The Gospel Ministries team was out in full force in Trafalgar Square on Saturday, 10 October, in a second opportunity this year to speak a word in season to needy souls. Once again, it was the seasoned open-air preachers who gained the ear of the public passing through or relaxing in this famous square on a windy autumn day.
The preachers included Geoffrey Gobbett (Highbury), John Marshall (Hemel Hempstead), Stuart Pendrich, Bill Thompson (Tower Hill), Peter Bell, Sebastian Mani (Grace Mission), Gary Brady (Child’s Hill), and Mark Wilson (TBS). After Rev. John Marshall (known affectionately as ‘a Bulldog for the gospel’), had stressed the importance of reading the Bible, one bystander responded by pulling a wadge of banknotes from his pocket. ‘This is my Bible’, he proclaimed. How true this man’s response was — money is a god for so many in our materialistic world. Another among a group of young men mockingly shouted, ‘I believe!’
The literature available on the TBS book stand attracted a crowd of interested folk. Free Bibles and other gospel literature were given out, and helpers had many fruitful conversations. Once again, tracts were distributed, and many hundreds of travellers received a brief explanation of the gospel as they came out of the Trafalgar Square Underground exit or crossed the square. Noticeably, there were many more supporting churches represented, and it was encouraging to see so many willing to give this venture their wholehearted support.
The crowd size is greatly affected by the weather, and mercifully this held out so that people could linger and listen to the good news. The notification of availability of the Square is always at short notice, but it presents a golden opportunity to sound the gospel trumpet. We can be thankful to the organisers for their vision and tenacity in carrying out this important testimony, when so many of our Christian ‘rights’ are being eroded by a secular society.
