Lincoln Outreach - Day 2

The weather forecast said that today would be wet. Thankfully, the Lord held the rain off until the end of the outreach. Unlike yesterday, we didn’t freeze; it was a bit warmer today (though not much).

As this was a team event for The Open-Air Mission, we had several men preach and team members share the gospel. Lots of people heard the good news, but I’m unable to tell their stories; instead, I can only focus on what I was directly involved with.

For the first part of the outreach, I found that nearly everyone I spoke with was a Christian. One man, who had been hurt by a local church, was thankful for the preaching and unburdened some of his pain. As someone who has suffered from church abuse, I was able to offer a few helpful truths I had learned from Scripture. I encouraged him to attend a good Bible-teaching church, and I was able to refer him to one.

The next Christian I spoke with was very encouraged by the preaching, and especially by the fact that people were listening to the gospel. Our prayer is that these kinds of outreaches will strengthen the wider body of Christ and stir up people for evangelism.

While a team member preached, I noticed a group of young men listening. At the end of the message, I engaged them in conversation. They all admitted to being atheists, with one of them being particularly dogmatic. He told me that he had no idea why he was an atheist, but he “knew” it was true and nothing would change his mind. He even went as far as saying his mind was closed.

I challenged his claims, and at one point a friend of his admitted that what I was saying was right. The atheist couldn’t answer the questions I put to him, but he did say that maybe one day he’d reconsider his view. I urged him to reconsider and to look to Jesus, as Christ reveals to us who God is and what God is like (John 1:18).

As lunchtime approached, it was my turn to preach. Taking John 3:16 as my text, I explained the gospel and how it linked to the current Christmas celebrations. Unfortunately, there was little interaction.

After lunch, we joined a local church for an open-air Christmas carol service. As we sang carols, people stopped to listen or join in. This gave us the opportunity to hand out tracts.

In between the carols, a different team member would share a Bible reading or a short gospel message. When it was my turn, I used Luke 2:11 to explain why we need the Saviour and what Jesus came to do.

This was the first time I’ve been involved in a carol service in the middle of the street, but I was greatly impressed by how effective this form of evangelism was.

After the carols finished, there was time for one more message. This final open-air talk was given to me, so I tried something different: I decided to do a Christmas quiz.

As I asked questions, people called out answers. These questions all built towards the gospel. At the end of the message, I was encouraged to see five people receive copies of John’s Gospel.

With that, the rain began to fall and the outreach was over. It was a busy couple of days in Lincoln. Please pray for all who heard the good news.

SDG!

_____

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.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAGAZINE AND PRAYER NOTES