The English Churches are Empty! – Winchester Evangelism

As a lover of history, I must admit I enjoyed sharing the gospel in the historic city of Winchester. My imagination was stirred as I passed the statue to King Alfred the Great – but I wasn’t in the city to talk about great earthly kings, instead, I was here to proclaim the King of kings.

The team met at 11:30am, and after a short time of prayer, we made our way to the high street to share the good news. Since there was an emotional emergency situation underway, we decided it was best to not preach initially to allow the Police and Ambulance to resolve the matter, so instead, we focused on handing out tracts and chatting to people one to one.

It was at this time that a man from Ghana stopped at the Free Bible table. He told me that he was a Muslim, but he was greatly interested in learning more about Christianity. As we chatted, he said he’d like to read the Bible, so we gave him one, and the booklet, “Why Christianity?”

Around the time this conversation concluded, the Police and Ambulance had finished what they were doing, so Paul began to preach on “What Do You Think about the Cross?” As he preached, I noticed a young lady stop to listen. She was paying attention, then after listening for a while she began to move away. I offered her a tract which she took; she then told me that she was a Spanish student and didn’t fully understand the message of Jesus. Thankfully, I had a copy of John’s Gospel in Spanish, so I was able to give it to her. She was amazed that we would give away books for free. She thanked us and went her way carrying the good news.

The Spanish theme would be something that was repeated throughout the day. There were many students from Spain in Winchester, so we gave away numerous cards which have a link to “Ultimate Questions” in Spanish. The seed is sown, we pray these young people will read the truth.

Another good conversation I had today was with a man named Sam. He stopped to look at the literature on the table, so we chatted. He told me that he has been brought up in a Christian home, but he was still seeking answers. It was interesting that he said that he believed the Bible to be true, so I asked him, “Then why haven’t your trusted in Jesus?” Sam replied, “That is a hard question. I don’t know.” I engaged some of his questions and urged him to run to Christ. He took a copy of “Why Christianity?” and promised to think more deeply about his eternal salvation.

The table is a magnet for conversations, as before too long Tracey and her partner stopped. Both took copies of the New Testament, and Paul was able to engage them in a gospel conversation. Tracey seemed to be seeking truth, so we pray the Lord would draw her to Himself.

Paul and I both preached twice today, but there weren’t too many people who stopped to listen. We did have one or two stop to pay attention, including one man who listened to me preach, then made his way over to the literature table to take material.

Towards the end of the day, a man walked up to me and asked, “Do you know Ray Comfort?” From the drawl of his speech, I could tell I was dealing with a Texan. I told him that I knew Ray, which seemed to cheer the Texan brother. As we spoke, he said how sad it was to see England full of empty churches, and with so many people who don’t believe the truth. It was a real culture shock for him to go from the Bible-belt USA to post-Christian Britain. Many are shocked to realise that the UK is no longer a stronghold of Christianity, instead, the people have cast off the true God, and now pursue lies. Missions are needed in this country – would you consider how you can serve or support the work here?

God-willing, Winchester will become a regular outreach location. Please pray for all those we met today.

SDG!