“I’m bad enough for Hell!” – Portsmouth Evangelism

We were in Portsmouth for my first outreach as a full-time Evangelist with The Open-Air Mission. I was last in this city in August, but because of holidays and weather, we haven’t been back until today. When we arrived, we headed to our usual outreach location, only to discover that the council had closed the area for path repairs. We adapted and overcame by finding another preaching location further down Commercial Road.

Roger commenced the preaching by speaking on, “How can I know if God is real?” As Roger preached, people listened and responded. A group of ladies sitting on the seat next to the open-air board made their way over to the Free Bible table to take a copy of God’s Word. A Roman Catholic lady also listened, then took a tract. A man then engaged Roger about the nature of truth and whether God has spoken. It was turning out to be a very engaging open-air sermon!

Another man stood to listen for a time, then walked away. Upon engaging him in discussion, I discovered his name was Abdul-Hanan, a Muslim from Bangladesh. We had a good chat about the nature of God, justice, assurance, and the gospel. He was very friendly and shook my hand at the end of the conversation. He received a booklet designed for Muslims and a copy of John’s Gospel.

After this, it was my turn to preach. Since people appeared open to chatting, I used the open-air board to present the “Good Person Test.” Right away, a 63-year-old man named Les decided to engage. He was friendly and polite. He told me he wasn’t a good person; instead, he said, “I am bad enough for Hell.” Since this was his statement, I changed my talk to the “Bad Person Test.” Les was open and honest as we looked at the Ten Commandments; he quickly admitted his guilt before God.

People paused to listen to the back and forth. When we got to the gospel, it was a joy to explain to Les that Jesus had paid the penalty for sin and that through His death and resurrection, Les could be forgiven. At the end of the message, Les took a copy of John’s Gospel, and so did another man who had listened to the whole talk.

Normally, I would pack down my talk off the board when I finished, but before I could do that, a man who is involved in new age religion stopped to talk. He started by telling me that he had read the secret books of the Bible and that the universe had given him all the truth. So, I asked him, “Do you think you’ll go to Heaven?” He told me he would, as he was a very good person. Using the board, I walked him through the Ten Commandments to show him his sin. When we got to the Seventh Commandment, he began to object strongly. He started to put up all kinds of arguments against it, so I said, “You look with lust quite often, don’t you?”  He said he did, and that is why he didn’t like that commandment.

Before we could go much further, the man told me he was God and had all knowledge. He spoke about how the universe had given him a ‘god-conscience’, and how he is the source of all truth. I challenged him on this position, but he didn’t like being questioned. In the end, he walked away in his deception.

I turned to begin to pack down my open-air talk when two lads from a local school stopped to chat. They were in Portsmouth conducting a survey for their school, but they were intrigued by what we had been saying. They took literature, then assured me they would go to Heaven as they were ‘nice people.’ Once again, I referenced the board and the talk I had done previously. These two lads saw that they weren’t good and that their only hope was Jesus, who had died and risen again. Sadly, they go to a ‘Christian’ school, yet the gospel is foreign to them. They each took tracts and a copy of John’s Gospel.

While all this was occurring, team members were engaged in gospel conversations, and the Free Bible table was busy. People all around the city centre were being exposed to the good news of Jesus. Christ was unavoidable!

Time flew by, and it was nearly time to finish the outreach. But before concluding, I preached once more - this time on “Who Will Be King?” Within seconds of starting this talk, hecklers began to appear. The first was a lady who yelled, “Why is their death and suffering?” I replied that I could answer, but she said she didn’t want an answer and walked away. Another woman walked by cursing and blaspheming God. She hated that Jesus was being spoken of in public. Yet, these two females were used to draw attention to the preaching. One couple stopped, then stayed for the entire message. Others also paused to listen. In the end, three people received copies of John’s Gospel.

It was a really encouraging day in Portsmouth. Many tracts were distributed, gospel conversations took place, preaching occurred, Bibles were distributed, and people were invited to local churches. May the Lord bless the seed that has been sown!

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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