Hello beloved friends in Christ. Praise God for another lovely day in Canterbury.
We have continued on very similar from the previous day, as we are preaching and witnessing in the same locations.
Once again we prayed for quite a few people, from one end of Colombo street to the other.
I am actually getting quite a bit of exercise and sometimes my legs and feet get a little tired. I am glad to hand out bibles and discipleship manuals to people, as this lightens the load in my little backpack, praise God.
Sister Aileen joined us again and blessed us with homemade cooking, chicken and veggies.
We were all quite hungry at the time, so we were very thankful to the Lord for Aileen’s generosity. Aileen shared with us how God had put on her heart to bring meals to the hungry on the street, right where we are.
She continued every week, for some years, until another brother in Christ took over. Obviously an abundance of God’s love overflowing through Christ filled vessels.
Ephesians 5:9 for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.
We met a brother on fire for Jesus, Jephthah on the street. A friend in Christ to sister Aileen. Jephthah has been involved in outreaches around Christchurch for some time, praise God.
Mathew 22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.
Sister Aileen informed us about two dinner/food outreaches close to us, so we went over to meet some new brothers and sisters in Christ.
This amazing free dinner/food outreach for the local homeless communities, has been going for 25 years through a beautiful Samoan family, filled with the love of Christ. They gave out hot beef stew and soup with bread and drinks.
Mathew 25:34-36 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.
While we we there a man manifested toward brother Jephthah with his Jesus flag, wanting to engage in a physical fight with him. Aileen interceded, to address the situation and he then calmed down to a degree.
A woman nearby, revealed deep traumatic pain from her childhood as she lashed out at another man. What I have learned from past outreach work on Queen Street in Auckland, was that many people have suffered such great trauma in their childhood, mostly sexual or violent abuse.
Their souls become fragmented, and minds in constant unrest or turmoil, unable to make rational decisions. Familiar spirits or generational curses then enter, and devastate their lives through these root causes.
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
There is only One who can help, and I believe He is helping so many. I can testify, I have seen Jesus healing many on the streets.
Actually I sense many of the broken-hearted we see on the streets receive more prayer than most. They are honest about their state and are generally open to hearing about Jesus. In fact, many, love Jesus and I see the work He is doing in them.
I also believe many, forgotten souls, living on the streets are actually more ready for Jesus than most, as they are poor in spirit and hold very little of value in their hands.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
After the people were blessed and fed. We fellowshipped and all prayed together. Then we crossed the road to another free dinner outreach through a Fijian Family.
They gave out pre-packaged meals, curry sausages with rice and drinks. Quite a big meal and such a great blessing for the hungry, receiving two meals now.
Mathew 25: 37-40 Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.
We enjoyed some fellowship and prayer with our lovely brothers and sisters in Christ, then headed off home at about 6.30pm.
Thank you Jesus for all the wonderful work You are doing in this world. Your love is so great, who can really fathom just how beautiful You really are.
We do however have each new day to live in You, in Your Word and Spirit, to learn and rest in Your endless love. Behold Your glory is the light within us, Your free gift on offer to all. Thank You Jesus for choosing us from the beginning of time.
John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
Ephesians 1:4-5 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will
God bless you all, from your brother in Christ, please comment by clicking on the post title.
Paul
You can navigate to our SFC YouTube channel by clicking here: www.youtube.com/@ServantsinChrist
____________________________________________
About Cashel Mall, Christchurch…
City Mall is the main pedestrian mall in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, comprising two sections of Cashel Street plus the Bridge of Remembrance and one section of High Street. It is also known colloquially as Cashel Mall.
The Bridge of Remembrance was pedestrianised in 1976. The main mall was closed to traffic on 11 January 1982 and formally reopened as a pedestrian mall on 7 August, but it was not until 1992 that the entire mall was paved. The mall was redeveloped between 2006 and 2009, and track was installed for an expansion of the heritage tram network.
The September 2010 Canterbury earthquake caused damage to some buildings, but the Boxing Day aftershock, directly underneath the city, caused even more damage, including building failures. The 6.3 magnitude February 2011 Christchurch earthquake devastated the mall; the façades of many buildings collapsed and there were several fatalities.
The centre of the city was subsequently closed to allow demolition work to proceed. Structures affected included most of the heritage buildings in the mall that are or were registered by Heritage New Zealand. Part of City Mall, the section of Cashel Street from Oxford Terrace to Colombo Street, was the first part of the central city to open again, on Saturday, 29 October 2011, marked by a ceremony at which the Prime Minister John Key officiated.
Wikipedia
____________________________________________
Leave a Reply