January 2012

He said:

“I Don’t believe in Prayer”

The band “Book” plays at UN Plaza while many “Santas” watch

Dear Christian friends,

As many of you know, I have been using Facebook as a way to minister to Christians. One way I do this is through a “Street Evangelism” page that has about 5000 members. Recently, one member, Joshua Shaw, posted this amazing testimony:

Last Thursday I went to the mall with my wife and God did the most amazing miracle I’ve ever seen. While my wife was using the restroom, I was sitting next to a guy waiting. I asked how he was doing and made small talk with him. He said he was from Georgia, and had a southern draw to his voice. I asked him if he had any pain in his body and he started sarcastically laughing, and  told  me  he

had pain all over his body. I asked for specifics and he told me that he was blind on one eye, and both his lungs were cut in half. He was in the Navy and left for medical discharge. He was near a grenade when it went off. I asked him if I could pray, and he looked at me and told me “I Don’t Believe in Prayer!” with a sharp tone to his voice.

I said I didn’t care what he believed and that I didn’t expect him to believe what I believe. “I just want to pray for your lungs.” He finally said something like “if it will make you feel better.” I prayed and after that, he started crying. Then he started telling me that he was a bad man, and no one would forgive him. I shared the gospel with him and he was condemning himself all the more.

He said that he had killed too many people and no one could forgive him, and he could never forgive himself. He shared a little bit of what happened. He was stationed in Africa and got shot in the butt. He turned around and pulled the trigger at the one who shot him and it was a 9 year old boy! After that I shared the gospel some more and told him a little of my testimony.

After that I asked if I could pray again. He said that there was no way God could heal him or would heal him. I prayed anyway. Then he started feeling a lot of pain in his chest. He started coughing and said that he felt a heavy burning where his lungs were missing. After about a minute or two of feeling pain, he then took a deep breath, and told me that he hadn’t breathed that deeply in years. Both his lungs were fully restored! After that he stood up to give me a hug, and he told me he didn’t deserve this.

As he got up he limped and said his leg and shoulder were messed up from bullet wounds. I started to pray. He tried stopping me saying, “Don’t pray, I don’t deserve this.” But I prayed and his leg was restored. Then I prayed over his shoulder, and God healed his shoulder. I got a word about his upper back and God healed his upper back. He started saying, “I didn’t tell you about my back.” Then I prayed over his lower back and prayed for all nerve damage to be restored. He told me that he had a knife wound where I laid my hand on his lower back. God also healed him totally in his shoulder. His right hand had no feeling because of the nerve damage, He started telling me how he could feel things. He had full feeling in his hand and he started crying. After that he prayed to receive Christ, and he even prayed over my wife and I. That was the most amazing and touching miracle I’ve seen.

 On the Streets

On Friday November 18, we witnessed at 16^th St. and Mission. The weather forecast said it wouldn’t rain. However, soon after I began preaching, it started to rain. There was no awning in sight, so I got out an umbrella and tried my best to cover our equipment. After 20 minutes, the rain stopped and our equipment was not damaged.

Soon after we arrived, Chris showed up. In the last newsletter, I mentioned that Larry DuBois had witnessed to Chris and invited him to attend Calvary Road church, which he has been attending. Eric Martinez, who leads worship for us on Friday nights, pastors that church. Eric  ministered to Chris, who was quite surprised to see us.

That night, Dave St. Marie witnessed to JJ, who is of the Sikh religion. JJ was quite receptive to the gospel, asked lots of questions, and received a Bible and immediately started reading it. He also witnessed to Jared, a young man who had attended a Christian school and had lots of Christian friends and said he was “taking a break from God.” I witnessed to Hector, who said he believed in Jesus but was a drug addict. I prayed with him.

The next day, Tim Moon, Chuck Girard and Paul Coca were all schedule to minister with us in Berkeley. That morning, however, Tim called me to tell me that the 100-year-old apartment complex across the street from where we minister to had been destroyed in a fire, and that the Fire Department had closed off the entire block. (Nobody was injured in the fire.)

We decided to move our outreach to 5^th St. and Market in San Francisco. Chuck had a meeting that night near Sacramento, so he and Paul were unable to join us. But Tim ministered with us that afternoon. We witnessed to a lot of people that afternoon and gave away several Bibles. Tim ministered to a women he had met at the Prodigal Project many years before and he bought her some food. We also met some other Christians who witness in this area. Several hundred people were attending a nearby convention of the Society of Biblical Literature. I tried to offer them some “Biblical literature” but most were clearly unsaved, and not interested.

The following Saturday, we returned to 5^th St. and Market in San Francisco. Tim Moon again ministered with us in music, as well as Dave Gould, who plays keyboard and sings. Mark asked Dave Gould about the rapture. He explained how he could get right with God, and Mark said he wanted to do that, so Dave and Jack prayed with him to receive Christ. Mike witnessed to a well-dressed man named John, who was thinking about jumping off the ledge to the BART station below us and killing himself.

On Sat. Dec. 10, the band “Book” from Modesto joined Tim Moon and Dave Gould in ministering at UN Plaza. About 1000 people dressed as Santa passed by our outreach. They were part of an annual event called “Santacon,” which involves a lot of drunkenness. Fortunately, they chose Washington Square instead of UN Plaza to attempt a world record for the most naked Santas that afternoon. Most of the “Santas” were not receptive to the gospel, but we prayed with several people that afternoon.

On November 26, Ed La Rose went to be with the Lord. Ed participated in several SOS outreaches with us over the past 25 years, and carried a cross in 50 nations preaching the gospel. He also had a ministry to Native Americans. He leaves behind his wife, Rene, and five daughters aged 9-19. Please pray for them.

Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 282-5629 (cell phone) to confirm outreaches or for more information.

Friday Jan. 6, 13, and 20 7:30 – 10 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. (call for location.) 

Sat. Jan. 7, 14, 21  San Francisco or Berkeley Afternoon Outreach (Location depends on weather. Call Sat. morning for exact time and location. )

Ministry News and Needs

Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We were able to fix our van and I am now getting some work done on my car.

We have a new member of our ministry house. Dave Gould came here from Seattle. He was involved in street ministry there. He loves to witness, and also is an anointed worship leader who plays keyboard. He has been ministering with us through music on the streets.

We still have several openings in our ministry house for Christians who want to do evangelism. We are once again opening up our house to women as well as men. Please pray that God will provide the right people for our house.

I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month. Let’s start the New Year right – by bringing the gospel to those who desperately need to know Jesus.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum

Mike (l) witnesses to John, who was contemplating suicide

Ed La Rose holds cross at Aquatic Park during 1980’s SOS outreach

Praying with people at UN Plaza on Dec. 10

Dave Gould (r) witnesses to man at UN Plaza

December 2011

No Excuse

1. Loi and May give out food to homeless at People’s Park, Berkeley.

Dear Christian friends,

In order for an unsaved person to come to Christ, he or she must be absolutely convinced that he is a lost sinner, and that there is no way he can save himself by his own works or by any other means. As long as he thinks he has found a loophole — that somehow God will accept him without the need for faith in Christ, he will invariably take advantage of that loophole. The unbeliever will comfort himself with the thought that most of the people he knows don’t believe in Christ and that all these people couldn’t be wrong. As we know, this is a dangerous deception.

In a similar manner, in order for a Christian to commit himself to evangelism, he or she must come to the realization that God has commanded him to do so. If he can convince himself that God has made an exception for him, that he is excused from obeying the Great Commission, he will invariably take advantage of this loophole. Unfortunately, the vast majority of evangelical Christianity has allowed itself to be deceived into thinking that a Christian who never witnesses for our Lord can be right with God. Such a Christian comforts himself  with  the  thought that most other Christians don’t witness, so it must be OK.

Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32). Before He ascended into heaven, He gave us the commandment to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The apostle Paul understood the necessity to preach the gospel. “When I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me” (1 Corin. 9:16-17). He told the Ephesian elders, “I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” (Acts 20:26). In making this statement, he referred to God’s words to Ezekiel and considered them applicable to us in New Testament times: “When I say to a wicked man, `You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself” (Ezekiel 3:18-19).

I’d encourage you to read the whole third chapter of Ezekiel. Some will argue that this passage only applied to Ezekiel, but Acts 20:26 is a clear reference to it, and shows that Paul thought the passage referred to him. 1 Corin. 9 confirms that Paul considered that some adverse consequence would fall on him if he refused to preach the gospel.

It may come as a shock to us that the great apostle Paul was motivated by the fear of having the blood of unsaved people on his hands in preaching the gospel. Surely he would have been motivated rather by his great love for God, by the great joy he had in his salvation that he couldn’t keep to himself, and by his love for the lost. I’m sure he was motivated by all these things, but sometimes he needed this additional motivation—“Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” Witnessing for Jesus isn’t always pleasant or convenient. Even Paul at times would have avoided witnessing if he thought he could have gotten away with it and still be right with God. After all, it wasn’t fun being beaten and  thrown into jail.

Again, some will argue that these scriptures only applied to the apostles or to those specifically called as evangelists or missionaries.  Certainly, different people have different callings. But do you think that God has placed this great responsibility on Paul, where the blood of others would be on his hands if he disobeyed, yet He has given other Christians no responsibility whatsoever to the lost?

Why do you think God did not take us to heaven as soon as we were saved? Why must we endure all those trials and tribulations? Yes, God is purifying us so we will be more like Jesus. But one important purpose in bringing about these changes is for us to become better witnesses for our Lord. When I am in heaven I will be totally like Jesus and will have perfect fellowship with Him, but it will be too late to help anyone else. Again Paul wrote, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Phil. 1:23). The main reason we stay on this earth is for the sake of others — to help other believers mature in Christ and bring salvation to the lost.

Thinking about the blood of others being on our hands may seem crude, but Paul needed it to motivate him and we need it to motivate us as well. Once we stop looking for loopholes and making excuses for our failure to witness, we will find a way to witness for Christ as a central part of our lives. If we need training, we will get it. If we are fearful, we will overcome the fear. If we are busy, we will find time to witness just like we find time to go to church, read our Bible, and pray. Getting past the excuses is the hard part. The rest is easy.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas is an excellent time to witness for Jesus. Often, people are more receptive to the gospel at this time. Thousands of people are on the streets doing their Christmas shopping. We need to remind them of the true reason for the season. Come join one of our Christmas outreaches at UN Plaza, 7^th St. and Market, SF  on Sat. Dec. 10 and 17, 12-5 PM.

On the Streets

Throughout the winter, often the weather report is uncertain as to whether it will rain on our outreaches. Even if we check the weather forecast right before we leave, including the radar, the forecast is often wrong. Normally, when rain is considered likely, we witness in Berkeley on Saturday afternoons. However, the local street vendors in Berkeley can get angry if we witness there too many weeks in a row.

So we try to alternate with Fisherman’s Wharf outreaches when possible. Getting Fisherman’s Wharf permits involves attending a meeting in San Francisco that can last six hours. Dave St. Marie made a special trip there to get November permits, but only was able to get one permit, for November 5. So I decided to use it, despite a forecast of 40% chance of rain.

As we arrived at the Wharf, our van started spilling out water. Tim Moon, who was ministering that day, called a mechanic friend who came from San Jose to look at our van. The water pump was broken, and we could not fix it immediately so we needed to tow it home. So we called towing places. We started with quotes of $250, but found a place that would tow our van to Oakland for $140.

Fortunately, the pump didn’t break until we got to the outreach, so we were able to hold our outreach. No damage was done to the engine. And it didn’t start raining until our outreach ended that afternoon. Several Christians joined us that afternoon. The weather was good, and thousands of people heard the gospel that day.

The night before, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Dave witnessed to Rodney and Gabriella, who were quite receptive to the gospel. We also prayed for Steve, who is unsaved and headed for Afghanistan.

On November 12, we witnessed in Berkeley. James Croci played music and I preached. Loi and May brought food and gospel tracts to give to the homeless in People’s Park. Amanda, Dena and two School of Urban Missions students helped them.

Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 282-5629 (cell phone) to confirm outreaches or for more information.

Friday Dec. 2, 9, and 16 7:30 – 10 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Sat. December 3 12:30– 4:30 PM Berkeley Outreach (Telegraph and Haste St)

Sat. December 10 and 17 12-5 PM San Francisco Outreach (UN Plaza, 7^th St. and Market) (In case of rain: Powell & O’Farrell St., SF)

Ministry News and Needs

Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. The van repairs, including some preventative maintenance, cost $1000.

During the past month, we were blessed to have Scott Crawford and Larry DuBois with us. Both of them did a lot of evangelism while they were here. Larry D. witnessed to a young man named Chris and invited him to church at Calvary Road. He showed up on Sunday and Pastor Eric ministered to him. He also ministered to Robert, who is on methadone. He also got to preach to a group of protesters during a visit by Pres. Obama. On Halloween, Dan Losak joined Larry D., Seth and Walter witnessing in Livermore.

We only have three men in our evangelism house. Please pray that God would provide some more Christians to help us reach the people of San Francisco and Berkeley. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I do hope you will consider joining one of our Christmas outreaches, if you live in this area. If not, I hope you  will witness in your own community.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum

2. Larry watches as ministry van is towed to our house.

3. Dave (r)witnesses to Rodney and Gabriella at Wharf.

4. Dena  witnesses to man in Berkeley.

November 2011

1. The Bridge church youth pray for homeless man.

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Spiritual Multiplication

Dear Christian friends,

Soon after I moved to San Francisco in 1975, I rented a room in an apartment, which I shared with four roommates. My rent was only $70 per month. All my roommates were non-Christians, and I tried witnessing to all of them. Only one wanted to talk with me about Jesus. Tom was a senior at San Francisco State University and was a Buddhist. We had some lively discussions, sometimes turning into debates, about Christianity.

Within a month, Tom was saved. He started attending church with me. A few years later, he moved away and I lost track of him. This past month, Tom found me on the internet and called me. We got together for the first time in 30 years. Tom has continued to serve God for over 35 years. He works as a salesman, but also is involved in child evangelism. He works with churches to organize “Adventure Klub” meetings, often involving several hundred children whose parents are not Christians. Through these meetings, many hundreds of children and many of their parents have been saved. Tom’s children are now grown, and are also serving God. One of his sons is a missionary.

I wonder how  many people  have    been  saved  through  our ministry that

I know nothing about. How many people have been saved through their ministries?

Edward Kimble and the Shoe Salesman

Once we have been saved by Jesus, we are often excited about sharing our conversion with everyone and anyone who will listen. But, as time goes by, something changes and we find it much more difficult to speak to others about all the good Jesus has done for our lives. Sometimes it is because we are shy or perhaps low self-esteem or maybe self-doubt as we wonder “What can I possibly do for the Lord? I am no Billy Graham.” If this is how you are feeling, the following is a story about Edward Kimble and the Shoe Salesman.

It was July 1, 1885 when Edward Kimble felt the tugging of the Spirit to share his faith with a young shoe salesman he knew. At first Kimble vacillated, unsure if he should talk to the man. But he finally mustered his courage and went into the shoe store. There Kimble found the salesman in the back room stocking shoes, and he began to share his faith with him. As a result, the young shoe salesman prayed and received Jesus Christ that day. That shoe salesman’s name was Dwight L. Moody, and he became the greatest evangelist of his generation.

But the story doesn’t end there. Several years later a pastor and well-known author by the name of Frederick B. Meyer heard Moody preach. Meyer was so deeply stirred by Moody’s preaching that he himself embarked on a far-reaching evangelistic ministry. Once when Meyer was preaching, a college student named Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ as a result of his presentation of the gospel. Chapman later employed a baseball player to help him prepare to conduct an evangelistic crusade. That ballplayer, who later became a powerful evangelist himself, was Billy Sunday.

In 1924 a group of businessmen invited Billy Sunday to hold an evangelistic campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina, which resulted in many people coming to Christ. Out of that revival meeting a group of men formed a men’s prayer group to pray for the world. They prayed for Charlotte to have another great revival. God sent another evangelist named Mordecai Hamm. Hamm went to Charlotte in 1934 to hold a crusade.

Ham’s crusade went well, even though it did not have many converts. On one of the last nights under the big tent one tall, lanky young man walked up the aisle to receive Christ. That man’s name was Billy Graham.

Talk about a chain of events! And it all started with an ordinary Christian named Edward Kimble, who reached D.L. Moody, who reached Wilbur Chapman, who reached Billy Sunday, who reached Mordecai Ham, who reached Billy Graham. Look at what God has done over these many years because of the faithfulness of one person. (from treeoflifebiblechurch.org)

On the Streets

On Friday night, August 19, we witnessed at 16th St. and Mission. I witnessed to Elia and Jesus, high school students from Guatemala. Dave witnessed to Ray for a long time. He said he would start reading the Bible. We also ministered to Shanna, who is homeless, and tried to help her get off the streets.

The next day, about 40 Christians, 10 adults and 30 youth, from the Bridge Church in San Mateo witnessed with us at UN Plaza. Their youth band played and several of the youth shared testimonies and their pastor, Brian Goodell, preached and played with the band. Brian’s father, Gary, is also a pastor and was one of the founders of SOS Ministries. Brian first participated in an SOS outreach when he was a child. We witnessed to and prayed with quite a few people that afternoon. Dave witnessed to Jay, who was not saved even though many of his relatives are Christians.

On Sat. September 10, we witnessed at Dolores Park. It was a sunny day, and over 1000 people were in the park. Most are  San Francisco residents in their 20’s and 30’s.  “Factor 11” and the “Descendants of David” both ministered that afternoon, and I preached three times. At most locations, we only have people’s attention for a few minutes, as they walk down the street. At this park, hundreds of people listened to us for up to 4 hours.

Many of these people were quite hostile to the gospel message, but we presented the gospel in as gentle and loving a way as we could. One of our banners was torn down and covered with graffiti, but it was easily cleaned with alcohol. Dave witnessed to Jonathan, a Catholic from the Philippines, who was quite open to the gospel. He also witnessed to Anubi, a Jewish teenager who was kicked out of his home and living on the streets.

Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 761-6120 to confirm outreaches or for more information.

Fridays: November 4, 11, 18 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. 7:30-10 PM (Call for location).

Saturdays: November 5, 12, 19 San Francisco or Berkeley Evangelism Outreach (Call for location).

Ministry News

I received this letter from a Christian woman: “When we were in San Francisco on about July 4, we heard a street preacher. And he was preaching the gospel. It was so wonderful. I felt the people who lived here had no regard for the things of God. But those who heard the preacher, heard the Word. A nice lady there gave me a tract, and I wanted to send you some money to ‘preach the Word.’” And we received this email from a man from Greece:
”In our recent visit to San Francisco we enjoyed a few good words about our beloved Jesus along with some great music in a central square evening concert. Can you please let me know if these tracks are available somewhere because we’d really like to listen to them again? Kind regards. Panos Milis”

Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. Please pray for those who were ministered to during our evangelism outreaches.

We still have two openings in our house for Christian men who are serious about evangelism. Please pray that God will provide the right people.

I hope some of you will join us for an outreach this next month.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum

2. The  Bridge youth band at U.N. Plaza.

3. Sign in Academy of Art Institute window during U.N. Plaza outreach.

4. Factor 11 plays at Dolores Park.

5. Over 1,000 people hear the Gospel at Dolores Park.