SOS Monthly Newsletter - September 2004

Mobilizing the Church

Dear Christian friends,

One of the main purposes of SOS Ministries is to recruit and train Christians to witness for Jesus Christ. We believe that every Christian should be involved in some way in witnessing for Jesus. But is this a realistic goal? What do other Christian leaders say?

At the International Congress on World Evangelization, Dr. George Peters stated that "as a church is mobilized to do evangelism, we can expect only 10 to 15 percent to be involved in what he called `active, confrontational' evangelism. He went on to conclude that 20 to 30 percent of a congregation could be expected to be trained in a friendship or relational approach to evangelism. The rest would be encouraged to pray for the work of evangelism." Dr. Joe Aldrich stated, "I doubt that 10 percent of Christians will ever be effective in (confrontational) evangelism....As a general rule, the confrontational approach should be a methodology reserved for the abnormal rather than the normal witness experience" Lifestyle Evangelism, pp. 79, 81.

In contrast to this, Mark McCloskey, in his book Tell it Often, Tell it Well, asserts that it is both possible and realistic to expect every Christian to be involved in evangelism. These "experts," he notes, are simply describing the church as it is, not as it ought to be. Jesus expects all of us to witness for Him. "You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto me...unto the uttermost parts of the earth" Acts 1:8. If the power of the Holy Ghost is available to all Christians, then the responsibility to witness is also for all Christians. As John Stott said, "Evangelism is a responsibility laid by Christ upon His whole church and every member of it. So the people of God must be both mobilized and trained."

I have no problem with those who prefer "friendship" evangelism to "confrontational" evangelism. But many choose it because they want to avoid persecution. You can only escape persecution by compromising the message. Many Christians expect the "silent witness" of their lives to result in salvation. Your friend may not see the difference Christ has made in your life. Or he may attribute that change to your self﷓will or innate goodness or the psychological value of believing in something. You need to tell your friend that it is Jesus who has changed you. Eventually you must also confront your friend with his sinful condition and need of a savior. This will offend some people and lead to rejection. And being rejected by friends is more painful than being rejected by strangers. "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you" John 15:20. "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" 2 Tim. 3:12.

How can we get more Christians involved in evangelism? Here are three things we can do:

Commit yourself to get involved in some kind of outreach on a weekly or monthly basis

Encourage others in your church to join you.

Challenge your pastor and church leaders to give evangelism a greater priority in your church

The change must begin in our own lives. We need to stop being spectators and start doing the work God has called us to. We need to make evangelism a priority in our own lives and stop making excuses for ourselves. It is not so important where or how you witness, but that you be involved in telling unsaved people about Jesus in a consistent way. Once you get started, you can encourage others to join you.

ON THE STREETS

After the SOS-San Francisco outreach, we got a number of responses from people who had been witnessed to recently. On June 29, Ronnie called me to say that he was attending a San Francisco church and had recently been baptized. Please pray for him, and also those who wrote us recently: Paul, Jerry, Jose, and the Laws Family (SF), Kathleen (Pleasanton), Rod (Belmont), Robert and Jerome (Guerneville), Michelle and Tony (Santa Rosa), and Lauren (Dallas TX).

Last week, I spoke with Stephanie. We had ministered to her in 1991 while she lived in the Mission District. At the time, she was a drug addict who had recently been infected with HIV. We helped her get into Teen Challenge, but hadn’t heard from her since then. She has continued to walk with the Lord and is now attending Bible College. She wanted to thank the SOS workers who never gave up on her.

On Saturday July 17, we witnessed at Union Square in San Francisco. Shiloh Full Gospel Church and the Paul Carate Band ministered that afternoon. Many people stopped to listen to the excellent music and preaching. Mary witnessed to Nassim for about an hour. Nassim is a Moslem from Algeria who now lives in San Francisco. He was quite open to the gospel, but was not ready to receive Christ. He asked me to send him some literature about Jesus, which I did.

On July 24, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Our usual location at Mason and Jefferson was taken, but we were able to minister half a block away. Charlie witnessed to Kathleen, who was addicted to heroin. She prayed with him to receive Christ. On July 31, we witnessed at United Nations Plaza. The Born Again Band, Children of the Rock, and Paul and Noreen Coca all ministered. We prayed with several people that afternoon. Paul and Noreen prayed with Jose. He was a new believer, but had smoked marijuana before coming to the park. As he saw Christians in the park, he was convicted of his sins and wanted to get right with God. As they prayed, he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

From August 2-10, I visited the Prodigal Project Discipleship School in Leggitt, CA, four hours north of San Francisco. This school is for young people who have been saved off the streets of San Francisco, and through outreaches at concerts and events such as the “Rainbow Gathering.” The young people they minister to are similar to the “hippies” of the 1960’s and 1970’s. They are seeking meaning in life through drugs and new age philosophy, but many are open to the gospel. I taught evangelism at the school, and later joined an outreach at “Reggae on the River,” a nearby event that drew 15,000 people. Several ministries gave out food and witnessed to people at this event.

	Several Christian ministries offer physical and spiritual food at “Reggae on the River.”
	Larry Perez and son Larry, Jr. pray with Ryan (NY) to receive Christ at UN Plaza
	Pastor George Lee (Shiloh Full Gospel) preaches at Union Square
	Paul and Noreen pray with Jose at UN Plaza

Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531-5325 or 541-9903 (cell phone) to confirm outreaches or for more information.

Friday September 10, 17, October 1, 8, 15, 29 7:30-10 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. (Call for location).

Sat. September 11, 18, October 9, 30 12-5 PM San Francisco Outreach. (Call for location).

Sat. October 2, 16 12:30-4:30 PM Telegraph and Haste St. Berkeley Outreach.

September 30 - October 2 "A Passion for Souls Street Ministry Conference", Dallas TX. Year 20. Winkie Pratney, Matt Barnett, Lloyd Zeigler, Scott Hinkle.

Contact SHOM, P O Box 20642, Phoenix, AZ 85046, 1-888-76-SOULS,
Soulwinners International.

Ministry News and Needs

This past month, Brandon Matz has been helping us remodel the downstairs of our ministry house. This work will cost several thousand dollars.

Please pray for everyone who was mentioned in the newsletter. Also, please pray that God will send more laborers to help us reach the people of San Francisco and Berkeley for Jesus. We have several rooms in our ministry house for mature Christians who want to be involved in evangelism. We also need more Christians to witness with us on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. One special need we have is for a musician to minister with us on Friday nights.

Our Tape of the Month is: Choosing the Better Part by Pastor Dave Wells (Harvest City Church, Regina, SK, Canada). This teaching gives a new twist on the “Mary and Martha” story, about how we need to get our priorities right.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum