Unleashing the Church
Dear Christian friends,
Many of you haven’t received a newsletter from us since last year. This letter is going out to hundreds of pastors and youth pastors, ministry leaders, Christian bookstores, and Bible colleges. It is also going to many people we haven’t heard from in a while, as well as to our regular readers.
We send out a newsletter each month with outreach reports from the streets of San Francisco and Berkeley, a schedule of upcoming outreaches and evangelism conferences in San Francisco and around the U.S., and teachings on evangelism. We hope it will encourage you to witness boldly for Jesus Christ in San Francisco and in your own community. We hope you will pray for us and that God will direct many of you to support us financially.
If you want to get this newsletter each month, please indicate this on the enclosed response sheet. We don’t require donations, but we do need to hear from you at least once a year to make sure you really want to read this letter.
Why Have a City-wide Outreach?
I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then said I, “Here am I; send me” Isaiah 6:8.
When evangelist Luis Palau came to San Francisco in 1980, he gave five reasons for having a mass evangelistic crusade:
1. The gospel goes to many thousands more people than if just one or two churches were involved.
2. The whole city becomes “God-conscious” for the period of the outreach, making Jesus Christ and the Bible common topics of discussion among all groups of people for much longer.
3. The powers of darkness are disrupted as the light of Christ is firmly held up by a united church.
4. As a result of this disruption of Satan’s strongholds, evangelism becomes easier.
5. Churches grow and plant new churches in areas of the city where crusade decisions reveal a need.
In 1980, we held our first SOS-San Francisco outreach. We held two large worship rallies in Union Square with over 1000 Christians at each, gave out 400,000 tracts, and the whole city truly became conscious of Jesus Christ during that week. The next year, about 3000 people came against us at Union Square, blowing whistles in our ears and tearing up our Bibles. They had been told that we “hated homosexuals” but God showed us we were only to worship Him, and the opposition dispersed as we sang “Oh the Blood of Jesus” over and over.
Since that time, several new churches have begun and are growing in San Francisco. Several thousand Christians have obtained experience in evangelism through SOS and many are now involved in outreaches in their own communities. Major city-wide outreaches patterned in part after SOS-San Francisco have been established in at least a dozen cities around the U.S. And only in heaven will we know how many people have been saved from eternal Hell because of those of you who took the time to come to SOS-San Francisco.
San Francisco is one of the most strategic cities in the world to reach for Jesus Christ. Many destructive trends have begun in San Francisco and quickly spread across the U.S. and around the world. The first of the violent 1960’s political protests began in 1960 at San Francisco city hall. San Francisco saw the initiation of the topless bar, the drug movement, “acid rock”, the “gay” rights movement, the “Church of Satan”, the beginnings of numerous cults and new age philosophies, etc. Faced with such ungodliness, we need to remember that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” (2 Corin. 10:4). God has given us powerful spiritual weapons to come against Satan’s work: united prayer, worship, and proclamation of the Gospel. SOS-San Francisco is simply a vehicle through which Christians can unite for these purposes.
We need your help!
We have printed 2500 posters and 15,000 bulletin inserts to let Christians know about this event. Please help us get this literature to churches, Christian bookstores, and Christian schools in your area. You can give it out at Christian concerts and other events. Also, talk with your pastor and Christian friends and encourage them to get involved. Set aside the week of June 21-29 to attend SOS-San Francisco and bring a friend. A youth group of 70 from Cedar Park Church near Seattle and a group of 30 from Gospel Outreach in Eureka are already planning to join us.
We have enclosed a registration form with this letter. If you register by May 1, you will receive a free SOS T-shirt. On Saturday June 22 we will have a noon worship rally at 5th St. and Market. Free housing is available all week. Bring a sleeping bag and foam pad. If you prefer, we can send you names of hotels in the area. (The Pacific Bay Inn, 415-673-0234, charges $200 per week for a room for 2 persons.)
SOS Video
If you’ve never been to SOS before, let me say that the fellowship with other believers, the times of worship and personal ministry, and the times of outreach all make it an incredible and unforgettable experience. We have prepared a video of last summer’s outreach. The video contains 57 minutes of highlights from the outreach and our 11 minute SOS- San Francisco video, which is edited and narrated in a more professional manner for showing to churches and other groups. This video shows many different kinds of witnessing and thousands of people hearing and responding to the gospel in San Francisco.
On the Streets
Most of the streets we witness on are very crowded. Mission Street is crowded in the daytime but not very busy at night. So I wasn’t really excited about witnessing there on Friday night January 26. We had 14 Christians on our team. I stayed with Eric Livingston, who sang and played guitar at 24th St. and Mission. I would stand there for five or ten minutes before a single person walked by.
Before long, I noticed some teenagers standing outside an all-night dance hall a few doors down. I recognized three of them from Haight Street. I started talking with them but they weren’t too receptive to the gospel. Soon, more young people started gathering outside the dance hall, waiting for it to open at 11 PM. We witnessed to them and began preaching as the crowd grew.
At 11 PM, our team gathered together at this corner. We continued preaching and several of the youth approached us with questions about Jesus. Before long, most of us were witnessing to or praying with someone. At the end of the evening several of our workers shared testimonies of what had happened that night. At least ten people had professed faith in Christ: Alex, Carlos, David, Manuel, Jim, Cheryl, Ofilio, Georgiana, Juan Jose, and George. George had walked up to Stan and said, “Can you pray for me?” After prayer, Juan Jose was taken to Victory Outreach. They let him spend the night. Please pray for these people. We went home greatly encouraged, knowing that God can work mightily, even on a quiet street.
Coming Events
(Events not sponsored by SOS in italics.)
Saturday April 27 12-4 PM. SOS Evangelism Outreach, 5th St. and Market. S.F. Worship rally with Harvest Church (formerly Family Worship Center), Concord. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
May 2-4 National Street Ministries Conference-East, Jacksonville, FL. Contact N.S.M.C., Box 30642, Phoenix, AZ 85046, (602) 942- 6362.
Saturday May 11 12-4 PM. SOS Evangelism Outreach, 5th St. and Market, S.F. Worship rally with Open Bible Church, SF. Call (510) 531-5325.
May 16-18 Southern California Evangelism Conference, San Diego. (I will be teaching a workshop.) Contact San Diego Coalition of Evangelists & Street Ministries, 9511 Jamacha Blvd. #A, Spring Valley, CA 91977, (619) 418-4258 or 679-7706.
June 21-29 SOS-San Francisco. Set aside these dates for our 17th annual week-long outreach to the people of San Francisco. Call (510) 531-5325.
EVERY FRIDAY 7 PM. (Note new time.) Witnessing in various S.F. neighborhoods. Meet at Vineyard, 7th St. and Harrison, San Francisco. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
EVERY SATURDAY Noon. San Francisco or Berkeley witnessing. Call (510) 531-5325.
Ministry Needs
Once again we want to thank you for your prayers and support for this ministry. During this past month, we were able to put together a huge canopy (26 foot X 16 foot) to allow us to have outreaches in the rain. (We had to cancel two rallies in January and February because of threat of rain.)
Our expenses are always greatest in the spring as we prepare for SOS-San Francisco. We need to print 100,000 tracts for the out reach. We still need to get a sound system for the ministry. Also, consider supporting a worker for SOS. Many Christians would like to participate in the SOS outreach but cannot afford the registration and meal costs.
We have an opening for one Christian to live in our ministry house. This house is not for new believers but for those who are ready for evangelism ministry. We are looking for soldiers who will endure hardship and persist in God’s calling to evangelize the San Francisco Bay Area.
Please pray for those who have written us in response to tracts this past month: Colleen (Oakland), Jan (South SF), Brie (Berkeley), and Kyle (Albany). Pray that Kyle (18) and his two triplet brothers would be delivered from a life of drugs and partying. Pray for Saul, a backslidden Christian from Haight St., that he would get into a Christian discipleship program.
I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month. Our schedule is listed above in the “Coming Events” column. Please help us bring the gospel to those who are perishing. Please pray that we would continue to get permits for these outreaches, as well as those scheduled for SOS week. Again, we are having trouble getting permits and may need to take legal action.
Our Tape of the Month is Pass the Spuds by Glen Dunning. Glen preaches the gospel full-time on the University of California, Berkeley campus. This teaching deals with one of the most common questions asked by college students: How did the universe get here? In this tape, Glen shows the inadequacy of secular explanations such as the “Big Bang” theory. Also, many of you have never read my book You Shall Be My Witnesses: How to Reach Your City for Christ. This 140 page book tells the story of SOS Ministries and contains teachings to help you reach your community for Jesus. If you’ve already read the book, you may want to get one for a friend.
Please continue to pray for us as we prepare for SOS-San Francisco. We need God’s wisdom in putting everything together. Pray that He will guide us in every area of the planning. God bless you all. Don’t forget to order SOS posters and bulletin inserts, and to send in your registration form by May 1 to get a free T-shirt.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
