A Lively Day in Derby
For the second day in a row, I was able to join a team from The Open-Air Mission; this time, I found myself in Derby. When I arrived at the outreach location, I must admit I thought the day would be quiet. Rain was threatening, and it was cold – but the Lord had plans!
At just after 12pm, the team arrived and straight away the preaching began. The first preacher up was Joe, who spoke on how to fix a broken world. While the preaching was taking place, I hung out to the side handing out tracts and looking for people who I could engage in conversation. As I did this, I noticed a group of three university students listening to the preaching, but then they began to move away. As they walked off, I stopped them to chat. The main spokesman for the group was a Muslim man who objected to the idea that we couldn’t earn our way to Heaven. He asked me, “Do you think you have to do anything to go to Paradise?” My answer made him walk away, I simply said, “No, Jesus has done all the work for me.” The second student told me he had no interest in the subject, but the third one, Moses, said he was a Christian and he’d like to talk.
Moses told me that he believed that all religions are true and that there are different Heavens for people from different beliefs. He said all that mattered is that someone truly believed, so I asked him, “If I truly believe that the way to Heaven is by jumping up and down ten times, spinning in a circle, then saying, ‘I’m Oprah Winfrey’, would I get to Heaven?” Moses answered, “Of course not!” At this point, he saw that the sincerity of a person’s belief didn’t matter, so I asked him, “Why should God let you into His Heaven?” Moses replied, “I’m not perfect, but I try really hard.” This opened the conversation to talking about God’s Law, and how all of us have failed to keep it. I then was able to explain to Him what Christ has done for sinners. Moses seemed shocked at this message of grace; he took a tract and a copy of John’s Gospel. Please pray for him.
By this time, George was now preaching, his topic focused on the end of the world. People seemed intrigued by what he was saying, so they stopped to listen. As George preached, a young Muslim lady approached, she held up a sign asking, “Are Muslim Children Safe in Schools?” She began to heckle and promote Islam. Some hecklers are good – they say their bit, and let you answer, others heckle and won’t listen to answers. This Muslim lady was the latter type.
When George finished preaching, it was my turn to speak. Since I was using the OAM board, Joe gave me a text to preach, 1 Timothy 2:5 – “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” - I started off by speaking about how a free society has religious liberty, which means there are many views of who God is – but the question we must ask is “Which one is true?” As I preached, the Muslim lady heckled, but the more she carried on, the more people paid attention to what was being said. At one point, I declared that Jesus is the only way to Heaven; the heckler didn’t like this, and soon a non-Muslim came out of the crowd to support her. He decided to put hot cigarette ash on my hand and tell me in not-too-polite language to leave. But then another man stepped out of the crowd to hug me; he said he was thankful for the preaching. Others listening were nodding in agreement, and at the end of the message, a couple of them clapped in support. I was determined to show the difference between light and darkness, so I finished my message by proclaiming the love of Jesus.
At the end of my message, a young lady approached me. She told me her name is Nicolette, and that she was struggling in her relationship with God. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke about her fears and concerns. Nicolette was attending a church that focused on signs and wonders, this caused her to put down her Bible and not worry about God’s Word. I stressed to her the need to be in the Bible as that is how God speaks. She then had questions about what it truly means to trust in Christ. It was a joy to see that even though the Muslim had tried to stop the message, the Lord was at work by bringing Nicolette to be under the sound of God’s Word. We were able to point Nicolette to a local gospel church and encouraged her to contact the Open-Air Mission for Bible study material; before she left, I prayed with her. It is always encouraging to see the Lord working on the hearts of people.
As one conversation finished another began; this time an older gentleman came to talk. He is known to the regular team members, and he seems to be a man who has many questions but isn’t interested in answers. He asked me about the origin of sin, the nature of Heaven, and the eternality of Hell. He argued for some form of universalism and objected to God sending anyone to Hell. I challenged him from Romans 9:20 – “On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”” - I pointed out that as the creation, we don’t get to dictate to the Creator. I then asked, “Have you read the Bible? If you want answers, surely you must have read God’s Word?” The man said he has never read the Bible, which tells me he just wants to argue, not find answers. I encouraged him to search the Scriptures and look to Christ. He shook my hand and wandered off.
Another two brothers preached after me, and both faced the same Muslim heckler. She was becoming more intense and aggressive. Soon a group of hostile Muslims joined the original heckler. At one point, a group of non-Christians told the Muslims to go away and be quiet – this seemed to ramp up the hostility, and I thought that violence was imminent. Yet through it all the gospel kept going forth from the two brothers. It was a clear display of light and darkness.
It was a lively day in Derby, but we rejoice that God was at work. The gospel spread and people heard of the love of Jesus. Please pray for all those we encountered.
SDG!
