“I have questions” – Bournemouth Evangelism

One of the great things about open-air preaching is that you get to experience different locations and meet many people. When we arrived in Bournemouth, we noticed that the town was heaving with people. Once we found a good preaching spot, we set up and began to share the good news.

As soon as we started, a group of young males decided it would be a good sport to challenge the preachers. These boys weren’t interested in discussion, rather they seemed keener on disrupting and trying to impress two young ladies. I’ve found the best way to deal with these kinds of hecklers is to engage them directly, so I began to answer their objections. It quickly became clear that they were out of their depth, so they decided it was time to move on. However, others stayed to listen, including a group of three young people who chatted for the next thirty minutes.

The leader of this small group started the conversation by saying, “I have questions.” With that, we began to talk about everything from who God is, the afterlife, Heaven, Hell, sin, salvation, and the environment. This group were very pleasant to speak with, and they were respectful. At the end of our conversation, they thanked us for answering their questions and all took copies of “The Unique Jesus.” Later in the day, we would see them again, they greeted us with smiles and waves. Please pray for them.

After this, Gary began to preach. Two young ladies who appeared to be from Scandinavia stopped to listen. This encounter turned into a personal witness, so I took over the preaching by speaking on “The Way to Heaven.” The Lord kindly brought a couple of women and many children to listen. I think they stood there to mock, but still, they heard the good news. At one point, one of the young boys from earlier came back to swear at me. As he did so, one of the women turned to him saying, “There are children present!” I then addressed him by telling him to apologise to the children, he sheepishly apologised and then disappeared.

As the outreach ended, a lady stopped to thank us for the preaching. She is a Christian and a student at the local university. We were able to encourage her to find a good church and to keep in the Bible. It was a good reminder that the Evangelist also has a pastoral aspect to the work. May many Saints be encouraged by the gospel spreading. 

SDG!