Bay Area Outreach Ministries Newsletters
Ministry News Update
Dear Christian friends,
The past two newsletters have been devoted to teaching and exhortation, so I haven’t been able to tell you of all the things God has been doing. He has been opening some wonderful doors for us, and I want to share some of this with you in this newsletter.
Youth Outreach
Two months ago, I wrote a newsletter about involving youth groups in evangelism. Our goal is to see youth groups be involved in evangelistic outreach on a consistent basis, at least once a month. Since then, we have received several responses from youth pastors. The youth group from New Covenant Fellowship in Livermore has continued to join us on the streets of Berkeley once a month and now their adult disciplship class also wants to witness with us. Also, youth groups from Hayward and Stockton are planning to come to Berkeley.
The youth leader from Evangel Christian Fellowship in San Jose will be working with us on an outreach April 8 in Santa Cruz. They have reserved the bandshell on the beach at the Santa Cruz boardwalk for a time of worship and preaching and have invited other youth groups to join us. This area is packed with young people every weekend and is a great place to witness. We are hoping that an ongoing Santa Cruz outreach will develop out of this.
Berkeley Christian Outreach
Several Christian students from the University of California at Berkeley have been witnessing with us on Friday nights, and with their help we have started the Berkeley Christian Outreach, a recognized student organization, the purpose of which is to evangelize the Berkeley campus. Through this organization, we can now get permits to preach right in front of Sproul Hall at noon, with a large public address system supplied by the school. This is the busiest area on campus, with thousands of students, and it is easy to draw a large crowd here. We have already begun preaching here, and hope to continue on a weekly basis. We can only get a permit from week to week, however, so call us if you want to join us.
Through this student group, we also have reserved a room at the Student Union building to gather for prayer and worship on Friday night before our outreach. We hope that this student organization will attract other Christian students who are interested in evangelism and provide other opportunities to witness on campus, through signs, tables, campus meetings, and outdoor concerts.
In addition to the Berkeley students, several Christians from the New Life Christian Church in San Lorenzo have been witnessing with us on Wednesday afternoon and Friday night. We now have permits to preach on Friday nights and have musicians to lead worship, and find that we are getting much better response from people because of the worship and preaching.
At last month’s New Horizon “TGIF” outreach in Berkeley, about sixty Christians were witnessing on the streets. Christians were preaching, worshipping, praying, passing out tracts and witnessing one-on-one. The combined effect was powerful. Toward the end of the evening there were dozens of conversations on the street. At least three people prayed to receive Christ and two others rededicated their life to Christ. How we wish we had this many laborers every time we went to the streets!
Mendocino Whale Festival Outreach
On March 12, we joined the Caspar Foursquare Church for an outreach in Mendocino. After we shared at their church on Sunday morning, about twenty members of the church joined us for the outreach. Mendocino is a stronghold of occultism, drugs and New Age philosophy. An Assembly of God church had begun here, but soon disbanded. The Caspar church had witnessed here before, but had received a lot of persecution.
Hundreds of tourists had come to Mendocino this weekend for the 7th Annual Mendocino Coast Whale Festival. We gathered on the main street in front of a bar where many of the local people gather. We began worshipping the Lord. At first the atmosphere was extremely oppressive, but as we continued to worship, we felt an increased freedom to witness. We gave out hundreds of tracts and had many good conversations. Many of the local people seemed to be moved by the joy they saw in us. I believe that this outreach will encourage these Christians to continue to witness in Mendocino, knowing that the power of the gospel is greater than the power of the occult.
Church Meetings
While we love to do outreaches in different cities, we know we cannot evangelize the Bay Area by ourselves. One of our goals is to help churches in each Bay Area city to start an ongoing outreach in that city. During the past month, we have been able to share at several churches, equipping and encouraging them to reach their community for Jesus. Besides the Caspar Foursquare Church, we have also spoken at the New Life Christian Church in San Lorenzo and the Hayward Full Gospel Church. If you would like us to come to your church either to speak or do an evangelism training seminar, talk with your pastor and let us know if he is interested in having us.
Our tape of the month is from one of these meetings. Four members of our ministry shared our experiences in evangelism at the New Life Christian Church and exhorted them to a greater commitment to fulfill the Great Commission. This would be a good tape to give to your pastor, so he could get familiar with our ministry. Both he and you will be blessed by the testimonies that are shared in this tape.
Ministry Needs
Every month I tell you this, but I want each of you to know how much I appreciate your prayers and financial support for this ministry. As I see God blessing our ministry and opening new doors for outreach, I know He is answering your prayers for us. I also want to invite you to join us for our prayer meeting on the last Tuesday of each month. This a a way for us to meet you and for us to pray together for this ministry, for Berkeley, and for the Bay Area.
This is a hard time to begin a new ministry. It seems that the TV preacher scandals have caused many Christians to stop giving to evangelism ministries. Almost every ministry I know has experienced a dramatic decrease in their income during the past year. Several leaders of street ministries have had to get secular jobs after many years in full-time ministry. Half of our income is still coming from SOS Ministries, which is helping us get started. But their income has also dropped, and it is a hardship on them. Bay Area Outreach Ministries needs to become self-supporting, but we need about five hundred dollars a month in additional income to do this. Please pray about this need, and as God leads, please consider helping us by supporting this ministry monthly. We hope to see you at one of our outreaches during the next month, or at our prayer meeting.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
Outreach Schedule
WEEKLY OUTREACHES—WEDNESDAY 10:30 AM-2 PM FRIDAY 6:45 – 11 PM SATURDAY 12-4 PM. Meet at 3039 Dakota St., Oakland. Take 580 Freeway to Fruitvale exit. East on Fruitvale to MacArthur. Right on MacArthur to Maple. Right on Maple (2 blocks) to Dakota. Left on Dakota. House is 1/2 block up on right. Call to confirm meeting or for Berkeley meeting location.
MONDAY 7 PM Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. WEDNESDAY 7 PM Berkeley. Meet at Dakota St. house. Call Jim or Sarah at (415) 482-3147.
PRAYER MEETINGS – Tuesday April 25 and May 30 7-9 PM. Meet at 3039 Dakota St., Oakland. Come join us to pray for the Bay Area and the needs of our ministry.
Special Outreaches
Saturday April 8 Santa Cruz Outreach. Meet at 10 AM at 3039 Dakota St. Oakland. Several churches will be joining us for a major outreach with worship at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk bandshell!
Saturday May 20 Santa Rosa Outreach. Meet at 10 AM at Dakota St. house. Call us for Santa Rosa meeting location.
