Coming Events
(Outreaches subject to change. Call (510) 282-5629 a few hours before the outreach to confirm)
Friday January 10, 17 5-8 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Sat. January 11 12 – 4 PM 5th and Market St. S.F.
Sat. January 18 12 – 4 PM Berkeley outreach (Shattuck and Center St.)
HOW SOS MINISTRIES GOT STARTED – PART 9
Berkeley
(from the Sept. 1992 SOS Newsletter)
Dear Christian friends,
After preaching the gospel in San Francisco for twelve years, I thought I was prepared for anything. But I was not prepared for the hostility I would find in Berkeley. Although Berkeley is known as the home of the “Free Speech Movement,” we soon found that this “free speech” is intended only for left-wing, radical causes, not for the preaching of the gospel.
In 1987, we began a regular outreach on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. For several years, we witnessed there almost every Wednesday afternoon, Friday night, and Saturday afternoon. People would tear up our microphones, destroy our amplifier, throw various things at us including flower pots and foul-smelling liquids, and yell right in our ears for hours. We were chased from one corner to another by angry street vendors claiming we were hurting their business. From 1987-1989, we went through extremely hard times. Everyone in our house dreaded going to Berkeley, and many left because of the warfare. Christians would go out on the streets with us one time, see the warfare, and never return.
Even though we got a permit from the city to preach, the police would say our permits weren’t valid and threaten to arrest us. Then they started writing citations and confiscating our amplifier. On two occasions I was taken to jail. The first time I was charged with “disturbing the peace.” A Christian lawyer, Julia Spain, defended us and got a judge to dismiss the charges on constitutional grounds. The second time four of us were arrested. But this time they also charged two of us with “battery against a police officer,” claiming that I and a Christian woman had pushed an officer. All I had done was to tape record my conversation with a police officer who was saying we had no right to preach. They arrested us, confiscated the tape recorder and erased the tape.
The situation was getting very serious. Even though we had several witnesses, a jury might believe the police officers and convict us of this charge. Once convicted, the police could effectively keep us off the streets by the threat of arresting us again on the same charge. But the officers made one crucial mistake. When they erased my tape recording in the Berkeley jail, they recorded over it with a conversation between several police officers and returned the tape to me, thinking the tape was blank. On the tape, one officer, a Mormon, told one of us: “I’m going to give you all the Book of Mormon so you’ll learn how to preach the gospel in a civilized way.” He later admitted intentionally recording over the tape. “I just don’t want something that I say to someone in this situation out of my control and I’m destroying his tape.”
Because the police had admitted to destroying evidence, our lawyer was able to make a deal with the D.A. to dismiss the charges if we did not get arrested for the next year. (to be continued)
How SOS Ministries Got Started
Part 1: 1975-1979
http://www.sosmin.com/?m=201903
Part 2: 1980
http://www.sosmin.com/?m=201904
Part 3: Leadership
http://www.sosmin.com/?m=201905
Part 4: 1981
http://www.sosmin.com/?m=201906
Part 5: 1984-1985
http://www.sosmin.com/?m=201908
Part 6: Discipleship Houses
http://www.sosmin.com/?m=201910
Part 7: The Laborers are Fewer
http://www.sosmin.com/?m=201911
Part 8: Division
http://www.sosmin.com/?m=201912
On the Streets
On Friday August 9, we witnessed at 24th and Mission. Alex witnessed to Luis. He had been a pastor in Mexico but had been influenced by watching online videos by atheists and no longer believed in Jesus. Alex tried to give him reasons for believing, but Luis was resistant. Mike witnessed to Juan, 22, who was raised Catholic but had left that religion. He was interested when Mike spoke to him about having a relationship with God and having his sins forgiven. He also witnessed to Anish, who is from India, and Anthony. Both were humble, and listened to the gospel.
The next day, we witnessed at Union Square. Alex ministered to Arturo, who had been in Victory Outreach for 11 months but was now backslidden. He took a Spanish New Testament. Mike witnessed to John, who was raised in an Assembly of God church but is now an atheist. He also witnessed to a group of teenagers with skateboards (photo on page 1). At first they thought it was a joke, but after Mike asked them if they know what happens when they die, several of them asked him some questions.
On Friday August 30, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Alex ministered to Osmar, who said he was a believer but had left his wife to live with his girlfriend. He also ministered to Mario, a Christian who comes to San Francisco once a month for cancer treatment. He was encouraged to see us witnessing for Jesus. Kathy witnessed to two young waitresses at a restaurant. They were from Poland and Russia. A group of 5 Christians walked by and said they were a worship group looking for an opportunity to minister at the Wharf. We let them sing and they drew a crowd. They are from Community Alliance Church in San Pablo and Hillsong Church in San Francisco.
The next day, we witnessed in downtown Berkeley. Alex witnessed to Gary, 37, who is a heroin addict. Alex shared his testimony of how he was delivered from heroin addiction and Gary said “that’s what I’m going through.” He also witnessed to James, 25, who asked a lot of questions. After Alex shared the gospel, he said “that makes so much sense.” Alex prayed for him. Mike witnessed to Liam for two hours. We had seen him several times, and he seemed only to want to talk about politics. He was angry that so many Christians supported President Trump, but surprisingly, he was against abortion. Mike learned that he had been abused by a stepmother, who beat him. Also, when he lived in Mill Valley, he had looked for a Bible study. He struggles with alcohol and drugs.
On Saturday September 7, we held our second (and last) Dolores Park outreach of the year. This is the biggest park in the city, with thousands of people in their 20’s and 30’s, many of which work for technology companies. Rents in the area are $2000 per month and up for each bedroom. The city denied us permits here last year, but after threatening legal action, they agreed to give us two permits a year. We purchased two powered speakers that enabled us to reach twice as many people. It is a large park, and with our new sound system, we can reach about half the people in the park. Mike witnessed to Tommy and Andrew, both about 20. They thanked him for sharing the gospel with them. He also witnessed to Eric, who was trying to get support for a Presidential candidate. He had a Catholic background and listened to the gospel.
Alex witnessed to Natasha, from Russia. Even though she had been influenced by Jehovah Witnesses, she agreed that Jesus is God. He also witnessed to Jack, who was selling paintings in the park. Jack called him over after he preached and said he struggles with heroin addition. He believes in God, but has a problem with the Bible’s views on homosexuality. Alex also witnessed to Alexander and three other boys, all about 20. They were into New Age thinking and spoke about out of body experiences. Alex warned them that they had encountered demons. Kathy witnessed to Jacob, 23, who was with a group supporting the Hong Kong protests. He listened to the gospel message. She also witnessed to Kristine, who wanted to know more about Jesus.
Friday Sept. 13 was not an unlucky day for us. We witnessed at 16th and Valencia St. There are many people in this neighborhood in their 20’s and 30’s. Often they work in the tech industry. Alex witnessed to Dennis, who said he had to bury his brother recently. He also said he was a Muslim, but drank alcohol. Scott witnessed to John, 35, who asked why we were preaching the gospel. Scott shared his testimony of how Jesus changed his life 50 years ago. Brandon witnessed to Cesar, who said he wanted to get right with God. As Brandon prayed with him, he started crying. He said, “I’ve done evil, bad things.” Brandon encouraged him to confess his sins to God, and he did.
Ministry Needs
Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. New Year’s is a time to make resolutions – getting more exercise, losing weight, etc. While we often break such resolutions, it is a good time to examine the priorities in our lives. Instead of dedicating myself to the affairs of this world, I want to dedicate myself to things that will count for all eternity. When we bring the gospel to unsaved people, we are making an eternal difference in their lives. We hope they will be saved and their eternal destiny will be in Heaven. But even if they reject the gospel, they will be without excuse on judgment day, since they heard the gospel and chose to reject it.
We still have room for two men in our ministry house. We are looking for spiritually mature Christians who are seriously interested in doing street evangelism. We are also looking for younger Christians, as our desire is to see this ministry continue for many decades. As Jesus said, “the harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum