Many Hear of Jesus in Portsmouth

With it being the half-term break, the city centre of Portsmouth was busy. This meant that throughout today’s outreach, we would have the opportunity to speak with many people. Lots of literature would be taken, and numerous people would hear about the Lord Jesus.

As usual, the literature table proved to be busy. People would stop, browse the material, ask questions, hear the gospel, and then take a booklet that spoke to their query. It is always encouraging to see people taking away material to find out more about Jesus.

After handing out tracts for a little while, I began the preaching by speaking on “God and Humanity: Separated.” As I spoke, a few people paused to listen. One lady walking by stopped and then began to heckle. She shouted, “My god would never judge sin. She is a god of love!” I replied by agreeing that her god would never judge sin, as her god didn’t exist – it was a god she had made up, one who was comfortable with her sin. This provided me with a perfect opportunity to show that humanity makes up idols and will serve anything but the true God. The lady wouldn’t stay; she just walked off shouting, but others listened.

At the end of my message, one lady who had been listening to the entire sermon took a copy of John’s Gospel. She continued to stay near the outreach and later in the day spoke with Pastor Chris from Eastney Evangelical Church. It turns out she has only been in the country for a few days and was intrigued by the message. She listened to the gospel and is interested in attending church. Chris invited her to Eastney Evangelical – please pray she’ll attend.

Jim was the second preacher of the day. He has a real joy in his preaching that is contagious! He did a great job explaining from Scripture who God is and what the gospel is. One lady who listened began to cry, then spoke with Jyothi. She said the message had really touched her and that she was going to start reading the Bible.

As Jim preached, I spoke with a young man who had been listening. He explained that his background was Roman Catholic, but he was questioning all that he had been taught. He wondered if people came back as ghosts instead of going to Heaven or Hell, and then questioned whether Hinduism might be the correct religion.

I shared the gospel with him, then pointed to what the Bible says about the questions he had. I was also able to introduce him to Jyothi, a former Hindu, who gave insight into what that false religion truly teaches.

This young man stayed around for quite some time and later spoke to Chris about different issues as well. He took several booklets and a Bible. Please pray that the Lord would save him.

Over at the literature table, two ladies spoke with Jyothi, telling her that they had been searching for God. They now wonder if our presence was the answer they were seeking. The ladies took Bibles and asked many good questions after hearing the gospel.

It seemed like there were constant conversations today. I spoke with a man who was recently converted but had slipped back into sin a few days ago. He was under deep conviction and wondered if God could still love and forgive him. Using 1 John 1:9 and 1 John 2:1–2, I explained the good news of Christ’s saving love. He was overjoyed to hear that God doesn’t abandon us.

As we packed up for the day, we had one more piece of encouragement. A young lady I met several months ago, who had been studying with the JWs, came by to tell us she had given up all contact with the cult and was now just reading her Bible and trying to learn. She expressed her thanks for the open-air work, as it showed her that the Bible is the authority, not man’s teaching. I’m not sure if she is converted yet, but she is thinking deeply about Jesus. Please pray for her.

It was an incredible day in Portsmouth. So many heard of Jesus. Please pray that all would come to know Christ.

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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