“What is Sin?” – Southampton Evangelism
The traffic was heavy getting into Southampton, so we arrived a little later than planned. By the time we got there, Ben had already set up the ‘Free Bible’ box and had seen three people come by to receive the Scriptures.
Due to the sunny and warm weather, there were many people in the city; it was perfect evangelism conditions.
Jeremy started off the preaching by speaking on “Warning: Six Deadly Lies.” A Muslim man who works nearby listened to the whole message. As he listened to the gospel, others walked past mocking. One quoted from Monty Python, and another yelled out, “Hail Satan!” Yet the Muslim man continued to pay attention to the good news. Afterwards, Jeremy had a long conversation with the man, who ended up taking a Gospel and a booklet for Muslims.
Around this time, I had a nice conversation with two Irish travellers, whom I’ve spoken with previously. Both are Roman Catholic, but very open to considering the biblical gospel. Using John 2:5, I pointed out that Mary encouraged people to do whatever Jesus commanded, so they would do well to listen to the words of Christ. One of them took a Bible, and the other took a CD which contains John’s Gospel. I also pointed them to a church that is mostly made up of those in the Irish traveller community.
As I was talking, Ben was busy preaching the good news. One lady who listened to Ben ended up speaking with a team member for quite some time, and then later came back to speak further. It is always encouraging to see people engage with the proclaimed gospel.
It then came time for me to preach, so I spoke on “Steps to Peace with God.” A young lady from Portugal engaged with the preaching and began to ask very good questions. Sometimes in the open-air you get random questions, but today these questions allowed the gospel to be clearly presented.
The first question she asked was, “What is sin?” This provided a perfect opening to speak of who God is and how we have broken His standards. She then went on to ask questions about free will, human nature, and finally how to be saved. As she listened to the gospel, she openly said it made sense. At the end of the message, she took a copy of the New Testament. Another man who was sitting nearby also received a copy of John’s Gospel.
The next preacher was Colin, who spoke on “Which Road to Eternity.” I didn’t get to hear much, as I was chatting with two young men who recently joined the Royal Navy. They were very interested in learning about Christ, so they gladly took Bibles and tracts.
It was a productive afternoon in Southampton. Would you please spend a few minutes praying 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.SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAGAZINE AND PRAYER NOTES