For the One Soul – Portsmouth Evangelism
Throughout today’s outreach, things felt strange – I can’t really describe it, but everything felt different. It was challenging to engage in conversations, and not many people were interested in listening to the preaching, but lots of literature was taken. The seed of the gospel spread through the printed page more than through verbal communication. We are so thankful that between the seven of us, we were able to make much of Jesus in numerous ways.
The open-air preaching commenced when I spoke on - “Who Will Be King?” It has been a while since I’ve preached this message, but I felt compelled to do so today. Before I started preaching, two workmen set up right in front of me, so that guaranteed that at least they would hear the gospel! A lady also stood nearby listening but was not interested in receiving any literature when the preaching finished.
The big highlight of the day was when a security guard from a local shop called Mick over. The man had heard us preach the gospel numerous times, today he requested a copy of the Bible. We very happily gave him the Scripture and an in-depth gospel booklet. The security guard also stood at the front door to listen to all the preaching. As I consider what was a strange day, I am struck that perhaps we were out to reach that one man – the whole outreach may have been just for that one soul. The time, resources and energy are all worth it - to reach just one.
Another highlight came when Jean ministered to a Uyghur man from China. If you’ve seen the news, you would know that the Muslim majority Uyghur have been severely persecuted by the Communists. Sadly, the Uyghur are an unreached people group with only 0.01% identifying as evangelical Christians. We didn’t have any material in his native language, but he could read Chinese, so we gave him all the resources we had. The Lord had brought this man from the other side of the world to hear the good news of God’s love in Portsmouth.
As the outreach progressed, Roger and Chris both preached, and I preached again. We all took different emphases from Scripture to build on the gospel. There were no visible responses to the preaching - no mass of humanity walking forward to receive John’s Gospels, but we trust that the seed of God’s Word has been sown and that the Holy Spirit will use it as He sees fit.
Please join us in praying for all those who heard the good news. May people from many nations and languages hear of God’s love in Portsmouth.
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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