Preaching in Manchester

Today we were witnessing and preaching in Manchester as has been our tradition for several years now. Today we were approached on more than one occasion by several Police Officers who tried to intimidate us into leaving because of “several complaints” that what we were doing was offensive to people. We mentioned that we simply read the Bible or quoted the Bible to which one of them replied, “Well you should only read the bits that don’t offend people!”

We continued to preach regardless of this intimidation. We asked what law we had broken and were told, “none” but if people got offended we would face being arrested under Public Disorder legislation. The Police even began recording what we were saying and doing and even confiscated some of the literature we were distributing.

It is our belief that this form of harrasment will only get worse, especially if the “Equalities Bill” is passed in its present form. This could signal the end of Street Preaching in this country.

Please keep all street evangelists in your prayers. We met some young Christians who had been persuaded that they were not allowed to preach as they would be arrested. We encouraged them not to be intimidated as it is perfectly legal for people to preach on the streets, and to distribute Gospel literature in this country at this moment in time.

Let us be bold in our witness and uphold the name of Jesus Christ who is the only means of redemption for mankind. People need to hear the message of repentence and believing in Jesus Christ. There is NO other means of salvation, no other means by which men can be reconciled to the Father except believing in the atoning sacrifice of Christ and His ressurrection from the dead. All men are sinners in God’s sight and need to have this explained to them in a clear and unambiguous way!