Lowestoft outreach
An estimated 340,000 people attended Lowestoft’s 2012 Sea Front Air Festival in June. On the first day, Oulton Broad Free Presbyterian Church ran a Good News stand on the promenade.
Once again, some passers-by asked specifically for our new mid-year pocket calendar, having used the previous ones.
These provided a good opportunity to ask what they had thought about the Scripture verses. The front of this year’s showed Psalm 108:4: ‘For thy mercy is great above the heavens and thy truth reaches unto the clouds’.
On it was a photo of the Breitling biplane wing-walkers, while on the reverse was Isaiah 44:22: ‘I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins: return unto me for I have redeemed thee’. It also displayed Romans 10:13: ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’.
Approximately 3,000 of these were handed out, as well as tracts themed for the Diamond Jubilee and other subjects.
Many encouraging conversations took place, both with other Christians and enquirers. Some took away copies of the Gospels or Ultimate Questions.
More than 100 children came to play a free ‘hoopla’ game, each receiving a colourful child-friendly tract. The weather kept dry too, with sunny intervals.
Being held earlier this year than usual — the festival usually happens in August — the majority of those contacted were local rather than holidaymakers.
However, we were pleased to welcome to the stand Charles and Esther Ferguson, who had come all the way from Scotland to join those helping out. Other workers included a number of young people from the fellowship.
May it please the Lord to use these conversations about Christ and the distributed Scriptures to reveal his truth and mercy to many more.
Matthew Pickhaver
