Day 1 – London Outreach
The first day of The Open-Air Mission London outreach saw us in Hyde Park at Speakers’ Corner. Now, I’ll freely admit I don’t like ministering in this area due to the professional hecklers and all the YouTubers looking for their next argument and “gotcha” video. Yet, amidst all of that, we were still able to share biblical truth.
As with all team outreaches, I am unable to share what the others did, so I can only focus on what I was a part of.
For me, it all started before we even set up. A Muslim man from Denmark approached us, stating that he held to Islam. It quickly became clear that he was looking for Christians to argue with. I asked him what he would say to convince me of the merits of Islam. He never made a positive case for his religion; instead, he misrepresented Christianity and then tried to knock down the straw-man arguments he had created.
Multiple times I had to tell him that what he was saying was neither what Christianity teaches nor what the Bible says. I was able to share the good news with him, but he kept making false arguments.
For instance, he would quote a verse, but when we looked it up, it didn’t say what he claimed. He then suggested that the Hebrew or Greek actually supported his view, but when shown from the original languages that his claims were incorrect, he simply said that the Hebrew or Greek was in error.
Eventually, I had to end the conversation, as he wasn’t going to listen and simply wanted to keep talking over others. There comes a point when we simply have to walk away.
During this time, the team was busy speaking with people and preaching. There were a few good interactions.
When it came time for me to preach, I spoke on the “Three S’s” (sin, substitution, and salvation). A few people listened, and then a heckler arrived on the scene. This man is a regular heckler in the area; he told me he has been doing it for 25 years. At first, he claimed to be sinless, but eventually he admitted that he had broken God’s Law. Then he wanted to argue about Adam and Eve.
There was a bit of friendly back-and-forth, and the gospel was proclaimed. As a heckler, he did a good job of drawing a crowd. Afterwards, he shook my hand and said he had enjoyed our encounter.
Day 1 comes to an end. Tomorrow, we’re back out in central London. Please pray for all who heard, and for those who will hear.
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