“Our Works Won’t Save Us?” – Southampton Evangelism

We had another incredible day in Southampton. The city centre was buzzing with people, so there were many gospel opportunities. In fact, we ran out of New Testaments, and heaps of literature was taken from the Free Bible table. People were open and ready to engage the good news.

I had planned to preach twice today, but the Lord only permitted me to preach once. The rest of the time was spent either in tract work or talking to people. When I did preach, I used the “Good Person Test.” As I spoke, it felt like I was head-butting a brick wall. People would pay a little attention, but no one stood out as being engaged. Yet we don’t always see what the Lord is doing.

Unknown to me, a Roman Catholic family had sat behind me to my right to listen. They were paying attention to everything I said. At the end of my message, they came up to me in shock saying, “Our works won’t save us? We need to find the truth.” All of them took New Testaments and literature. The message of God’s grace shocked this family, and they saw that their best deeds meant nothing. Please pray that they'd come to Jesus by faith.

After the open air, I handed out tracts and spoke to people at the Free Bible table. Two young ladies stopped at the table to chat. They listened to the good news and took copies of John’s Gospel. But then, before they could leave, two security guards stopped them. Both girls had just shoplifted, so security detained them. The girls were given the option to return the items or have the Police called. They quickly returned the stolen items and then went on their way. The security guards found the whole situation ironic and funny. These young ladies stole, and then they came to a Free Bible table where they heard the Scriptural truth, “You shall not steal!”

Not long after this, I spoke with two other young ladies who were interested in what we were doing. They told me they had been to Catholic School, and their parents were very religious, but they didn’t believe. They had numerous questions such as, “Is Jesus white?” “Should we confess to a priest?” “What are God’s pronouns?” and “How good does someone have to be to get to Heaven?” I answered all their questions and then presented the gospel to them. They took tracts, then later came back to take more material. They seemed interested in discovering the truth.

While I was busy speaking to people, the other two team members were also engaged in conversations. Today, we went from one conversation to another. One of those on the team described today as being busy and constant.

It was also good to meet numerous Christians, including a couple of evangelists, and a pastor. They were all encouraged by the open-air work. We’ve exchanged details and hope to meet soon to discuss how we may be able to work together. May the Lord raise up more labourers

Praise God for a busy and fruitful day.

SDG!