Proclaiming the Truth in Southampton

The half-term school break has started, which means the city centre of Southampton has been transformed into a carnival with rides, markets, and stilt walkers. This meant our usual open-air location was unavailable, but thankfully, there was a spot nearby where we could set up. While setting up the literature table, two young ladies saw the sign saying, “Free Bibles and Literature,” so they called Jeremy over to chat. He was able to share the good news with them. The outreach was off to a busy start!

Richard was the first preacher of the day; he decided to test out a new message, “The Power of Words.” Despite being nervous, he did an excellent job of clearly explaining the gospel and calling on people to trust in Christ.

Next to preach was Ben, who shared on the topic, “Who Can You Trust?” As he preached, a group of young lads stopped to listen. They were polite, engaging, and ready to answer any questions. At the end of the message, eight of them took copies of John’s Gospel.

We had one preacher after another, so next up was Jeremy, who preached on “True Love” from John 3:16. I didn’t get to hear much of his message, as I found myself talking to an older lady at the literature table. The lady shared that she was a Bible reader but thought all churches were corrupt. She also had a strong focus on end times. I engaged with her points and kept bringing the conversation back around to the need to trust in Jesus and to test everything with the Bible. She took several booklets and promised to read them.

It was now my turn to preach, so I spoke on “Steps to Peace with God.” I didn’t feel a freedom in my preaching, and I found it hard. Still, people heard snippets of the gospel as they passed by, even if they didn’t pause for too long.

We were now back to Ben preaching again. This time, he spoke on “You Can See the Truth!” In this message, he used the issue of design to argue for God as designer; he then linked it to the gospel and invited people to come and know their Creator. One man listened and spoke with Ben afterwards – he also took a copy of John’s Gospel.

Back over at the literature table, I spoke with two university students from China. Neither of them had any concept of Christianity, but they were intrigued. After chatting, both received Bibles and a card that links to the gospel in Chinese. I also invited them along to Christ Church Southampton, as they have a ministry for Chinese speakers.

To conclude the outreach, I preached once again. This time, I spoke on “Warning: Six Deadly Lies.” I still felt flat in my preaching, but there was more freedom. An older lady listened, then took a copy of John’s Gospel when the offer was made. Richard chatted with her afterwards. Also, a young lady who had been listening spoke with Jeremy. She comes from a Church of England background, but her partner is a Jehovah’s Witness. Jeremy and she had a good conversation about the gospel, with the young lady receiving a copy of the New Testament.

It was a productive day on the streets. The gospel was proclaimed in various forms, and we even had a new worker, Luke, join us. Praise God for all He did. Please pray for all 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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