Great Responses in Winchester!
Due to other ministry commitments, and then injury, I haven’t been in Winchester for a few months. I must admit, after the high of yesterday’s outreach in Portsmouth, I didn’t have much expectation for today. Winchester has historically been an area I’ve found hard – so I went to today’s outreach with the wrong attitude; one of expecting there to be little fruit. Thankfully, the Lord isn’t bound by my thoughts. When the outreach finished, I was amazed at all that had happened – it was the best day we’ve had in this ancient city.
We had five members on the team today, and one of the first things I noticed was the high uptake of tracts. Lots of gospel leaflets were handed out, and people were taking in-depth literature from the table.
When it came time to preach, I started off by speaking on “Why Christianity?” In this message, I seek to reason with people about their great need of Jesus Christ. As I preached, a few people listened, but what amazed me was that at the end, when I offered copies of John’s Gospel to anyone who wanted to learn more about Christ, five people requested copies.
Paul preached next; he did a great job speaking about “What Makes the Bible Unique?” As he preached, a few people paused to listen, including someone who took a copy of John’s Gospel.
One man who listened to the preaching walked away shaking his head. I engaged him in discussion and soon found out he was a committed atheist. I asked him, “Give me your best argument for why you are an atheist.” The man was taken aback and couldn’t answer, so I used some apologetics to show the existence of God. After listening to my argument, the man admitted he couldn’t respond. Then he said, “I just don’t want to believe!” That really is the heart of the matter; atheism isn’t an academic position – it is a position of wilful sin and suppression of truth (Romans 1:18–21).
After spending a few minutes handing out tracts, it was my turn to preach again. This time I spoke on “Lessons from the Boomerang.” A few people stopped to listen, but what really encouraged me was two older men who walked forward to receive copies of John’s Gospel at the end. Normally, the older generation is hard and closed off, but these two were interested.
You can watch the video of “Lessons from the Boomerang” below.
To finish the outreach, Paul preached once again – this time on “What’s Your Excuse?” He did a great job engaging the thoughts and arguments people have and then presented the good news of Jesus.
Reflecting on the outreach, I am amazed at all the Lord did. He truly is kind, and His Word will continue to spread. 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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