On Thursday morning, equipped with a giant blackboard and a few pieces of chalk, 8 members of The Globe Church hit up the Southbank for an hour of smiling, asking questions, and engaging with the people of London.

This was Wonder By The River, an event happening twice a week in our local area during our month of mission in March. The blackboard had written on it an open question:

What’s the HOPE for our world?

Our aim was to get people to engage with this question by asking them what their answer to this question would be.

The uptake was slow initially – but as we warmed to the task, and became bolder with approaching people, our board started filling up. The answers were varied and honest, ranging from ‘We’re doomed’, to ‘Women!’ (it was International Women’s Day!) to lots of answers along the lines of ‘compassion’, ‘working together’, ‘love’…

It was a great springboard from which to be able to say – ‘We’re a local church, we believe that the Bible teaches that Jesus is the hope for our world. What do you make of Jesus?!’

Again, the responses were really varied, but rarely did I encounter a total rejection of Jesus – most people could acknowledge that he was at least a real person, and many more who’d had some experience of church or ‘religion’ in the past.

Our blackboard was a great tool to help people feel that they’ve been listened to, as well as being a physical and interactive display, great for drawing a crowd.

It was a nerve-wracking experience, and a few people on our team had never done anything like it before. What a joy, though, to have the opportunity to say the name of Jesus, out loud, with real openness and honesty, to so many people in one morning!

After many conversations, lots and lots of people took flyers for the various Have You Ever Wondered events happening throughout March. We trust that God will be at work to grow the seeds of the gospel that have been planted in so many people’s hearts. We’d love you to join with us in prayer for the people we met, as well as the ones we will meet over the next weeks, that they would come to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus.