Newquay Evangelism: Gospel Advance!

I must admit today I didn’t really feel like heading out onto the streets to share the gospel. The past couple of weeks have been hectic with ministry so I am feeling rather worn down. Yet, the Lord moved in such a way today that I am so glad that I continued with the outreach.

It was just Nigel (The Faith Mission) and I out today; but despite the fact that we were few in numbers we had an extremely productive day of witnessing. The high street of Newquay was very busy with people enjoying the wonderful weather. As we walked along we realised that our normal witnessing location would be no good as there was a very loud busker nearby. As a result we headed further up the road where we found a busy, though quieter area. Here we began to hand out tracts and seek gospel conversations.

Immediately, I was struck by the willingness of people to take tracts; at times it felt like we couldn’t hand them out fast enough. But not only was literature going out, but gospel conversations were beginning to take place also.

The first conversation I had was with a 72 year old retired builder. He told me that he was an atheist as there was no proof of God’s existence. I engaged him with some basic level apologetics, which he admitted made sense. He then went onto reveal that even though he claims to be an atheist he still finds himself praying when things go wrong. I explained to this man that Romans 1 indicates that all people knows that God exists, and that he knows that God is real; the man admitted that he did know, but then said he couldn’t accept Christianity because the Bible was full of holes. I asked if he could show me one of these holes, it was then that he said that he has never actually read the Bible. We chatted a bit more, and I was able to explain the gospel fully to him. At the end of our conversation he said he enjoyed the chat and it gave him something to think about.

The next conversation I had was one of those encounters that you long to have. Two young people took a tract then came back to talk; the man was from Poland and the lady was from Italy. Both told me that they had grown up in Roman Catholic countries, but they never had anything to do with religion. The Polish man said he used to be anti-God and religion, but now he sees clearly that God exists and that He made everything, then he said, “But I don’t know who that God is!” These are the statements that every evangelist wants to hear because we can point to the true God. I explained the gospel to them, and both seemed amazed. They listened very carefully as I spoke of Jesus and how people can be forgiven. At the end of the conversation they were very thankful for the chat; they said it was their first day in Newquay as they were down on holidays from Manchester. Both took a Gospel of John, an indepth gospel booklet and an invite to Newquay Baptist Church. I wish every conversation was like this one!

There isn’t enough space to detail other conversations, but needless to say the Lord was moving today. At the end of the day the Lord really provided a special encouragement to me. As I witnessed to two young men who are doing their theology A-levels, I noticed a couple come in to listen. When I finished the conversation they introduced themselves as being Christians from Birmingham. They told me that as they walked our high street they were saying to each other how wonderful it would be to witness here, then they saw Nigel and I.

As we chatted the man said that he wanted to share a passage of Scripture with me in order to encourage me in the work and whatever else we are facing. He opened the Bible and read Jeremiah 1:17-19

“Therefore prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land— against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you.”

That passage was particularly encouraging as we are facing an increase of demonic opposition in Newquay; which is only to be expected when we stand for Jesus. The battle has been hard and exhausting, so it was a great blessing to be reminded from Scripture that the Lord has not abandoned us.

At around 3pm we had to finish our outreach as we had run out of tracts. We give thanks that the Lord moved in Newquay, and we pray that all those we spoke to and who took literature would come to know and love the Lord Jesus.

SDG!

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