A Wet and Discouraging Day – Southampton Evangelism
It was a hard, wet, and discouraging day. I know these aren’t exactly the words you expect to read on a blog detailing gospel ministry, but it is the truth. Some days are just downright hard and discouraging. There are times when I return from an outreach wondering if it was all worth it, but then I remember 1 Corinthians 15:58 – “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
Upon arrival in Southampton, we went to the usual preaching location, only to discover an extreme charismatic group set up in our spot. The people from that group were friendly but theologically were off. The first thing they spoke to us about was visions and prophecies. They had zeal but not much biblical knowledge. They then set up and began to preach, using extremely loud amplification, which could be heard throughout the city centre. We decided to move away as we didn’t want to be associated with their teaching. My concern was more for the regulars we meet in that location; I pray that they were not caused confusion because of the chaos of that group.
Before we could move away, a man I spoke with several weeks ago stopped to challenge me. When I first spoke with him, he claimed to be an angel and that God is in every person. Today, he told me that an ancient document had been discovered from 3000 years ago that claims all of humanity has God in them. He wasn’t interested in talking; he merely ranted and walked away.
At the other end of the street, we set up the Gospel Cart, and since it wasn’t raining, we decided to put the open-air board up. However, before I could preach, the weather changed. We quickly packed everything down before focusing on handing out tracts and chatting to people in the undercover area.
I found it hard to get long conversations today, but many people did take tracts. Nigel and Jeremy managed to have conversations, but beyond those couple of encounters, there wasn’t much interaction.
As I headed home from the outreach, I found myself wondering, “What was the point of today?” To be honest - I don’t know! I believe God is completely sovereign over the affairs of humanity, so He clearly wanted us to be there doing what we did. Why? I don’t know! Perhaps there was someone who needed to read a tract; maybe our being there will be used in the future for the glory of God. I’m not sure, but I’ll rest in this – God knows what He is doing, so we will keep trusting Him.
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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