Witnessing to the Homeless - Should we ALWAYS give them something? :: Gospel Outreach Report: SOUTHAMPTON

A team of us once again did a Gospel outreach in Southampton today (Friday). (an Open Air Mission outreach, headed up by Josh Williamson.)

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

To say it was a warm day today is quite an understatement. The heat was challenging throughout.

Seven of us sort to pursuade people of the Gospel. As soon as we were setting up, there were conversations happening.

A new convert who was very pleased to see us

A young lady from Portugal (now living in the UK) approached us with great excitement. She told us that she’s a busker, who has recently come to faith in Christ. She’s now part of a local church and has a real desire to use her musical gifts to share the Gospel on the streets. We were able to

give her some materials to support her in her evangelism. She also spoke of her intention to return to Portugal to share the Gospel with people back home.

Shortly after a lady approached the table asking if we had any Bibles for children. We don't stock Bibles specifically for children, but we were able to give her three of the Albert Brainstein tracts from Living waters.

Here are some other links to where you can buy Gospel flyers for children:

United Beach Mission have some (best to contact them directly about what they have)

Answers In Genesis

Are you Jehovah Witnesses?

Upon entering a shop, a man spoke to one of the team saying that we are Jehovah Witnesses (I don't think he realised that he was actually speaking to one of the team). David, whom he spoke with, corrected the man, then handed him a Gospel tract. I realised this man had stopped and spoken with us before. At that time, a very hardened man who did not want to except the truth. But this time he walked away with the truth in his hand!

Did you know we give away tracts that are aimed at Jehovah Witnesses? Click here to read the flyer. Click here to place an order.

Many come to us who say they are Christians

One of the great challenges of this work is when someone comes up to us and tells us that they are a Christian. It's easy to think that this is completely true. But what does the word Christian mean today? Some will be Roman Catholics some will simply mean they were born into a Christian household. It's very clear that we have a very messed up culture when it comes to the term "Christian" and what it actually means to people.

Can I encourage you, that when a person says they are a Christian, that you don't just stop there.

What you could ask a professing Christian

"Are you born again?" usually I find those who are not born again instantly say no. This opens up a great opportunity to point them to Jesus for the need of a new heart. This happened today. A

mother and son wanted literature and I asked the son if he was born again and he said he was baptised - this is not what the Bible teaches and is a Roman Catholic teaching. I gave them both a J C Ryle tract about being born again.

Handing them relevant literature is always good, especially if they don't have time to stop and speak. Something specifically that encourages them to examine themselves, to see if they are in the faith.

Read this article here for more information on the free church resource that we produce for handing out to professing Christians.

Another good question to ask is, "how do you know you are going to heaven?" or, "what do you need to do to be saved?" It should not take very long to find out who they are trusting in for this.

If the person sounds saved, and trusting only in Jesus, I would still want to give them some good material to take away. Also encouraging them to use our resources to witness to the people around them. Informing them that we are at that location every week and that we would love them to come and say hello again.

Here is another useful flyer for professing Christians, available at the website Proclaiming the Gospel

Amongst our resources, we also point believers to a great sermon (we have details of this on a business card) called True and False Conversions by Ray Comfort. If you have not heard / seen this, here is the video:

"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:22-24

Witnessing to the homeless

Some churches believe heavily in witnessing to the homeless. Even having great amounts of money invested in doing this work - providing food, drink and essentials for their need.

But how do we know when to, and if we should give items to the homeless?

This is can sometimes be a difficult call to make. Why? because if you give them money, you really don't know where that money will go. It could in fact be making things worse for them - feeding their habit. Not everyone who is homeless is homeless either.

Can I encourage you to research who can help these people in the area you are doing your witnessing? It's amazing how many organisations are set up already to help the homeless. You never know when you might need to point people to them.

A man approached me today, whom I have met before. In the past I have helped him with physical needs, as well as pointing him to Jesus. But since then, he has come past and been very hostile to the message. But I think this has been more to do with the substances he abuses.

Today, he tried the same conversation he spoke when I first met him. Trying to pursaude me to part with a specific amount of money for a bed for the night (and that there is only one left - it might go if he does not pay for it soon!). He is very convincing - but there is sadly more to convince me otherwise in what I have experienced of the man. He professes to be seeking God, but God is "not doing anything to help him". He had a New Testament in his pocket and "Christian" wrist bands. He claimed to be having a very hard time on the streets with people attacking him at night. So I sought to speak of how we are not guaranteed an easy life if we are in Christ, but he did not want to hear this. I asked him to consider the sufferings of Christ on the cross, to which he said "it's not comparable" and walked away.

I don't believe I would have been doing him good by giving him money (or anything else) in this instance. But does that mean we should never give homeless people anything? Certainly not!

I do think, that if we just give them something materially, and don't give them the Gospel, then we could do much much better! At the very least we should point them to Jesus.

Later in the outreach, Josh gave a homeless man a bottle of water. This acted as a great way of breaking the ice and calming the situation - as the man was initially hostile and objected to the Gospel being preached. But the water enabled more than one of the team to be able to engage in good conversation with him - he even apologised for his hostility in the beginning.

In summary - we are dealing with individuals - homeless or otherwise. We need to be in prayer that the Lord will guide us in making the correct decisions with these people, always ultimately seeking to point them to Christ - the only hope for all people!

Finally: a very proud elderly couple

It's easy to assume that elderly people are wiser than those who are younger. Sadly, the couple I

spoke with near the end of our outreach (pictured) were certainly not wise. The gentleman brought up many questions. Initially asking if were Jehovah Witnesses. But then going on to ask some of the age old questions. For example "who did Adam and Eve's children marry", "do you REALLY believe the whole of the Bible?!" and statements like "no loving father would send his son into the world to have a spear thrust through his side" - question after question and I was able to answer. But not just answer, challenge their false beliefs about the Lord Jesus Himself.

I don't believe they really wanted the answers sadly. I won't repeat some of the things he said here, but they were very blasphemous and offensive. I rebuked him for making up lies about the Lord Jesus. Appealing to them that they need to get right with God and that Jesus is the only answer.

The lady at the beginning said they were close to the end of their lives. May the Lord have mercy on them before they are taken from this life!

Please take a moment to pray for all those whom we spoke with and heard the Gospel today.

15 full Bibles were handed out today. A lot less literature than usual.

To find out more about what went on while we were in Southampton today, you can read another report from Josh Williamson by clicking here.

For His Glory,

-Nigel, Printing Evangelism