Bay Area Outreach Ministries
Witnessing at Work
Dear Christian friends,
One of our goals for this newsletter is to provide each of you with some practical help in witnessing for our Lord. Since most of you spend many hours each week at a job, I thought I’d start with some suggestions for witnessing at your workplace. God wants us to redeem the time. Our time at work should accomplish more than making money. Many Christians have led many people to Christ through their jobs. The great evangelist D.L.Moody got saved through the witness of a shoe salesman, while he was trying on some shoes. God wants to use you to witness to others at your job, as well as at other times. Here are some tips that I think will help you:
1. Get and keep your heart right with God. Confess and forsake any known sin. Spend time in prayer and God’s word in the morning before work. The more you are walking in the Spirit at work, the better witness you’ll be and the more you’ll hear God when He tells you to witness to someone. At the same time, don’t fall into condemnation, thinking you can’t witness because you aren’t “spiritual enough.” If you lose your temper at work (for example), apologize to those who were affected.
2. Choose the right job. Are you where God wants you? God used Jonah while he was running away from Him, but He would rather use us when we are in His perfect will. If you aren’t sure you are in the job God wants you to have, ask Him. If He wants you somewhere else, He’ll make it very clear to you. When you are preparing for future work or looking for a job, spend much time praying for God’s direction. Some jobs provide more opportunities than others to witness. This should be an important consideration in your job choice. Being used by God to witness at a job will greatly contribute to your happiness with that job.
3. Let everyone know you are a Christian from the start. The longer you work at a job without telling people, the harder it will be to do so. Also, once you tell people you are a Christian, you will be conscious of your need to maintain a good witness before them. One easy way to do this is to send each co-worker and client a personal card or letter at Easter or Christmas with a clear gospel message in it, perhaps with your testimony in it.
4. Be sensitive to each person and to the Holy Spirit as to how much you should witness to them, and the best way to do so. Everyone reaches a place of crisis in their life at some time, when they are desperate for help. If they see you as a friend and a stable person, they will be likely to turn to you for counsel. Then they will listen eagerly as you share.
5. Avoid self-righteousness and legalism. Most people think of Christians this way. Let them see that your relationship with God is vital and gives you joy and peace, fulfillment and direction in your life. At the same time, we do need to take a stand as to what we will and won’t do at work. We must avoid all dishonesty and other immorality. It is better to leave your job than sin against our Lord.
6. Be a friend. Invite the person to your house for dinner. Or invite them to go with you to a “non-churchy” Christian event that you think they might enjoy. Don’t gossip about them or anyone else. That way, they won’t be afraid to confide in you.
7. Use tracts. Ron Woodruff from SOS Ministries worked at a glass factory when he got saved. He bought hundreds of comic-book tracts and left them in everyone’s lockers and everywhere around the factory. People avoided Ron because he wouldn’t listen to their dirty jokes and talked to them about Jesus. But they couldn’t deny the change they saw in his life. Within a few years, almost a third of the factory had gotten saved.
8. Become indispensable at your job. Be such a good worker that your boss can’t do without you. Your boss probably won’t mind if you witness to people as long as it doesn’t interfere with your work. Of course, this varies with the boss and the job. Once I worked at a hamburger stand and the manager (a Catholic) let me put tracts in the sack with each hamburger. Another time I worked as a cashier at a high-class restaurant. I witnessed to the waiters and quite a few customers. The owner thought it was cute and boasted of his “preacher-cashier.”
9. Don’t become a “workaholic.” Make sure your priorities are right. You need to spend time each day with God, spend time with your family, have regular church fellowship, spend time with friends, spend time in some kind of ministry activity, and have some time for rest and relaxation. If you find yourself working 50 or more hours a week, maybe you should look for a job with a better hourly wage, or simplify your lifestyle so you don’t spend so much.
Ministry News
I was quite apprehensive as 14 junior high and high school kids came one Saturday afternoon to witness on the streets of Berkeley, along with their pastor and youth pastor. Some had only been saved a few months, and none of the youth had ever done anything like this before. I did some teaching that morning before the outreach, and afterwards we got together to share what had happened. Everyone got involved in witnessing, and was really excited about what happened. We’ll be getting together with them again on February 25, and hopefully once or twice a month after that. I received a call this week from a youth leader in Stockton who also wants to bring his youth group. Perhaps your church’s youth group would want to join us. It’s the best thing for getting them excited about serving God, and helping them grow strong in the Lord.
I received a phone call today from the Berkeley permit officer telling me that our March permits were denied. Apparently someone applied for our dates in an attempt to keep us from preaching. Since then, I have applied for permits at different locations on Telegraph Ave. and hope to get them. In the past, we have had more opposition at these other locations, because of angry street vendors. The permit officer has also threatened to start charging for the permits, because of all the work this has caused him. Meanwhile, our lawyer has been very busy with other cases and hasn’t had time to help us. Please pray about this situation that God will strengthen us, that He will give us wisdom in responding to this new problem.
OUTREACH SCHEDULE
WEEKLY OUTREACHES—WEDNESDAY 10:30 AM-2 PM FRIDAY 7 – 11 PM SATURDAY 12-4 PM Note new address for all outreaches. 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.
PRAYER MEETINGS – Tuesday March 28 and April 25 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 March 4 San Rafael Outreach. Meet at 11 AM at 3039 Dakota St. in Oakland or at 1 PM at 4th and Court St. in San Rafael.
Sunday March 12 Mendocino County Outreach. Meet at 11 AM at Caspar Foursquare Church, Caspar, CA.
Saturday April 8 Santa Cruz Outreach. Meet at 10 AM at 3039 Dakota St. Call us for Santa Cruz meeting location. Several churches will be joining us for a major outreach with worship at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk bandshell!
Ministry Needs
I want to thank each of you for your prayers and financial support for our ministry. We were able to pay off the bill for our new computer this past month. This next month we have an $800 auto insurance bill to pay. Also, our tract supply is very low and we would very much like to be able to print some of our own tracts.
I praise God for His faithfulness to meet our needs. A few months ago we let you know of our need for a tape duplicator, as we had to borrow one every time we copied tapes, and they didn’t always turn out very well. God blessed us with a tape duplicator that a dear friend of ours sent. It copies three tapes at a time–in stereo! By the way, if you received a tape that was defective, let us know so we can replace it.
This month we are offering as the tape of the month a teaching I did two years ago in Indianapolis on the “Fundamentals of Personal Evangelism.” I believe that this teaching will help you be more effective as a witness in every situation–at the job, with your friends, and on the streets. God’s desire is to use each of us, not just a few evangelist “superstars,” to bring others to Himself. Ask God to lead you to someone today to tell about Himself.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum