Coming Events
(Outreaches subject to change. Call (510) 282-5629 a few hours before the outreach to confirm)
Friday March 15, 22, 29 5 – 8 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Sat. March 16 Berkeley outreach 12 – 4 PM Shattuck and Center St.
Sat. March 23, 30 5th St. and Market SF 12-4 PM.
How SOS Ministries Got Started
Dear Christian friends,
I was raised in a middle class Jewish home in Indiana. We were very liberal in our beliefs. I was taught to believe in evolution and humanistic philosophy — at home, at school, and in the synagogue. As I was growing up, many of my friends called themselves Christians and I’m sure some were, but they never witnessed to me. One friend in high school invited me to some Youth for Christ meetings and I attended a few but still nobody explained the plan of salvation to me or invited me to receive Christ. I went to college at Yale and graduate school at Brandeis, taking classes in philosophy and psychology in my search to find the meaning of life. Later I got involved in drugs and Eastern religions as part of this search.
I was saved in 1970 through Shiloh Youth Revival Centers in Oregon, a ministry from “Jesus People” days with a nationwide network of communal Christian houses. Everybody in our ministry witnessed on the streets, so I considered it a natural part of being a Christian. After I got over the initial fear, I loved to witness and did so at virtually every opportunity.
One thing God had given me was an intense burden for the lost. I got saved when I was 24 years old and this was the first time somebody had explained to me clearly what it meant to be born again. When I realized that the Bible is God’s Word and Jesus Christ is the only Savior for the world, I wondered why nobody told me this before. One other thing struck me — almost all my friends and most of the people I came in contact with each day were unsaved, and heading for an eternal hell. Someone needed to warn them.
In 1975, God called me to come to San Francisco and witness on the streets. I had lived in San Francisco before I was saved as a “hippie” and I had a special burden for this city. My only plans were to get a part time job and spend the rest of my time witnessing on the streets. I never expected to start a street ministry.
I started attending a local church that was known for being evangelistic. They had a full-time minister of evangelism and most of the church members had been through an extensive evangelism-training program. As I met people in church, I would invite them to go witnessing with me. Usually they would agree, and we would set a time and meeting place. Almost every time, the person wouldn’t show up. Finally, I realized that most of these Christians, even though they had a lot of teaching on evangelism, had virtually no experience witnessing to strangers and were terribly afraid to do this.
Some Christians I knew had a band and they had started doing evangelistic concerts in parks. It seemed like a good way to reach a lot of people with God’s Word at one time. So I found out how to get permits, borrowed a small PA system from a church, and asked some friends who had a Christian band to play at Union Square, a small park in downtown San Francisco.
During a single afternoon, several hundred people would walk through this park–businessmen, tourists, drug addicts, homosexuals, teenage runaways, prostitutes. When the Christian rock group started to play, they drew a good-sized crowd. People would eventually realize that these musicians were singing about Jesus, but many would stay because they liked the music. The musicians shared testimonies about how they got saved and someone would preach a short message. A local ministry called His Way gave us New Testaments to give away and people took as many as we had.
As we did these concerts, I met many Christians who thought this was a great idea, and wanted to be involved. One brother, Ron Woodruff, was doing outdoor concerts in the East Bay and had a large PA system. He also had contacts with other Christian bands, access to a computerized mailing list, a typesetting machine, and a Christian printer. Ron had just formed a non-profit corporation for his ministry called Shama Sound Ministries, Inc. (“Shama” comes from the Hebrew word meaning “to hear” or “to proclaim.”) So we started printing up fliers of our concerts and mailing them out to Christians as well as giving them out at Christian concerts.
In a short time, we met leaders of several churches in the San Francisco area who wanted to do evangelism outreaches in San Francisco. We would schedule a weekend outreach and each group would bring 30-50 Christians from their church. We got another 30-50 Christians from our mailings, bringing the total to about 200. On Friday and Saturday nights, we met at a church for worship and prayer, and then went to some area to witness. On Saturday at noon, we had an outdoor concert, usually at Union Square, and then witnessed downtown. We started writing and printing our own gospel tracts. (to be continued)
On the Streets
On Sat. December 1, we witnessed in downtown Berkeley. Mike witnessed to Yesan, a student, who took a gospel of John and asked for Mike’s email to contact him further. He also spoke with Joe, who had a Christian upbringing but said “whenever I get money, I go crazy.” Mike prayed with him. Dave ministered to Ricky, a Christian who was attending a church that coveted his money after he received a large inheritance. As a result, he had a difficult time with churches. Dave and Cal witnessed to Simon, a UC Berkeley student from China. He had no Christian background, but was quite receptive to the gospel.
On Fri. Dec. 7, we witnessed at Powell and Market St. The area was very crowded with Christmas shoppers. Mike witnessed to Brian, 45, from the Philippines. His mom was a born again Christian. Mike shared the gospel with him and invited him to City Impact. Mike also witnessed to Justin, 20. His father was murdered and his mother rejected him. He was quite unhappy with his life. Mike ministered to him and invited him to City Impact.
Cal witnessed to Nada, a zealous hijab-wearing Muslim from Saudi Arabia and Razan, who was also from Saudi Arabia but was not a practicing Muslim, and was much more open to the gospel. Both took Muslim tracts and Nada asked for Cal’s email address. Dave witnessed to Ron, from Singapore. He had studied the Bible but was not saved.
On December 8, we witnessed at 5th and Market St. Pastor Raymond Landry brought a worship group from Independent Holiness Church in Richmond, and they ministered for 4 hours. Quite a few people stopped to listen to the excellent music and preaching. Raymond shared his testimony of how he was a homeless drug addict who hung out at Powell and Market 30 years ago. At the time, he attended an outreach we did at the Embarcadero, which played a role in him getting saved.
Cal and Alex witnessed to Edwin, 55. He was carrying two nice suitcases, apparently newly homeless, and he had tears in his eyes. He had spent 35 years in prison. He stopped because he noticed that everyone at the outreach had peace, something he clearly desired. He asked, “How do I come to Jesus?” They shared the gospel with him. He understood it and prayed to receive Christ.
Afterwords, Paul said he felt the weight he had been carrying around was never there! Cal got his phone number and they have since been texting each other. Cal referred him to the Salvation Army in Oakland, where he teaches a weekly Bible study. We saw Paul again on January 5, while we were witnessing at 4th and Mission St. He is still doing well and growing spiritually.
Ministry Needs
Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry.
We have a new member of our evangelism house. Alex Stewart (photo above) is 32. He grew up in the SF Bay Area and loves to evangelize.
Please continue to pray about the permit situation at the San Francisco Park Department. They continue to deny us permits at Dolores Park and Washington Square. And they are threatening to raise the fees they charge us for other permits to outrageous levels. A five hour permit at UN Plaza used to cost $70. Under the new rules, it would cost over $1000. As a result, we may no longer be able to play music in San Francisco parks. We have contacted the Pacific Justice Institute, and are hoping to get legal help with this situation.