A Wet and Sunny Day in Winchester
It is always a joy to visit Winchester; this city has become one of my favourite locations for evangelism, as the people seem open and ready to talk. It is also one of the best places where people take literature from the table.
Today, the weather was odd. One of the challenges with open-air evangelism is the weather, so we almost become amateur meteorologists keeping an eye on what is happening. At times it was sunny, then it would rain, then it would be sunny again, then once again raining. This made the outreach a challenge, yet the gospel still went forth.
Due to the weather, we couldn’t use the open-air board, so we went ‘old school’ in our preaching. We stood with Bible in hand, read the Scripture, and then preached from it. My message was from Psalm 2, “What would God say to the King?” After I had preached, Paul also proclaimed the gospel. He used the crosses and colours of the Union Jack to explain the good news and to call on people to repent and believe.
What amazed me today was even though it was odd weather, people would still make their way to the free Bible table to take literature (it was covered in a waterproof plastic). During the outreach, six people took New Testaments, and several others took copies of John’s Gospel.
Towards the end of the outreach, the sun came out, and the clouds cleared. I set the board up and was preparing to preach, but the Lord had other plans. Before we could do anything, a former Welsh fisherman named Jason stopped to chat. He started by showing us a news article about how a council had destroyed a church. He went on to lament the state of the country, and how things aren’t good anymore. As we spoke, Paul and I swung the conversation around to the gospel. I asked Jason, “If you stood before God tonight, why would He let you into His Heaven?” Jason thought this was a good question and answered by pointing to his good deeds. Paul and I were both able to then talk to him about God’s standards and showed that we desperately need the Saviour. Jason was quite open to listening and engaging in the conversation.
Conversations like the one we had with Jason reminded me that often the enemy overplays his hand. As things get darker and wickedness increases, people start to see that something isn’t right. It is then they begin to look for answers. The Bible provides the answer, so we as Christians must not run and hide from the darkness; instead, we must turn on the light.
Please pray for all those we encountered today.
SDG!