The Hard Ground of Winchester

Due to health and weather, it has been a few months since I was in Winchester. As we returned to the city today, I noticed it was busy, however, our usual preaching spot had been taken by a busker. After walking the length of the city centre, we determined there was nowhere suitable to preach, so we thought we’d focus on tract work and one-to-one witnessing outside a local supporting church. As we made our way to the church, I spoke to the busker in our normal preaching location. He was friendly and told me he was finishing for the day. This allowed us to set up and begin a couple of hours of evangelism.

I’ve always found Winchester to be hard ground, but today seemed to be extra hard. In the first 30 minutes, I only managed to hand out five tracts. I’ve noticed that certain demographics aren’t as open to biblical truth. In Winchester today, most people would have been older, white, and British. Generally, I’ve found this age group and demographic are usually hardened to the things of Christ. When we offered tracts, we would receive a look of disdain. Later, when I preached, an older lady who looked like a sweet grandma deployed language that would have made a sailor blush! Years of sinning and storing up wrath were showing themselves by their conduct. Yet even though the ground was hard, the gospel seed still spread.

“How Can I Find Peace?” was the question I posed during my first open-air. There was little interaction, though some people did pause to listen. One lady called out that the world is messed up because we have walked away from God. I agreed with her. A couple who listened to the preaching walked away but later returned to ask for copies of John’s Gospel.

In Ephesians 4:11-12, we are told that one of the roles of an evangelist is to equip people for ministry. We certainly had the opportunity to do that today. A Christian lady stopped at the literature table to ask for a Bible. She has been trying to witness to her Muslim friend, who has now agreed to read the Scripture. I gave her resources to equip her to reach out to Muslims and offer a few tips on sharing the gospel.

For my next open-air, I spoke on “Have You Heard the Good News?” Again, there was little interaction with only a couple of people stopping. One lady wearing a Palestinian t-shirt walked by saying, “Oh no! Oh no! He can’t be doing this!” Beyond this one comment, nothing else was said by those who passed by.

The biggest encouragement from today was having several Christians stop to test us theologically to ensure that we weren’t a cult. It is always good when believers use their discernment, but what made it better was that some of them were getting ready to share the good news with us! May the Lord raise up more labourers!

It was hard ground in Winchester, but despite the hardness, God’s Kingdom keeps spreading. 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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