Dead or Alive? – Salisbury Evangelism
Open-air evangelism is never boring; there is always some form of excitement taking place, or a unique person to meet. Today, it was no different in Salisbury. Even though the class of people we seek to reach in this city differ from other locations, they are still people made in the image of God who need Jesus.
As the outreach commenced, we noticed it was quiet. There weren’t too many people walking around, but there were more than enough to share the good news with. Paul Stinchcombe commenced the preaching by speaking about “Six Certainties.” In this talk, he seeks to show that there are key gospel truths that we can know for sure.
After Paul finished preaching, the team spent time handing out tracts and chatting to people about the gospel. I was encouraged to hear people reading the Scripture poster on the open-air board and then discussing it with their friends as they walked past. We never know how the Lord will use His Word!
When it came time for me to preach, I spoke on “Wages or Gift?” Using Romans 6:23, I explained the gospel and called on people to trust in Jesus. A few people listened, and at the end, two took copies of John’s Gospel. One man who responded was unique in his views. He was an older gentleman who said he wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead. He believed that he had died previously, but now he was alive and dead all at the same time. This belief was causing him stress as he couldn’t work out what was true. Using the words of Jesus in John 11:25, I explained the gospel to him. This man was dead and alive all at the same time. He was dead spiritually (Ephesians 2:1) but alive physically. Our prayer is that the Lord will grant him eternal life.
It was now nearing the end of the outreach, so Paul preached once again. As he spoke on “What Makes You and Me Truly Equal?” a lady in her 90s sat next to the open-air board. She listened to Paul, then said, “I say my prayers each day!” Paul replied, and then the lady started talking about reincarnation. As the discussion went on, the old lady indicated she didn’t want to talk and that she didn’t like Paul. But she still stayed sitting next to the board. A small group of soldiers then stopped to listen; all of them were Muslims, but they were polite and engaged. One of them took a copy of John’s Gospel.
After the preaching had ended, I engaged the soldiers in discussion. They were very friendly but closed to the gospel. Two of them took tracts, but the leader wasn’t too keen on them staying to talk. At least the seed of the gospel was sown!
We don’t know what our labour will produce in Salisbury, but we rejoice that the Lord allowed His gospel to spread.
SDG!
__________________
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.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAGAZINE AND PRAYER NOTES