“You’ve Corrupted the Bible!” – Portsmouth Evangelism

Rain. Sun. Rain. Sun. That was the morning leading up to the outreach in Portsmouth. As I drove to the city, we were hit hard by heavy rain, but then the city centre was sunny for the entire outreach. The weather contributed to fewer people being out and about, but there were still plenty to speak with.

After getting everything set up, Jim commenced the preaching by speaking about Christ crucified for sinners. He did a great job explaining that the issue we face is not one of happiness, but rather our need for holiness through Jesus. 

As Jim preached, a man stopped near the literature table. He picked up a Bible and began to thumb through it. When I approached him, he said, “You’ve corrupted the Bible!” I asked him what he meant by that comment, to which he replied, “You haven’t got the most up-to-date version.” This still did not provide clarity, so I asked for further information.

The man said, “You’ve corrupted the Bible because you have removed Habakkuk.” I assured him it was in the Bible, but the man kept flicking through the pages, saying it was not there. After pointing out that he was in the New Testament, whereas Habakkuk is in the Old Testament, I was able to show him exactly the book he was looking for. The man instantly calmed down and asked, “Could you please read chapter two to me?” I was happy to read the Bible with him. As I read through the passage, he would nod his head and say that certain verses challenged him. At the end, he shook my hand, thanked me for reading, and then left. It was a unique encounter; no one could ever say street work is boring!

When Jim had finished preaching, we spent time handing out tracts and engaging people in discussion. Jyothi was kept busy at the literature table speaking with numerous people, while Nigel and Richard had many people taking tracts from them.

I spoke with one young man who is a fairly new Christian. He shared some of his struggles and expressed his desire to read and understand the Bible. He did not really know how to read Scripture, so I was able to give him a few tips on how to study God's Word. He seemed excited to dig into the Bible.

After a lull in tract distribution, I decided to preach. For my first open-air message, I spoke on “Wages or Gift?” (Romans 6:23). In this message, I simply walked through the verse and unpacked it. One lady who listened became very excited about the preaching. She spoke to a team member, who was able to give her a Bible and refer her to a local church. A man who listened spoke with me afterwards. He had been praying the words of the prayer book, but he wanted to read John's Gospel, so we gladly gave him a copy.

We did a bit more tract work before I preached again. This time I spoke on “The Road to Heaven”. Another lady became excited about the preaching and then spoke with Nigel. We are not sure where she stands spiritually, but she seemed touched by the message. She took a Bible and some gospel literature.

By now, we had received a warning that a thunderstorm was heading our way, so we began to pack down. As we did so, three young ladies stopped to talk. They listened to the gospel, understood it, and then prayed in the street, asking Christ to rescue them. I do not know whether they are saved; time will tell. However, I do not want to be cynical and assume they are not saved, because God truly does save people in the open air. They certainly made a profession of faith, so we pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal whether they have truly been born again. They all took booklets for new Christians and details of a local church. Please pray that their profession of faith would be genuine and that they would grow in Christ.

It was an enjoyable time in Portsmouth. Please join me in 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