In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul asks: how can the world hear about Jesus unless someone tells them?
With the eyes of the world on London around the time of the Coronation, we at the Luis Palau Association, and youth mission movement Circuit Riders, wanted to bring Christ to the city streets. So we came together to create ‘Carry the Love Festival: London’, a week of evangelistic outreach – and saw many people make a commitment to Jesus!
We opened with a two-night outreach event at City Gates in Ilford, to share hope where there is none and introduce the lost to Jesus. Artists Guvna B and Elle Limebear headlined the evenings, which also included powerful worship and passionate testimonies of the life-changing impact a relationship with Jesus can have.
The crowd that gathered was made up of youth groups, church groups, and families of all ages, as well as individuals with friends, all having been invited along by others to hear about the transformation that Jesus brings.
A large contingent was a buzzing group of millennials, backpacks and skateboards in hand – young evangelists from the Circuit Riders. They had come from across the UK, Europe, and even as far as the US, and were greeting each other like old friends, excited for the opportunity to share Jesus in London.
Andrew and Wendy Palau, our lead evangelists, both gave their all when sharing the gospel message on stage. Using their own experiences and the Bible, they explained God’s love and sensitively spoke into individuals’ lives. Acknowledging each person’s disappointment, loss, and confusion, they offered God’s hope, purpose, and abundant love in exchange.
It is always exciting and humbling to witness people encounter God for the first time, and over the course of the weekend we saw more than 70 people give their lives to Jesus. It was a powerful time!
The weekend concluded with the commissioning of hundreds of young evangelists to start a week of mission on the streets of London, ready to share Jesus with the people they would meet. Each afternoon for the following week, they congregated in Hyde Park before being sent out to iconic and strategic locations across London. They returned joyful, sharing testimonies and stories about their time on the streets – here are just two of the stories they shared during the week:
- “We are currently in a kebab shop getting late night food, and my friend just led a guy to Jesus outside! As the gospel was being shared, he said he’d never been given the opportunity to hear or respond to it before and he gave his life to Jesus right there on the spot!”
- “Three teenagers just gave their lives to the Lord! They were swearing and smoking as I walked over to speak with them. The Lord instantly cut through with love and compassion and they were gripped by the gospel and ready to turn from their lives of sin and give everything to Him. Praise God!”
We asked Iona Clark, a travelling mission partner with Circuit Riders, to share some insights from the Carry The Love missions week – what she shares is a great encouragement for every Christian…
Iona, tell us about your experience as a team sharing the gospel on the streets of London.
“Our dream for Carry the Love London: Festival was to saturate the city of London with the gospel! In order to do this, we brought together several churches, ministries and youth movements for a united evangelistic effort and spent a week training local young people to be evangelists.”
Did you find people approachable and open to hear the gospel?
“Yes! In our experience, people are way more open and hungry for the gospel than you would imagine! If you approach people in a genuinely friendly and non-weird way, most people are willing to have at least a short conversation.”
"Gen Z demonstrate an interest in people who are living a very different lifestyle to them, which makes sharing the gospel very easy."
The team was made up of young people who are enthusiastic about the gospel. Are you encouraged by what you see God doing through this generation?
“Yes! I am so encouraged by what God is doing through them. In Circuit Riders, most of our team members are between the ages of 18 – 25 and our primary focus is to reach the rest of Gen Z with the gospel. From my experience, Gen Z are curious to listen to anything that is raw and authentic. They demonstrate an interest in people who are living a very different lifestyle to them, which makes sharing the gospel very easy.”
What advice would you give someone who wants to take the first step in sharing their faith?
“Practice sharing the simple gospel in 60 seconds, so that you’re always prepared to clearly explain the main points. And then just give it a go! The hardest part is starting conversations. Once you get past the initial awkwardness of approaching someone, it’s much easier from there. That 30 seconds of feeling awkward or nervous could lead to someone’s eternal salvation. It’s so worth it!”
At the end of the week, testimonies were collected from more than 100 people, each having responded to the gospel! God is truly at work on the streets of the UK – will you now carry the love?
From little acorns… Mighty oaks do grow
Storm Cecile shares how a fleeting vision for street evangelism is steadily growing into a movement across London.
