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Coming Events

Friday June 12, 19. 26 6 – 9 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Sat. June 13 12:30-4:30 PM Berkeley outreach. Shattuck and Center St.

Sat. June 20 12-5 PM UN Plaza. 7th St. & Market.

Sat. June 27 11 AM – 4 PM. Fisherman’s Wharf. Jefferson St. near Mason.

Suffering for Christ

Dear Christian friends,

I was saved in 1970 during the Jesus Movement. Shiloh was probably the largest Christian communal ministry of that era, with at one time about 40 houses in cities around the country with about 1000 people living in them. Much like in Acts, we all lived together, gave all the money we earned to the ministry, and our needs were met through a common purse. Soon after I was saved in the Aloha, Oregon house (a suburb of Portland), we all went to work on a farm that grew boysenberry plants. We would pick up the plants and wrap them on a wire that had been strung from one end of each row to the other, keeping them off the ground so they could produce more fruit. We had gloves, but they were old and had holes in them. So as we picked up the plants, we would frequently get thorns in our hands. It was quite painful. We worked long hours and the work was quite boring. It was hot, and we lived across the street from a Dairy Queen that sold ten cent ice cream cones. I never had a dime to buy one.

I was a recent Yale graduate raised in a suburb and had no plans to do agricultural work—especially work I wouldn’t even get paid for. But I wanted to learn about Jesus, and I was learning to be His disciple in this ministry, so I endured what for me was a lot of suffering. Frequently, I wanted to quit and walk away. But another Christian would talk with me, encourage me, and pray with me. So I stuck it out for two months, when the job thankfully ended.

As I look back, I probably learned more about following Christ through this experience than anything else I have learned in the 45 years I have been saved. In Hebrews 5:8, we are told that “even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.” 1 Peter 4:1 says “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” As I worked in that berry field, I learned through suffering to get control over my body and bring it into subjection. Before I was saved, I lived to please my flesh. Now I was learning to please God.

Mike’s preaching recorded by TV crew at St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

The apostle Paul put it this way: “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Cor. 9:27) Paul knew a lot about suffering. After he was saved, God told Ananias “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:16) And he certainly suffered a lot for the gospel. In 2 Cor. 11:23-28 he lists some of his sufferings: “in labors more abundant, in stripes beyond measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes less one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned; thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day adrift in the deep…”

In Shiloh ministry, some of our favorite Bible verses involved self-denial: “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Cor. 5:14-15)

I moved out of the Shiloh house in 1975 (3 years before the ministry ended). I moved to San Francisco, got my own room in an apartment, and got my own job. Since then, my life has gotten a lot more comfortable. Most American Christians live pretty comfortable lives. We have virtually no fear of persecution for our faith. In many nations, things are quite different. Imagine being a Christian who lives in North Korea, or Saudi Arabia, or the area controlled by ISIS! I can’t imagine.

(to be continued)

On the Streets

Before I start sharing outreach testimonies, I want to tell you about something that happened in church. On Sunday May 10, I attended New Life Christian Church in Hayward, my home church. After the service, the woman sitting next to me, Serena, asked if I worked with a street ministry in San Francisco. I said I did. She told me that 13 years ago, she was a Christian who had struggled with drug use. She was taking a taxi down Market St. heading for a hospital when she saw our Christian signs at UN Plaza. She felt that God wanted her to get out and talk with us, but she resisted because she often bought her drugs at UN Plaza. Nonetheless, she obeyed and spoke with Mary Lopez. Mary prayed with her for physical healing and also that she would get right with God. Afterwards, Serena entered a Christian discipleship program. Now she is serving God and attending the church I attend. She has a 9 year old daughter named Victorious. Amazingly, the day before, we had an outreach at UN Plaza and Mary had been there. Mary lives in Chico and only comes here for outreaches about twice a year. It is wonderful how God uses testimonies like this to encourage us that our labor is not in vain.

On Sat. March 7, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. James Croci was able to minister with us for the first time in a year. Dave witnessed to two men from Saudi Arabia, Abdulla and Ai. He also witnessed to two parking attendants, Mohammed, who was from Yemen, and Raul. He witnessed to Trey, a skateboarder who said he believed in Jesus and the Bible but was not ready to follow Him. He also witnessed to Shane, 16, who was raised in a Christian home but didn’t understand the gospel. As Dave shared the gospel, Shane said “this is all making sense.” Dave encouraged him to talk to God tonight and ask Jesus to save him. He responded, “I’m going to do this.”

On Fri. March 13 we witnessed at 16^th St. and Valencia. Dave witnessed to Kerry, who grew up Catholic and works for a solar company. He was quite receptive to the gospel. He also ministered to Robert, who knows the Bible but was not walking with God.

The next day, we witnessed at 5^th St. and Market. Tim Moon played music that afternoon. As we left, Tim called to tell us that Market Street was closed off for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We found a way around the closed streets and had to carry our equipment three blocks to get to our witnessing location. About 100,000 people were watching the parade. We preached to the people who were walking along the sidewalk. A TV station recorded some of our preaching, but we don’t know if they used it. At 2 PM, the parade ended and Tim played music. Dave witnessed to Lucer, a cultural Muslim from Sri Lanka. He thanked Dave for sharing with him. Ben witnessed to Harry, a homosexual who said he wanted to know what the Bible said on the subject. He was willing to listen, and they prayed together. Ben also spoke with Damian, who was recently saved after a friend was shot dead right in front of him in Oakland by someone who wanted his laptop.

On Fri. March 20 we witnessed at 16^th St. and Mission. Dave witnessed to Ace, who was studying Islam and Vanu, who is from India. He also witnessed to Tom, a young, professional man who grew up Catholic. He had lots of questions and they talked about Bible prophesy and the resurrection. Ben witnessed to Michaela, a homeless woman who had lost her baby, who was born prematurely. She thought the doctors did not try to save the baby’s life because she was homeless. Ben shared the gospel with her, gave her a Bible, and prayed with her. I spoke with Paul, who said he had been a Christian missionary in Burma for a year, but no longer believed in Jesus. He was quite angry and bitter. That night, as Mike was preaching, someone pelted him with small rocks and one hit him in his forehead. His head immediately started swelling around the injury, so Andy took him to St. Mary’s clinic. The injury was not serious and the swelling was gone the next day. But Mike got to witness to several medical workers at the clinic and gave them gospel tracts.

Ministry Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry.

We have set the dates for our SOS-San Francisco outreach. It will be held on July 8-11. This is our 36^th annual outreach to the people of San Francisco. I hope many of you will be able to join us this year. Chuck Girard will be with us.

We have received our San Francisco park permits for the year. The price has increased from last year. We’re spending about $1700 for permits this year. We were denied permits at Dolores Park this year. They said it was because of construction.

We have purchased some Muslim tracts. They come from Good News Publishers and are called “Jesus and the Quran.” We have been witnessing to a lot of Muslims lately.

We also put in a new driveway in front of our house. We had a lawn that was dying, and we knew that our neighbors would appreciate an extra parking space on the street. Much thanks to Norman, Dave, Mike and Loi for donating labor. It cost us $700 for the cement and materials. Recently, we also had to replace two toilets and a washing machine.

Please pray for those we have witnessed to recently, especially those mentioned in this newsletter. I hope some of you will join us for an outreach this next month.