We Ran Out of New Testaments! – Portsmouth Evangelism

After being away from the Portsmouth outreach for a couple of weeks due to bad weather and sickness, it was good to be back in the heart of the city proclaiming the good news.

Upon arrival, we set up the Free Bible table and the open-air board. The team began to hand out tracts, and soon conversations about Jesus were taking place. The Bible table proved to be quite busy – in fact, today we ran out of New Testaments! People were constantly coming to the table to browse the literature and to take copies of God’s Word.

For my first open-air, I tested out a new message I’ve put together that asks the question, “Are You Good Enough for Heaven?” In my mind, I figured I would simply walk through my message, and if the Lord willed, people would stop to listen. What I didn’t expect was Joe coming onto the scene. Joe took a tract from one of the team members and then stood to listen to the preaching. I asked him, “Do you think you are a good person?” He shook his head. I said, “Well, are you a bad person?” He answered, “Yes, I am bad enough for Hell.” Since Joe was prepared to engage, I said, “Let’s test how bad you are by God’s Law,” with that, I began to ask Joe questions about the Ten Commandments. Joe quickly admitted that he had sinned and that he deserved Hell, so I asked him, “Does that concern you?” Joe hung his head and said, “Yes, it does.”

By this stage, Joe had sat down, but he continued to engage with the preaching. I asked him if he knew what God had done so sinners could be forgiven, and he answered by saying, “He sacrificed His Son.” This answer opened the door to proclaim the good news. Joe listened as I explained the death and resurrection of Jesus, then issued the call to repent and believe. At the end of the message, Joe shook my hand and took a copy of John’s Gospel. Please pray for him.

While I was preaching, the team continued to have gospel conversations. I was told afterwards that several Muslim students had stopped to chat. All of them wanted to discover more about Jesus and were looking for a local church to attend. The team was able to point them to an evangelical fellowship in the Portsmouth area.

Roger was the next preacher for the day; as he preached, people would stop behind him to listen. Then they would either go to the Free Bible table, or they would speak to a team member. This was a pattern we saw with all open-air messages – the preacher would preach, and people would talk to someone on the team about Jesus. This is why team ministry is so important, as it allows us to use our giftings to reach different people.

After handing out tracts and talking to people, I thought I’d preach again. This time I spoke on “Your Life.” As I preached, a young Chinese boy stopped to listen. I thought he must have wandered away from whoever he was with, but I was glad that he stood to listen to the preaching. Afterwards, that young boy went to the literature table and took a copy of the New Testament. One of the ladies from the team followed the young boy back to his family, where she spoke to them of Jesus and gave them literature in Chinese (the boy spoke excellent English, but the family did not).

A Muslim man also stopped to listen to the preaching. He was open and interested; at the end of the message, he took a copy of John’s Gospel and had a good chat with Roger. Then another man came up to take a copy of John’s Gospel, as he too had been listening to the preaching, so another team member engaged him in conversation.

By this stage, the Free Bible table was looking a bit empty. All our New Testaments had been taken, and several John’s Gospels. People were also taking booklets that dealt with the gospel, and apologetic issues; there seemed to be a real openness in Portsmouth today.

Towards the end of the outreach, three Asian ladies stopped at the table. When I engaged them in conversation, they told me they were workers on the cruise ship that had just docked and that they were in the city for one day. One of them said that she is a Christian but struggles to find good Bible teaching due to her job. Onboard, they have a weekly Bible Study, but often they don’t have a teacher, so they find it difficult. I gave her a flyer from Grace to You Europe and encouraged her to listen to John MacArthur; she was excited that she could listen to good Bible teaching while onboard the ship. Part of our work isn’t just to reach the lost, but we must also seek to equip the found. Please pray this lady will be exposed to good teaching and that she will grow in the knowledge of Jesus.

Praise God for such a wonderful day! May the Lord bless the seed that has been sown.

SDG!