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SOS Ministry Newsletter - February 2008Running From God's Call - Larry DuBois' Testimony
Larry DuBois’ Testimony - Like many young people, I began using drugs when I was 17. After two years, I got tired of psychedelic drugs but I still smoked pot and occasionally used cocaine. When I was 21, a young woman who worked with me invited me to a Young Life meeting. I attended the meeting because I wanted to date her, but ended up making a commitment to Christ. I remember thinking that nothing else mattered – not my job, my pursuits, or my life here on earth. Nothing mattered except to get every man, woman, and child into the Kingdom of God before it was too late. I knew this is what I was to do. I stopped taking drugs, attended a Charismatic church regularly, and began to grow spiritually. My mother and sister both noted the change in my life. After two months, however, I began getting tempted to take pain pills. I yielded to that temptation and my life began to spiral downhill. I was backslidden for the next ten years. I began shooting up heroin. At first I was able to keep working, but eventually I lost my job and ended up homeless for two years. During this time I was married for five years and have two sons, but my unsaved wife left me and is now remarried. I spent a total of 90 days in jail for various offenses. I became paralyzed from abscesses on my shoulder and leg and developed kidney failure. I was in the hospital for three months. Two weeks later, I was using heroin again. In 1988, I rededicated my life to Christ. Four years later, I had back surgery. After the surgery, I was prescribed pain pills. I began using heroin once again and ended up totally backslidden. I tried to get back with the Lord several times, but each time I would be tempted by pain pills, leading to more heroin use. In 2003, I rededicated my life to Christ once again. When I read about the kings of Israel, some started out well but ended up backslidden. Others lived most of their years in disobedience to God, but got right with God before they died. I hope to be one of those who ends his life well. Please pray that God will give me the strength to do so. We can only stand by His grace. I believe that my life is a lot like Jonah’s. I believe that God called me to be an evangelist when I was saved in 1978. For many years, however, I ran away from His calling. Like Jonah, I went the opposite way. God has chastened me severely for this, but did not give me over to death. The great fish that swallowed me up was my sin of heroin addiction. The vomiting out of that lifestyle was very ugly and painful, but very effective. The word of the Lord came to me a second (and third and fourth) time as well. But I am finally obeying His call for me to be an evangelist. I have been blessed in so many ways since finally becoming obedient to God’s call. Getting a Passion for Souls "To be a soul winner is the happiest thing in this world, and with every soul you bring to Jesus Christ, you seem to get a new heaven here on earth. I would sooner bring one sinner to Jesus Christ than unpick all the mysteries of the divine word, for salvation is the thing we are to live for." Charles Spurgeon. When I think about the legal battles we have faced over the years, I remember the apostle Paul. He, too, spent a lot of his time dealing with legal matters. They gave him opportunities to witness to many government leaders, but eventually they led to his death. We too must be willing to die for our faith. It is appointed to each of us once to die, and what better way than while preaching the gospel! Hebrews 11 tells of the Old Testament saints who "stopped the mouths of lions...others were tortured...they were stoned, they were sawn asunder...they were slain with the sword." Foxe's Book of Martyrs is filled with stories of Christians who suffered terribly and died for their faith in Christ. At one time, Christians who were burned at the stake would testify to the surrounding crowd about Jesus Christ. The public officials, not wanting the crowd to hear them, would beat drums to drown out the message. When I first started witnessing on the streets 37 years ago, I was living in Portland, Oregon in the winter. It rained almost every day for many hours. I stood in the rain all day long giving out tracts. Almost every night, unsaved people came to our Bible study. And several people got saved each week. In 37 years, I have never gotten sick from witnessing in the rain. The heathen are so much more dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure than we are to the pursuit of God's will. Seventy thousand football fans will sit in a stadium for hours in the rain or snow watching a football game. Three hundred thousand people will stand for hours in the rain watching the Chinese New Year Parade. But there are very few Christians who are willing to stand outside in the rain in order to witness for Jesus. The apostle Paul compared the Christian life to an athlete seeking a prize for winning a race. I am amazed at the way athletes will punish their bodies in an effort to win a sporting event. Often, a football player will play, despite having the flu. Sometimes they play with broken bones. Amazing! Sadly, most Christians no longer need an excuse. They simply refuse to witness for Jesus on the streets, to their neighbors, at work, or even to their relatives. Sadly, most pastors have given up trying to encourage the people in their churches to witness. Yes, God, revive your church! We need a genuine revival that will cause your people to zealously proclaim the gospel to a dying world! God, give us a burden to reach the lost! ON THE STREETSClick on Photos to Enlarge
Coming EventsNote: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531-5325 or (510) 213-2584 (cell phone) to confirm outreaches or for more information. Sat. February 2, 16, 23 San Francisco or Berkeley Evangelism Outreach. (The outreach location depends on weather. Call Sat. morning after 9 AM for location.) Ministry News and NeedsThank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We still have one opening in our evangelism house in Oakland for a Christian with a serious interest in evangelism. We are particularly looking for someone in his 20’s or 30’s as all of us are 40 and over. We need to reach the younger generation for Jesus. Over the past 30 years, we have almost never canceled an outreach because of bad weather. On rainy days, there is only one location we can go where there are still a lot of people on the streets: Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. During the winter, we schedule almost all of our Saturday outreaches there. This creates a problem for us. There are a few people who repeatedly complain to the city every time we come to Berkeley. While the city officials admit that we have never violated their sound ordinance, they are planning to change the ordinance in response to these complaints. We could reduce the number of complaints in Berkeley by getting more permits in San Francisco in the winter. However, it now costs us $106 for each SF permit. About half the time we wouldn’t be able to use those permits because of rain. Please pray that God will give us wisdom in handling this situation, and that we will continue to be able to preach the gospel in Berkeley. We would like to set dates for this summer’s SOS-San Francisco outreach., but we first need to find a place to meet. Please pray that God will provide a good facility for us. If you attend church in San Francisco, perhaps you could speak with your pastor about opening up your church to us. We need a place to hold meetings and house our workers during SOS week. Our Tape of the Month is The New Age Movement by Brooks Alexander and Tal Brooke from the Spiritual Counterfeits Project in Berkeley. Yours in His love, Larry Rosenbaum
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