A Lively and Engaging Day in Southampton
The wet weather continues – I know people like to joke that England is always wet and grey, but usually we don’t have weather that’s too bad. This year, we are living up to the stereotype! That being said, the rain meant no buskers in Southampton, so we were able to set up undercover, right in front of the shopping centre doors, and preach. This location is ideal; it is busy, and the natural voice is easily heard. Many more people get to hear the gospel in this location.
Due to the weather, we were only able to set up the open-air board and our ‘Free Bible’ box. Still, there was good engagement throughout the day. Indeed, today was one of the liveliest days we’ve had in some time.
Mike started off the preaching by speaking on “Where Are They Now?” Not long after he started, he found himself in conversation with someone who had been listening. I too was busy talking with someone who had stopped, so Colin stepped up and began to preach.
Colin used a few illustrations from Southampton Football Club which caught the attention of a group of young men. He was able to engage them with the gospel and pointed them all to Jesus.
After this, we had a time of tract work, and I was greatly encouraged to see so many people taking literature. We also had some ‘creative’ ways in which tracts were handed out. David had brought his dog along to the outreach, so everyone wanted to stop to pat the pooch. When they did, he would give them a tract that had a dog on the cover. The dog proved to be one of our best evangelists!
Another unique way tracts were handed out was with Annie skating around on her rollerblades. She would glide up next to someone, and they would take a tract from her. It was the first time I’ve seen evangelism on rollerblades!
It then came time for me to preach. I spoke on “God is Love.” A few people listened, including a couple of Christians who were very encouraged to hear the gospel in public.
Mike then stepped up to try to preach his second sermon, this time on “Life: What’s the Point?” But before he got too far, he once again found himself engaged in conversation with someone, so this time I took over the preaching. This is when things got really lively.
As I continued Mike’s open-air talk, a lady objected to the message. She declared herself an atheist and wasn’t happy with what was being said. She loudly stated that life has a purpose and that people have been put on earth to care for the animals. This was a unique statement for an atheist to make, so I asked, “Who put you here?” There was a pause before she said, “Evolution!”
I engaged with her arguments using apologetics, showing that her worldview didn’t fit the evidence, nor did it give value and worth to humanity. The lady wouldn’t engage; rather, she would jump from topic to topic. But hecklers beget hecklers. Then a man, who identified as a pagan, shouted that paganism is the religion of England and that when the Roman Empire first came to Britain it forcibly converted everyone to Christianity. This is completely wrong historically, since the Roman Empire at the time it came to Britain was pagan. The atheist lady then changed her views to paganism and continued to heckle.
The good thing is that as she heckled, the crowd grew. Soon we had a good number standing around listening to the preaching. As I answered her questions and objections, I had in mind the need to preach the gospel, so I kept bringing it back to the cross.
The final argument the heckler made was that Christianity had stolen all the pagan celebrations, so I asked her to name one. As I expected, she said, “Christmas!” So I asked, “Can you name one pagan source that shows what pagan event was celebrated on 25 December?” The lady answered, “The winter solstice!” I pointed out that the winter solstice occurs on 21 or 22 December, not the 25th. Her argument was seen to have no basis; with that, she walked away.
I turned to all those listening and preached the gospel again. As I finished my message, I offered copies of John’s Gospel to all those who wanted to find out more. Five people responded to this offer.
After this, Mike made a third attempt to preach a full message – this time he succeeded. A couple of people listened as he heralded the good news.
After the open-air, a woman came up to me saying, “Are you pro-life?” I replied that I am pro-life, to which she replied, “No, you’re not! You’re anti-abortion!” I agreed that I was anti-abortion, as I support life. The woman began to rant about how my God is wrong, but her god is OK with abortion. She tried to argue that, as a man, I was trying to limit the freedom of women, so I asked, “What about the woman in the womb? What freedom and rights does she have not to be killed?” The lady claimed that the baby in the womb isn’t alive until birth. I challenged this argument, but she kept saying, “My god says it is OK. And my god wants to speak with your God!” Well, her god can’t speak with my God, as her god doesn’t exist. She had made up an idol that was happy with sin, so I issued a call to repentance. With that, the lady stormed away.
It was certainly a lively outreach.
To finish the day off, Colin ended up in conversation with eight young lads. All listened to the good news, and all took copies of the Gospel. It was a lovely way to finish the day.
Please pray for all those who heard the truth of God’s Word today.
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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