A Light in the Darkness – Southampton Evangelism

Whenever I head out onto the streets to share the good news, I never quite know what is going to happen. I can certainly guess and have a fair idea of what may happen, but when you deal with spiritual issues, you need to expect spiritual opposition. Today, we encountered a few spiritual distractions, from a drunk to a radical Muslim who would have liked to harm us.

The preaching commenced with Mike Mellor delivering a new message entitled “Symptoms.” In this talk, he explained the problems of society and life, before addressing the biggest issue—sin and separation from God. As he shared the gospel, a small crowd gathered to listen, with two people receiving copies of John’s Gospel at the end.

As a result of Mike’s message, two team members were able to have in-depth conversations with those who had listened. The light was shining in the darkness!

Next to preach was Ben, who spoke on “Which Came First?” This message is a compelling way of demonstrating the folly of evolution and clearly argues for biblical creation. One of those who stopped to listen was a young man who had just moved to Southampton. He is a Christian who is stunned by the spiritual darkness of the city. He is searching for a church, so I gave him my contact details and pointed him towards a few good churches.

Jeremy was next to preach. As of Wednesday, he has become an Associate Worker with The Open-Air Mission. It is always encouraging to see the Lord raise up more labourers to serve in His harvest field. Jeremy preached on “The Message of the Cross.” Sadly, as he called people to trust in Jesus, one young lady loudly and brazenly yelled, “I’ll never trust in Jesus!” The darkness was great, but still, the light was shining.

It was now my turn to preach. As we are coming into the Easter season, I spoke on “The Big Picture of Easter.” There was little interaction, though two people did take copies of John’s Gospel.

Then it was Richard’s turn to preach—this is when things began to get ‘interesting!’ As he started preaching, a woman who appeared to be drunk and on drugs began to dance around and do all manner of strange things. She was clearly trying to distract people from listening to the gospel—the darkness was trying to push back the light. After some time, she wandered off, and Richard continued preaching.

But then along came another man. He was dressed in traditional Islamic attire and was calling out in Arabic to other Muslims. He positioned himself front and centre, clearly trying to disrupt and distract. At one point, he began referring to Richard as ‘Satan.’ A local Muslim, whom we’ve spoken to before, told the man to be respectful, as there is freedom in the UK. The first Muslim didn’t like this, so he denounced the other as being influenced by Satan. Around this time, I engaged the first Muslim man in discussion.

I enjoy talking to Muslims, so I hoped to move him away from disrupting the preaching and share the good news with him. However, the man quickly revealed that he wasn’t friendly and held radical views. He referred to me as ‘Satan’ and the UK as ‘Satan.’ He then spoke about how he would be returning to Iraq the next day to do Allah’s will. He was threatening and aggressive but mentioned the police a couple of times. I suspect that if he hadn’t been concerned about the police, he may have become physically violent. Instead, he resorted to name-calling, spitting on the ground, and repeatedly referring to us as ‘Satan.’

As he ranted about ‘evil,’ I asked him, “So, how are you going to have your evil forgiven?” He paused, then said, “I have never done evil!” I pointed out that all have sinned against God and therefore need forgiveness. I did this because I know Muslims do not have assurance of Paradise. The man couldn’t answer, so I told him that Jesus is the solution. He didn’t like my response, but he did take a New Testament and vowed to read it to prove me wrong. With that, he spat again and walked away.

Darkness doesn’t like the light; yet the light continues to shine.

While I was dealing with the radical Muslim, a crowd of young people had gathered to listen to Richard. A few of them took tracts and Gospels. Even though the darkness was trying to put out the light, the light kept spreading.

“That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

Please pray for all those who heard the good news, including the Muslim man, that they may come to know the Lord Jesus.

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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