospel. He thanked me for the explanation and dashed off. He did take a tract though, so hoping he come to a better understanding when he reads it.

Sefo & Nick – These two Pacific Island guys were coming out of a bakery laden with wares. Going by their hi-viz vests I would say they were construction guys doing a morning tea run for the gang. Sefo said he was going to heaven because he has a relationship with Jesus. I asked what that meant. He said that anyone with a relationship with Jesus goes t heaven. I asked what sort of relationship. He said if you ask Jesus into your heart then you will have a relationship with him. I asked what happens to the bad people. He said they don’t go to heaven. I asked if he was a bad person, and he said no. He had to go but gave me the hang five symbol and shouted “You need a relationship with Jesus!”.

Maori guy – this guy was determined to try to mock and humiliate me in public. Every question I asked was answered loudly and passive-aggressively: “Who says your answers are better than mine?” “Who gave you the right to tell me I’m wrong?”. He was drawing attention to himself, and loving the attention. Some were giving him a weird look as they went past. His attempts at trying to embarrass me were backfiring. It ended up quite embarrassing for him, for he backed away from me in order to make an elaborate point, and directly in the path of another man, and got an expletive-filled mouthful from him in return. He walked away shaking his fist at me. I don’t even know if he understood any point I was trying to make.

Robert – this English guy was a breath of fresh air. He said he had been searching lots of religions for a long time with regards to what life is all about, and the afterlife. I asked him what conclusions he had come to. He said that the main point in life was that we all make mistakes – but if we do the best we can, then whoever is controlling all this would look favourably on us at the end, and give us a better afterlife, or next life. It was easy to transition to the concept of justice and law. Yes, no one is perfect, but that doesn’t take away the need for punishment for falling short of the creator’s perfect standards. We went through some of these standards, and yes, he fell way short, like everybody. So that was where God’s justice came in. Now he understood the reason why hell exists. I was then able to share some good news to him – that God also provides a way to take his hell punishment for him. That made complete sense to Robert. He said he would love to keep talking but had to go back to work. I offered to walk with him and continue the chat. Robert was very interested in what I was saying, not believing that entry to heaven was so easy. I had to reiterate that it was easy but hard at the same time; requiring 100% faith in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins, and 0% in self. He thanked me for the chat, and I pointed out a couple of websites where he could learn more. I pray God keeps tapping his conscience before it was too late.

Wellington Waterfront:

After lunch at McDonalds, we crossed the road to the waterfront. June joined us for the afternoon, so we paired up together.

Rosie – she was sitting just finishing her lunch. I asked her the afterlife question, and she said there was something out there, but not concerned about going to heaven or hell. I asked her whether she thought she deserved heaven. She said maybe. So we went through the law to check if she was good enough to make it. She wasn’t. So she said she would probably go to the other place. I asked her how she could avoid going to the other place, and she answered per usual – good works, changing your ways etc. Then she asked June why she believed this. June shared her testimony to her. I don’t normally share my testimony as part of a gospel conversation, because at the end the listener can always say “That’s nice for you, but not for me”. But for some reason she appreciated it, and warmed to it. I made the most of the opportunity, and honed in on her missing God’s standards. She said she didn’t deserve to go to heaven, but showed no remorse of offending the creator, so therefore had no fear of hell. All I could do was emphasize the reality of hell and exactly what God did so that she didn’t have to go there. She thanked us for the conversation.

Ross – this guy had just finished a game of indoor soccer and was waiting for friends. He listened politely, but was pretty close-minded to everything. In the end he said he didn’t want to believe anything I was saying, and had to join his friends.

Shina – this conversation turned into a fallacy. She was steeped into her Hinduism, so reincarnation was the only logical conclusion for her. Only it isn’t logical, because she told me she believed in justice. And people who believe in justice believe that wrongdoers should be punished. To come back in another life for another go, with no recollection of anything done previously is not a punishment. I relayed that to her, but she didn’t like that, and kept going back to the next life being a punishment for the wrong done in the previous life. If someone throws you in prison, and you have no recollection of what you had done wrong, and no one advises you of your crime, then how is that justice? How can you feel remorse? This is why reincarnation is so evil; many people trying to better themselves, with no clue about what moral code they have broken or have to live up to in order to put things right. What a depressing, endless circle. Shina asked me what I believed, so I asked her if there was a creator. She said yes. I asked her does the creator set the rules about how we live in his universe? She said yeah, probably. I asked her where we could find these rules? She said that we know what is right and wrong already, and try to do what is right. I went through some – is it right to lie, steal, use bad language, cuss people out? She said no, it wasn’t right. So if you know what is wrong and you do it anyway, what should the person who created us do – should they reward or punish us? She said neither, but that we should learn from them and do better. But I thought you believed in justice? Yes, she did. She then realised the trap she had fallen into, created by her own false beliefs, and then started to get angry. She said “So you think that God should throw everyone into hell for disobeying His rules?”. I said we all deserve hell, but that doesn’t mean everyone is going there. I asked her how many laws I need to break in order for the police to arrest me. She said probably just one. I then went through the folly of being a good person from now on, saying sorry, asking for forgiveness – won’t remove the punishment coming. It was the same with God. The only difference is that God is perfect, so His standard is perfection as well. Since we can’t be perfect, we need another way of avoiding our hell punishment. She said she had to get back to work, so we walked with her towards the street crossing. I went through Jesus taking her hell punishment. She stopped me and said that was stupid – no one could take that for her. I asked if God Himself could. She said yeah, but that was ridiculous. I asked if someone doesn’t  take her hell punishment for her, who gets to take it? She said she does, in her next life until she learns. The crossing lights went off, so we let her go. She did take a tract (The Way to Heaven), so hopefully God can open her eyes. June & I couldn’t believe the strong delusion she was under.

June went to pair up with Andy, so Matthew tagged along with me.

Alesha – this young Filipino lady and her partner were looking at a yacht berthed against the wharf when I asked her about the afterlife. Her partner immediately had something better to do, and abandoned her. It turned out to be a good chat. She of course said she was a good person – good enough to convince God to let her into heaven when she died. A quick trip through the law and she suddenly changed her mind. I could see her partner trying to beckon her away, and I asked for a couple of minutes. I dd manage to get the message of the Gospel out to her, Jesus taking her hell punishment. She said that made sense. Her partner came back and said they really had to go, as there was someone waiting for them. They both took tracts, so we had to leave them in God’s hands. 

Sam – I can’t remember as lot of this conversation, but I do remember we got stuck on God’s existence for a long time. I also remember telling him the building / builder analogy and him saying it was daft. He denied basic logic, or more so, he denied the creator of logic in order to suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Michael and Evie – this was a strange conversation. They looked like good friends. Michael said he was an atheist, and Evie a Christian. So I started from the beginning with them. I tried the building / builder analogy with them. That made sense to both of them. Michael then said there could be something out there, but didn’t know what that was. OK, he’s moved from being an atheist to an agnostic. Evie said she knew about a creator because her dad was a pastor and she grew up in the church. OK, she could be a false convert because she says she’s a good person. I asked her how to get to heaven, and she answered try and do good to others, and be a good member of society! This confirmed my suspicions, so I proceeded to take them through the law. Both were lying, thieving murderers of the heart. Evie admitted that she deserved hell, Michael was still hanging on to his ignorance of God stance, hoping that that meant the punishment didn’t apply to him. I showed him the folly of trying to do this in front of a judge. I then changed tact and asked Evie what God did so that we can avoid our hell punishment. She said that you have to have a relationship with Jesus. I asked her t expand on that, and she just repeated the answer. I asked her if everyone has a relationship with Jesus. She said no. You have to ask him into your heart and make him lord of your life. I asked what happens to the sins you’ve done. She said Jesus took them on the cross. In the background I could hear Matthew going through the building / builder analogy again with Michael, which was encouraging! On a scale of 1 to 100, Evie said that she was 85% sure she would go to heaven. So I had to start again, again with her. She finally twigged, but gave me a bit of a sarcastic answer “I believe that Jesus died for my sin. Happy?” It proved that she was treating it as a joke. I asked her about her friend – if he died, where would he go? She said to hell. I asked her what she could do so that he didn’t have to go to hell? She said tell him about Jesus, but “I don’t like to push my opinions on people”. I said “So you’re perfectly happy for your friend to go to hell? You know the antidote to eternity in hell. Why wouldn’t you give that hope to others?”. She repeated that she doesn’t like to enforce opinions on others. I thought it was time to wrap this up. This young lady was lost, and was making a mockery of the Gospel. So I just emphasized to them both the meaning behind the tracts. They both shook our hands and left. I could hear them both giggling as they walked away.

Peru – this Indian gentleman was another one steeped in Hinduism. Like the lady earlier, he was very proud, but at least he had an open mind. There are two sorts of people when it comes to those in other religions; those that are narrow minded and won’t listen to any other opinion outside their own beliefs, and those who like to hear about other opinions as a form of information gathering so that they can go back and learn how to refute them. This guy was in the latter camp. He was open to what I was saying, answering with things like “Hmm, very interesting”. You could be fooled into believing that he was accepting what I was saying, but from experience I know it’s just a delaying tactic, with a polite sarcasm attached. I managed to get through most of the Gospel with him before he said he had to leave. He said it was very interesting what I had to say, so I can only pray that he reads the two Gospel tracts he took of me.

I was pretty much dead on my feet after the waterfront portion of the outreach. We met together when we had all finished our chats, and thanked God for all the conversations and interactions we had all week. 

I wish to thank Glen, Andy, and Roger for taking the time to come up to teach, share, and fellowship with us for the week. We were truly blessed and encouraged, and we all took away valuable tools to further God’s kingdom on earth.

To all those from the fellowship that faithfully stepped out (many for the first time) to join in the harvest – thank you, and I pray that you were encouraged. Evangelism is not easy, and every encounter is different from the last one, making it hard to teach and apply a particular way to every one. That all comes with experience, and experience only comes when we intentionally take time out of our busy schedules to work the harvest. God will bless the work you do, so keep it up! Remember, no Gospel chat is in vain!

Lastly, I wish to thank my God, who grants this filthy sinner what he does not deserve – reconciliation and eternal life through the shed blood of His Son in my place. May You receive all the glory in all we do!

Blessings

Craig