An Encouraging Day in Winchester
One never quite knows what to expect when it comes to open-air evangelism; some days are wonderful and open, and others are difficult and full of challenges. Then, you have days like today, with a wonderfully encouraging outreach.
After the challenge of finding somewhere to park my car, we finally made our way to the city centre at just after 11:30am. As usual, we set up the Free Bible and Literature table and the open-air board. We started off by handing out a few tracts before Paul commenced the preaching.
Paul preached on “How can we be sure that Jesus rose from the dead?” As he preached, a few people paid attention, while others made their way to the literature table to take material. One lady at the table was quite concerned by the state of the world, so she took a Bible and a few other items. After the open air, Paul was able to share with her further.
While this was occurring, I chatted with a young Turkish man. He requested the New Testament in English, but he admitted that he struggles to read our language. Thankfully, I had a QR code that allowed him to scan and download the full Bible in his language. We were also able to point him to “Ultimate Questions” in Turkish.
For my open-air, I used the “Good Person Test” outline. From the very beginning, a young lady stopped to listen and ask questions. She was very polite and had good questions. When I spoke about lying, she would ask about what if someone had to lie to save the life of another. When I mentioned stealing, she would ask about what if someone needed to steal to feed their family. These were great questions, and they are all answered with the Scripture. Unfortunately, halfway through our open-air discussion, she had a phone call and had to leave. But a few others were listening, so I continued to preach. One young man who was listening went up to the Bible table and asked if he could have a copy of the New Testament. It is always greatly encouraging to see people make a positive response to the preaching.
After the open air, an older gentleman named Dennis stopped to look at the board. He was wearing parachute wings and the emblem of the paratroopers. It turns out that he spent twenty-two years in the forces, but as he said, “I’m now old, and looking at death.” I asked him if he would go to Heaven, to which answered, “No, I will simply be used to stoke the fires of Hell.” This reality concerned him greatly, so I shared the gospel with him. Dennis took a copy of John’s Gospel, and “Why Christianity?” As he left, I said, “Dennis when you served you would prepare for combat. You would make sure you had everything ready before the jump. You now have another jump to make, one into eternity. Prepare for it.” He said that he would look at the material we gave him. Please pray Dennis would seek the Saviour.
As the day went on, both Paul and I preached again, and each time people would listen, and take material from the table. By the end of the day, we had run out of New Testaments and were getting low on other items. It was so encouraging to see people show an interest in God’s Word. Please pray that the Lord would bless the seed that has been sown today and that many would come to repentance.
SDG!