First Time in Leigh Park
I always have a sense of nervous anticipation when I preach in an area for the first time. Open-air evangelism is a diverse form of ministry, with people responding differently depending on location. Today was my first time preaching in Leigh Park. I have heard of this area but never preached in it. Since my home church – Bethel Evangelical Church – is in this community, it was good to partner with them to reach out to the lost of this town.
The outreach started at our church with a time of prayer and quick training for open-air ministry. I was encouraged that so many of my brothers and sisters were willing to give up their Saturday for evangelism. At just before 11am, we all headed down to the town centre and began to set up for the outreach.
Once the open-air board was in place and the free literature table was organised, I began to preach. Since it is Easter weekend, I started by speaking on “The Big Picture of Easter.” Something that you need to understand about the town centre of Leigh Park is that the town centre is surrounded by shops, and above them are flats, so as I preached, it was encouraging not just to have people stop to listen on the street, but also to see people sitting in their windows listening.
One of those who lives in the nearby flats went to a team member to share how she wants to read the Bible. The team gave her a copy and pointed her to the good news. Others in the community expressed their appreciation for what we were doing and indicated they wanted to attend church.
Next to preach was Roger, who spoke on “The Bible Has the Answer!” Again, people listened and then afterward spoke to team members.
As I looked around the town, I was encouraged to see many people with tracts. My kids were busy handing out Easter eggs and gospel leaflets, with my youngest son ensuring all children received an age-appropriate tract.
I preached two more times before the outreach finished, once by speaking on “The Good Person Test,” and then I preached on “How Can You Be Sure You’ll Go to Heaven?” I was encouraged that after both messages’ people took copies of John’s Gospel.
The whole day was incredible. We had people we met yesterday during our door-to-door outreach stop to listen to the preaching; also, there were Muslims who listened and chatted, plus a wide variety of others. I think we need to consider making this a regular outreach location!
Instead of trying to type out all that happened, I want to share three videos of my open-air preaching (see below). I hope these give you a taste of what took place.
Please pray for all those who heard the good news.
SDG!
Bonus: Roger preaching in Leigh Park.
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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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