Young Hearts Open to the Gospel: Portsmouth Evangelism
There were five of us out sharing the good news in Portsmouth today. When we first arrived, the city was quiet, so we moved our preaching location a bit further along the street. This proved to be a good spot and allowed us to hand out many tracts and chat with people throughout the day.
Almost from the beginning, people stopped to ask for Bibles and other Christian literature. It is always encouraging to meet people who want to read God’s Word. While at the literature table, I found myself chatting with an elderly couple who are retired missionaries. They were so encouraged by the work that they asked how they could get involved!
Around this time, I spoke with two young lads on scooters. They had stopped at the table to ask for a Bible. As we spoke, I asked them, “Do you have any kind of religious or church background?” The boys answered that they used to go to church all the time with their dad, but when their family broke down, they stopped seeing him and stopped going to church. You could hear the sadness in their voices as they spoke about the trauma of their family being torn apart. Both of them, however, wanted to get back to reading the Bible and learning about God. I gladly gave them each a copy of God’s Word and a tract aimed at young people. We also had a brief gospel conversation.
Paul Adams from Open Air Campaigners USA preached first. He did a great job explaining the “six deadly lies”. A few people were not too happy with an American preaching, so there were cries of, “Yankee, go home!” His preaching did, however, draw people to the literature table, where several people requested New Testaments.
As he preached, I observed those who cursed and spoke against Christ. The vast majority of them had grey hair and were well advanced in years. These older folk are not far from meeting God, yet they curse Him. The young people, on the other hand, were open and polite, even when they disagreed. When I first started in evangelism, the older people were the friendly and open ones, while the young were often hostile. That has all changed now!
For my first preach of the day, I spoke on “Hope for a Broken World”. There was not too much engagement, though more people did visit the literature table to request material. One of those who listened received a Gospel of John.
After a few minutes of handing out tracts, I thought it worth preaching again, so for my second open-air message, I spoke on “Are You Truly Living?” Again, one person who listened took a Gospel of John.
By the end of the outreach, we had run out of Bibles and New Testaments. While the ground may at times appear hard, we rejoice that God’s Word continues to spread. Please pray for all those who heard the gospel.
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