An Encouraging Outreach in Southampton
It was great to be back out in Southampton; after weeks of being laid low due to surgery, I am beginning to rebuild my stamina, one outreach at a time. Despite the pain, I was very encouraged by all that took place in our city. The Lord was kind and allowed His Word to spread.
The first person I spoke with today was a young lady who is a lifelong Roman Catholic. She is very devoted to her religion but didn’t seem to understand the gospel. I was able to share briefly with her, and she took a Bible and a gospel booklet.
While I was talking at the literature table, Ben began to preach, speaking on “Fake News, Reality, and Truth.” In this message, he addressed how lies cause chaos, but Jesus is the giver of truth. A couple of men paused to listen to the message.
While handing out tracts, a man stopped to chat. He told me he was a Christian, but he wasn’t yet good enough to go to Heaven. Instantly, this revealed to me that the man didn’t understand the good news. I gently broke the news to him that he would never be good enough, then I shared about the One who is good enough to rescue sinners. The man seemed amazed at the message and received a copy of John’s Gospel.
Mike Mellor preached next; he spoke on “Where Are They Now?” A lady stopped to listen and engaged with the preaching. Afterwards, she went to the literature table to take some material.
I found myself constantly going back to the table to chat with people as they browsed the items. One lady who stopped told me that her son had begun to read the Bible and that he was convinced it was true. She said he had been pestering her to read the Gospel of John, so she had finally relented and wanted to read it. She took a copy of the New Testament and a booklet about the good news.
It was now my turn to preach. I didn’t feel like myself as I was in pain, but the Lord sustained me and gave me the grace I needed to speak. I preached on, “Warning: Six Deadly Lies.” As I spoke, a few people paused here and there; then at the end, four people received copies of John’s Gospel when offered.
Richard preached next, and as usual, he did an excellent job as he spoke on “Life: What’s the Point?” At one stage, he had a number of people standing around listening, including three Romanians, who I spoke with afterwards.
The Romanian men told me they were born Pentecostals; I made sure they understood the good news and gave them booklets in their language. They promised to read the booklets and said they’d then give them to other Romanians to read. Maybe the Lord will use those little booklets to reach many.
Soon, I found myself back at the literature table, as an Indian family had stopped. All of them were interested in finding out more about Jesus, so they all received copies of John’s Gospel.
Mike preached once more to finish off the outreach. As he spoke about the topic of Heaven, a couple of lads stopped to engage him in discussion. While this took place, I was back at the table talking to an African family.
It turned out the reason they stopped was that their six-year-old daughter wanted to find out more about Christianity. I showed her the New Testament, then knelt next to her to read John 3:16. As I read, I explained God’s love and the message of the gospel. The six-year-old girl took a New Testament, and as she left, she promised to read it. The rest of the family also took material.
It was a greatly encouraging day in Southampton. 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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