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SOS Monthly Newsletter - June 2003Answering The Call!Dear Christian friends, Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send laborers into his harvest field" (Matt: 9;37-38) According to Jesus, the problem is not with the harvest field. It is with the lack of laborers. "Nobody wants to hear about Jesus in the U.S. —especially in San Francisco and Berkeley. I might as well stay home and watch TV." Am I the only one that has ever had that thought? One thing is certain: unbelief and laziness won't bring anyone to salvation. On April 5, about 20,000 Christians gathered at 3Com Park for "The Call" to fast and pray for revival in San Francisco and our nation. It was truly an awesome sight to see thousands of Christians, many of whom were teenagers, worshipping and praying for 12 hours, with scarcely a break. It was a great blessing to be part of this event. We set up an SOS booth at the main gate, showed our SOS video and spoke with dozens of people about SOS-San Francisco. We also gave out several thousand SOS cards to Christians as they left. I hope that many Christians who attended this event will jjoin us for SOS-San Francisco. It is not enough to fast and pray that God will save many people in San Francisco. We also need to preach the gospel to them. Imagine 20,000 on-fire Christians, such as those who attended that gathering, sharing the love of Jesus with the people of San Francisco for a whole week! If that happened, I think the world would take notice, and many would ultimately be saved. As Jesus said, the problem is not with the harvest field. It is with the scarcity of laborers. We can’t expect the unsaved to take the gospel seriously unless we take it seriously. I don't think 20,000 Christians will come to SOS, but I trust that God will bless the labors of everyone who makes the sacrifice to attend this important outreach. "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase" (1 Corin. 3:6).
SOS-San FranciscoHere is our daily afternoon outreach schedule for SOS (subject to change): Sat. June 21 12-1 PM Powell and Market, 2:30-4:30 PM Union Square (Powell and Geary); Once again, our friend Chuck Girard will be ministering through music on the streets. SOS founder and veteran evangelist Scott Crawford will be teaching evangelism and preaching on the streets. We have teams scheduled to join us from Calvary Chapel, Reno, and from Berean School of the Bible in McMinnville, OR. 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. Registration begins on Friday June 20 at 6 PM. Meetings are scheduled daily from 9-10:30 AM and 6-7 PM from June 21 - 28. Outreaches are scheduled daily from 12-4 PM and 7:30-10 PM. Sunday is a free day. Evangelism training will be provided throughout the week. Free housing is available during the outreach. We will be serving breakfast and lunch from June 23 - 28. Youth under 18 need adult supervision. 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. Set aside the week of June 20 - 28 to attend the SOS outreach and bring a friend. Ministry News UpdateOn April 19, we had loaded our sound system into our 1973 van and were on our way to San Francisco. Before we left, I noticed that the back window was hanging by a thread, so I duct-taped it. A block from our house, the van died. The transmission was broken. We quickly stuffed our PA equipment and ourselves into three cars and managed to unload everything at Powell and Market and park our vehicles in time for the outreach. An hour later, we loaded everything again and went to Washington Square. A youth worship band named "Peculiar" ministered beautifully at that park. Our May newsletter had been printed and sealed, so I printed labels to let you know of our need for a newer van, and we put them on the back of the envelopes. Some of you have responded and we believe that we will have a van by June 20, when SOS starts. Thank you. March 8 Outreach Report From Stand Under the Water Ministries Newsletter. Stand Under the Water Ministries sent the band JBC to the streets of San Francisco on March 8th to spread the Gospel of Jesus in Word and Music. We teamed with SOS Ministries, a street ministry in San Francisco, to minister to the homeless and drug and alcohol-dependent. JBC fed them the Word and offered the people Bibles and "Living Water." The band set up their equipment and plugged into a large generator right on the corner of Market St. and 7th. The band sang while our ministers prayed and led several people to the Lord. The crowd of lost souls built quickly and the spirit of the music began drawing people in. JBC shared in music and testimony for nearly three hours, most definitely a long day! As our team shared music and the Word, another outreach team from the Redding/Anderson area fed people and shared Jesus just a block up the street. It was an amazing eye-opener for us as we also had the opportunity to meet passers-by from the theater district, which is only a block away. So there, in the middle of the city, you see the wealthy and the completely poor. What an amazing experience for our entire team! Debbie, Peggy, Stephanie, and Liz prayed, counseled, and ministered to the people and handed out food to the hungry. The experience was so incredible yet sad as we heard the stories of the lost. Young men came to the city full of dreams, but fell into drugs and are now homeless. Young women had fallen into drugs and prostitution. Yet the Spirit of God fell upon the place and the people as the band praised the Lord in the heart of the city. Because we were there to see lives restored and souls saved, there was opposition from the enemy. One woman, who seemed to be demon-possessed, yelled obscenities at us, “What kind of God would make us bow down to Him and serve Him?” We prayed for her and ministered to her. One man warned Ray that although he was glad we were there, we should be sure to leave before dark! One young woman told Alfredo how the Lord saved her just one year ago and now she is drug free and trying to regain custody of her children. He prayed for her and her family and she left encouraged, praising the Lord. The team cannot wait to go back again! Coming EventsNote: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531-5325 or 541-9903 (cell phone) to confirm outreaches or for more information. Friday June 12, 20, 27 7:30-10 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. (Call for location). Sat. June 14 12:30-4:30 PM Berkeley Outreach. Telegraph and Haste St. Sat. June 21 12-1 PM Powell and Market St. 2:30-4:30 PM Union Square, Powell and Geary St. Sat. June 28 12-1 PM Powell and Market St. 2:30-4:30 PM Washington Square (Columbus and Union St.) June 20-28 SOS-San Francisco (details above) Ministry News and NeedsThank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. Please set aside the week of June 20 - 28 to attend this year's SOS-San Francisco outreach. Please pray for us as we prepare for this important outreach. Pray that God will provide our needs, guide us in planning the outreach, and bring many laborers to help in the harvest field during SOS week. Please pray for those whom we have witnessed to and those who have written us this month in response to tracts, including Marty and Raphael (SF), Peter (Berkeley) and Van (Oakland). Please pray also for Tikvah. She used to be an evangelical Christian but no longer believes that Jesus is the Messiah. She is willing to discuss this with me, so I have spent many hours corresponding with her by email about the Jewish scriptures. Our Tape of the Month is How to Organize a Street Witnessing Team. This is a teaching I gave several years ago at an Evangelism Conference. I hope this teaching will help you start a witnessing team in your own community. I hope you will join us for SOS-San Francisco. Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum |
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