Muslims Hear the Gospel Again! – Portsmouth Evangelism

The city centre of Portsmouth was quiet; the weather was grey, and people seemed only interested in rushing to their destinations. As the outreach commenced, I wondered if much would happen today. From my perspective, I thought it would be quiet. As I handed out tracts and attempted to engage in conversations, my suspicions seemed to be confirmed. People would take tracts but wouldn’t talk. Still, I rejoiced that the gospel leaflets were being taken. Team members were facing similar challenges, and even the literature table wasn’t attracting people.

After handing out tracts for a while, I decided to preach. I freely admit, I wasn’t expecting much to happen. I started my message, “Why Christianity?” by asking people to consider the claims of the Christian faith. As I spoke, a few people paused to listen, including a young Muslim man I had spoken with last week. The Muslim man began to politely heckle; he asked questions relating to the person and work of Jesus. It was clear that his Islamic worldview had never been seriously challenged, so I engaged with his questions while keeping an eye on the gospel.

When it comes to apologetics in the open air, we want to answer genuine questions, but at the same time, we need to bring everything back to the gospel. My apologetic answers won’t save someone, but the Lord does use the gospel to rescue sinners.

Soon, a small crowd gathered to watch the interaction, with a couple of other Muslims stepping forward to ask questions. One Muslim man told me he had three questions, and if I could answer them, he would convert to Christianity. Before he asked his questions, I said, “Will you let me answer?” He promised I could respond, so I let him proceed with his questions. However, after mentioning two questions, the Muslim man ran away before I could answer. The crowd could see he wasn’t genuinely interested in answers, including the original Muslim heckler. I answered his questions anyway and pointed people back to Jesus.

Another Muslim heckler stepped forward; this man was much more educated in Quranic teachings. He was very polite and asked thoughtful questions. I answered him and kept steering the conversation back to the gospel. The Muslim man took a copy of John’s Gospel, saying he would read it. Several other people who were listening also took copies of the Scriptures.

While this was happening, the literature table had become busy! People would listen to the open-air preaching, then go to the table for more information. We ran out of New Testaments and Bibles, and much other material was also taken. After the open-air session, I was able to have a discussion with the Muslim man. He told me he enjoyed our back-and-forth and would read the Gospel.

As we prepared to finish for the day, a young man spoke to Rose. He claimed to be a Gnostic and a fan of the Canaanite religion. I was brought into the discussion, and soon we were talking about the historicity of the Bible and the gospel. The man claimed to be very open to learning, but it was clear he wasn’t interested in the truth. All I could do was present him with answers and encourage him to think about it.

What had started off as a slow day turned busy. The Lord was certainly at work. Please pray for all those who heard the good news.

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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