SOS Ministry Newsletter - January 2008

No Place To Lay His Head

Dear Christian Friends,

Jesus said, “The Son of man has no place to lay his head” Matt. 8:20. How many of us can say that about ourselves? I was introduced to Dennis by Bill, a preacher and friend of SOS. At first I thought Dennis was just an ordinary street person whom Bill took under his wing. After getting to know Dennis, I found him to be someone who actually walked with the the Lord. This is how Bill met Dennis: “We met one night during Christmas 2005 while I was across the street from Union Square passing out tracts. He said he was a Christian. At first I was suspicious; I thought, how could a man be living on the streets and be a Christian? A month later I happened to walk up to him while he was using God’s Word to witness to another man. The Lord rebuked me and has given me a desire to help him in whatever way I am able. Dennis is such an encouragement to me.”

Dennis makes his living by collecting bottles, plastic, and other recyclables. You won’t see a discarded bottle or can on the street in San Francisco for very long before someone comes by and snatches it up. Many people use shopping carts and have large yard waste bags holding their treasure. Among many of these independent recyclers are elderly Chinese women. They all seem to know each other and from what I see, respect each other for the most part.

Besides collecting recyclables, Dennis preaches the Gospel and on several occasions has joined us on our outreaches. One of the advantages he has is that he knows almost all the city folks from the garbage man, to the bellhops at the finest hotels. As Dennis puts it, “It’s my neighborhood.”

There was a time when Dennis felt as insignificant as the bottles he collected. One day as Dennis had all but given up, the Lord ministered to him and encouraged him to keep going and that He was going to use Dennis for the purpose of sharing the Good News to the discarded people lost in the city of San Francisco.

Life on the street is a hard life. I know because I have lived there myself. Despite the positive attitude Dennis has, he has had many trials as well. He has been beaten up and has had many things stolen. Many Christians have encouraged Dennis and even offered practical help for him to get off the streets. He maintains that his calling and mission field is there among the street people.

The most memorable thing from Dennis’ testimony is how he uses the analogy of recycling. The discarded bottles that go into the garbage can are of little worth to most people. However, they are collected and made into new products. Likewise, our lives are salvaged by Jesus Christ. Because He loves us, He takes and transforms us into something new and beautiful.

(Written by Larry DuBois)

Janet’s Story

Janet Long lives on a ranch in central Oregon, far from any city. In 1982, she had a dream in which she was walking down a city street singing about Jesus. The street had bars and clubs. The people in the dream were partying, thinking they were having fun. They thought Christians had no fun. She was singing a song, “Jesus loves us, Jesus died for us, Jesus lives in us.”

Two years later, Ira Nissen, a Christian friend, was driving to San Francisco to attend an SOS outreach. Janet’s mother lived in the Bay Area so she decided to ride with him. Ira promised to give her a ride to her mother’s house after the outreach. Janet ended up on a witnessing team in San Francisco, even though she had never approved of this kind of ministry. She decided to sing along with the worship leader. To her surprise, he was singing the same song she had heard in her dream two years ago. She asked him where he got that song. He said he ran out of words so he made it up.

The street she was on looked a lot like the one she had seen in her dream. A white limousine stopped in front of the group and a beautiful prostitute got out. She yelled, “Don’t make me listen to that music.” Three women began praying for her. She was immediately freed from heroin, and went home with the Christians.

Later that summer, Janet joined Ira for an outreach to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. A woman named Cindy from Santa Cruz prayed for a man’s eyes. When she pulled her hand away, they saw tiny bits of metal in her palms. His eyes were healed. Janet also saw a raging demoniac approach their group and suddenly kneel down crying “I want to be saved.” Later they met a Jewish lawyer named Reuben. They told him about Jesus and he asked for prayer for his back. Suddenly he shouted that his back was healed and he credited Jesus for the healing.

After this summer, Janet decided that this was the life for her. She decided to join SOS Ministries in 1985. That year, she was part of a march down Haight Street with a big cross. Two witches tried to take away the cross. As the Christians prayed, their hands froze in midair. The team moved on untouched.

In 1985 or 1986, Janet was part of an outreach to the Rose Parade in Pasadena. She met a man who was one of the sons of Garner Ted Armstrong, leader of the Worldwide Church of God cult. He was questioning some of his father’s teachings, and they spent three hours discussing the trinity and other matters. Janet does not know if he ever repented of their false teachings.

Janet lived in the SOS house for several years, and has participated in many outreaches with us since that time. Although she has a ranch in Oregon, she attends the SOS-San Francisco outreach almost every year and spends much of the winter living in our house and witnessing with us. On October 13, she witnessed to Matthew at UN Plaza. Matthew’s father had sexually abused him, burned him, and then abandoned him. Matthew had his own landscaping business in Hawaii, but lost everything. Janet prayed with him to be set free from drugs and gave him contact information for a Christian landscaper she knows who might be able to give him work.

ON THE STREETS

Click on Photos to Enlarge

	Paul Coca and Chuck Girard sing at UN Plaza on October 13
	Dennis holds out the bottle and can he uses to illustrate how Jesus recycles lives.
	Janet passes out tracts at Wharf
	Loi witnesses to man at UN Plaza on October 13.

Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531-5325 or (510) 213-2584 (cell phone) to confirm outreaches or for more information.

Friday January 4, 11, 25 7:30 - 10 PM. Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Sat. January 5, 26 Berkeley Evangelism Outreach. 12:30-4:30 PM Telegraph & Haste St.

Sat. Jan. 12 SF or Berk. Evangelism Outreach. (Call Sat. morning after 9 AM for location.)

Ministry News and Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. In November, the mixer board for our PA system burned out. A new one will cost about $800. Also, we will be applying for our 2008 Berkeley permits on Jan. 2. They will cost $828.

Our Tape of the Month is Ministry to the Poor by Jerry Brandt. Jerry is Director of Action Evangelism in Tampa, FL. He worked with us for many years.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum