A Lively and Fruitful Day in Portsmouth
The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5:20 – “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more…” We certainly saw the truth of that verse today. It was a lively time in Portsmouth, with people who make their living from sin listening to the gospel and engaging with good questions.
As soon as we set up, a forty-year-old man approached me to talk. He was a drug dealer who had spent time in jail. He told me his dad was some form of Christian pastor, but he was a skinhead and didn’t know what to believe. I noticed he had a cross tattooed on his cheek, so this provided a talking point which led to the gospel. After talking about Jesus, the man began to raise objections. He wanted to argue evolution, so I answered his objections. He then wanted to talk about whether it is possible for one God to create everything. After a bit of back and forth, he told me how much he enjoyed talking about this subject. He took a Gospel of John and promised to read it. He also said he would stay around to listen to the preaching. For most of the day, he was near us, except when he had a ‘customer.’
When it came to preaching, I decided to test out a new open-air message – “Lessons from the Boomerang.” I always get asked about being an Australian in the open-air, so I thought I’d play off it to use the boomerang as a gospel illustration. A small group of people gathered to listen; then at the end, four people took copies of John’s Gospel.
One lady who listened to the preaching held up a Star of David, saying, “I can’t have one of those, as I am Jewish.” I smiled and said, “That’s OK! Jesus was Jewish!” She laughed and took a copy of the Gospel of John.
During the preaching, a man who was passing by went up to Val to ask for prayer. He is a religious man but doesn’t know Jesus. His big fear related to the return of Christ, so he asked for prayer. Val shared with him and told him that today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Around this time, a young Muslim man stopped to talk with Margaret. He has not long been in Portsmouth and is interested in learning more about Christianity. I was brought into the conversation, so we chatted a bit about the gospel. The Muslim man took a copy of the New Testament in Arabic and details for a local church.
Next to preach was Roger. He did a good job summarising the message of the Bible and the centrality of the gospel. It was really encouraging to see two Muslim ladies sitting nearby listening. Margaret was able to chat with them afterwards.
To conclude the outreach, I preached once more. This time I spoke on “God and Man.” In this talk, I spoke about God being the Creator, but how humanity has chosen to separate itself from Him. A few listened; then at the end, five people responded to the offer of John’s Gospel.
It was a good and lively day in Portsmouth. Grace certainly abounded!
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