Open-Air Mission Outreach: Day 3 – Truro

A change of location, but still the same gospel. Today, the outreach moved to Cornwall’s only city, Truro. The team arrived at around 12pm, as we set up a fine drizzle of rain began to fall. However, the passing shower didn’t slow down the ministry. As soon as everything was set up the preaching commenced, tracts were handed out, and conversations had.

Stuart from the Open-Air Mission was the first preacher of the day. As he preached a few people gathered to listen, including an elderly man named Gabriel. As Gabriel went to leave, I offered him a tract and asked what he thought of the preaching. Gabriel told me that he thinks about spiritual things all the time as he is a devoted Roman Catholic. To boost his popish credentials, Gabriel told me about his family heritage, which included many priests and nuns. It was clear that Gabriel was hoping that his religious system would save him, but he did admit that he wasn’t sure if he had done enough to be right with God. I listened to Gabriel speak for some time, then I asked if I could share a story with him. He consented, so I shared with him the story Jesus told about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14. Gabriel listened as I explained that religious deeds did nothing to bring about salvation; as I explained the gospel of grace to him, Gabriel said, “But my priest wouldn’t agree with you!” I have no doubt that the Pope’s henchman wouldn’t agree with the gospel, so I challenged Gabriel to examine what his priest teaches in the light of the Bible. Gabriel admitted that Scripture would probably say that the priest was wrong, but there was nothing he could do as he was a good Roman Catholic boy. It was painfully obvious that Gabriel was enslaved by the demonic religion of Romanism. He was blinded to the truth and chained to a system of control. I urged him to come to Christ and be free, but Gabriel said he couldn’t. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders, thanked me for talking and then walked off in his spiritual chains.

After Gabriel, I was able to chat with another man who had been listening to the preaching. This man told me his name is Jules, and that he is ex-military. He then told me that he had a hard life and that he was a recovering addict. As he explained his background, he said that Jesus is the higher power who got him through his problems, so he guessed that meant he was a Christian. For Jules, the power for his recovery was found in a twelve-step program, and then he added Jesus for the spiritual component. He was very friendly and polite, but he didn’t understand the gospel. I was able to share the gospel with him and encouraged him to think upon Christ. I also urged him to read His Bible. We parted ways with him saying he appreciated the preaching and conversation. I noticed after he left me that he ended up speaking to two other team members; they also shared the gospel with him.

After a quick break for lunch, it was my time to preach. I used the open-air board to preach on “Who is Jesus?” Using three I AM statements, I sought to explain the gospel. While preaching a couple of young men stopped to listen. One of them upon hearing about salvation being freely offered said he couldn’t understand that. In his mind, nothing ever came for free. I tried to reason with him and explained grace to the best of my ability. He appeared to be very interested as I explained the truth to him. Something, I have noticed is that when the Open-Air Mission team conclude their messages that they offer copies of the Gospel of John to anyone interested, so I decided that I would try to make a similar offer. As soon as I did this the young man who struggled with grace came forward to take a copy, and then another young man came forward for John’s Gospel. It was greatly encouraging to see a response to the gospel in the open air. I referred both men to Christians nearby who were able to talk to them further. One of them has connected with a local church, with the Elder of that church swapping contact details with him. Hopefully, he will attend a service in Truro.

My final conversation for the day came just as we were packing down the outreach. A young Muslim man took a tract and then stopped to chat. N--- (name withheld for safety reasons) was down on holiday from London, and he was very interested in talking. He told me about Islam, and how people must rely upon the mercy of Allah and their works if they want a chance to go to Paradise. He then told me that the biggest issue Muslims face is dealing with their guilty conscience. After listening to him share, I asked him a question, “As a Christian, my guilty conscience is dealt with. My sin is gone, and I know if I die right now, I’d go to Heaven. Why should I give up all that to become a Muslim?” N--- didn’t know how to answer, instead, he asked an excellent question, “How can you be sure?” This opened up a wonderful gospel opportunity where I was able to explain to him who God is, and how only Christ can forgive our sins. After our conversation, N---  took an apologetic booklet aimed at Muslims, and also a copy of Ultimate Questions. He shook my hand and said he was thankful for the conversation.

It was a really productive and fruitful day in Truro. Please pray for all those who heard the gospel. May the Father draw many to the Son!

SDG!

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