“I need to find a church” – Southampton Evangelism
It is amazing the difference a week can make. Last week, things were challenging in the open air, but today there was freedom and openness that left us feeling refreshed at the end of the outreach. I must admit with the weather we’ve been having, I expected things to be difficult, but I was wrong. The Lord was very kind to us and to the people of this city.
Due to other commitments, it appeared that the outreach was going to be small today. I was fully expecting to be out by myself, but the Lord very graciously brought an older gentleman from my home church to join me. He told me that he felt burdened to make an extra effort to join me on the streets today, and I am very glad he did. It is so much easier to engage in evangelism with another person than being on your own.
As usual, we set up the open-air board, and this time I also got to use my Bible Table (which I’ve not used in over a year). It was a bit of a challenge to carry everything, but it was worth it. Soon after the table was set up, people began browsing the different literature, and many were taking gospel leaflets. It was wonderful to see people taking copies of God’s Word, including two teenage girls who told me they’d never read the Bible before. At the rate New Testaments were going out, I’m going to need to look at buying more!
After handing out tracts for a little while, I decided it was time to preach. Today, I got to test out a new message I’ve developed called, “Your Life.” In this sermon, I examine the issue of the brevity of life and challenge people to consider their own eternal future. People stopped to listen as I spoke about death, and how Jesus gives victory over the grave. While it is great that people listen, what really encourages me is seeing those listeners then making their way over to the Free Literature table to take resources – quite a few “Ultimate Questions” by John Blanchard were taken this afternoon.
Trevor (the man from my home church) spent a decent amount of time talking to a gentleman who listened to the preaching and then took literature. This man was a churchgoer, but he seemed a bit confused. Trevor made sure to stress to him that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone.
As that conversation was taking place, I spoke to a young man named Stefan from Latvia. Stefan is very committed to Russian Orthodoxy, so he is in church several times a week, and he seeks to do good. He told me that his hope of Heaven is based upon what he is doing. I shared with him from Luke 18:9-14 how religion won’t help anyone, but it is God’s mercy that saves. Stefan struggled to understand that it wasn’t all about him and his works, but he listened as the gospel was explained. At the end of our conversation, he shook my hand and took a tract.
Through this outreach on the streets of Southampton we can reach the nations; not only do we reach the British people, but we also reach Latvians like Stefan. Throughout the day, we had conversations with people from different nations including Romania and China. I was very thankful that we had tracts and Gospels in several languages.
Another international that was reached today was a young lady named Krystle. As Trevor preached, she listened, then took tracts from the board. She told us that she is from the Philippines and has only been in the UK for one month. After listening to the preaching, she said, “I need to find a church!” We asked her where she lived, and it turns out she is only five minutes from a good evangelical church. We have been able to connect her with someone at that church, and it appears that she will be attending on Sunday. Please pray for her.
The Lord not only enabled us to reach the lost today, but He also opened doors for us to speak with several Christians. It is always good to be able to encourage our brothers and sisters to make much of Jesus. Open-air evangelism isn’t just about outreach, it is also about equipping the saints, so they too can reach the lost.
Please pray for all those we met today.
SDG!