Starting in Auckland, New Zealand

We started our studies Wednesday night by talking with the congregation about what they believe to be most needful to consider. Most wanted to learn more about personal evangelism, so we started by examining what the Bible teaches about the subject. Our focus in the first part of the study was on New Testament cases of people teaching others the gospel. We noted the repeated emphasis given to the fact that our teaching involves both our example and our verbal instruction. We also drew principles to be learned from the different NT examples and discussed them in a class setting. Towards the end, we considered some problems that are encountered as we teach others. It was a very good study with a great deal of participation from all present.

Thursday had much better weather than the day before, so Ronnie took us out to see some of the sights around Auckland. It is a city of a little under 1.4 million people in a country of about 4.4 million people. Though it is New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland is not nearly as congested as most large cities. The countryside just out of the city has beautifully green pastures with many sheep grazing. The plant and animal life all around is very unique and unlike that seen in the U.S. Of course, as we drove through the city, we were on the left side of the road. I sat in what would have been the driver’s seat in the U.S., but the driver was to my right. We enjoyed the tour and returned home to prepare for the night’s studies.

Lordy spoke first tonight on “Identifying the True Church.” It was a very good lesson given in a mix of English and Tagalog because everyone present except for me was Filipino. We had one visitor with us and he listened very attentively. After Lordy’s lesson, I lead a question/answer period with a wide range of topics considered including evidences of the Bible’s divine inspiration, the difference in the hope offered in Christianity versus that of world religions, defining “success” in life, the problems presented by prosperity, and several more. It was an excellent period of study that lasted about 3 hours.

The Lord willing, our studies will continue tomorrow night with the lesson being on the plan of salvation. I am very impressed with the two main families that comprise the church here and their work in inviting many to come hear the gospel. Both are Filipino families who see the great difference in the openness to the gospel found in their country of birth (the Philippines) and their adopted home of New Zealand. Despite the relative disinterest in spiritual things seen here, they continue to expend great effort to reach people with the truth. It is a joy to be with them and they are so very appreciative for the opportunity to have these studies.