Hi Everyone
After yesterday’s great start to the Wellington outreach, we were looking forward to doing it all again!
Today we were in Upper Hutt City, about 30km north of Wellington city – to do walk up conversations. It turned out to be a great spot! We walked up Main St to find a spot to engage people walking past. There were three of us – Glen, Pastor Jarryd, and myself.
Glen got into a conversation straight away – it looked like a great chat. Jarryd joined us, and together with Glen they stopped two guys to have individual chats with them. I decided to cross the road, and struck up a conversation with a Pacific Island man named Amos. He was a very humble man, and realized with shock that his good works wouldn’t help him make it to heaven. He listened intently as I demonstrated how the only way for him to make it to heaven was through 100% trust in Jesus alone. He thanked me for the chat, and took a couple of tracts off me. Great start to the day!
Across the road I chatted to a man named Dave, who, despite the logical evidence of building/builder, denied the existence of a creator. He did take a couple of tracts off me, so praying God will have mercy on him!
We walked back up the street and I came across an unemployed man named Kelly. He too denied the existence of God, and asked what was wrong with all the other religions. I explained that none of the others could take his hell punishment off him. We went through the law and Gospel together, and he looked like he was feeling the pressure – so he went back to his original argument regarding the other religions. He was eager to leave, so I reiterated the importance of having his hell punishment removed, and he left with a couple of tracts.
A guy came past on his bike, and took a tract off me. He stopped and engaged, saying his name was Lionel. He told me about some spiritual encounter he had, that someone gave him what sounded like a false prophecy that freaked him out. I went back to the beginning and took him through the building/builder analogy, and it turned out he was very responsive, but not totally accepting anything. He had a gothic cross tattooed on his right cheek, so I was able to tell him what God did for him so that he didn’t have to go to hell. He thanked me for the conversation, but I was able to tell him that every time he looked in the mirror he would see how much God was willing to do to save him from hell. He was taken aback by that, so praying he comes to his senses!
After lunch I saw a man with a wee boy that could have been his grandson. He was very standoffish with my questions, denying the existence of God. He started using some colourful language in order to put me off, so I made the decision to not go any further, as I didn’t want the wee boy subjected to any more of the language. He did take a tract, though.
An elderly gentleman came past on his scooter. I offered him a tract and asked him what happens after we die. He refused the tract, and stuck to his guns regarding doing good things and good works. I pleaded that it wasn’t enough to undo the wrong things we have done, but he became angry, so I smiled and told him to have a nice day. Lord, save that man!
A young lady I gave a tract to was very eager to talk. She sat cross-legged on a bench seat and asked me how I know there was a God. I gave her the building / builder analogy, and she agreed with my reasoning. We talked about how she could avoid her hell punishment, and she seemed intrigued by it. She thanked me for the chat, and when she went to leave, she told me she was gay. I explained that a lot of gay people think Christians hate them, but nothing is further from the truth – we love them enough to tell them the truth. She really appreciated that, and left with a handshake and a couple of tracts.
School was out, so there were lots of kids filing past us. I stopped a group of 3, and it ended up being a great chat. Two of them professed faith in Christ, so I said if that was the case I would see them in heaven. The boys name was Malachai. The same two walked past me later, so I threw a checking question at them – “What would you say if God asked you why should I let you into heaven?”. He said “Because Jesus died for my sins, sir” was the answer. It was good confirmation that I got through to them!
A big group of young high school boys walked past, so I had a go at engaging them all at once. It can be hard, but these were great kids. I was asking questions, and they were all throwing answers back. I was getting through to them, and it was cute to see them raising their hands to the questions. I felt like a school teacher. In the end they all left with a couple of tracts each. It went really well!
Joe the Seventh Day Adventist was a very stubborn man. He wouldn’t let go of his good works, baptism and keeping the Sabbath as a way of getting to heaven. I asked him if Jesus dying on the cross was enough to wash away his sins. He said yes, but… I said that there can be no but’s. Either 100% faith in Christ for what he has done, or relying on your good works. Any combination of both means you don’t trust Jesus at all. He disagreed, but left with a couple of tracts.
My last chat of the day was with a young man named Jonathan. It was worth the wait, as it was the best chat of the day! He was very humble, and knew that he would go to hell without trusting Jesus. He also knew that he would have to transfer his trust in himself to Christ right then, before he died. He thanked me so much for the chat, and said he had to go because he had to babysit his younger brother.
So we had another awesome day of outreach, and Upper Hutt will definitely be a place to bookmark for future outreaches!
Blessings
Craig.
