SOS-San Francisco Outreach Report
For the past 21 years, we have sent out an “SOS” call for Christians to help us reach the people of San Francisco for Jesus. Each year, God has sent us a dedicated team of Christians who have answered that call. This year, most of our workers came from Northern California and Oregon. A team came from the Prodigal Project discipleship school in Leggett. One brother from the school, Philip, committed his life to Christ two days after attending a Bible study I taught at the Haight St. house four months ago.
From the first night, we faced intense satanic attacks. On Friday night, a backpack filled with equipment was stolen and a maximouse amplifier broke. When Chuck Girard arrived at Powell and Market on Saturday, he was immediately harassed by demoniacs. Our 16 channel sound board, a mini-disc player and a CD player all broke down that afternoon. Despite these difficulties, a large crowd gathered as Chuck sang and preached. One woman had been afflicted by demons since she was five. She was set free that day. Ken and Angie ministered for five hours to Randy, who was addicted to crack and alcohol and was planning to kill himself the next week. We saw him the following Saturday at Washington Square. He looked totally changed.
On Monday, we had a four-hour permit to play music and preach on Haight Street. Pam gave a tract to a man on Haight Street. It turned out to be actor Robin Williams. She saw him reading the tract before he drove off. That night, a team on Haight Street witnessed to Andre. He prayed with them and joined us for the outreach all week.
On Wednesday, God spoke to Julia to bring a French Bible with her to the outreach. That afternoon we ministered at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell. Julia speaks French. She prayed with a French woman and her two daughters to receive Christ and gave them the French Bible. That afternoon we ministered to hundreds of school children. Many schools bring their classes to the Museum to learn about evolution. As the children left, they walked by the Bandshell and heard about Jesus. Many stayed to listen to the music and preaching and watched a Christian dance group. We can’t speak about Jesus in the public schools, but we can reach many children in outdoor parks like the Bandshell.
On Wednesday night, one of our teams met Steve on Castro Street. About 4 years ago, Steve (age 24) and his 3 sisters escaped the Hare Krishna cult. Steve prayed to receive Christ that night and stayed with us the rest of the outreach. We could see him change from day to day as he read the New Testament and grew spiritually. He is now living at the discipleship school in Leggett.
Chuck Girard ministered on the streets and at the church meetings from Saturday through Wednesday. Evangelist Greg Romine preached at the church on Thursday night and at outreaches on Friday and Saturday. Dr. Romine preaches to hundreds of thousands of people each year at crusades throughout the world. It was an honor to have him join our outreach and minister with us.
We were especially blessed to be able to meet at Park Presidio Bible Church. It is a wonderful facility, and we are very grateful to Pastor Phillips and the congregation at Park Presidio for their hospitality. We had no problem with the police all week, except for an officer who shut down our amplifier one night on Haight St.
At last year’s outreach, we met Leah, a 17 year old runaway, on Haight Street and prayed with her to receive Christ. After the outreach, Brenda brought her home to Redding. Leah is now married, active in her church and in street ministry, and walking strong with the Lord.
The Laborers are Few
In the U.S., Christians seem to be much less interested in evangelism than they were in the 1980’s. In many churches, little or nothing is said about the need to witness for Jesus. Church members are kept busy with all kinds of activities that have little or nothing to do with reaching the lost.
Perhaps this is why this year’s SOS outreach was the smallest in 21 years. About 30 persons participated each day. As few as 12 persons witnessed some evenings. About 120 Christians joined us at least one day. We had a wonderful team of Christians, many of whom were seasoned soul-winners. Still, we wish more Christians had joined us.
The purpose of SOS-San Francisco is to train and encourage Christians to evangelize—in San Francisco, in their own community, and around the world. The more Christians who participate in SOS, the more we can accomplish in terms of equipping the church in evangelism and reaching the lost.
We sent out information about this year’s SOS outreach to 2000 Christians and 300 youth leaders. I made personal calls to youth leaders who had brought teams to previous outreaches. I spoke about this outreach to over 1000 Christians at three churches and to thousands more on KFAX radio.The response was almost non-existent.
Several people suggested that I mail out a survey asking for your input. Please fill out the enclosed survey and return it to us. What can we do to draw more Christians to next year’s SOS outreach?How can we attract youth groups? We desperately need to impart a vision for evangelism to the next generation.
Coming Events
Note: All outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531‑5325 the day before to confirm outreaches or for more information.
Saturday September 2 Light the Bay rally at S. F. Civic Center (800-898-8004).
Friday September 8, 15, 22 7:30-10 PM Witnessing in various S.F. neighborhoods. (Call for meeting location and directions.)
Sat. September 9 San Francisco Worship Rally. 12-1 PM Powell and Market St. 2-4 PM Union Square (Powell and Geary St.).
Sat. September 16 San Francisco Worship Rally. 1-5 PM Washington Square Park (Columbus & Lombard.)
Sat. September 23. Berkeley Outreach. 1:30‑5:30 PM. Telegraph and Haste St.
October 12-14 National Street Ministry Conference. Dallas, TX. Mario Murillo, Scott Hinkle, Matt Barnett. Call (602) 404-9757.
Ministry Needs
Throughout SOS week, we sensed a special anointing of God on our labor. Certainly it was due to your prayers. Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support that made this outreach possible. Please continue to pray for those who prayed with us during SOS, including Steve, Andre, John, Jesus, Randy, Lyle, Hugo, Ian, Marley, Patty, Randy and Mike. Please pray also for those who wrote us this past month, including Steve and John (SF), Yuzo (Emeryville), Rick (Orinda), Ken (Naperville, IL), Ishma (Vacaville prison), and Jun (Wolfville, NS Canada).
We need one Christian to live in our ministry house. We need a dedicated, spiritually mature Christian with a calling in evangelism. Our Tape of the Month is Spiritual Multiplication by Mark Whitehead. Mark is Pastor of Living Hope Christian Church in San Jose. He is starting a new church in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. This teaching was given at this year’s SOS outreach.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum