Truth and Opposition in Southampton
Today was quite intense. Mike Mellor commented that it was the hardest day we’ve faced in Southampton in some time. Yet, even though there was opposition and hardness, the good news advanced.
Before I get to the outreach report, I need to address a lie that is spreading on social media. This morning, I was made aware of a post from a self-appointed ‘prophet’ claiming that one of Southampton’s local characters, a man who walks around in a bikini, has been converted. I’ve spoken to this man about the gospel previously, as have members of the team. When I saw the news, I genuinely hoped it was true. This afternoon, I saw the man still walking around in his bikini, so I went over to speak with him.
I showed the man the social media post and asked if it was true. The man was stunned and referred to the post from the ‘prophet’ as outright lies. He then reaffirmed his atheism and said he has no interest in Christianity. This same ‘prophet’ also claims to have cast demons out of a man who has been a Christian for 40 years. I saw him today, and he was stunned to hear of the news spreading online. Again, he said it was all lies.
I put this information into this post because it causes me to have righteous anger. There is a false prophet roaming around this city, spreading lies about Jesus and deceiving people. He is hurting the very people we love and minister to; as such, I feel it needs to be addressed. The actions of this ‘prophet’ are those of a wolf, who is only interested in promoting himself and getting clicks online. He is harming the people of Southampton, the very people that we plead with to be reconciled to God. I confronted the ‘prophet’ on his social media page, but that merely resulted in my comment being deleted and my page being blocked. It is clear he has no interest in the truth.
There are many lost people in this maritime city, and to them we seek to take the good news. Throughout today’s outreach, we saw many people stop at the literature table to take material, and team members were able to have numerous conversations about the Lord Jesus.
The first preacher of the day was Mike, who spoke on “Life: What’s the Point?” After his message, he was able to have a couple of good chats with people.
Over at the literature table, Tim spoke with a lady who shared that, as a family, they had decided to start reading the Bible and wanted to find a church. We were able to give her gospel material, share with her, and point her to a Bible-believing church near where she lives.
Next to preach was Ben, who did a wonderful job preaching on “What People Often Say to Us.” As he finished, things became ‘lively’.
Jeremy was preparing to preach when a homeless man that we’ve spoken with previously came up shouting. In front of the open-air board, he threw down a container of curry and rice (which went everywhere). He then shouted threats at people, including that he would knock people out and even stab them.
I tried to calm him down, but he kept threatening to stab me and others. Since this was a very real risk, I contacted local security, who in turn called the police. The police searched the man and moved him on.
All this was happening while Jeremy was trying to preach on “Warning: Six Deadly Lies.” But the ‘lively’ behaviour wasn’t over. Now we had a man sit next to the open-air board shouting out that he was a Christian and cursing Islam. Whenever a Muslim would walk by or stop to listen to the preaching, he would stand up and yell at them. He’d tell them to leave this country and not come back. Mike and I both managed to distract him, and eventually he left.
Around this time, four young ladies stopped at the table. All of them said they were Christians, so I asked them why God should let them into Heaven. They knew the gospel, though you could tell there was a bit of confusion. They seemed to be genuinely converted, just struggled with explaining the good news. We were able to help them understand the gospel more clearly and helped them put all the parts together.
Next up to preach was Tim, who spoke on “Are You Good Enough for Heaven?” He did a good job explaining sin and our need of the Saviour.
I was the final preacher of the day. For my message, I spoke about how sin has separated us from our Creator. A few people gathered to listen, with two taking copies of John’s Gospel at the end. A Church of England vicar (low-church evangelical), who was having a day out in Southampton, stopped to listen. He told me afterwards that he was greatly encouraged by the preaching, and it was refreshing to see open-air work done well. He was very interested in our work with The Open-Air Mission, so I gave him a few booklets.
It was tough for much of the outreach, but at the end there was a beautiful openness to the good news. I loved seeing team members busy handing out tracts and engaging people in conversation. There are so many lost people in this city; please pray that the biblical gospel will spread, and many would come to salvation.
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