“I need to change!” – Portsmouth Evangelism

Some outreaches begin slow and take time to get going – Portsmouth wasn’t like that today. As soon as we began, people started to engage us in gospel conversation. One man walked by the open-air board, seeing the sign mentioning ‘free literature.’ He commented, “Nothing is free!” From that one statement, a gospel conversation ensued.

The man who stopped is British, but he lives in Ukraine. For the past few months, he has been involved in fighting the Russians but is now having a rest away from the front. His views were all mixed up, and he wasn’t sure what to believe. Team members were able to speak with him and point him towards Christ.

While that was happening, a lady stopped at the Free Bible table. She asked if we had anything for children, as she wanted her two young daughters to learn about the Bible. We gave the kids age-appropriate tracts and copies of the New Testament.

All this occurred before the team could commit the outreach to the Lord in prayer!

After praying, I commenced the preaching by speaking on the subject – “Death: Is It the End?” This is a rather confronting talk, but it is a topic we need to consider. Some people paused to listen, including a lady who sat on the bench next to me, and a man named Dex who was loudly agreeing. At the end of the message, two people responded to the offer of a John’s Gospel.

Dex, after listening to the preaching began to chat to members of the team. He told them many people had informed him that he needed to ‘sort himself out.’ Then, this morning, he looked in the mirror and said, “I need to change!” Dex knew something was wrong, but he didn’t know where to find answers. God sovereignly directed Dex to the preaching. He listened, spoke to team members, and took literature. Please pray the Lord would bring about a change in this man.

Before anything else could happen, the heavens opened, and rain began to fall. We quickly covered the Free Literature table and closed the board. The team huddled under whatever cover they could find and handed out tracts to those passing by. It rained for about 20 minutes, then the sky cleared. This allowed Roger time to preach about the need for the Saviour and how all people must come to a place where they trust in Jesus.

A lady dressed as a witch listened to both me and Roger preach. She would walk away, then come back. One of the team members spoke with her – she took tracts and a Gospel of John.

To conclude the outreach, I preached once again. I asked the question, “Are you good enough to go to Heaven?” One young lad stopped and began to engage. He told me he was 7 out of 10 on the goodness scale. As we went back and forth, it was clear that he had no concept of God’s Law or the Gospel. Everything I was saying to him was new and foreign. The discussion caught the interest of others, and soon a crowd had gathered to listen. At the end of the message, I explained the good news again, then offered copies of John’s Gospel to anyone who wanted to discover more about Jesus. It was encouraging to see six people respond to the offer – including the young lad who engaged me.

Even though today’s outreach was interrupted by rain, we could see that the Lord was at work. Please pray for all those who heard the good news.

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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