New Location, Same Gospel – Reading Evangelism
The town centre of Reading was different than usual. Due to Christmas, a few market stalls have been set up, including one in our normal outreach spot. This forced us to find a new location, which was really good (although the JWs near us may not have liked us being there!).
Despite the cold, Reading was busy. This meant the team could have numerous conversations, and many tracts were handed out. It is always encouraging to survey the outreach and see team members sharing the good news with people from different backgrounds. It doesn’t matter where you come from - the good news is for you!
We had numerous preachers today, so I went first by preaching on “Christmas Signs.” I admit that with the Jehovah’s Witnesses being so close, I made sure to spend time explaining the divinity of the Lord Jesus. My prayer is that the Scripture would impact them and lead them out of the cult. As I preached, a few people paid attention. One lady at the end took a copy of John’s Gospel. Bill spoke with two other people who listened to the preaching - both took copies of John’s Gospel.
Rich, Jamie, and Bill all preached throughout the day. Each of them presented the gospel clearly and with their own style. I didn’t hear all that they said, but I enjoyed the parts I did. Listening to other open-air preachers is a great way to grow and develop, so I’m thankful to labour alongside these men.
I had my longest conversation right at the end of the outreach. Richard was in a one-to-one chat with an atheist who was trotting out the old arguments that have been answered many times. I was invited into the conversation, so we began to talk. We covered everything from Nordic mythology, suffering, war, morality, textual criticism, Islam, and most importantly – the gospel! At the end, the atheist shook our hands stating he didn’t have an answer for our questions, but he enjoyed the discussion. He did take a copy of John’s Gospel and a tract, promising to read both.
Reading is one of the furthest outreach locations I visit regularly, but it is also one of my favourites. Whenever we visit, we see the Lord in action. 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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In common with many evangelistic reports, we have changed the names and some of the photographs to protect the anonymity of those mentioned.