Reaching the world from the London pavement

‘Why has Britain lost its way?’ In the light of the widespread violence and devastation spread across England in August, this question is incredibly relevant.

However, it was actually posed by a man from Kuwait during the Tell-a-Tourist outreach campaign in London, which ran from 25 to 30 July.

This man explained that he appreciated the rich heritage of the UK, yet his searching question recognised a moral vacuum present in our society.

This example was just one of many conversations the Tell-a-Tourist team had this summer. Across six days, they spent 250 man hours in the capital’s tourist hotspots engaging people with the good news of Jesus Christ.

This led the team to Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, the Tower of London, and Covent Garden. Other areas included Hounslow and Ealing, as the team worked alongside local churches there.

Painting on sketchboards accompanied brief evangelistic messages. This approach not only attracts crowds and reinforces the spoken message but is also especially helpful for those for whom English is not their mother tongue.

The team met people from 54 countries, had dozens of meaningful conversations and distributed hundreds of gospel tracts over the week.

There were several very encouraging stories that came out of the week.

One of the team members had this experience: "There was one young woman from Pakistan, who has a Muslim mother but also a sister who came to faith eight years ago, who showed a lot of interest, especially in the Bible.

"I suggested she go to a local church in the area that Sunday. The following Monday the minister rang me to say that not only had she come to the morning service, but that evening she brought three other ladies whom she’d seen standing outside a church which was not open, and invited them to go with her to the evening service!

"Please pray for her."

Tell-a-Tourist is a partnership between London City Mission (LCM) and Open Air Campaigners (OAC). Training is provided by seasoned evangelists. This enables team members to give creative gospel presentations and engage in one-to-one conversations with people of diverse backgrounds.

"Through Tell-a-Tourist, we can speak to the whole world from the London pavement," said Peter Kennelly, OAC Director.