“I escaped death once, but I won’t always escape” – Andover Evangelism
I must begin this report by publicly saying that I repent of my attitude towards Andover. Of all the locations we minister, this town is my least favourite. As I looked around the town, I saw that there weren’t many people out and about, so I wondered what was the point of us being there. But then I remember the value of one soul. Also, I have to say, every time I go to Andover, I find the Lord does something truly amazing – today was no different.
When I stood up to preach, I noticed the street was quiet; I thought, “Not many people are around - this will be a waste of time.” But then, I saw the truth of Zechariah 4:6 come to life, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.”
As I began to preach on “How Can You Find Peace?” A small crowd began to form (I wasn’t expecting this). People listened as the gospel was proclaimed, and then at the end, when I offered a copy of John’s Gospel to anyone who desired to discover more about Jesus, four people responded. The Lord blessed the preaching of His Word, even though I doubted. I’ve been involved in evangelistic ministry for many years, yet I still have much to learn!
After preaching, I spoke to a man who responded. He was in bad shape and couldn’t stand still. Since this is a military town, I could tell this man had been injured in service. He explained to me that he had been in the infantry as a sniper, but while in Afghanistan, he was blown up by an IED. The explosion had left him permanently injured, but then he said, “I escaped death once, but I won’t always escape.” I asked the man, “What do you think will happen to you when you die?” The soldier responded, “I hope to go to Heaven, as I am a good person – I’ve served my country.” Indeed, this man was morally upright and had served his country, but his goodness wasn’t good enough, so I asked, “Are you God-level good?” The man admitted he wasn’t, which concerned him. We had a great gospel chat, and he left with a Bible.
After the team spent time handing out tracts and chatting to people, Paul Stinchcombe preached. As he spoke, he asked the people of Andover – “What Do You Think About the Cross?” I couldn’t listen to all of his message, as I was drawn into conversation over at the Free Bible table, but from what I heard, it was very good.
At the literature table, I had a wonderful chat with a couple of local Christians who were greatly encouraged by the open-air witness. Both were keen to get involved, so I gave them resources to help equip them in evangelism (if you’d like to be better equipped in evangelism, please email me. I will forward you the resources).
For my second message, I spoke about how God made the world, but we have chosen to separate ourselves from Him due to personal sin. A couple of people stopped to listen, including a Roman Catholic man who had formerly given the team grief. He didn’t say anything to me, but after listening, he went to the literature table and took material.
During this time, Paul and Shirley had a good conversation with a lady who identified as being spiritual. After hearing the gospel, she took several in-depth booklets.
To finish the outreach, Paul preached about “What Makes You and Me Truly Equal?” A couple of people stopped to listen, including a young man who was in tears afterwards. While Paul spoke to the man who was weeping, I spoke with the other man. He looked at me and said, “I’ve seen you somewhere before!” It turns out he had listened to me preach in Portsmouth. The man took a Gospel of John and a tract.
The Spirit moved today in Andover. As the Word was proclaimed, God did amazing things. Please pray for all those 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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