|PIC1|As a boy I always looked over to the left from my upstairs seat on the bus as it went along Park Lane to Marble Arch. There you could see Speakers' Corner and some people speaking from their soapboxes. I thought they were very odd and even out of their minds. But little did I realise that one day I would be doing the same!

At Speakers' Corner, particularly on a Sunday afternoon, you will find Socialists, Jews, Muslims, strange sects, a sad Englishman in his 60s to whom hardly anyone listens, an English lady in her 50s who preaches hatred (yes! and the crowd love it) as well as the occasional faithful gospel preacher. At the Whitsun weekend you will also find a team of about 100 from United Beach Missions; they call it 'Christian Answer'. That is where a friend and I found ourselves this year, in my case for the 7th year running.

Speakers' Corner, where people have the right to free speech provided they do not break the law, has sinister origins. Just nearby was Tyburn, the place where, from 1300 to 1783, condemned men and women were hanged. In fact a café at Marble Arch is named "The Tyburn Café". But before being hanged the condemned men and women were given one last chance to speak in public, presumably to proclaim their innocence to whoever wanted to listen; hence the ongoing tradition of free speech.

At the Whitsun weekend all the world is at Speakers' Corner, well almost! Every year we meet people from dozens of different countries, and over the weekend thousands pass by our stand. Some stop and then move on, while others stop to listen. On the Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the Bank Holiday weekend there is non-stop preaching for about 4 hours each day.

There are experienced open-air preachers, sometimes using illustrated talks on the Velcro board and sometimes preaching straight from the Bible. There are old and young, perhaps I should point out that I have been the oldest team member for the past few years! But there are many young people and it thrills me to see 16 year-olds on the team too. Some of them are understandably apprehensive at first or even terrified and some have no intention whatever of going up on the 'box' or 'stand'. It is impressive to see experienced open-air preachers take these young people under their wing and then gently interview them on the box as to their Christian faith. It is even more exciting to see these same youngsters volunteering to give their testimony from the box the next day!

The team, who come from all over the country, are based at West Kilburn Baptist Church. The women on the team sleep there, while the men are transported to two other church halls in north London. Sleeping on church floors is not my favourite pastime so I pull rank, using my age as an excuse to stay overnight with friends at Trinity Road Chapel. We have our meals at the church in West Kilburn and meet every morning for Bible ministry and teaching on some practical aspect of evangelism, before heading off by bus or car to Speakers' Corner.

On the Saturday and Monday of the weekend we are usually without competition, so have a clear field. These are great occasions to preach Christ to tourists and passers-by without opposition. The atmosphere on Sunday is quite different, with every weird and wonderful view being expressed and with each speaker's audience spilling over into the neighbouring speaker's crowd. It sometimes borders on the chaotic and it can be hard being heard over the babble of the pack.

Yet the Word goes out and people do hear the gospel. There are hecklers of course, but you are advised to ignore them when you are preaching because they only want to draw attention to themselves. Still, having a heckler in your crowd screaming at you from a few feet away can be unnerving as I found out myself. "Don't worry Michael", came the encouraging voice of an experienced open-air preacher, "the crowd can't hear him, but they can hear you. His voice is aimed at you, whereas your voice is aimed at the crowd".

In the course of the weekend the team meet folk with diverse needs. Amongst the many British folk listening, some are bereaved and sad, others lonely, while a few are searching for the meaning of life. This is why they go to Hyde Park, desperately hoping they will hear something that will give them a sense of direction. Some are seeking God but do not know where or how to find Him. There are European tourists, who come mainly from formal religious backgrounds. Since there are always team members who speak French, German, Spanish or other languages they explain what we are doing and the tourists go away with a tract or gospel in their own language as well as plenty to think about.

It should be said that a visit to Speakers' Corner is a 'must' for some tourist organisations eager to show overseas' visitors an essential part of English culture. This year I gave an English tract to an Asian man videoing the whole scene. His English was limited, so I asked him where he came from. It turned out that he was from mainland China. I took him with me to the boxes where our literature is stacked and gave him a Chinese tract. But unbeknown to me all his Chinese friends had followed. There were perhaps 6 or 7 of them and I gave them each a tract in Mandarin. But they kept asking me for more, at least I assume that was what they were saying since they asked me in Chinese. Between them, they took almost our entire stock of Chinese literature and New Testaments. What an opportunity to preach Christ in China without ever going there!

As well as taking my turn on the box, my special interest is to look out for Muslims in the crowd and I love talking to Arabs and other Muslims in the crowd about the Saviour. A friendly young man from Kuwait named Khalid tried to convert me to Islam when he heard me speak some Arabic. "You speak Arabic so you would make a good Muslim", he told me; I have often been told this in North Africa. He came back on the Sunday and the Monday to try to make me a Muslim.

Sometimes some Muslims can be irate or even very aggressive. "God loves the Arabs", I remember saying to a Palestinian man. He nodded approvingly. "God also loves the Jews", I said, whereupon he became very angry with me.

Two Muslims heckled my friend while he was preaching from the box. He met up with them again afterwards and I joined him. By now there were 3 of them, but none of them was interested in the answers to their supposed 'difficulties' or contradictions in the Bible. Then one of them came out with a statement that merits inclusion in The Guinness Book of Howlers, if such a book exists. "The reason Muslims do not read the Bible", he said, "is because it was written by King James"; hence the title, 'The King James' Bible'!

There are also many seeking Muslims. Last year I explained the gospel in Arabic for 10 minutes to Abdallah, a man of about 60 from Kuwait. He was ill and was in London for treatment. What amazed me is that he did not stop me once with any of the usual Muslim objections; this was most unusual. He gratefully accepted a gospel portion in Arabic and we said a warm goodbye. Perhaps he was a dying man seeking for the truth. This year there was Muhammad, a 44 year-old Algerian who looked seriously ill. He came up with the usual Muslim objections to the gospel, but then listened carefully as a friend and I explained how our sins can be forgiven through faith in Christ.

The crowd goes away, but the seed has been sown in many hearts. Perhaps this side of eternity we will never know who has turned to the Lord as a result of a young girl's testimony or the faithful preaching of a veteran open-air warrior. Think of British people who have been told of a good church in their hometown, or of Arabs going back to the Middle East or North Africa with a copy of God's Word in Arabic. Or think of those Chinese tourists taking the New Testaments back with them to a communist land.

Here and there one hears how someone who is now in Christian service became a Christian through being given a tract at an open-air meeting. Pray that those contacted this year at Speakers' Corner will turn to Christ as a result of what they heard there. Why not consider coming along yourself next year to lend a hand - you will never be the same again!

Michael Paton
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Michael Paton, a retired missionary from Arab World Ministries has worked for 34 years in France, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. He explains the unparalleled opportunities to reach Muslims in London when working with the United Beach Missions (UBM) Christian Answer team. Michael is aged 70 and now lives in Chippenham, Wiltshire.