For the One Soul – Portsmouth Evangelism

For nearly a year, we have preached in Portsmouth most weeks. We have had wonderful encounters and a great openness to the gospel. Today was different – it was probably the most challenging day I’ve had in this city. But, as I look back over the outreach and think about all that occurred, I am still encouraged. The gospel went forth – people were exposed to the truth of Scripture, and many tracts were taken. If only one person heard the gospel, then today was a success – it is all for one soul!

We were able to test out a new Scripture sign that we have produced for the open-air board. Over the past few weeks, I have noticed that many people read the board while we are handing out tracts. Usually, we have a little Scripture poster on it, but that isn’t always the easiest to see. So, after talking with a Christian printer friend of mine, we decided to make a large Scripture poster. The aim is each month (if we can afford it), we will change posters. This will expose people to a different portion of God’s Word monthly. For December, the poster is Luke 2:11 – which fits nicely with the Christmas season.

When we had set up the board, a Muslim man stopped to read the Scripture poster. Roger was able to chat with him and point him to Christ. Throughout the day, we saw hundreds of people read the Bible verse. Many wouldn’t speak with us, nor take tracts, but they still read the Scripture.

Over at the free Bible table, a lady stopped to chat. She told Val that she had a fear of death and wasn’t sure what to do. Val shared with her the hope of Jesus and pointed her to the gospel. The lady took a copy of the New Testament.

Shortly after that conversation, I decided to open-air preach on the subject of “Christmas Signs.” As I proclaimed the gospel, a couple of people stopped to listen. One was a man who was a new Christian – he was struggling, so Mick was able to minister to him. Another man who listened was a Muslim. He paid attention as the good news was proclaimed and took a copy of John’s Gospel. As he did, he promised that he would read it.

Since I was the only preacher for today, we decided to spend time handing out tracts. The team gave away several hundred gospel leaflets. Many people were happy to take a tract and continue on their way. Conversations were hard to come by, but the truth was still spreading.

I finished the outreach by preaching on “Name that Carol.” There was very little engagement, but a few would have heard snippets of the gospel as they passed. It was a hard and cold day, but still, people heard of Jesus. We minister not for the crowds or numbers, but we seek to reach individuals for Jesus. If only one person heard the good news today, it was worth it.

 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.