Back to Brighton
It has been several months since I’ve been in Brighton. Due to illness, weather, and travel, I’ve not been able to make this monthly outreach, so it was great to finally get back there today. The weather was cool but sunny; it should have been perfect for evangelism, but, for some reason, the city was quiet. Nevertheless, there were still people around who needed Jesus, so we looked to introduce them to Him.
As we were setting up the literature table, a man walked by and began to shout at us. He took issue with the fact that we were giving away free Bibles. He claimed that the Bible was the most hateful book in history and responsible for killing millions. I asked him to support his case, but all he could do was reference the Crusades. It was clear this man hadn’t truly studied the issue, as he was merely making assertions not based on fact. He claimed the Bible oppressed people, so I asked if he had freedom of speech and religion; he said he did, and I tried to show him that these freedoms flow from biblical teaching. The man wouldn’t listen; he simply ranted as he walked away.
After setting everything up, we handed out tracts and looked for conversations. Since it was quiet, it was challenging to get people to engage, but many did take leaflets. Eventually, I decided it was time to preach, so I spoke on “Lessons from the Boomerang.” A few people paused to listen to snippets of the message, but there was no engagement.
Skully from Grace Church Brighton preached next. He started by speaking about famous resignations, then he swung the message around to Jesus being the source of life and the good shepherd. It was good to hear him proclaim the gospel.
The preaching was well and truly underway now. Oli preached next, speaking from John 3 on how people hate the light. I followed with my message, “Why Christianity?” At the end of my preaching, a man stepped forward to receive a copy of John’s Gospel. He told me afterwards that he has heard many open-air preachers, but my tone was different. He thanked me for loving him and caring enough to proclaim the truth. I was encouraged by his comments, as I always want my tone to reflect the love and kindness of Jesus. Skully had a further conversation with the man afterwards, and he was invited to the church.
A Muslim man from Turkey also listened to me preach; he didn’t accept an offer of John’s Gospel, but he did speak at length with Julian.
The final preacher for the day was Julian, who spoke about the need to be born again. A man from the Black Hebrew Israelite cult listened but objected to the name Jesus. Julian spoke with the man after the message.
Another man who listened objected to Julian declaring the deity of Christ. He came over to speak with me, immediately accusing us of committing idolatry. I tried to reason with him from the Bible, but he rejected the Scripture, even though he claimed to be a Christian. He told me he had direct revelation from the Word of God, so the Bible is man-made. The man was clearly a heretic, so I pointed him to the Scripture, then called on him to repent and believe. He wasn’t pleased with me, and he left, decrying me as a false teacher.
Even though the outreach started off quietly, we were certainly kept busy. The good news of Jesus spread! Please pray for the salvation of all those who heard the gospel.
SDG!
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Josh Williamson is a full-time evangelist with The Open-Air Mission. Since 1853, OAM has been sharing the good news on the streets of the United Kingdom. To stay updated about the work of the Mission, please sign up for the free quarterly magazine and monthly prayer notes.
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