A Good Response to the Gospel in Southampton
The sun was shining, and the weather was pleasant as we made our way into Southampton. The city centre was a little busier than usual due to the boat show, which meant we had a few more people to engage with the good news. To this maritime city, we freely offered Christ, and it was encouraging to see people respond to the preaching of the Word.
After setting up, I commenced preaching by speaking on “Lessons from the Boomerang.” As I preached, one man cheered me on, saying he agreed, and others listened. At the end of the message, two people took copies of John’s Gospel, including a homosexual Irish Catholic. Another man wanted information on dinosaurs, so we gave him a booklet from Answers in Genesis on the subject.
Ben preached next; he decided to address a relevant subject – ‘Fake News.’ In this talk, he challenged people on whether they were interested in the truth or if they wanted to embrace the fake. This allowed him to present the gospel of Jesus as the truth.
After Ben preached, a few Christians from local churches stopped to share how much they were encouraged by the preaching. We were able to give them a few resources about the work, and material to help equip them in evangelism.
It was great to have Ivan come down and join us for the day. He preached on “The Trinity of Reason: Creator, Creation, Christianity.” While preaching, he engaged with the arguments of atheists and evolutionists; this caused one evolutionist to stop and heckle. The man claimed there was plenty of physical evidence for evolution, but he never actually gave any. He simply made the claim but wouldn’t support his position. A few people listened to the preaching, and several took copies of John’s Gospel.
While this was taking place, Richard was chatting with the two homosexual Irish Catholics who had listened to me preach. One was mocking, but the other listened. Both ended up taking booklets and parted on very friendly terms.
It was at this time that I had a conversation with a gentleman from Pakistan, who now lives in England. He is a Muslim but is very interested in learning about Christianity. I was able to give him a tract, and a link to download a gospel booklet in his language.
Richard preached next. He did a good job speaking on “Life: What’s the Point.”
By now, it was getting close to the outreach finishing, so I thought I’d do a short open-air to bring it all home. I used the “Good Person Test,” and soon a few people paused to listen. At the end of the message, when I offered John’s Gospels to those who wanted to find out more about Jesus, seven people responded.
One of those who listened was a young man who was full of questions. We spent about forty minutes discussing the trustworthiness of the Bible, biblical morality, the Old Testament, the Gospel, and how the teaching of Scripture interacts with modern society. It was a very enjoyable chat.
The outreach ended up going an hour longer than planned, which was no problem at all! It was really good to see so many positive responses to the gospel preaching. Team members had numerous gospel conversations, and many of those spoken with were open to learning more about Jesus. Please pray for all those who heard the good news today
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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