From Evangelical Christianity to Islam – Salisbury Evangelism

I was running late; the drive from Southampton had taken longer than expected due to roadworks and Easter traffic. But even though I was worried about missing the start of the outreach, the Lord had me arrive at the very moment He had ordained. Thankfully, Paul and the team arrived on time and were able to secure a good location for preaching.

We set up the open-air board and table, and almost immediately people began to stop. A young chorister from Salisbury Cathedral shared with a team member that he had an interest in reading the Bible. He gladly received a copy of the Scriptures and a gospel booklet. This young lad had seen religious finery but hadn’t heard the good news – we pray that today he would be found by Christ.

Paul was the first to preach; he spoke on “What Do You Think About the Cross?” Taking the cross, he used it to demonstrate that it was a symbol of wrong, love, and decision. He did a good job of clearly explaining the gospel.

After handing out a few tracts, I thought it time for me to preach. Since tomorrow is Good Friday, I decided to preach on “The Big Picture of Easter.” A few people paused to listen; then, when the offer of a copy of John’s Gospel was extended, two people responded – including a lady who kept saying “thank you” repeatedly.

The table continued to be busy during this time, and team members were able to hand out tracts and chat with people. One of those I spoke with was a man known to some of the team members. He was formerly an evangelical Christian but now claims to be a Muslim. As we spoke, it became clear that the gentleman was very friendly, but not well-informed about Islam. I asked him a few questions from the Qur’an, and as I did so, the man asked himself, “How do I know if I’m being deceived by Allah?” It was good to hear him ask this question, as it is one he needs to answer. He gladly received a couple of booklets written for Muslims, as well as gospel material. He left saying, “The Lord bless you!”

Something we see regularly in Salisbury is Church of England vicars walking around in their clerical collars, but today we saw an abundance of them. It turns out there was a special event at the cathedral. Most of the vicars ignored us, but a couple engaged. One called out “Amen!” to the preaching, and another was very encouraged and excited to see the gospel being shared on the street.

The outreach concluded with Paul preaching once again in the open air. He did a great job using the criminals on the crosses next to Jesus to explain the good news. It was a fitting end to the outreach.

It was an interesting day in Salisbury; please ask the Lord to save 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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