Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, with 1,377,200 people living within its limits. The city  is 402 sq.  mi (1042 sq. km) with a high point of 2,257 ft (688m), and a low point of sea level (It is on the coast, after all ;)). Auckland is known as the City of Sails due to the large number of sailboats based there. It was to this city that we went, every Friday night, with our Bible, tracts, and Scripture signs.

Auckland City’s location within New Zealand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Auckland has a bit of the feel of New York City, but without quite as many people. But just because there were not as many people does not mean that there was no one to talk to; there were too many! We did what we could, but there were many people nearby that did not get the message of Christ. Throughout the time that I was in New Zealand, the only people we saw more than once  in Auckland were the police patrol in that area and the shop owners, with the exception of three young men that we saw twice. The good news is that we were not alone. Almost every night there were people right across the street from us, and a few times Pastor Gustafsson came out with a few of his members. Of course, we had the typical strange encounter now and then, such as: a drunk man arguing with me about something so crazy and mystical I can’t even remember what it was, a man dancing to music from another man (the funny thing was that he looked like a marionette), and the cookie vendor who gave Matthew and I some free macadamia nut cookies, which were a premium cookie, although this was more nice than strange. All in all, we had a great time while giving out the gospel. It was also during one of these nights that Jillian met Vicki, a student at Auckland University, which led to a Bible study at the University. That’s all for now; I’ve got to leave some for more posts, after all.