From Hostility to Friendship – Southampton Evangelism
It was a lovely, warm day in Southampton. The good weather brought lots of people out, and soon many were taking tracts and engaging in gospel conversations. For me, today was unique. It was the first time in a long time that I didn’t end up preaching. Instead, on and off throughout the day, I found myself in a conversation that went from hostility to friendship.
The preaching started when Mike spoke on the subject of “Symptoms”. In this message, he listed some of the common ailments in our society. As he spoke, a young lady stopped to engage. It turns out she is looking for a church, so we happily referred her to a local evangelical fellowship. A couple of other people also listened and engaged, both taking copies of John’s Gospel afterwards.
Over at the literature table, I encountered a man who would take up most of my day. His opening words to me were, “I am god!” My opening reply was, “No, you’re not!” He was adamant that he was divine, so I asked if he knew everything. He affirmed that he had all knowledge, so I asked him to tell me the number of fleas on the back of a certain animal. He told me he couldn’t give me that information, so I quoted Luke 12:7, showing that the God of the Bible knows the smallest details, even how many hairs are on our heads.
The man wasn’t happy with this answer, so he began to tell me that he nearly died and, while in that state, a bright light appeared to him declaring that he is god. All I could think of was 2 Corinthians 11:14, which mentions Satan appearing as an angel of light. I shared biblical truth with the man, but he wasn’t happy. He became quite abusive, then stormed off, cursing me as he left.
A few minutes later, he was back. This time he shoved a camera in my face and began to record me. I remained calm and presented biblical truth again. I urged him to repent and trust in the One who is truly God. As the man filmed me, he kept saying that he is god, and that everything is god. Then he told me I am god, but when he got angry, he said I wasn’t god. Then he changed and went back to saying I’m divine. He kept making mistakes and changing his views. As he ranted, he was shaking with anger. I didn’t see much point in continuing the conversation, so I was glad when he stormed off again.
After he stormed off, I went back to handing out tracts. During this time, Ben preached on the subject of disclosure, showing that one day all our deeds will be exposed. As Ben finished, the hostile man returned.
This time he boasted that he’d destroy me because he was going to edit the video he filmed of me and post it on social media. He claimed he would edit it to make himself look good and make me look foolish. Now, I know it is very easy to chop up a video to make people appear to be saying or doing things they didn’t, so as he boasted, I turned on my camera to film the interaction. The man continued to boast about how he would destroy me by editing the footage. Thankfully, I have all this on camera. After ranting again, he stormed off for the third time.
It was clearly going to be one of those days!
Next up to preach was Dave, who preached for the first time with us. He did a splendid job explaining how none of us are good enough for Heaven and how we cannot earn our way to God. It was a good open air.
As he finished, the angry man returned. However, this time things were different. The man was much calmer. He said, “I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. Can we talk?” I was happy to converse with him, especially since he was no longer cursing at me.
He shared his story about how he came to his belief and how he became convinced he was divine. I asked if I could challenge him, and he welcomed it. I asked, “How do you know the light you saw was of God?” The man thought about it and said, “I don’t know. You’re right, I could have been deceived by demons.”
Since the man was obsessed with the concept of light and darkness, I explained how Jesus said He is the Light of the World (John 8:12). This intrigued the man, so I was able to share more of the good news. As our conversation ended, the man shook my hand, said we’re now friends, and received a copy of John’s Gospel.
I was told later that one of the team members had been praying throughout all that was happening. I am thankful for the prayer support!
For the final open air, Jeremy preached on “Warning: Six Deadly Lies”. As he spoke, he did a good job engaging with people, including a man who had questions about limbo. After the message, several gospel conversations took place.
It was a different type of day, but we rejoice that God’s truth marches on! Please pray for all who heard the truth. May they come to the Light of the World!
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