Yesterday, I headed up North to Auckland to attend the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) Spirituality Week’s opening day. Heather Brockett (TSCF Associate Staff Worker & Chaplain at MIT) had asked if I would come up to help with some outreach on campus. I had agreed and wasn’t really sure what would be happening or what was best to do, but willing to give it a go.
I was given a 20 minute slot to speak on the “stage” held in the centre quad of one of the 3 MIT campuses. It really was a case of “Jesus amongst other gods”, as I spoke there were stalls representing Buddhists, Muslims & the Bahai faith. It’s some years since I did open air speaking, but in the brief time we had, I sought to grab the attention of those standing by & also to challenge people to consider the unique claims of Jesus Christ. It was a privilege and challenge, so was great to have one or two other students supporting, as well as some of the other Christian Chaplains. Sarah Kwok & Michael Misomphane, who have both become Christians through the work at AUT in the last 3 years shared briefly what Jesus has done for them and how He has changed their lives. It was great to have them and to be able to bring home what being a Christian really meant.
Later, we spent time at the Visual Arts campus giving away Milo & encouraging people to read Luke’s Gospel which we were giving away – we had a number of good conversations through the day.
In many ways, it was a small event and we “played it by ear”. However, the opportunity to present the claims of Christ on campus is significant & I’m hoping to look into doing similar outreaches on other campuses. They are good as simple outreach, but also in training up others in the work of sharing the Gospel. I texted Michael later in the day to thank him, to which he replied
“Hey Ben, no need to thank me. I should thank you & Jesus for giving me the opportunity to come help serve & be a witness to Jesus.”
Oh for more like Michael!
Do pray for others as they continue the work the rest of this week & that we could build on this work with the students in our MIT groups.
Here’s a few photos from yesterday. Enjoy!
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