300 John’s Gospels Given Away – Portsmouth Evangelism

A few months ago, a large box arrived at my front door from the Pocket Testament League; in that box were 300 copies of a special coronation edition of John’s Gospel, which had been produced for the crowning of King Charles III. I have been saving these Gospels until it got close to the coronation, so today we took them to Portsmouth. I must admit, I did not expect all of them to be taken, but in just under two hours, they were all gone.

Most people were happy and open to taking a copy, with several asking if they could get a couple of extra to give to family members. Our prayer is that all who received a Gospel will read the words of eternal life and come to know the Lord Jesus (John 20:31). 

One of the team members reported that an older gentleman was so touched by his gift that he wanted to learn more about Jesus there on the street. This team member shared the gospel with the gentleman and encouraged him to look to Jesus.

But we did more than hand out copies of God’s Word today; we also engaged in open-air preaching and one-to-one conversations.

Roger preached first; he began at creation and explained the need for Jesus and how all the Old Testament pointed to Christ. He did a good job and no doubt the Lord will bless his efforts.

Over at the free literature table, Jean was chatting to people who stopped to browse what was on offer. One man who stopped to talk has been a lifelong atheist, but he has begun to experience supernatural events that he cannot explain; now, he is looking for answers, so he took a copy of the New Testament.

At around 12:30pm, I decided to preach on “Are You a Good Person?” Since the street was busy, I was hoping for engagement and heckling, but I wasn’t expecting what I got! As I was preaching, a black Muslim man approached me. He started by giving me the ‘evil eye’ and pointing at me, then he walked up to me and started to call down curses upon me. He was appealing to his ‘god’ to destroy me. I replied that it was no use trying to curse me, as my Saviour has become a curse for me. The man was enraged. He threatened me with violence and told me he was going to “blow my head off.” To prove his point, he formed his fingers into the shape of a pistol and began to yell, “BANG! BOOM!”

What this man meant for evil, God used for good. A crowd of people gathered to watch and listen. It was clear they were alarmed by his antics and that he was causing fear in the community. At one point, he began to pull up his robe, and I was worried he might have had a knife. At this stage, a security guard from a local shop engaged the man. The man then ran towards the free literature table, but the security guard cut him off.

Since this man’s goal was to silence the gospel, I believed the best course of action was for me to continue to preach Jesus. The crowd listened as I explained the message of love found in Christ. They could see the differences between the light and the darkness. At the end of the message, I offered a copy of John’s Gospel to anyone who wanted to discover more about Jesus. Five people stepped forward out of the crowd and asked for a copy of the Scripture.

The Lord has been greatly blessing the work of evangelism in Portsmouth, so I am not surprised that the enemy is counterattacking. Thankfully, the Lord kept us safe, and I was informed that the Police subsequently arrested the Muslim man. Later, I was able to shake the hand of the security guard and thank him for his help. Also, a local shop owner commented on what had happened and took a copy of John’s Gospel. The darkness may seek to overcome the light, but it will never win!

SDG!