Coming Events
(Outreaches subject to change. Call (510) 282-5629 a few hours before the outreach to confirm)
Friday September 6, 13, 20 5-8 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Sat. September 7 2 – 5 PM Dolores Park (19th St. and Dolores)
Sat. September 14 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM Union Square (Powell & Geary St.)
Sat. September 21 12 – 5 PM U N Plaza (7th St. and Market)
SOS – SAN FRANCISCO OUTREACH REPORT
Dear Christian friends,
For the past 40 years, we have sent out an “SOS” to Christians to come to San Francisco for a multi-day outreach. For the first 32 years, we had an 8-day outreach which went from 8 AM to 11 PM each day except Sunday. For the past 8 years, as we have gotten older and the number of workers has decreased, we reduced the outreach to 4 days. Each day we had an outreach lasting from 5 to 7 hours.
This year, four Christians came from Raven Ministries in New Orleans, including their leader Troy Bohn. They all are seasoned evangelists and gifted preachers. Our long-time friends Jeff and Alina Parrott came from North Carolina. Chuck Girard, Paul and Noreen Coca, and Tim Moon played music throughout the week. And local Christians joined us when they could.
We began our outreach on Wed. July 10 at 5th St. and Market. Dave and Mike ministered to Carmel. Her best friend had died recently and she was considering suicide. She was raised in a Christian home but did not understand the gospel and had been molested by family members. Her “friends” were trying to keep her in bondage to drugs and alcohol. They ministered to her and prayed for her.
Mike also prayed for Kat, who has 3 children but suffers from mental confusion. Dave also witnessed to Tin, from Thailand. He listened to the gospel and took a gospel of John. Alex witnessed to Ron, 23, who agreed with the gospel and knew he should not be using drugs. Kathy prayed for Maria, from the Philippines, who had problems trusting God.
On Thursday, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Kathy had attended a 6-hour meeting in order to get permits for the best location on the Wharf. Dave witnessed to Alex and Paula, both 18, from Germany. Both were atheists. Paula took a tract and was more receptive to the gospel than Alex. He also witnessed to Shiroj, 20, from Uzbekistan. He was very friendly and took a gospel of John. Mike witnessed to Andrew, from Poland, who was Catholic but upset by abuse in the church. Alina witnessed to and prayed for Larry, who was very hurt and struggled with alcohol. Alina asked Larry “What was the best thing that ever happened to you?” After he answered, Alina shared her testimony with him. Larry prayed with her to commit his life to Christ.
On Friday, we witnessed at First and Market. This is the only time all year we witness in the Financial District. Mike asked Josh, 25, if he knew Jesus. He said, “I think I would like him if I met him.” After he shared the gospel, Josh said, “Thank you for talking with me.” Kathy ministered to Alice, who asked her for money. Kathy looked on the ground and found $7, which she gave to her. She cried. Alex witnessed to Kyle, who asked about evidence for the Christian faith. James from New Orleans prayed for Adam, who was struggling with drug addiction. They exchanged phone numbers.
Dave witnessed to Bob, 65, who was raised Catholic. He said he “gave up on God” when his 19 year old son died in a car accident. He said, “God, I’ve done everything right. I’m done with you.” Dave said that although he had not experienced that kind of pain, God had, since He lost His Son. “I hope to see you in Heaven.”
Dave and Steve also witnessed to Priscilla and Chival, both from India. Both worked at nearby banks. Priscilla grew up in a Catholic family and was quite receptive. Chival grew up in a Hindu family but was not devout. He took a tract and said “I’ll read it.” Dave also witnessed to Patrick, 20. He lived in Clearlake and had taken a friend of a friend to the airport. That person stole his car with everything in it. The car had been towed and he could not afford to get it out. He had been planning to live in the car but was now on the streets.
On Saturday, we witnessed at Union Square and finished the SOS outreach at 5th and Market. The band “Machaira” played excellent music at Union Square, drawing a crowd. They have been ministering with us for 30 years. Dave witnessed to Galen, 16, who was staying with his family at the St. Francis Hotel. His family was not Christian. Dave went through the plan of salvation with him and he understood it clearly. Dave also witnessed to Lilly, 28, from Mongolia. She listened to the gospel message and took a gospel of John. Dave also ministered to Dominic, from Alabama. He grew up in a Christian home but was not walking with the Lord. Paul and Noreen witnessed to a man from Singapore who was raised Hindu. He married a Catholic woman and tried Catholicism but was angry with God for not healing his autistic son. They shared the gospel with him and prayed with him. Scott witnessed to Steve, an atheist whom we have witnessed to many times. Scott said, “God is alive and you can call on him and he will answer you.” Steve said, “Almost you persuade me to be a Christian.”
Chuck Girard and Paul and Noreen Coca played music at 5th and Market. Dave witnessed to Masoon, from Kurdistan. He said he believed in God but was not religious. He took a “This Was Your Life” tract. He also witnessed to Sebastian, whose grandfather was a pastor. He works as a bouncer in a bar. He thought that Jesus was symbolic, not a real person. Finally, he witnessed to Ginger, who was working on a documentary on street musicians. She was taking photos of our outreach. She said, “I’m not interested in religion right now.”
Why More Muslims are Turning to Jesus
We hear so much bad news that it is refreshing to hear some really good news. This comes from an article in Newsweek dated June 28. The article was written by David Garrison of Global Gates Ministry. In it, he goes over the times in history when large numbers of Muslims have converted to Christ. He defines a movement as a time in which at least 1000 Muslims professed faith in Christ and were baptized in a 20 year period. (For a Muslim, publicly confessing faith in Christ through baptism is often very dangerous.)
This happened only 3 times in the first 700 years of Islam’s history. For the next 500 years, from 1300 to 1850, it did not happen a single time. During the last half of the 20th century, there were 11 such movements, including one in which 2 million Muslims were baptized Christian in Indonesia from 1967-1971. However, from 2000 to 2013, there have been 69 such movements!
Here are some reasons he gave for why this is happening: 1) increased prayer for Muslims (including the 25 year long global prayer movement for Muslims called “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World”) 2) intentional evangelism directed toward Muslims, after centuries of Christians either fighting Muslims or avoiding them, and 3) exponential increase in Bible translations in colloquial languages spoken by Muslims. Other related factors were a part of the 21st-century global village that was emerging with: 1) Internet, satellite television, and radio, 2) global diasporas intertwining Muslim and Christian populations around the world, and 3) a post-colonial context that would allow Muslims to consider the gospel apart from its previous European trappings.
“After centuries of only having the Qur’an available in marginally intelligible 7th-century Arabic, Muslims today are finding colloquial translations of the Qur’an that are demystifying their holy book and leaving many of them yearning for something different.”
“Another common theme garnered from my interviews was the trauma many former Muslims felt from the violence that has so plagued their recent religious history.”
“Finally, there was the matter of dreams. A common phrase found in many testimonies gathered from West Africa to East Asia began with the words, ‘I had a dream….’”
In San Francisco we are able to witness to Muslim tourists, students, and immigrants from all over the world, including many places where it is illegal to preach the gospel. Please continue to pray for the Muslim world. God is answering our prayers.
Ministry Needs
Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We received the funds we needed for our generator.
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. Whenever we announce openings in our house, we get many inquiries from Christians who lack spiritual maturity or only want a cheap place to live. We are also looking for younger Christians, as our desire is to see this ministry continue for many decades.
I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
