Many Stop to Listen! – Salisbury Evangelism

When I arrived in Salisbury, I must admit that I was discouraged. The city centre was quiet, and our normal location for preaching was unavailable. As I looked around the high street, I wondered if being here was a good use of our time. What I couldn’t see was that the Lord was about to do something wonderful – by the end of the outreach, we would see the largest crowd gather to listen to the preaching, that we’ve ever seen in Salisbury.

I commenced the preaching by speaking on “The Message of the Cross.” There was very little engagement, and it seemed that no one was listening… except for a delivery man who had to keep walking in front of me as I preached. Perhaps I was preaching so he could hear the good news?

After preaching, we spent time handing out tracts and trying to engage people in conversation. A few people paused at the Free Bible table to take literature. But in general, the place was quiet.

Paul preached next; he spoke about “Ultimate Questions.” As he explained the gospel, a wild-looking man walked out of a shop and began to yell about the Titanic. His argument centred around death and suffering, but I must admit that it was the first time someone used the Titanic as an example for rejecting the gospel. The man wasn’t interested in engaging Paul and began to walk away. As he did, I decided to try to engage him in conversation.

The man quickly stopped and began to ask me about the Titanic. He said, “I’m sure many people were praying as the ship sank. Why didn’t God save them?” Since this man seemed interested in the Titanic disaster, I used the story of John Harper to share the gospel. John Harper was a preacher who shared the gospel as the ship went down. The man was intrigued by this story, so he calmed down. He introduced himself as Ray and told me he was 74 years old. We began to chat about the evil we see in society and how humanity does so many wicked things. Ray couldn’t stand evil, so I asked him, “What solution do you have for evil?” He couldn’t answer, so I told him I had an answer – Jesus. Ray had no concept of biblical Christianity, but he was now open to talking (he ended up chatting to three of us). Ray took a copy of John’s Gospel and Ultimate Questions. He went from antagonism to being friendly. As he left, Ray said, “I wish I could have your faith.” I answered, “You don’t need my faith; you need my Saviour.”

The weather still wasn’t the best, but the city centre was becoming busier, so I preached once again. This time, I used “The Good Person Test.” Soon, a young man named Charlie engaged me. At first, he wanted to give an answer and then walk away, but his mates urged him to speak further. Charlie was good fun – he would answer questions openly and honestly. Before we realised, a crowd had gathered. I’ve never had a crowd this size before in Salisbury. After presenting the gospel, I offered all those listening a copy of John’s Gospel if they’d like to discover more about Jesus. Seven young men responded to that offer, including Charlie.

This was an encouraging way to finish the outreach. The Lord was at work, even though we didn’t expect it. Then, as a final piece of encouragement, two young men whom we met last time we were in Salisbury thanked us for being there, saying, “We really like what you guys do.”

The Lord is faithful!

SDG!

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Josh Williamson is a full-time evangelist with The Open-Air Mission. Since 1853, OAM has been sharing the good news on the streets of the United Kingdom. To stay updated about the work of the Mission, please sign up for the free quarterly magazine and monthly prayer notes.

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