A Hunger for God’s Word – Southampton Evangelism
Due to the wet weather, we had to change our outreach plans for Southampton. There was no open-air preaching; instead, we focused on one-to-one witnessing and tract distribution. We also set up the Free Bible and Literature table. Normally, engaging people is difficult when it rains, but today's outreach was probably the busiest we've had in some time.
Throughout the outreach, we distributed numerous tracts. Additionally, people took: 1 Full Bible, 10 New Testaments, and 15 copies of John's Gospel. I know this may not seem like much compared to other outreaches elsewhere, but I am greatly encouraged that in post-Christian Britain, people are still interested in God's Word. Many of those who took Scripture were young people. There seems to be a growing interest in the Bible among those under thirty. I believe it's because they have witnessed that the world cannot deliver what it promises, so they are beginning to ask meaningful spiritual questions.
Of course, when the truth is spreading, we can expect opposition. Today, we had some people insist that we shouldn't distribute Christian material on public land. Thankfully, members from the local council spoke in our support. The Lord brought along the authorities to rightly protect us from those who wanted us out of the area. Yet, whenever opposition arose, more people stopped to talk. We were constantly chatting with people and giving away tracts. One of the team members, Nigel, said he couldn't remember an outreach where it had been so busy and constant.
One conversation that really stands out to me was with an older gentleman named Nigel (different from the Nigel mentioned above). This man took a tract and then began to chat. He told me that he was a wretch (his words) and that he had sinned greatly against God. He detailed some of the evil he had committed, and you could tell he was broken over it. Nigel's struggle was how he could have the burden of sin removed. He told me that he had been to psychiatrists, but they couldn't help. Currently, he said he is trying to do good to remove his sin, but that doesn't seem to be working either. He went on to say that he feels condemned and guilty.
It isn't every day that a person who is already broken over sin stops to chat. Nigel was desperate, so I said to him, "Let me give you a quote from the Bible." With that, I took him to Romans 8:1 - 'Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.' As I told him that verse, I said, "The only hope you can have is found in Jesus because He was condemned for sinners like you and me." Nigel listened very carefully to the gospel, but then he wondered how God could love him in light of all his sin. I explained God's love and the gospel again; Nigel simply replied, "That is wonderful!" He took a couple of in-depth gospel booklets and the details of the church where I attend. Please pray that the Lord would reveal grace to Nigel.
As the day finished, we noticed that a significant amount of literature had been taken. Our bags were much lighter as we carried everything back to the car. We also observed a change in those who had opposed us; they had now become friendly and were no longer objecting to our presence. Truly, the Lord was at work in Southampton!
SDG!