Atheists, Aliens, and Mormons – Southampton Evangelism

It was a quieter day in Southampton as six of us shared the good news. With most children back at school, the city centre was much less busy.

After setting up, Mike commenced the preaching by speaking on “Symptoms”, in which he asked if there is any hope. An atheist who walked past let fly a torrent of blasphemy at the preaching. It was fascinating that their expression of hatred is not towards some general deity, but towards the Christian God. Even when I post on social media about these encounters, the atheists who claim to know that God isn’t real all like to come and curse the God of the Bible. Yet, they don’t go and curse the millions of Hindu gods, or Allah of Islam. They simply want to attack the God of Scripture. Why? Because they know He is there, and they hate Him (Romans 1:20–22).

During the open-air, two young men engaged with us. They both believed it wasn’t possible to have true peace in the world. Mike explained the good news to them, and they both took copies of John’s Gospel.

While all this was taking place, an Iranian Muslim lady stopped at the literature table to speak with Ben. She is very interested in studying Christianity, so Ben gladly gave her a copy of the Scriptures in Farsi.

When it came time for me to preach, I spoke on “Are You Truly Living?” As I spoke, a heckler came along who seriously claimed that we are all from aliens, and that they created all things. He wasn’t the best of hecklers, but he did ask me to explain what I believed. His rantings drew a few people in to hear the good news, with two people receiving copies of John’s Gospel afterwards.

Next up to preach was Ben, who spoke on “Our Greatest Problem?” He mentioned a few problems that people often mention, but the biggest one he wanted people to consider was the problem of death.

I didn’t get to hear much of his message, as over at the literature table, two ladies had stopped. Both identified as Christians who attend the Church of England. Now, something I’ve learned over the years is not to automatically believe people when they claim to be Christian, as they may be Christian in name only. This certainly was the case with these two ladies.

They liked the fact that we were out sharing the Bible, but they wanted to claim that all religions believe the same thing, so we shouldn’t ever present ‘our truth’ as being the only truth. Of course, they believed that their claims of truth were correct and that everyone should accept them. Hypocrisy aside, what they said was simply untrue, both logically and biblically.

I challenged their position, but they were adamant that Christianity and Islam both teach exactly the same thing. I challenged that claim by showing a few major differences between the two views. Then one of the ladies asked me, “Who created the world?” I replied by quoting Genesis 1:1. She very strongly told me I was wrong, as science had disproved God. It seemed that she wasn’t going to be very accepting of claims that disagreed with her. People are happy to believe anything and accept everything, if it isn’t in the Bible!

Then she wanted to talk about Israel and Palestine. I kept bringing the conversation back around to the gospel and explained what the Bible says. By the end, both ladies were much calmer and friendlier. They shook hands and received literature. Sadly, there are many people like these two who think they are right with God, but they are far from Him. Unless they repent and trust in Christ, they will one day face the reality of Matthew 7:21–23.

By now, the outreach was nearing an end, so Mike decided to preach once more. He spoke on “Where Are They Now?” Using the deaths of famous people, he challenged listeners to consider their own mortality.

As Mike preached, I noticed three Mormons working the people who were sitting nearby. They would walk up to them and show them a little image which they claimed was Jesus, then try to start conversations. Most people told them to go away, but I wanted to speak with them, so I walked over to where they were. Eventually, one of them came up to me, showed me the image of a blue-eyed, blonde-haired, hippie-looking man, then asked, “Do you know anything about Jesus?”

I assured him I knew about Jesus, and soon a conversation was underway. It turns out this particular Mormon missionary is from Australia, so we connected over being far from home and missing a good meat pie! Then the other two Mormons came over: one from the USA, and the other a local man.

I asked them to explain to me how I can know God. They gave me a long answer about works I needed to perform and certain religious deeds which must be achieved. Then they assured me that if I died, I would get a second chance of salvation in the spirit realm. After listening to their legalistic system, I asked, “Why didn’t you answer the way Paul did in Acts 16:30–31?” One of the missionaries pulled out his Bible to read the verses, then tried to say that Paul and he were saying the same thing. However, after a bit more challenging, he admitted they were different.

We discussed the person of Jesus and the gospel of grace. They would make claims, and I would respond with Scripture. One of them said he didn’t want to get into a back-and-forth about the Bible, as he had felt that the Mormon Church was true. I asked if his feelings had ever been wrong. He said they had, so I asked, “How do you know your feelings are right this time?” He mumbled something about just feeling that his feelings were right.

Like most of these encounters, when they don’t know how to respond to Scripture, they suddenly remember they have an appointment they need to go to. As they were about to leave, one said, “We both know Jesus, so why don’t you go and tell people about Him instead of disagreeing with us?” I politely but firmly told them they don’t know Jesus, which is why I am speaking with them, and I assured them I do tell people about Jesus. As I said this, I indicated towards the open-air board. One of the missionaries gasped and said, “Oh no, you’re one of the preachers!”

I genuinely love Mormons. I’m not interested in arguing with them; I simply want them to see the truth of the gospel, then come to know the biblical Jesus. Before they left, they all took tracts and shook my hand. Please pray that the Lord would lead them out of the deception they are in.

Even though today was quieter, there was still gospel advance. Please pray 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