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Coming Events

(Outreaches subject to change. Please call (510) 282-5629 to confirm location,)

Friday March 18, 25, April 1 6 – 9 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Sat. March 19 11 AM – 4 PM Fisherman’s Wharf Outreach (Jefferson St. near Powell)

Sat. March 26 12:30 – 4:30 PM Berkeley Outreach (Shattuck and Center St.—outside downtown Berkeley BART station)

Sat. April 2 12 – 4 PM San Francisco Outreach Fifth St. and Market.

High Visibility Evangelism

Dear Christian friends,

Often, Christians ask us if it is effective to preach, give out tracts, and carry signs. Isn’t it better to develop a friendship with a single person, and spend a lot of time witnessing to him? Certainly, friendship evangelism is very much necessary, but it does not eliminate the need for mass evangelism.

Today, we are obsessed with the need to justify everything with statistics. We at SOS Ministries are frequently asked how many people were saved at our last outreach. Of course, we desire to see many people saved, but this does not justify our ministry. Noah was called a preacher of righteousness, and he warned his generation, probably, for hundreds of years, yet only his family was saved. The important thing is to obey God.

Throughout the Bible, we see God calling His servants to publicly proclaim His word in the public places, to multitudes of people. Jesus preached in the open, as did His disciples. The early believers preached publicly in the city centers wherever they went. Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to everyone. While one-on-one witnessing is a very important kind of witnessing, little is said about it in the Bible and only a few instances are recorded.

Preaching, on the other hand, is a major theme in the scriptures from beginning to end. Today, however, very few Christians preach in the public places and many argue that open-air preaching is ineffective and should be avoided.

Tract distribution is a form of preaching. Many people will not stay around long enough to listen to gospel preaching, so we can put the message on a tract for them to read later. Often a person will leave a tract in his pocket, or stick it in a drawer, and read it at a time when he is depressed, or thinking about the meaning of his life. Many people have been saved through a tract they picked up off the ground. Even if a person isn’t saved through a tract, God can use it to get him to think about his relationship with God, or to understand better what it means to be born again.

Signs are another form of preaching. A person may not take a tract, but he can’t help reading the sign you are holding. God can use that brief message to convict a person of his sin and need for salvation. People who are passing by in their cars will also read your sign.

Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” In this newsletter, I am constantly stressing the need for more workers to witness in San Francisco. In this city as in many others, the voices advocating sexual immorality, drug abuse, occult activities, and Eastern religions and cults are very loud. The voices calling people to turn from such things to faith in God through Jesus Christ have been virtually silenced. As God’s word is continually proclaimed boldly and openly in the public places of the city, people will be continually confronted with their need to make a decision regarding Jesus Christ. Satan is seeking to distract people from that reality. We need to remind people continually that they have a choice to make which will determine their eternal destiny.

Tim Moon sings in downtown Berkeley.

Is Witnessing Dangerous?

Christians often ask us if witnessing on the streets is dangerous. Actually, several thousand Christians have witnessed with us in San Francisco and Berkeley over the past 35 years. A few people (including me) have been hit, but nobody has been seriously hurt. Compared to driving a car, witnessing (at least in the U.S.) is extremely safe. Lots of people are killed in auto accidents, but that doesn’t keep us from driving. However, witnessing is dangerous—to the Devil and his kingdom. That’s why he tries so hard to prevent Christians from witnessing.

On the Streets

As you know, California has had several years of drought. This year, the drought seems to have ended. For our ministry, this means that almost every weekend, we have uncertainty about whether it will be raining. Why is rain a problem? First, we need to protect our electronic equipment and tracts from getting wet. Second, there are far fewer people to witness to in most locations when it is raining. People are reluctant to stop and talk or even to take tracts in the rain. In most places where we witness, there is little shelter from the rain. Also, few Christians want to witness with us in the rain. (Of course, tens of thousands of people will sit in the rain for hours watching a football game.)

Our Friday night outreaches are scheduled from 6-9 PM. In January, every Friday it was raining when we arrived at 6 PM. The rain stopped for three hours and started again at 9 PM! During our three Saturday outreaches, we had about 5 minutes of rain two weeks and the other week it didn’t rain, although rain was forecast every Friday night and Saturday during our outreaches.

On Fri. Jan 8 we held our first outreach of 2016 at Powell and Market. That night, Ben witnessed to Michael and Rick. Both said they were believers in Jesus, but were not serving Him. Dave witnessed to Edna, a Filipino Catholic. She agreed with him as he shared the gospel with her. He also witnessed to Lucas, 23, a Brazilian man who attends Purdue University in Indiana. They spoke for 30 minutes and he asked a lot of questions. He also spoke with Gabriel, Jacob and Monica, who were taking videos for YouTube. Gabriel and Jacob were Christians, and had been witnessing to Monica, a Catholic. Dave shared the gospel with her.

Kathy witnessed to Art, a Muslim from India, who worked in computer tech support. Mike witnessed to Marcus, who attends the Academy of Arts. His uncle is a pastor and he understood the gospel but was not following Jesus. I witnessed to Dave, 18, who is from Davis. His father is Jewish and mother is Catholic, and he was open to the gospel.

The next day we witnessed in downtown Berkeley. Tim Moon sang and several of us preached that afternoon. Mike, who had spent 5 months on a mission’s trip to Ethiopia, spoke to two men from that country. Matthias had been living in the US for three months. And Michael, who said “I am Jesus.” After Mike and Kathy ministered to him, he admitted that he was mentally ill and they prayed for him and Mike gave him his phone number.

On Fri. Jan. 15, we witnessed at 16^th and Mission. Dave witnessed to Nathan, 22, from Vallejo, who was receptive to the gospel. Mike and Dave also witnessed to Nico and Joey, both about 20, and both atheists. They spent about 40 minutes answering their questions. They were thoughtful and not hostile. Kathy and Norm ministered to Colleen, a backslidden Christian who was drinking and homeless. Kathy also witnessed to Juaquin, who had a Christian background and was sick and homeless.

Before the Saturday outreach, Mike met Jeremiah while he was running. Jeremiah had just left the Jehovah Witnesses (JW) and Mike was able to minister to him. That afternoon, we witnessed at Powell and Market. Normally, we don’t witness there on Saturdays because of the competition from other street performers. Because of the threat of rain, we had no competition. There was a pro-abortion demonstration when we arrived, but they moved across the street. Kathy witnessed to Leona, who was one of the demonstrators. She had had an abortion. Dave witnessed to Yung, a college graduate from China. She was an atheist, but took a Chinese tract and listened to the gospel message. He also witnessed to Jason, a JW. Dave has been witnessing to JW’s for 30 years had he found Jason to be the most reasonable, thoughtful JW he had ever witnessed to. Jason said, “I’m going to research the things we talked about.”

Ministry Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. Jacob Gonzales is 20 and needs about $1400 to move into our house. If you want to help him, please write “Jacob” in the memo line of your check so I will know it is for him. Please pray for those we have witnessed to recently, including those who are mentioned in this newsletter.

I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month.