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Coming Events

(Outreaches subject to change. Please call (510) 282-5629 to confirm location.)

Friday April 1, 8, 22, 29 6 – 9 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Sat. April 2 12 – 4 PM Fifth St. and Market SF

Sat. April 9, 30 11 AM – 4 PM Fisherman’s Wharf Outreach (Jefferson St. near Powell) SF.

Sat. April 23 12:30 – 4:30 PM Berkeley Outreach (Shattuck and Center St.—outside downtown Berkeley BART station)

The Effectiveness of High Visibility Evangelism

Dear Christian friends,

This month, I want to give the second part of a teaching on what I call “High-Visibility Evangelism” (write me if you didn’t get the first part).

Since so many Christians question the effectiveness of street preaching, tract distribution, carrying signs and other high visibility methods, let me give eight ways in which these methods are effective in advancing God’s kingdom on this earth:

First, they help people to learn how they can be saved. Often, people have read dozens of tracts and may even collect them. By reading these tracts, they know what they must do to be saved and are familiar with many of the scriptures relating to salvation.

Second, they cause people to become conscious of the Gospel and their need to make a decision either to accept or reject Jesus Christ. Each time a person is confronted with the Gospel, he must think about Christ and his need for salvation. God can use each witness to draw the person to Himself.

Third, they leave people without excuse. God has given each person a free will–to accept or reject Him. If he chooses to reject the truth, he will give account of his life before God on Judgment Day. He will not be able to say he never heard the gospel, or had no opportunity to be saved.

Fourth, they cause an entire city or nation to become more conscious of the Gospel. Often, we find that when we witness at major events, people comment that we are everywhere. People get used to expecting Christians to be at rock concerts, parades, sports events, downtown parks, etc. They start talking to one another about all the Christian activity. They are also impressed by the dedication they see in these Christians.

Fifth, the atmosphere of a city or neighborhood can change. Demonic principalities loose their hold on an area where Christ is consistently preached and worshipped. As the Holy Spirit descends upon an area, demonic strongholds are broken up and people become more open to the Gospel. Demons cannot stay in a place where Christ’s lordship has been established.

Sixth, the Christians who participate will be strengthened spiritually. We have found that many of those who participate in our outreaches find that they have become bolder witnesses in other situations. They become more excited about the Lord, as they see Him using them to witness to others. Their desire to intercede for the lost increases, as does their desire to grow spiritually so that their life will be a better witness for the Lord. Their renewed excitement about the Lord spreads to other Christians.

Seventh, other Christians are encouraged by our boldness to witness for Jesus. After seeing what we are doing, many Christians have been encouraged to witness to their friends, or even to start a street ministry in their own community.

Finally, many people do get saved as a result of gospel preaching. However, we only get to see a small percentage of the fruit. Some come to the Lord on the street and we are able to follow-up on them. Others are saved on the street but we lose track of them, or we do not see an immediate change in their life. In many cases, the person may not get saved until much later. The person who witnessed to him may never learn about it in this life.

John from Victory Outreach prays with Christopher, a transexual, at Fisherman’s Wharf. He went to their discipleship home.

A Free Speech Reminder

Edited from the Gilroy Dispatch, 9/4/15

A Texas street preacher who had just spent two weeks helping at a San Martin church was waylaid Monday in Gilroy but quickly got the better of his accuser—a uniformed city code enforcement officer.

As Scott Crawford, 76, of Dallas, stood with a 10-foot white cross and sign [that read: “Live for Jesus. He died for you. Only Jesus can bring the rain.”] the officer told him he was breaking the law. Crawford said he objected. He’s so well versed in First Amendment rights, that he carries briefs of court cases as he travels the country proclaiming his beliefs along the highways on street corners. It’s not the first time someone has tried to stop him, he said. “The Lord has given me a million pulpits in a thousand cities and I was in one of those pulpits [on Monday],” he said. The code officer said, “There’s an ordinance in Gilroy against hand-held signs so you have to go get a permit.”

“I’ve been doing this for 46 years and I politely stand up for my rights,” said the retired Kansas motel owner, who had been helping at the Church of the Valley in San Martin while guest of a prominent Gilroy family. So he drove to City Hall, where he talked with another code enforcement officer, Scott Barron. Barron said, “I advised him (what he was doing) was OK as long as he was careful.” Baron opined that Crawford probably should not have been stopped in the first place. Barron said permits are not needed to hold a sign where freedom of speech is involved.

On the Streets

On Friday January 22, we witnessed at Powell and Market. Dave witnessed to Jackson, 21, who was raised in a Christian home but did not understand the gospel. Dave explained the gospel to him and prayed with him. Jackson said, “I really needed to hear this.”

The next day we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. About 40 Christians joined us, including 25 from Victory Outreach in Sacramento. As we arrived, it started to rain so we quickly set up a canopy and gathered to pray under it. The rain stopped. Chuck Girard and Paul and Noreen Coca ministered that afternoon, and several Christians from Victory Outreach shared testimonies. Dave witnessed to Tin, age 73, a San Francisco maintenance worker from Burma. He was Buddhist. He was very receptive and understood as Dave shared the gospel with him. Dave encouraged him to read the tracts he gave him and talk to God tonight. Some Christians from Victory Outreach witnessed to Christopher, a transsexual. He prayed with them, gave them his heroin and needles, and went with them to their discipleship house in Sacramento.

This year’s Super Bowl was held in Santa Clara, CA, near San Jose, but most of the festivities were held in San Francisco. A large evangelism outreach is held each year at the site of the Super Bowl. Ninety Christians came this year for that outreach. In addition, quite a few other Christians came here to witness. A special Super Bowl City was set up in downtown San Francisco, but the four entrances to this event were covered by preachers, so we held our outreaches a bit farther away.

On Friday night, we witnessed at Powell and Market. For the first time in months, we had a musician on Friday night. Cal Grant is from Grass Valley and feels called to do evangelism in Oakland. After he played music for about 20 minutes, about 10 police officers came over to shut us down. After some discussion, they allowed us to preach with a bullhorn, which we used for the first time.

Dave witnessed to two of the officers, Daniel and Conroy, who were both Catholic. They asked a lot of serious questions, but had problems with the need for a new birth. Dave also witnessed to Gary, who was mocking our preaching, and Sam, a Hindu from India. Kathy, Ben, Eric and Jill all ministered to Justice, 20, who claimed to be a Christian but was very angry and demonized. Mike witnessed to DeAngelo, who listened respectfully to the gospel.

The next day, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Dave, Jeff and Steve witnessed to Jim, a staunch Catholic. Dave and Steve also witnessed to Raju, who was raised Christian in India but had doubts about Jesus’ resurrection. Kathy witnessed to Mercy, a Mormon. She showed her how Mormonism does not line up with the Bible.

Ben, Matt and Hai witnessed to two teens both named Michael, both 16, who attended church but did not know what God had done to fix their sin problem. They were thankful to hear the gospel. They witnessed to Yuki, who is from Japan, who said “this makes sense.” They also witnessed to Yvon, an agnostic, who was sitting on a bench listening to our preaching. After going through the “good person test” with her, she realized she was on her way to Hell, and was concerned about it, so she prayed with them to get right with God.

Ministry Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We are putting together our schedule for the year and will soon be applying for San Francisco park permits. It will cost about $1100 for the permits.

Please pray for those we have witnessed to recently, including those who are mentioned in this newsletter. I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month.