SOS-San Francisco Outreach Report
For the past 14 years, we have been sending out an “SOS” to Christians all over the United States to witness for Jesus Christ to the people of San Francisco. Each year, God is faithful to bring dedicated Christians to labor in this harvest field. About 250 Christians registered to participate in this year’s outreach. Believers came from Minnesota, Missouri, Indiana, and Texas. Three came from Canada, nine from Washington, and ten from Oregon.
About half of our workers had attended previous outreaches. Some had participated in many SOS outreaches. Craig Bowman has been to all 14 outreaches–beginning at age 15! We had children, teenagers, and adults of all ages. Several people over 65 witnessed with us the entire week and even slept at the church.
We were privileged to have Ray Comfort here to teach our workers on Saturday morning and evening. He spoke about the use of God’s law to bring true repentance and conversions. This teaching was understood by great preachers such as Wesley, Spurgeon and Finney but is neglected by most preachers today. Ray also preached outdoors at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell and on Sunday morning at New Life Christian Church.
On Monday and Wednesday, we had worship rallies at the Embarcadero Plaza, in the center of the Financial District. A week before, eight people had been murdered by a gunman in a building a block away. It seemed that the business people were more receptive to the gospel than ever before. On Wednesday, several people started to weep as they heard the worship music. As they did, Christians walked over to pray with them. Three of those people attended our meeting at the Vineyard on Wednesday night.
On Tuesday, we had another worship rally at the Golden Gate Bandshell with the New Life Christian Church worship group. Some of us began to pass out tracts at the nearby California Academy of Sciences. This museum serves to indoctrinate millions of school children into belief in evolution. As we gave out tracts, a security guard got very angry and threatened to call the police, but never did.
Chuck Girard was with us from Thursday through Saturday. We were blessed as he ministered to us and to the lost through his music. On Friday, we had a rally at Dolores Park in the Mission District. We set up next to the children’s playground. A Spanish worship group from Elojim Church in San Pablo, the Jubilate children’s ministry and Chuck Girard all ministered in the park. Dolores Park has children in one area, drug dealers in another area, and at the top of the hill are scores of sunbathers, mostly homosexual. Several people responded to the gospel that day, including a woman whose friend had been murdered in the park the day before, and an Hispanic man with an ice cream vending cart.
On Thursday and Saturday we had rallies at Washington Square Park in North Beach. One man called the police repeatedly, complaining that he lived nearby, worked at night and had to sleep during the day. The chief noise control officer came out and almost shut us down, but after we talked with him, he allowed us to continue. We later learned that the complainer was a park regular and his story was a lie.
At the Saturday outreach, Washington Square was packed with sunbathers, volleyball players, children in the playground, and people who came to view an outdoor art show. Love a Child Ministries gave away hundreds of hot dogs and drinks to people in the park. Chuck Girard and “Mobsters for God,” a rap group from Richmond, ministered that afternoon.
After the rally, we had a “March for Jesus” to the Powell St. BART Station. We carried beautiful banners and sang songs from the “March for Jesus” tape, which played through speakers on a van. The police escorted us and gave us a lane in the street to march. We learned to say “Jesus loves you” in Chinese and shouted it as we marched through the packed streets of Chinatown.
The outreach concluded with a rally at the BART Station with the Vineyard worship group and Chuck Girard. Jerry Brandt preached and several people came forward for prayer. Jerry was with us the whole week, and led worship in the mornings. He sang and preached at the Embarcadero on Wednesday. He brought a PA system that he set up at Fisherman’s Wharf, where he ministered several evenings.
Four Testimonies
At several of our meetings, we shared testimonies of what was happening on the streets. Here are four of them: Leslie witnessed to a backslidden Baptist. The day before, he had told the Lord he would throw himself into the river. But that night, she prayed with him to rededicate his life to Christ.
Leslie also told of witnessing to a Satan worshiper on Polk Street. At first he refused to talk to her, but she prayed for him and he kept walking by her. By the end of the night, he was sitting at her feet and asked her a question. He said he was afraid that Satan would destroy him if he came to the Lord. He didn’t get saved that night but she challenged him to ask Jesus to forgive him and hugged him before she left.
While a brother was preaching, a man cried out “God can’t love me.” The man had the HIV virus and was spreading it through homosexual activity. Several Christians ministered to him, after which he renounced the sins of homosexuality and drunkenness.
On Tuesday night, a sister began witnessing to a man in the Mission District but he spoke very little English. She asked Kelly, who speaks Spanish, to talk with him. Mario had arrived recently from Guatemala. The night before, he learned that his mother and brothers had been murdered by Guatemalan soldiers. Despondent, he planned to kill himself that night at midnight. Instead, Kelly shared God’s love with him and he dedicated his life to Christ. She told him he needed to forgive the soldiers and he prayed, “Lord, I forgive the soldiers who killed my mother and brothers.”
A Final Word
Please continue to pray for those in whose hearts gospel seeds were planted and watered, as well as those who committed their lives to Jesus during the week. Please pray also for our SOS workers. After we are used by God in an outreach, we can expect satanic attack and need God’s strength to resist it and continue to preach the gospel wherever He sends us.
We continue to witness every Friday night and Saturday afternoon. We have worship rallies once or twice a month on Saturday from 3-6 PM at the Powell St. BART Station. Worship rallies are scheduled on September 11 and 18. We will be holding our annual Lakeport Outreach on Labor Day Weekend, September 4-6, joining with Lakeport Christian Fellowship to do outreaches at Library Park and the Lake County Fair. Call us for information about this outreach.
I want to let you know about two special projects: The San Francisco Revival Prayer Chain Newsletter is a letter encouraging Christians to pray for revival in San Francisco, something we very much need to do. Also, the San Francisco School of Urban Ministry is scheduled to begin this September. This School seeks to equip men and women for practical, effective service in the Kingdom of God, combining prayer, practical ministry experience, and academic enrichment. Courses also fulfill the educational requirements for Assembly of God licensing. For more information, contact CityView Assembly of God, 884 Rhode Island St, San Francisco 94107, (415) 282-3663.
The National Street Ministries Conference will be held in Dallas from September 23-25. This conference draws up to 1000 Christians from all over the nation who are interested in street ministry. I am planning to attend this year and have gotten a ministry booth for SOS Ministries and the International Street and Evangelism Ministries Assn. (ISEMA) For more information about this conference, call (214) 283-3900.
Finally, I want to thank all of you who participated in SOS-San Francisco as well as those of you who prayed for us and sent contributions. Because of your support, we were able to feed quite a few workers who came to SOS without any money. A week before the outreach, I was told we needed to purchase 10 microphones at a cost of $1200 in order to do our outdoor outreaches! Fortunately, we were able to get the microphones and were able to finish the outreach debt-free. Currently, we need to purchase New Testaments and print children’s tracts. Please continue to pray for us that God will guide us, grant us wisdom and bring us many workers for His final harvest.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
