“I really needed to hear this!” – Southampton Evangelism

In open-air evangelism, some days are hard and other days it appears as if the fish are jumping into the boat. Today, was one of those challenging days; it felt like that whenever we preached, we met hard and barren ground. However, when it came to handing out tracts and engaging people in one-to-one conversations, it was a completely different ball game.

I set up the open-air board just outside West Quay shopping centre at 1pm; since I was the only team member there at the time, I decided to hand out tracts and chat with people. As I did this, I noticed that those passing by made their way to the board and began to browse the free literature. It was particularly encouraging to see a Hindu man take tracts and a copy of John’s Gospel.

When the other team members arrived, we prayed and then began to preach. Gary was the first preacher up for the day, it was very clear that the ground was hard. People were disinterested and ignored the preaching. I preached next, and as before the people were hard. As I preached on John 3:16, I found myself praying that the Lord would take snippets of my message and allow those few phrases to be the seed that He uses to save people. Even though it was difficult, I rejoice in the fact that God is sovereign, and His plans will not be thwarted.

The most encouraging part of the day was a conversation I had with Max. This young man took a tract and then began to talk. He told me that he wasn’t sure if there was life after death, as no one had ever come back to tell us about it. I asked him, “What you would say if someone died, was buried, then came back to life, and He told us all about what happens next. Would you believe Him?” Max said he certainly would believe whatever that person said – I then pointed out that Jesus is that very man.

Max said he had been raised as a Christian, but he wasn’t sure if he was good enough to get to Heaven. He said at best he had kept 80% of the Ten Commandments (he later admitted that he hadn’t kept that many). As we chatted, I took Max through the Commandments, and soon he could see that he was not a good person. Max hung his head and said, “That means I deserve Hell.” I let Max consider this thought for a few moments – I wanted him to realise the depth of his sin before pointing him to Jesus. As Max considered his fate, I asked, “Do you know what God did so sinners could be forgiven?” Max wasn’t sure, so I explained to him how Jesus died in the place of His people, and then came back to life. Upon hearing the gospel Max commented that he could see how much God loved him, so I challenged him to trust in the Lord Jesus. Max took a copy of John’s Gospel, and an in-depth tract, as he was leaving, he shook my hand, then he hugged me saying, “I really needed to hear this. Thank you!” Please pray for Max.

Despite the hardness of the ground when it came to preaching, I rejoice that the gospel is not limited; God was still working through tracts and personal witnessing. Please pray for all those we encountered today.

SDG!