Peace and Goodwill – Salisbury Evangelism
It is now only a few days before Christmas; as a result, the city centre of Salisbury is busy with people, but as usual, the people of this community seem hard towards the gospel. That said, the Lord delights in breaking up hard ground, as we ministered today, we saw the gospel spread.
We arrived earlier than planned, but this was according to God’s providence. Paul managed to have a good conversation with a Greek lady who asked how someone could know their sins were forgiven. She listened to him explain the gospel, then took a copy of ‘Ultimate Questions.’
I started the preaching off by speaking on the subject of “Christmas Signs.” People heard snippets of the gospel as they walked past, though one lady paused to listen – walked off – then returned to read what I was putting on the open-air board.
What I found encouraging was that after the open air, team members were engaged in one-to-one conversations. I firmly believe that personal evangelism after open-air preaching is the key to driving home the truths of the good news. We always need people who will work with the ones and twos.
Paul preached next. He used Luke 2:11 and 1 Timothy 1:15 to explain the need for the Saviour and the good news that Christ has come to rescue sinners. An older couple listened to the preaching and went to the free Bible table. I engaged them in conversation. The lady (who I think was Jewish) told me that she was interested in the New Testament, as she had read the Old Testament. She looked at the New Testaments on the table but commented that the print was too small. However, she did find a booklet that explained the coming of Jesus using the Scripture. She gladly took that booklet and then headed off into the city.
Tony preached next; he used John 1 to explain the coming of Christ, and then he began to share his testimony. One man who listened to Tony speak engaged me afterwards. The man hated Jesus and told me that he believed in reincarnation. As I knelt on the ground to speak to him, he continued to express his hatred towards Christ; he then accused me of being Luciferian in theology. I pointed out that Lucifer hated Jesus, whereas I love Jesus – I then made the case that he is the one who hates Christ, so perhaps his view is influenced by Lucifer. The man listened, but whenever I quoted the Scripture, he would oppose it and tell me to stop it. I shared the gospel with him and called on him to repent – but he got up and left. It was a rather strange encounter.
I preached twice more to finish the outreach, including once from Luke 2:1-14, where I stressed God’s peace and goodwill in the giving of the Saviour. One man who listened to the preaching was not happy with me. Afterwards, he said, “What does Christmas have to do with Jesus?” I pointed out the first six letters of Christmas explain that it is about Christ. His reply was to ask what God had ever done for him – I answered by pointing out that the breath in his lungs is a gift from God. The man was angry, declaring he would happily go to Hell. I stung him with the gospel and urged him to trust in Christ.
Salisbury is a hard location, but the gospel continues to spread in this ancient city. Please pray that next year, we will see a great harvest in this location.
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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In common with many evangelistic reports, we have changed the names and some of the photographs to protect the anonymity of those mentioned.