“I want to trust in Jesus right now!” – Southampton Evangelism

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to evangelise in many locations, but Southampton is fast becoming one of my favourite places. There are plenty of people in the city centre, and conversations about Jesus are plentiful.

It didn’t take long for the gospel to spread this afternoon. Mike Mellor kicked off the preaching by speaking about Heaven. Soon people were standing around listening, but one Asian man seemed very interested. Mike ended up engaging him in a one to one while I took over the preaching. Since the crowd was still standing there, I decided to continue Mike’s theme of Heaven. People listened as I explained the gospel, but then one man came up to try to interrupt. He used some rather colourful language and demanded that I stop preaching. When I didn’t, he began to grab handfuls of tracts from the open-air board and threw them on the ground towards those who were listening. It was clearly an attempt to distract from the good news, so I kept preaching. Those listening then began to pick up the tracts, and some made sure to keep copies for themselves. What this man meant for evil, God was using for good.

Gary was the next preacher up. As he spoke, a Muslim man from Sudan began to ask questions. It turns out this man had only recently arrived in the UK and was interested in discovering more about Christianity. He took a Gospel of John and a tract.

Throughout the afternoon, the brothers kept preaching, and conversations took place. I spoke to one young Muslim man named Khalid who enjoyed the fact that religion could be discussed openly, but he was very quick to tell me he didn’t agree with Christianity. We had an excellent chat about the differences between Islam and Christianity, and I was able to explain the gospel to him. I offered him a Bible, but he told me, “I don’t know much about Islam, but I have been told that I must never take a Bible and read it. I can only read the Qur’an.”

It was then my turn to preach again, so I used the message, “What’s in a Name?” This message seeks to show that names have meanings, and then it looks at the meaning of Immanuel and Jesus. At the end of my message, I put Philippians 2:10-11 on the board – “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” As I quoted this verse, one man began to shout, “I will never bow!” I tried to challenge him, but he wouldn’t stop to speak. It was then that I noticed a young man named Jay listening. I asked him, “Will you stand before Jesus as your Saviour or Judge?” Jay called out, “I don’t know! I am trying to work that out right now.”

When I finished my message, I began to chat with Jay. He told me that he wasn’t long out of prison and that while in jail he had a supernatural event that caused him to be clean from drugs for the past two years. He said he believed that God has set him free from drugs, but now he wants to know God.

Jay, like most people, believed that all he had to do to know God and be forgiven was to be good, so I used his criminal record as an illustration of justice and punishment. Jay quickly realised that his sin condemned him, and then he saw that Jesus is his only hope. As I explained the gospel to him, Jay said, “Can I trust in Jesus right now?” I told him that he could, so there in the middle of Southampton we bowed our heads as Jay called upon the Lord for salvation. We gave Jay a copy of God’s Word, and a new Christian booklet, we also connected him with a local church. Please remember Jay in your prayers.

It was a really encouraging day; please continue to pray for us.

SDG!