SOS Monthly Newsletter - September 2005

SOS - San Francisco Outreach Report

Dear Christian friends,

For the 26th year, God brought dedicated Christians from all over the US to bring the gospel to the people of San Francisco and Berkeley. They came from Tennessee, Minnesota, Kansas, Oregon, and Utah, as well as many from California. What impressed me most this year was the quality of our workers and the ministry that took place all week. We were especially blessed to have anointed music ministry by Chuck Girard, Oden Fong, New Hope Christian Fellowship, Machaira, Paul and Noreen Coca, Tim Moon and Mark Whitehead. Evangelist Lou Wooten, who has preached at hundreds of crusades throughout the world, was here the entire week. Scott Crawford joined us the final three days after participating in a major evangelistic outreach in Haiti.

We ministered to people from all over the world. On the first Saturday, Karol witnessed to two Muslims from Tunisia for over an hour. Janet witnessed to a woman from Peru. Jeff witnessed to a couple from the Netherlands. On Monday we ministered for seven hours at Fisherman’s Wharf before a police officer ordered us to shut down. We were also shut down once at Powell and Market. Otherwise, we had great freedom to preach the gospel.

On Tuesday we went to 24th St. and Mission. Most of the people here speak Spanish, but only two of our workers spoke Spanish. The Hispanic community in San Francisco has many bold Christians, who regularly witness in this neighborhood. However, they have not been able to get permits because of a dispute between the city and BART about who controls this location. After much difficulty, we got a permit a few days before our outreach began. Immediately, we found two Christians to preach in Spanish. We also met a 16 year old boy, Alfredo, who had been saved a few months ago. He translated our preaching into Spanish. Mark Whitehead sang several worship songs in Spanish. We gave out 1500 Spanish gospel tracts. By the end of the afternoon, Hispanic Christians were praying with about 40 people to receive Christ or rededicate their lives to Christ.

On Wednesday and Friday we went to Berkeley. Twelve hundred people were attending a Conference on Spiritual Activism on the university campus. Most were ministers from mainline churches, who were joining with Buddhist priests, Jewish rabbis, Sufi mystics, and homosexual activists to “oppose the religious right.” We witnessed to many people from that conference. Karol spoke with a Jewish woman who asked her how she was saved, and if she felt different. She also witnessed to Max and Lara, native Israelis, about how Jesus fulfilled the Messianic scriptures. Jeff witnessed to Max, a “minister” at a Berkeley church. He asked him, “if you were to die today, would you go to Heaven?” Max had no idea. He took him to John 3:3 and asked him what it meant to be “born again.” Max had no idea what it meant.

Also on Wednesday, Frank witnessed to a Buddhist monk who said he used to be a born-again Christian. He was quite friendly and we saw him again on Friday. Several Christians witnessed to Mark the “Hate Man,” who has heckled Christians in Berkeley for 20 years. He let them pray that God would take away the pain in his legs. I witnessed to Ray, a young man from India. He was raised Catholic but said he wanted to learn more about Protestantism. I gave him a New Testament and a copy of the book Prison to Praise. On Wednesday night, we sent one team to Castro St. Jonathan prayed with Jimmy, “Cupcake,” and “J-rob.” Another team went to Powell and Market. Rix and Dona witnessed to Bill, an Hispanic man who had seen us the previous day at 24th St. and Mission. They prayed that he would be set free from drugs and alcohol and referred him to Victory Outreach.

On Thursday we witnessed on Haight St. That day Janet witnessed to Rodney, who read one of our tracts, and asked if he could pray the prayer on the back of the tract. Lou witnessed to Patrick, age 16. He asked him, “If I could prove to you that God is real, would you believe in Him?” They prayed that God would reveal Himself to Patrick. He did, and Patrick committed his life to Christ. Later, Lou witnessed to Justine, a 14 year old girl, who also prayed to receive Christ. Justine was traveling from Colorado with her girl friend Alex, who is a believer.

On Friday, Dennis was preaching in Berkeley when he saw his sister walk by. His sister is a lesbian, and he had not seen her for several years. She was glad to see him, and they had a good conversation. On Saturday, we decided to march from Powell and Market St. to Washington Square, where we held our final outreach. Mae preached in Chinese as we marched through Chinatown. We gave out hundreds of Chinese tracts in that neighborhood. As the outreach ended, I was witnessing to eight young people from Ireland. They came from a Catholic family, but were not religious.

We gave out about 100,000 gospel tracts and 400 New Testaments during the week. We preached to over 100,000 people and had conversations with several hundred people. Only in Heaven will we know everything God did in San Francisco, Berkeley, and in people who came here from all over the world, during this week. We want to thank Temple Baptist Church for once again hosting our outreach. We also want to thank everyone who participated, prayed for us, and gave financially in order to make the 26th annual SOS-San Francisco a great success in advancing the Kingdom of God. I hope many of you will plan to join us for next year’s SOS outreach. We hope to have dates for the outreach by December.

	Armando preaches at 24th and Mission while Alfredo translates
	Oden Fong plays at Powell & Market
	Alfredo and Mariella pray with man at 24th and Mission
	Frank witnesses to Buddhist monk in Berkeley
	Christian march ends at Washington Square
	Norm (left) prays with man in Berkeley

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 9, 16, 23 7:30-10 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. (Call for location).

Sat. September 10 12-5 PM San Francisco Outreach. (Call for location).

Sat. September 17 12:30-4:30 PM Berkeley Outreach. Telegraph and Haste St.

Sat. September 24 12-5 PM San Francisco Outreach. UN Plaza, 7th St. & Market.

Ministry News and Needs

A major outreach like SOS-San Francisco involves lots of expenses, and with your help, we were able to pay all our bills. We were also able to help many Christians attend the outreach who could not afford to pay for registration and meals.

During August, our attorney Rick Nelson (American Liberties Institute) has been preparing a brief to appeal our Federal Civil Rights lawsuit to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. I spent many hours helping him with this brief. Judge Chesney had ruled, in essence, that the police can arrest us whenever anyone complains about our preaching. Please pray that her ruling will be reversed by the 9th Circuit, and that God will help us with this appeal.

We still have openings for two Christians to live in our ministry house. This house is not for new believers but for those who are ready for evangelism ministry. We are looking for soldiers who will endure hardship and persist in God's calling to evangelize the San Francisco Bay Area. Also, we still need someone to lead worship on the streets on Friday nights. We have worship on some Fridays, but still need a worship leader for some of our Friday outreaches.

Our Tape of the Month is Worship and Intercession in Evangelism by Chuck Girard. Chuck ministered with us the entire week of SOS.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum