SOS Monthly Newsletter - June 2002

Why Have a City-Wide Outreach?

Dear Christian friends,

I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
Then said I, "Here am I; send me" Isaiah 6:8.
When evangelist Luis Palau came to San Francisco in 1980, he gave five reasons for having a mass evangelistic crusade:

The gospel goes to many thousands more people than if just one or two churches were involved.

The whole city becomes "God-conscious" for the period of the outreach, making Jesus Christ and the Bible common topics of discussion among all groups of people for much longer.

The powers of darkness are disrupted as the light of Christ is firmly held up by a united church.

As a result of this disruption of Satan's strongholds, evangelism becomes easier.

Churches grow and plant new churches in areas of the city where crusade decisions reveal a need.

In 1980, we held our first SOS-San Francisco outreach. We held two large worship rallies in Union Square with over 1000 Christians at each, gave out 400,000 tracts, and the whole city truly became conscious of Jesus Christ during that week. The next year, about 3000 people came against us at Union Square, blowing whistles in our ears and tearing up our Bibles. They had been told that we "hated homosexuals" but God showed us we were only to worship Him, and the opposition dispersed as we sang "Oh the Blood of Jesus" over and over.

Since that time, several new churches have begun and are growing in San Francisco. Several thousand Christians have obtained experience in evangelism through SOS and many are now involved in outreaches in their own communities. Major city-wide outreaches patterned in part after SOS-San Francisco have been established in at least a dozen cities around the U.S. And only in heaven will we know how many people have been saved from eternal Hell because of those of you who took the time to come to SOS-San Francisco.

San Francisco is one of the most strategic cities in the world to reach for Jesus Christ. Many destructive trends have begun in San Francisco and quickly spread across the U.S. and around the world. The first of the violent 1960's political protests began in 1960 at San Francisco city hall. San Francisco saw the initiation of the topless bar, the drug movement, "acid rock", the "gay" rights movement, the "Church of Satan", the beginnings of numerous cults and new age philosophies, etc.

Faced with such ungodliness, we need to remember that "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds" (2 Cor. 10:4). God has given us powerful spiritual weapons to come against Satan's work: united prayer, worship, and proclamation of the Gospel. . SOS-San Francisco is simply a vehicle through which Christians can unite for these purposes.

Please request or send in your registration form for this years SOS-San Francisco. Free housing is available all week. Bring a sleeping bag and foam pad. If you prefer, we can send you names of hotels in the area.

If you've never been to SOS before, let me say that the fellowship with other believers, the times of worship and personal ministry, and the times of outreach all make it an incredible and unforgettable experience.

On the Streets

April 20 was "Cal Day" in Berkeley. Thousands of high school students were in town, checking out the campus. This gave us lots of people to witness to. Paul and Noreen Coca and Tim Moon sang, and several of us preached that afternoon.

Friday May 3 was the opening of the Spiderman movie. Thousands of people came to see the movie (and a Spiderman balloon several stories tall) at the Metreon Theater and shopping center at 4th St. and Mission. We didn't have any musicians that night, but preached the gospel to many people as they came and left the area.

Please pray for those who have written us this past month in response to tracts: Mark (SF), Maya (Oakland), Randa (San Bruno), Joe (San Luis Obispo prison), and Charles (Raybrook NY prison).

	Christie Livingston gives out tracts at Fisherman's Wharf on May 10
	David Livingston gives out tracts at Fisherman's Wharf on May 10
	Dwight witnesses to Berkeley teens
	Please pray for these deceived Berkeley street kids

SOS-San Francisco Outreach Details

While we are making a special effort to involve youth groups this year, Christians of all ages are welcome to participate in SOS-San Francisco. This year we will again be meeting at Temple Baptist Church, 3355 19th Ave. (near Ocean), San Francisco. Singer and songwriter Chuck Girard will be ministering from Saturday night through Wednesday. On June 22, Paul Coca, Jr. and his DJ friends have planned a special event at UN Plaza. They will be inviting a lot of un-saved youth. We received all the permits we applied for during SOS week. We have afternoon outreaches planned during the week at 24th St. and Mission, Haight and Masonic, Embarcadero Plaza, and two outreaches in Berkeley.

Meetings are scheduled daily except Sunday at 9 AM and 6 PM from June 22 - 29. This outreach is an opportunity to bring the love of Jesus Christ to people who desperately need to know Him. It is truly a life-changing experience.

Several churches are planning to bring teams to this summer's SOS outreach, including Carson Valley Christian Center in Carson City, NV, Pole Valley Road Baptist Church from Davis, and the First Assembly of God Master's Commission School in Elsinore, CA. Other churches have expressed interest in bringing teams.

We have printed 5000 full-color poster/brochures to let people know about this outreach. Please encourage your Christian friends to get involved. Set aside the week of June 21 - 29 to attend the SOS outreach and bring a friend.

Coming Events

Note: All outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531-5325 or (510) 244-0277 (pager) to confirm outreaches or for more information.

Friday June 7 7:30-10 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods (Call for location).

Sat. June 8 Berkeley Outreach. 12:30

JUNE 22-29 SOS-SAN FRANCISCO OUTREACH (details in this newsletter).

Sat. June 22 San Francisco "Church on the Street" worship rallies. 12-1 PM. Powell and Market St. 1:30-5 PM. United Nations Plaza (7th St. and Market)

Sat. June 29 San Francisco "Church on the Street" worship rallies. 1-3 PM. Washington Square (Stockton and Columbus St.) 4-6 PM. Powell and Market St.

Ministry Needs

Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We still need to print 100,000 more tracts for this summer's outreach. We still need a spiritually-mature Christian with a burden to reach the lost for our ministry house in Oakland. Call or write us if you are interested.

We also need Christians to witness with us on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons.

Our Tape of the Month is Praise and Worship on the Streets by Chuck Girard. E-mail us if you want a tape. We look forward to having Chuck minister at this year's SOS outreach.

Please set aside the week of June 21-29 to attend this year's SOS-San Francisco outreach. Ask your boss to give you the week off, or use some of your vacation time. Please pray for this important outreach. Pray that God will send many laborers to help us reach the people of San Francisco and Berkeley and that many people will be saved during this week. I look forward to seeing many of you at SOS-San Francisco.

Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum