The words of the evangelist John Hawley were never so terrifying as when he turned to me in the middle of Oxford Cornmarket saying: ‘Are you going to preach now, Simon?’
How is it possible for a nervy, stammering 17-year-old to stand up in Oxford city centre with hundreds of people passing by and speak? What Paul said came to mind: ‘Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me’.
That first day in Oxford was petrifying, but a day I will never forget. God took control and it was the first coherent talk I did in the open air. He brought people to listen and many took John’s Gospels from my hand as I finished. I remember the joy which filled my heart when I heard of one man in particular who was spoken to after hearing the message. ‘He seemed very close to knowing Jesus as his Saviour’, I was told. So began my gap year as a trainee evangelist with the Open-Air Mission.
