Overcoming Obstacles to Sharing Our Faith: FEAR

I've been trying to think of ways to motivate people to get involved in evangelism having just come back from an awesome Christian Answer team in London at the weekend. 

I realised that the first step for some people might be removing hurdles or perhaps having a change of perspective about any obstacles in the way. So, I'm going to do a short series of posts dealing with these issues that we all face to one degree or another.

Today's subject and probably the biggest mountain for many of us to scale is fear. 

It might be fear of failure, fear of saying the wrong thing, fear of being seen, fear of what others might think, fear of people getting angry or shunning us, or even fear of the unknown. Let's face it, we all struggle with fear and for some it can be paralysing. 

Can it be overcome? With God's help all things are possible. Here are some pointers:

• Pray! It will come as no surprise that prayer is top of the list for overcoming any and all obstacles to sharing our faith. If we don't pray then we can't expect to see results or have any expectation of moving forward. God knows our fears and He wants to help us move past them so that we can get on with the task. He promises to use us if we ask Him.

• Training. It helps to be prepared and can give us confidence which can negate any fears we might have. There is plenty of online training and organisations like the Open-Air Mission can provide training for you and your church. Living Waters offers a week long training course in evangelism and apologetics. However, training is not always required as it can result in Christians falling into the trap of thinking that they can't evangelise because they haven't been trained or even that they need to learn everything before they can share their faith. Choose your training wisely and intentionally and if possible get involved with those who offer practical training during the course.

• Know what you believe and why you believe it. This one can be especially relevant for those who've grown up in the church and have never really looked at the details of their own story. Read the Bible passages that speak about evangelism (Acts and the Gospels for starters). This will help you catch the vision and should negate fears about saying the wrong thing. You can't really say the wrong thing unless you say something totally heretical as people are already lost!

• Start small. This one is really about managing your own and others expectations. Most of us are not going to be Billy Graham or Amy Carmichael. Much of the evangelism in the Bible is one individual to another. Nowadays, we have tracts (Christian leaflets) and the internet so it's even possible to be anonymous or to have very little contact with the person we are witnessing to. Start by leaving tracts where-ever you go. Then, try to give them directly to people with a short comment. Then, when you are ready, ask the person if they have thought about the question. Take your time with each stage and your fears should lessen.

• Read stories. Read and watch stories of conversions in books and online. You'll be amazed by how many people mention a street preacher, a Christian friend, a book, a tract etc. If you can see that it really works, it can help to overcome your fears as the benefit outweighs the cost. Real Lives is a good series on Saturday nights which may encourage you.

• Go with others. Lone evangelism can be scary and it shouldn't be the norm. We need our Christian friends to encourage, motivate, inspire, rebuke etc. Most of our efforts should start with our local church. Find out what is being done by your church and join in or suggest a joint activity. Alternatively, if your church isn't doing anything, find an individual or several within the church who are keen and approach the leadership together. If the leaders aren't receptive to any forms of evangelism, it might be time to think about joining a different church as evangelism should be one of the main activities and purposes of the church.

• Join local evangelism teams. This shouldn't replace evangelism from your church, but can supplement it and provide people to work with. It's always easier to overcome our fears when we are part of a team. There are several city missions that still do direct evangelism (Birmingham and London) and others that bring you into contact with non believers through projects. The Open-Air Mission may have an evangelist in your area that you could join. Good News for Everyone (formerly Gideons) go into schools, prisons, hotels etc and try to leave Bibles as well as more formal Scripture distributions. You can get involved and learn from others. Start by observing and then take more responsibility as you feel able. 

• Join mission teams/camps. There are several organisations that run mission teams around the country including United Beach Missions and the Open-Air Mission. There are specific missions for student outreach, street evangelism and children's work. Other organisations like Yorkshire Camps and Foundation Matters offer residential camps and allow volunteers to join and serve for a week or longer term. Then, there are the annual youth camps. There are always plenty of opportunities and full training is usually given. Serving together allows you to learn on the job and watch others share their faith/give their testimony until you are ready to participate.

• Talk to someone. It's a well known saying that "a problem shared is a problem halved". If you cannot overcome your fears, share them with a church friend or church leader. Be specific and maybe they will be able to help you get new perspective or suggest some other ideas. Likewise, if you have had a negative experience with evangelism, don't let it put you off, speak to someone straight away so that it doesn't become an insurmountable problem as it festers. 

• Don't overthink it. With some things, the longer we leave it before we actually do it, the harder it is as the possibilities and the "what if's" can become overwhelming. I used to remember the Dr Pepper advert with the slogan "what's the worst that could happen?" before I went out to share my faith. It can help to write down any fears as they may seem less likely and less threatening on paper. Sometimes, we just have to face our fear and get on with it. 

I hope this list will help some of you to take steps to overcome your fears and to get involved in the work of the Great Commission. As you can see, many of the ideas involve working with others, it's amazing how much easier it is to get out there when we go in a group. I always come back encouraged and have never regretted going out when I've taken the plunge.

As an old-timer said recently, "a little bit of courage and a little bit of obedience are all that is needed." We are in a spiritual battle. Don't let the enemy win!

Next time I will deal with overcoming the obstacle of funding/finance.

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

Gospel to the Dying

Yes, I stole the title from my friends Steve and Gerdine Stanley who are working as missionaries in Papua New Guinea. I highly recommend their blog which documents daily life in the jungle with three small children. 

However, today’s post was a heart breaking reminder for me and, I assume other readers, of the urgency of the Gospel. The team are not yet at the point where they are ready to communicate the Good News to the Kovol tribe, but they are progressing. Now, limited medical capabilities exhausted, they have a woman literally wasting away in front of them and obviously at death’s door. What should they do? I’ll let you read their post for the tragic outcome.

As many of you know, I’ve been in hibernation for a month or so recovering from a major operation. I re-entered society at the Open-Air Mission’s supporters conference about 10 days ago. A good number gathered to hear about the evangelism taking place across our country on a daily basis. I love this conference as it’s so encouraging to hear about the work and to catch up with people with a  real heart for evangelism. 

OAM is growing and has been able to employ several new evangelists in recent years. However, there are still large areas of the UK without a preacher which according to Romans 10 means that they cannot hear and be saved. I encourage you to consider joining a team event to learn more about the work.

I spoke to an older man recently who said that he had previously been involved in street evangelism and didn’t really know why he had stopped. Another man asked if I was “hanging around" in Reading to be involved in Franklin Graham’s crusade assuming that an organised mass-attended Christian event would be an attraction that I wouldn’t want to miss. 

I’m sure the crusade was well attended and, having just read Franklin’s autobiography, I know his priority is the sharing of the Gospel, but the point is that we have moved away from going out to where the people are and are instead expecting them to come to us. The transition is odd in that culturally society has gone the other way; people are less and less likely to want to attend an event in a church.

I meet a lot of Christians who have never heard of the Open-Air Mission or United Beach Missions (the main two organisations I’m involved with who do this type of ministry). Some churches won’t consider getting involved as they feel it is ineffective, old-fashioned or disrespectful to "shout at people in the street". Another friend told me recently about prison ministry where they aren’t allowed to proselytise!

There is a general feeling that we’ve moved on to more modern methods involving friendship evangelism. Again, there’s a place for this, but only if we are really willing to have that uncomfortable conversation with someone we’ve already befriended…and it doesn't negate the need for a more overt witness.

DL Moody once told a critic: “It is clear you don’t like my way of doing evangelism. You raise some good points. Frankly, I sometimes do not like my way of doing evangelism. But I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.”

The covid pandemic woke a lot of people up to their own mortality as they saw loved ones die and were unable even to say their proper goodbyes. The public enquiry  is seeking to learn lessons for the future but all it will do is create a situation where we continue to put plasters on a major wound when the person is dying of sepsis. Now, we are seeing people dying in desperate situations in the wars in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza. Matthew Perry, a major sitcom star in the US died this week at the age of 54.

In all of these situations and others, people’s comments reflect the terrible and widespread deception of the devil; “At least they’re at peace now”, “He’s free from his suffering”, “They’re no longer in pain”, and “She’s in a better place”.

Perhaps, the lie that everyone will get to Heaven has even permeated Christian thinking to the extent that we don’t sense the urgency any more. Collectively, we aren't rushing to share the Gospel with these people as they take their last breath, whereas just a hundred years ago we have a story from the Titanic of a dying man frantically swimming in icy waters seeking to offer eternal hope to the lost.  

Sadly, in most of these cases, there is no evidence of saving faith. Matthew Perry had some sort of spiritual experience a few years ago where he asked a Higher Power for help to stop his addictions. Yet, just a few weeks ago he said he wasn’t religious and his focus was on helping other people that were going through what he had been through. Accepting that only God truly knows the heart, maybe the Christians who claim he was a believer are grasping at straws, seeking to reassure themselves as the alternative is too horrifying to contemplate.

If we are losing our grip on reality and what the Bible really teaches about death, it might be a good idea to remind ourselves. A person is only saved through faith in Jesus and his death for them on the cross. Believing that he died for them leads to repentance from sin, forgiveness of sin and a changed life, with God’s help. Only those who have trusted in Jesus go to Heaven forever, not because they have done anything good, but because Jesus lived a perfect life on their behalf. Everybody else will go to Hell to be punished for their sin. Salvation is a free gift available to anyone who will repent and trust in Jesus.

Christians, let’s refocus our lives and ensure our main mission is to reach others with the Good News of salvation before it’s too late for them. When we hear of someone dying, let’s take courage and pray for a way to reach them, then go and deliver the Message. We don’t have the excuse that there is a language barrier and even if there is, we have tools that can overcome this in the Western world.

On a side note, if you don’t know where to start and your church leaders can’t help, my new book Evangelism is Exciting! has some ideas. All royalties are reinvested in the work of sharing the Gospel and I’m always happy to receive comments and feedback.

10 Reasons All Churches Should be Involved in Street Evangelism

For those unfamiliar with the practice, street evangelism includes; open air preaching, book tables in public places, giving out tracts, leaflets or books, and one to one conversations. The goal is to share the Christian message with those who either haven’t heard it, or who don’t yet believe that it’s true.

You might think that any real Christian would think this was a great idea and would jump at the chance to be involved. Sadly, this is often not the case as people, usually due to fear, make excuses of one sort or another, or even suggest that Christians shouldn’t be doing this type of evangelism in the twenty-first century.

There is a general move away from the more direct approach towards what some would term “friendship evangelism.” This is something that Christians should also be doing as they engage with colleagues, neighbours and friends that they meet at school, work and home. However, if churches want to reach their whole communities with the Gospel, they need to be encouraging their members to get involved in both relationship building and street evangelism.

Rather than focusing on the negative. I thought it would be good to look at the reasons to support, pray for and get involved in this vital work:

1. Jesus and His disciples did it- This is the most obvious reason as I’ve yet to meet a Christian who believes they shouldn’t try to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. They regularly went into the open air preaching and engaging one to one with non-believers.

2. Obedience to the Bible- There are clear commands in the Bible to go out into the world and preach the Gospel to every person. The vast majority of Christians acknowledge that these commands apply to all believers and not just to the disciples whom Jesus was addressing.

3. Decline in church attendance- There are many people that will never set foot in a church and who would decline all invitations to a Christian event. If we stay in our churches we are failing to reach a huge swathe of the population with the saving message that they need to hear. We can invite people to our churches personally after meeting them in the street and seek to reassure them that they won’t be forced to sing a solo, or hug everybody, or whatever else it is that people fear when coming to church. We can arrange to accompany them or collect them to make it all seem less frightening. It’s a massive deal to go into a church for the first time and we need to be easing the way.

4. Compassion for lost souls- If we really believe people are heading for an eternity in either Heaven or Hell we would do whatever we could to reach them. There is a sense in which the urgency of the message is communicated by the fact that we are out on the street in all weathers, unpaid and not selling anything. People often ask, why do you do this? Even if they are not initially interested in the message, our presence will at least make them think about it.

5. Increasing visibility of our churches in the community- Street evangelism should always be linked to a local partner church so that people who are interested can be properly followed up. A visible presence provides details of a local church for people seeking and a friendly face that they’ve already met if they decide to come to church.

6. Brings conviction of conscience- There is a sense in which being repeatedly reminded of the Christian message week in and week out works on the conscience over a period of time. It restrains sin in the same way that people may seek to avoid swearing in the presence of a believer. People are reminded that there are still many out there who believe the Christian message. Someone else’s sincere belief cannot fail to have an impact. Not everyone has been swept away in a wave of atheism. These people are not all oddballs, in fact they look pretty normal!

7. If we don’t use it, we’ll lose it- The right to preach on the streets and share the Gospel with the public shouldn’t be taken for granted. The right to free speech is gradually being eroded and if we don’t take advantage of the opportunity, we can be sure laws will be created to remove the right completely. We have been temporarily shut down in several places already this year.

8. Our streets are increasingly ethnically diverse- There are multiple nationalities and followers of other religions in our country. Many wouldn’t think of entering a church and might be in danger if they were to do so. We can speak to them in the street and pass on literature in their own language. We have easy access to people from countries where following Christianity is illegal. In the past, reaching these people would have involved sending missionaries at great expense and danger.

9. Encourages other Christians/churches- Christians often tell us they are encouraged by our witness in the street. Some don’t realise that it is still legal! Engaging in this type of evangelism as a church family can bring church members closer together with a shared purpose. It also allows as many members as possible to be involved in the Great Commission knowing that they are not alone.

10. It works!- There are Christians in our churches who have a testimony that they were saved on hearing the Gospel message through a street preacher, conversation in the street, or a tract or book that they read. We must remember that we are totally reliant on God to work in the hearts of those we are seeking to reach, but we can be sure that He will as He promises that His Word doesn't return to Him empty and He has chosen the method for us to use. We can be confident when sharing the Gospel on the streets that God is with us and will use us for His glory.

I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons, but these came to mind.

Could you get involved or ask your church leader to organise something? In the UK, organisations like The Open Air Mission, United Beach Missions and Outreach UK offer opportunities and training for individuals and churches.

Let’s get out on the streets this Christmas and remind people what they are celebrating!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

John 3 vs 16

Are We Over-Complicating Evangelism?

As someone with a heart to share the Gospel with others, I’m often thinking of better ways to “do” evangelism. Not that I believe that there is a one size fits all approach or that we should focus too much on methods. It’s important to remember that the Holy Spirit of God is the catalyst for all conversions and that we need to pray for Him to be at work in and through us.

However, it’s good to consider whether our various efforts are bearing fruit and if not, to consider whether our chosen methods might be creating unnecessary barriers, or even, perhaps, whether it might be time for a different approach. There is an ever widening gap between the church and the world, between Christians and non-Christians. It follows, then, that we need to be thinking about how we can bridge this gap.

My thoughts often turn to social enterprise as a means of reaching people, as this is increasingly popular. The evangelistic coffee shop idea. I had thought about combining this with a Christian book shop or library due to the decline of the presence of Christian literature on our high streets. The Salvation Army have recently opened a big charity shop with an attached cafe in my town. Visiting, though, there is no difference between this set-up and any secular coffee and charity shop. People are not going to be particularly receptive if someone just sits down and starts sharing the Gospel with them whilst they are trying to drink their coffee. This idea, as an outreach opportunity, necessarily fails at the first hurdle.

What about a coffee, or book, shop that is overtly Christian? It’s worth asking, how often would non-Christians visit, and for what purpose when there are so many non-religious options out there? Mostly, these places end up being visited, and sustained, by people from the church that started them. Unless it’s made clear to visitors at the outset that they might be interrupted and spoken to by a keen evangelist, we have the same problem as the secular environment; the people just want to drink their coffee in peace!

Some might argue that Gospel literature can be left on the tables and the building appropriately decorated with Bible verses etc. This is true, and if the Spirit prompts someone to pick up a tract or to start memorising a Bible verse, then great. But, if all Christians carried tracts and left them everywhere they went, this would easily cover the few non-Christians who might enter a Christian premises and end up taking away a tract or reading Bible verses on the walls. If people are that openly curious about Christianity already, then surely they would just go to a church!?

Turning then to other forms of passive outreach using social activity; sports clubs and activities and the like. How often have we actually managed to effectively share the Gospel with attendees? How can we get people to even attend without tricking them with mumbled explanations about what will happen when they get there, and then pouncing on them later when it’s too late for them to leave? How can we keep these programmes Gospel focused and stop people being distracted by the activity? How often do these activities end up being closed down after decades because they have become nothing more than another social event? How many people actually end up in church through these activities?

These questions are more relevant than ever in our anti-religious, apathetic, materialistic age. As people are growing increasingly indifferent to Christianity, perhaps, we need to strip away the exciting activities, comfortable surroundings and pleasant environments. Maybe, these things are distracting people from their real need and presenting a confusing picture in terms of what Christianity is all about.

What if our attempts to create the perfect platform for sharing the Gospel are resulting in barriers that we then have to find ways to remove further down the line? 

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Is it time for a less complicated, less expensive, and more direct approach?

I’m going to suggest three options that are comparatively cheap, direct and effective:

Open Air Work/Street Preaching

People are not often coming into our churches, we need to take the Gospel to them. The Open Air Mission evangelists go out into the high streets of England with a simple board. Using their board for the presentation, men preach a short Gospel centred message to the people passing by. Christians in the crowd note those who show interest and attempt to talk to them. Literature is handed to others walking past. (United Beach Missions do similar work.) You can read There Is Still Much To Do! by Andy Banton to find out more about this work or attend their Training Day on 14th April 2018.

Utilising our Church Buildings

Having highlighted some of the issues that can arise when we use social enterprise as a tool to share the Gospel, is there still a case for using our church buildings for evangelism? Of course, there is. Those who are blessed with buildings, especially in central locations, know how effective they can be when utilised. When a building is clearly a church, or used as a church building all of the time, people who enter it know what they are getting themselves into. They are choosing to enter an environment where they may expect to be spoken to by Christians and to hear messages from the Bible. Likewise, when activities take place in the church or a building immediately attached to it, there is no confusion. We need our church members to be proactive in inviting people to our church events and making sure they are upfront about what will happen when they attend.

Personal Contacts/Friendship Evangelism 

This is where any natural contact with non-Christians is important whether through work or just where we happen to live. All of us should be seeking to cultivate these relationships with a view to sharing the Gospel when the opportunity arises. Our words should be backed up by our prior behaviour. Let's not wait indefinitely to actually tell people, though, as none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Pray first and then go for it!


It’s easy to be perpetually busy in Christian activities, but let’s make sure we are actually getting around to sharing the Gospel with the folks we are involved with. If we are running activities, whether in the church or outside, that have morphed into mere social events and there is no way to rescue them, perhaps we should consider closing them down and starting again. Likewise, if the things we are offering people are distracting them from the Gospel, our programmes might need a rethink.

My disclaimer here is that we must help people practically and they have various needs. This is a call to ensure we start with the Gospel and present this as the answer to the person’s most pressing need of forgiveness of sin and peace with God. At the very least, we must offer hope along with practical help.

The enemy will provide plenty of reasons why confrontational or direct evangelism is not the way to go, but these days it might be exactly what your friend, neighbour or relative needs to wake them up and make them stop and think. They aren’t going to be mad at you for being culturally inappropriate when they get to Judgement Day!

Bringing Hope to Lincoln Christmas Market #LCM2017 #LincolnChristmasMarket

Arriving by train at TCM Baptist church, Lincoln, on Thursday evening, one of the first things I saw on the wall was the verse: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.” Psalm 127 vs 1. It was a good way to start the mission and an important reminder for all of us.

I recognised a number of the faces of those who had gathered for the open-air mission. Braving the freezing temperatures and icy wind, we set out on Friday for the town centre. A few diverted to the market itself primarily seeking to engage the traders, and to give away Bible text calendars and tracts.

It quickly became evident that two pairs of socks and thick tights weren’t going to be enough to stop my toes falling off. Obviously an exaggeration, but it was only possible to stand in the cold for around an hour before the numbness set in. Once that happened, walking back to the church felt like I was being supported by the bones in my feet rather than my actual feet, surprisingly uncomfortable. Still, the cheeriness of the team, and urgency of the task, despite the conditions, helped us persevere!

On the Friday, I first approached J, an elderly lady. She declined my offer of an Ultimate Questions booklet initially, but when I suggested that it might be important, she stopped and put her bag down. She looked at me pleadingly and said, “Can I read it at home?” Of course I said yes, so she took the book, dropped it in her bag and went on her way. Afterwards, I realised that the poor lady had probably thought that I was expecting her to stand in the street and read it in front of me…

A similar thing happened on day two with another elderly lady and a tract. It made me start to wonder what I could do to make myself look less intimidating to elderly folk. I was by this point wearing a woolly hat with ear flaps, a hoody with hood up, and a big jacket, also with a hood. There wasn’t much face left. The rest of the team looked similarly ridiculous, though, and as I had long since abandoned any attempts to make myself presentable, I decided not to worry about it.

Another somewhat louder Christian group were out with microphones in the same area. Their printed banner read, “Definition of a Hate Crime: Letting people go to Hell without first warning them.” Having been confronted with the Christian message wherever they tried to turn, we heard a number of people commenting, “these people are everywhere!”

My second opportunity for personal witness was with K, a seventeen year old girl with blue hair. She had been listening to one of the preachers trying to engage passers by with a Christmas crossword. I asked her what she thought of what was being said and she replied that she hadn’t known any of the answers. After reassuring her that it didn’t matter, I was able to share the Gospel and give her some literature to take away. Later in the day, I spoke to T and L, two youngish girls who weren’t sure yet what they believed. They were happy to take literature and promised to think about what had been said.

One of the preachers, from Liverpool, was getting an interesting response from members of our team as he suddenly directed his, at times confusing, questions to each of us in turn. Things like, “How do you know what you know?” and “What is the difference between a fact and an opinion?” His questions kept us on our toes as we searched for the answers that he was looking for in order to allow him to continue his talk. Passers-by looked stunned when he addressed them directly. It was difficult not to laugh. His approach, whilst unusual, was generally effective and resulted in some profitable conversations.

M had been standing against a lamp-post near to the open-air board listening to a number of the messages whilst also fiddling with her phone. One preacher tried to give her a John’s Gospel but she declined. Her body language suggested that a “softly softly” approach would be needed in order to connect. I wasn’t sure if I was really cut out for this judging by the reactions I had already had from the older ladies. However, as I was the only female there at this point, I knew it was up to me.

I approached her carefully after one of the talks finished and asked her what she thought. She said that she was happy just to listen. The sub-text being “please leave me alone.” I felt, though, that it was more of an automatic defence mechanism so I tried again. I asked her whether she had heard the message before. She replied, and from there we got into a long conversation. Her first question was along the lines of, “Why does God want worship for Himself, isn’t that vain?” I’ve heard this question and versions of it before. I answered by explaining Who God is according to the Bible, and that it’s wrong views about Him that result in this type of thinking. That we tend to think of God as just a bigger version of ourselves which is clearly wrong.

I was encouraged by M’s genuine questions and when she said that she would now like a Gospel of John to read part of the Bible for herself. She also took Ultimate Questions and then looked me in the eye as she sincerely thanked me for coming to talk to her, shook my hand and went on her way. I was reminded again of the sovereignty of God in this work, as he connects the different people with members of the team.

Friday evening was a struggle as unbelievably it got even colder and many people were drunk. An abusive heckler almost managed to dominate one of the talks but he was eventually encouraged to move aside for private conversation and ended up apologising for his earlier behaviour. I spoke briefly with B, a young lad who looked like he had taken drugs although he assured me he hadn’t. He took a tract and then wandered off. One of the team had a good chat with J, a man who had been leaning against a lamp-post and listened to several talks.

M had also been standing next to a lamp-post when she was listening. It was almost as if the post gave them some sense of security or meant that they were not completely exposed and having to stand in the open where everyone could see them. Perhaps, we should carry posts and place them at strategic locations around the open-air boards!

I felt guilty for being relieved when it was time to pack up at just before nine. I was reassured by others that they felt the same as the cold was becoming unbearable. I was astonished to see scantily clad females and some men in shorts or with holes in their clothes. Sadly, I think the alcohol accounts for a lot of the cold tolerance by speeding up the heart.

On Saturday we set out again. Walking past the train station, I observed two homeless men, seemingly high on drugs, sitting on a wall at the edge of the crowds. I hoped rather than believed they hadn’t been there all night as they had sleeping bags.

Arriving in the town centre, It was obviously busier than it had been on the Friday. We had been beaten to our spot by an animal charity sporting various breeds of dog all obediently sitting on mats, and available for people to pamper as they walked by. Some of them were wearing little woolly jumpers. I watched, with a mixture of fascination and sadness, the numbers stopping and fussing over the dogs which contrasted sharply with the attempts to avoid our presentation, and the wide berth people had been giving the two homeless men. It seems that animal life has become more sacred than human.

I saw a Chinese lady across the street from us offering palm readings and decided to go and talk to her thinking that she would at least be polite due to her cultural background. She was, until she realised what I was talking to her about. She became very angry telling me in her limited English that the Bible is a load of made-up stories, she doesn’t believe any of it and eventually asking me to stop talking to her. I complied.

An Italian coffee shop probably got a little more than they bargained for as one by one they sent their staff out onto the street with an advertising board. The young girls, S, R and D, were right next to our presentations and I was able to share the Gospel with all three of them individually as they spent their fifteen minutes in the freezing cold. I gave each of them different literature and told them I had previously spoken to others of their number. They were all very receptive and said that they would probably be arguing with each other about the things we had discussed later on.

We finished the afternoon with some carol singing as our teeth chattered and the shivering set in. Not as many people joined us as I was hoping, but the lyrics were heard by all who passed. Carol singing seems to offend less than the preaching, probably because it falls within the “acceptable things to enhance the Christmas spirit”, or something equally nonsensical. I suppose we should be grateful that the words of the carols haven’t yet been changed to exclude Jesus altogether.

I haven’t been involved in witness at Lincoln before, but I was more aware of the hardness of people's hearts during this mission than on others. The expressions on some faces as they realised our message was religious. The shaking heads and the irritation that we had dared to try and bring them a message of hope but had, in so doing, interrupted their shopping experience. I was surprised as I had thought that people might be more receptive at Christmas and wanting to think about what they are actually celebrating. I have to remind myself that people are spiritually blind and therefore cannot see….and, perhaps on a deeper level, that I was like that before.

Fish and chips for dinner was a good way to round off the short mission and then handshakes, or in some cases enthusiastic hugs, all round. I was expecting to be back in Banbury just after 9pm but was warned that there were already long queues at the train station. That was a definite understatement as hundreds of us stood outside waiting to actually get into the station. Arriving at Derby, so far so good, I found that my train to Banbury had been cancelled several weeks ago due to the strikes. The station staff were unsympathetic as I “should’ve checked before travelling,” but a police lady was helpful.

I eventually caught a later train to Birmingham. I had just settled down with my laptop on the cold floor amongst the crowds of people when the waiting room suddenly emptied as a train arrived and I was left sitting opposite a drunk man who, of course, began talking to me. Torn between wanting not to be bothered as there wasn’t much I could do for him, and wanting to make the most of every opportunity, I waited until a few more people came into the room then closed my laptop, and went to talk to the man. T was very drunk and smelled pretty bad. He said he needed to get to hospital as he had a gangrenous foot, I didn’t want to check whether he was telling the truth. I couldn’t leave the station but suggested I could get a policeman to accompany him to the bus station if I gave the officer the money for his fare. He didn’t want to know. 

I tried to share the Gospel with him but he kept getting annoyed and telling me not to speak to him anymore. I complied but then he kept speaking to me, as drunk people do. He eventually showed me some food someone had given him so I matched it with some leftovers I had in my bag. He commented that he could see I was a good person, I kept my mouth shut rather than correcting him as it seemed pointless. The gift seemed to open the way for me to give him a Gospel of John and a tract which he took gratefully. As I left for my train he pulled me down for a hug and then kissed my cheek. I had to maintain my smile as, by this point, the waiting room had filled up again and there were loads of people staring at us!

Leaving the room, I had to run for the last train back to Banbury as I suddenly realised I was on the wrong platform. The train was jammed and I ended up squashed into a carriage with a load of very drunk people swearing, shouting and singing as they continued to drink. My only goal by this point was to avoid eye contact with any of them so they didn’t speak to me. I got back to Banbury at 1127pm wondering if my electricity would have run out as I only had a little when I left for Lincoln. It was okay. Phew!

Reflecting, I realised that the busy shoppers at the Christmas market, the kind-hearted people working for the animal charity, the Chinese lady reading palms, the drunken man at the railway station and the raucous bunch on the train are basically the same. They are all lost without Jesus this Christmas or any other Christmas. My prayer is that they realise this before it’s too late for them.