SOS Ministries Blog

SOS – San Francisco Outreach Report

September 2010

Dear Christian friends,

A few days before the SOS-San Francisco outreach, we had a one-day outreach with 60 youth from First Baptist Church in Stockton. After I gave a brief teaching on evangelism, we went to UN Plaza to pass out 200 lunches and witness to people in this park.   This is the second time we had worked with this church’s youth group.

A week before the outreach, I emailed KFAX radio, the largest Christian station in the SF area, and asked if I could go on their afternoon Lifeline program to publicize the outreach. I used to go on KFAX every year when Craig Roberts was hosting that program, but he left a few years ago and I had not been able to get on the show. Craig Roberts was back, and he invited me to go on the show the next day. I had 40 minutes to share about SOS-San Francisco with thousands of Christians. Craig said he would also do public service announcements to publicize the event.

We held the outreach at a new location, the Bridge Ministry, and this facility worked out very well for us. Ten youth from Christian Life Assembly of God, Payson, Utah joined us from Friday through Wednesday. It was the fifth year they had been with us. On Saturday morning, we witnessed at Washington Square. I witnessed to two young people from France. They had never really heard the gospel before. Afterwards, we had a march through Chinatown. We gave out over 500 Chinese tracts that day. Later that afternoon, we had an outreach at Union Square and at night, we witnessed at the Metreon. Tim Moon played music, as he did throughout the week. The Utah team performed their “human videos” at all our outreaches while they were with us. Often, a large crowd gathered to watch them. They also shared their testimonies after doing their skits.

On Monday and Friday afternoons, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Loretta witnessed to two Mennonite boys. Karol prayed with two girls, aged 12 and 13. I passed out tracts to a large group of high school students. They were part of a Rotary Convention, were from 100 different nations, and all spoke English!

Tamara, Karol, and Carol ministered to a young Christian woman from Singapore, Andrina. She thought she was pregnant, and was considering an abortion. Tamara took her home that night. She told her if she is pregnant and doesn’t want to care for the child, she would adopt the child! Talk about going the extra mile…

On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, we witnessed in Berkeley. Frank witnessed to Mike, an 20 year old homeless man from Fresno, who kept all his possessions and his dog in a shopping cart. At first, he was hostile towards the gospel, but they ended up talking for an hour. On Thursday, Tamara visited each shop within two blocks of our outreach, sharing her testimony of salvation and deliverance from Eastern religion with each shopkeeper.

An employee from Amoeba Records, which is across the street from us, parked his car illegally across the street from us. He purposely kept his car alarm going for 1 ½ hours, almost nonstop, in order to disturb us and everyone else on the street. Taking the BART from Berkeley, Loretta witnessed to a Chinese scientist. He had lived in the US for 5 years, but had never seen a Bible.

On Wednesday afternoon, we witnessed at Haight St. and Masonic. Soon after I arrived, I saw Jamie. I have witnessed to him for 30 years, and each time I see him he is in worse shape, due to his drug and alcohol addictions. Frank witnessed to Evan, a young man who worked for Greenpeace. He was from a Presbyterian background, but had never read the New Testament. Frank gave him one, and he said he would read it. Several Christians ministered to Joseph and Marissa, a young couple from Hawaii who were living on the streets. Christians from our team bought them a sleeping bag and some food. They were quite receptive to the gospel, and read the literature we gave them.

On Tuesday night, we witnessed at 16^th St. and Mission. Frank witnessed to Valenti, a 20 year old man from London. He was from a Hindu background, but was interested in Jesus. Frank explained the gospel to him. On Thursday night, we witnessed at Powell and Market. Janice and Loretta spoke with Marc, who interrupted our preaching with his comment, “There is no hope. We are all going to hell.” Marc was a backslidden Christian who is involved in homosexuality. They ended up praying together.

Pastor Mark Whitehead was with us most afternoons, bringing several people from his church, Victory Assembly in Ceres. Chuck Girard and Paul Coca were with us on Friday and Saturday, with Noreen Coca joining us on Saturday. We concluded the outreach with a rally at UN Plaza on Saturday afternoon. Chuck, Paul and Noreen, and Mark ministered, along with a worship group and some rappers from Word of Grace Church in San Francisco. We prayed with  at least 50 people that afternoon, and gave out several dozen Bibles. I spoke with Daniel, a drug addict and bought him a BART ticket so he could get to a Christian discipleship program in Richmond, CA.

They day after our SOS outreach ended, we had our first outreach with Teen Challenge in Oakland. Tim Moon and I brought 13 men from their program to Fisherman’s Wharf. Tim sang, I preached, and we passed out hundreds of tracts. This was the first time these men had witnessed on the streets. They were nervous, but excited. We hope to witness with them once a month.

Despite the tens of thousands of Christians who heard about the outreach through Spirit West Coast, KFAX, and Facebook, the SOS outreach does seem to get smaller each year. Still, God did a great work through our small team. Thank you for your prayers and financial support, which made this outreach possible. Only in eternity will we see all the fruit of our labors.

A few days ago I received an email from a missionary couple in Ecuador. In last April’s newsletter, I mentioned witnessing to a young man named Joel who attends SF City College, is backslidden, and whose parents are missionaries in Ecuador. Through a common friend, this couple found out what I had written and wrote me, saying they had a son named Joel who was backslidden, living in San Francisco. It turns out I had witnessed to their son.

Coming Events

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

Friday September 10, 17, 24 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. 7:30-10 PM (Call for location).

Sat. September 11 Berkeley Outreach. 12:30-4:30 PM Telegraph & Haste St.

Sat. September 18 San Francisco Outreach. 11:30-1:30 Washington Square (Columbus & Union St.) 3:30-5:30 Union Square (Powell & Geary) Shelter Cove Church, Modesto.

Sat. September 25 San Francisco Outreach. 1-5 PM Dolores Park (19^th St. and Dolores) Sonhouse.

Ministry News and Needs

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. Please pray for all those we witnessed to during the SOS-San Francisco outreach, that many will be saved and become disciples of our Lord.

We gave out a lot of gospel tracts during SOS and need to print some more. It will cost about $1200 to print 60,000 tracts.

We have another new member in our evangelism house. Dave St. Marie worked with Christian Equippers Ministry for 12 years and has been witnessing with us for half a year. Please pray for Dave, Leife, and Dan as they all need to find employment. The job situation is quite bad in this area. If you know of any jobs in the SF area, please let me know. While we would like to have enough funds so that our house members could witness full-time, right now we do not have enough funds, so our house members need to work during the week.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum

Utah youth perform “human videos” at Fisherman’s Wharf.

Frank witnesses to Mike in Berkeley.

John from Utah sings at Union Square.

Pastor Brad preaches during march through Chinatown.

Joseph and Marissa read tract on Haight St.

Economic Freedom

Dear Christian friends,

I once asked two pastors why it is so hard to get Christians involved in evangelism. Both pastored churches that were very much involved in street ministry 30 years ago. Today, few of their members are involved in evangelism of any kind. They gave several reasons for this. One main reason was economics. Over the past 30 years, there has been a great increase in the number of church families in which both parents work and in which the husband works overtime in order to pay their bills. Many families are heavily in debt and are trying desperately to catch up. They barely have time to attend Sunday morning service and possibly a home fellowship. Many say there is no time for anything else. Our nation’s current financial problems have made things even more difficult for many Christians.

When I was growing up, most families lived on a single paycheck. We thought that in the future, as automation took over the workplace, we would have more leisure time. Because of technology, the average workweek had decreased from 80 to 60 to 40 hours. We expected it to continue to decrease to 30 or even 20 hours. For a number of reasons, this did not happen. Today, most families need two paychecks to maintain their standard of living.

As Christians, how do we relate this new “economic reality” to our responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission? For some Christians, their increased prosperity had led to increased support for world missions. But giving is only one part of our responsibility as Christians. We are also personally responsible to bring the gospel to others.

Some Christians find that they have many opportunities to witness in their daily lives — at work, to their neighbors and friends, while riding the bus, etc. However, most Christians rarely witness in their everyday lives.  We all need to set aside time to witness — on the streets, door-to-door, at prisons and nursing homes, etc. But where do we find the time?

One thing we need to consider is simplifying our lives. The Bible says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain…. And having food and clothing let us be content” (1 Tim. 6:6,8). Our actual needs are few. We need food, clothing, and shelter. But advertisers spend billions of dollars trying to convince us we need a brand new car, a new computer, the latest fashions in clothing, and so on. Many Christians work overtime or go into debt to purchase these things. We don’t want to deprive our children or ourselves of anything. Our children need us to spend time with them, teaching them God’s ways, much more than they need us to spend lots of money on them.

Our time is our most valuable asset. God will hold us accountable for how we use our time. Should we spend extra hours at work trying to support a lifestyle we don’t need and God does not want us to have? Then, when we come home from work, we are too tired and stressed out to spend time with the Lord, our family, our church, or reaching the lost.

One pastor gave another reason why few Christians witness: we have left our first love. We need to fall in love with Jesus again. If we love Him, we will want to tell others about Him. The sacrifices we must make to do this will seem small.

Witnessing at Work

One of our goals for this newsletter is to provide each of you with some practical help in witnessing for our Lord. I thought I’d start with some suggestions for witnessing at your workplace. Our time at work should accomplish more than making money. Some Christians have led many people to Christ through their jobs. The great evangelist D. L. Moody got saved through the witness of a shoe salesman, while he was trying on some shoes. God wants to use you to witness to others at your job, as well as at other times. Here are some tips that I think will help you:

1. Get and keep your heart right with God. Confess and forsake any known sin. Spend time in prayer and God’s word in the morning before work. The more you are walking in the Spirit at work, the better witness you’ll be and the more you’ll hear God when He tells you to witness to someone. At the same time, don’t fall into condemnation, thinking you can’t witness because you aren’t “spiritual enough.” If you lose your temper at work (for example), apologize to those who were affected.

2. Choose the right job. Are you where God wants you? God used Jonah while he was running away from Him, but He would rather use us when we are in His perfect will. If you aren’t sure you are in the job God wants you to have, ask Him. If He wants you somewhere else, He’ll make it very clear to you. When you are preparing for future work or looking for a job, spend much time praying for God’s direction. Some jobs provide more opportunities to witness than others do. This should be an important consideration in your job choice. Being used by God to witness at a job will greatly contribute to your happiness with that job.

3.  Let everyone know you are a Christian from the start. The longer you work at a job without telling people, the harder it will be to do so. Also, once you tell people you are a Christian, you will be conscious of your need to maintain a good witness before them. One easy way to do this is to send each co-worker and client a personal card or letter at Easter or Christmas with a clear gospel message in it, perhaps with your testimony in it.

4. Be sensitive to each person and to the Holy Spirit as to how much you should witness to them, and the best way to do so. Everyone reaches a place of crisis in their life at some time, when they are desperate for help. If they see you as a friend and a stable person, they will be likely to turn to you for counsel. Then they will listen eagerly as you share.

5. Avoid self-righteousness and legalism. Many people think of Christians this way. Let them see that your relationship with God is vital and gives you joy and peace, fulfillment and direction in your life. At the same time, we do need to take a stand as to what we will and won’t do at work. We must avoid all dishonesty and other immorality. It is better to leave your job than sin against our Lord.

6. Be a friend to your co-workers. Don’t gossip about them or anyone else. That way, they won’t be afraid to confide in you. Invite them to your house for dinner. Or invite them to go with you to a “non-churchy” Christian event that you think they might enjoy. According to a recent survey, 96% of non-Christians said they would be at least somewhat likely to attend church if someone invited them.

7. Use tracts. Ron Woodruff, who helped start SOS Ministries, worked at a glass factory when he got saved. He bought hundreds of comic-book tracts and left them in everyone’s lockers and everywhere around the factory. People avoided Ron because he talked to them about Jesus and wouldn’t listen to their dirty jokes. But they couldn’t deny the change they saw in his life. Within a few years, almost a third of the factory had gotten saved.

8. Become indispensable at your job. Be such a good worker that your boss can’t do without you. Your boss probably won’t mind if you witness to people as long as it doesn’t interfere with your work. Of course, this varies with the boss and the job. Once I worked at a hamburger stand and the manager (a Catholic) let me put tracts in the bag with each hamburger. Another time I worked as a cashier at a highclass restaurant. I witnessed to the waiters and quite a few customers. The owner thought it was cute and boasted of his “preacher-cashier.”

9. Don’t become a “workaholic.” Make sure your priorities are right. You need to spend time each day with God, spend time with your family, have regular church fellowship, spend time with friends, spend time in some kind of ministry activity, and have some time for rest and relaxation. If you find yourself working 50 or more hours a week, maybe you should look for a job with a better hourly wage, or simplify your lifestyle so you don’t spend so much money.

This is particularly true for single people.  One of the main advantages of being single is the ability to give oneself more fully to Christian service without the responsibilities of family life. Many single people should be able to support themselves with part-time jobs, as I did for many years. I once got a call from a single brother. I invited him to witness with us, but he said he worked 60 hours a week. He liked making a lot of money, and was giving some of it to missions. Still, he was frustrated that he had no time to evangelize. His boss was unwilling to reduce his hours, so I encouraged him to find a different job. Our time is our greatest asset. “Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Eph. 5:15).

Coming Events

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

Friday August 13, 20, 27 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. 7:30-10 PM (Call for location).

Sat. August 14, 28 San Francisco Outreach. 11:30 – 4 PM Fisherman’s Wharf (Call for exact location.)

Sat. August 21 San Francisco Outreach. 12-5 PM UN Plaza (7^th St. and Market)

Ministry News and Needs

I am writing this letter a few weeks before our SOS-San Francisco outreach. Next month’s newsletter should include a report on the outreach. On Saturday June 26, we held outreaches at Washington Square and Union Square. Tim Moon played at Washington Square. Seven men from the Lord’s Ranch in Spokane spent the weekend with us. They preached and shared testimonies at the park. Calvary Assembly in Merced ministered at Union Square. They have an excellent worship group, and many people stood around listening to the music. I preached a short message at the end.

In the early 1980’s, we used to set up a booth at Jesus West Coast, a gathering of about 3000 Christians in Santa Rosa. Several hundred people from the event came to our SOS outreach each year. About 13 years ago, I set up a booth at Spirit West Coast, a gathering of about 14000 Christians in Monterey. Only one person from the event attended our SOS outreach. This year I again set up a booth at Spirit West Coast.

On Friday, a teenager approached me at the booth. He told me he wanted to join our ministry. After speaking with him, his pastor, and the family he was living with, I decided to take him with me. Leife is 18 and he is now living in our house. He has a real heart to serve God and witness for Him. As you know, we have been praying for some young people to live in our ministry house. Please pray for Leife, and pray that other young men will join him in this ministry.

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. Please pray for all those we will be witnessing to during the SOS-San Francisco outreach, that many will be saved and become disciples of our Lord.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum

People listen to Calvary Assembly, Merced, worship band at Union Square.

Larry witnesses to man from Saudi Arabia at Union Square.

Chad  from Lord’s Ranch preaches at Washington Square.

Leife passes out tracts at Union Square.

Preaching Against Sexual Sin

Dear Christian Friends,

The favorite topic among too many street preachers is sexual sin. I have heard preachers who describe the most decadent sins in graphic detail on the streets. They especially focus on homosexuality, but also preach against fornication, adultery, pornography, and other sins I won’t mention. The most extreme group is Westboro Baptist Church, who protest at the graves of servicemen who they claim died because of our nation’s acceptance of homosexuality. All of us, I hope, will agree that they have gone way too far.

But should we even preach against sexual sins on the streets? How did Jesus deal with people involved in sexual sin? When the woman taken in adultery was brought to Him, He said, “Let Him who is without sin cast the first stone.” Then He told her, “Go and sin no more.” Jesus also taught regarding divorce, that it was not allowed except for adultery or fornication. He said that looking at a woman with lust in your heart was equivalent to adultery. These statements were made in the Sermon on the Mount, to those who gathered to hear His teachings, and in response to questions by the Pharisees. That’s about all He said on the subject of sex.

Jesus was extremely gentle in His treatment of those involved in sexual sin. That is one reason He was criticized as a friend of publicans and sinners. In contrast, He was quite strong in His condemnation of other sins – unforgiveness, self-righteousness, hypocrisy, making a public show of religion and of giving, etc. I think the way Jesus dealt with prostitutes should be a model for us in terms of how we speak about homosexuality and other sexual sins.

Paul, in particular, taught against homosexuality, fornication, and other sexual sins in Romans and the epistles, but those teachings were directed to Christians. I could not find one example of anyone preaching against sexual sin to non-Christians in the New Testament.

Sometimes, Christians tell me that we must take a position on the religious controversies of our day. But Jesus often avoided such controversies. In John 4, when the Samaritan woman tried to get Jesus into an argument about where people should be worshipping, Jesus refused to be drawn into the controversy (though clearly the Samaritans were wrong on this matter). In Luke 13, when the issue was raised about whether those who suffered in certain tragedies were being judged by God, Jesus again avoided the argument. He did the same thing with the blind man in John 9, was he blind because of his own sins, or his parents? He did the same with the issue of paying taxes to Caesar. Jesus told us to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves. Jesus knew these were no-win situations. The best thing He could do was to avoid confronting these issues head-on.

I realize it is necessary to speak about repentance from sin as part of the gospel presentation. However, I think we should use wisdom in choosing which specific sins we mention. I think it is better to speak about the kinds of sins we all deal with, such as covetousness, lust, pride, unforgiveness, self-righteousness, etc., instead of rebuking unbelievers for sins that Christians generally do not engage in. Instead of telling the non-Christian that he is a terrible sinner deserving of Hell, I can say that I am a terrible sinner deserving of Hell, but for God’s mercy. I think it is better to combat the sin of pride by speaking in an attitude of humility, speaking of our infirmities, not of our virtues. Paul certainly did that, boasting in his infirmities, and calling himself the chief of sinners.

I am not trying to make a rule of what we can or can’t say when we witness, but I think it is generally wise to avoid preaching against sexual sin. When I presented this teaching on Facebook, a reader shared a video clip of Ray Comfort using the law to bring conviction of sin to a homosexual without mentioning homosexuality. If he had, it could have resulted in an argument, instead of conviction of sin.

We have heard too many stories in the media about Christian preachers who were known for preaching against sexual sin, and then were found to be committing sexual sins. I wonder if we should even be preaching against sexual sin to unbelievers. But if we do so, we should exercise great restraint, gentleness, humility and love.

Machaira ministers at UN Plaza on June 5.

 
Masao from Calvary Chapel Bible College preaches at Wharf

Eric and Jill Baxter married on June12

Norman witnesses to young man at Metreon.

SOS San Franciso July 16-24 2010
The greatest need for every person on this earth is to receive salvation from Jesus Christ. The greatest thing any one of us can do is to present the gospel to someone and give him or her a chance to be saved. Almost every day, we have opportunities to witness to people. We encounter people at work, at school, on the bus or airplane, on the street, at the grocery store, in our neighborhood, etc. We all need to take better advantage of these opportunities and be bolder in our Christian witness.

However, there are many people who do not have any Christian friends or co-workers to witness to them. They will not be reached for Jesus unless someone makes a special effort to reach them. This is why we need special evangelistic outreaches.

One of the main reasons we do not witness in our everyday lives is that our minds are focused on other things. During an outreach like SOS – San Francisco, we can focus on one thing — reaching people with the gospel.
Another reason we do not witness is because we fear rejection by friends or coworkers. SOS – San Francisco provides an opportunity to overcome fear and witness boldly for Jesus, with the encouragement of other Christians.
A third reason we don’t witness is that we don’t know how. SOS – San Francisco provides an opportunity to get practical training and experience in personal witnessing.

An “SOS” is an urgent call for help. The people of San Francisco are in great spiritual need. They may not be starving physically, but they are starving spiritually and are headed for eternal torment if they do not trust in Jesus. We have the spiritual food, the Word of God, that can save them from a fate worse than death. How can we withhold God’s Word from those who desperately need it?

Many Christians at one time had a zeal for God and a burden for souls. But today they are caught up in worldly activities and have lost that zeal. I believe that God wants to use this summer’s SOS outreach to restore this fervor in many of His people. Jesus is coming soon! Let’s get our hearts right with God and get busy doing the work He has commanded us to do: investing our lives winning souls for His Kingdom.

The hardest part is overcoming apathy and fear. Once you actually come to SOS, God will give you divine appointments to witness to people. He will give you the right words to speak to each person. The experience you get during SOS week will help you become a bolder and more effective witness for Jesus in your everyday life.

Don’t miss this year’s SOS outreach. This year we will be meeting at the Gate Ministry, 1429 Mendell St. (near 3rd St. and Oakdale) San Francisco 94124. This is a new location for us with one big advantage—it has two showers! Contemporary Christian music pioneer Chuck Girard will be ministering throughout the week. Registration begins on Friday July 16 at 6 PM. Meetings are scheduled daily except Sunday at 8 AM from July 17-24. If you live in the Bay Area and must work, you may join us at night and on weekends.

Evangelism training will be provided throughout the week. We will be holding daily noon worship rallies in city parks, bringing the church to the street. Free housing is available during the outreach. Bring a sleeping bag and foam pad. If you prefer, we can send you information about inexpensive motels in the city. We will be serving breakfast and lunch from July 19-24.

For the 5th year, a youth group from Christian Life Assembly of God in Payson, Utah, will be joining us. We expect other youth groups to participate. Youth under 18 need adult supervision. This outreach is guaranteed to change your life — and the lives of those you will reach for Jesus.

This is our 31st year to bring together Christians to proclaim the gospel in San Francisco and Berkeley. Please pray that God will bring many laborers, especially youth groups, to help us bring in a harvest this summer.

Coming Events
Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 761-6120 to confirm outreaches or for more information.
Friday July 16, 23, 30 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. 7:30 – 10 PM (Call for location.)
Sat. July 3 San Francisco Evangelism Outreach Union Square, Powell & Geary St. 3:30-5:30 PM
Sun. July 25 San Francisco Evangelism Outreach (with Teen Challenge—Oakland) 3-7 PM
Sat. July 31 Berkeley outreach Telegraph & Haste St. 12:30-4:30 PM.
July 16-24 SOS-San Francisco 31st year. Please consider taking time off work so you can attend this important outreach.

Ministry News & Needs
This past month we held two outreaches at United Nations Plaza. A lot of homeless and poor people congregate in this plaza. On May 22, Last Days Harvest Church from Sacramento ministered. They brought most of their church with them, so we had many workers. The weather was quite windy and cold, and it was hard to escape the water blowing from the fountain. Still, we had many good conversations, and prayed with a few people. On June 5, the band Machaira ministered. It was a warm, sunny day, and we moved away from the fountain to escape the water. Yvonne witnessed to Geraldo from Spain. He was a Catholic, but was open to knowing about having a personal relationship with Jesus. Over 100 people took Bibles that afternoon. On May 29, we ministered at Fisherman’s Wharf. A team of young people joined us from Word of Grace Church in San Francisco. Several people sang and did rap. We also had three young men staying with us from Calvary Chapel Bible College. It was very encouraging to meet three men who are serious about preaching the gospel on the streets.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. Eric got married on June 12 and moved out of our house. We now only have three men in our house, all of us over 50. It is very difficult to continue doing these outreaches with so few laborers. We really need some younger believers to live in our house. Please continue to pray that God will bring the right people for our house.
Also, please pray for us as we make preparations for SOS-San Francisco, July 16-24. I hope many of you will be able to join us for this important outreach.

Yours in His Love,

Larry Rosenbaum

Evangelism & The Local Church

Dear Christian Friends,

One of the most difficult issues I face as an evangelist is how to relate properly to the local church. A Christian who is involved in evangelism will receive a lot of rejection from unbelievers who do not want to follow Jesus. However, the rejection we receive from other Christians who do not understand or appreciate our ministry is much more painful. The apostle Paul suffered a great deal of persecution as he preached the gospel, being beaten and imprisoned many times. But his greatest pain was finding that as he was in prison, Christians would be spreading rumors that he was not a true apostle and was in jail for his own wrongdoing.

At the end of Paul’s ministry, he wrote these sad words from prison, ”Demas, because he has loved the world, has deserted me…Only Luke is with me…Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm…At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me” (2 Tim. 4:10-16). Paul was tempted to get bitter, but he resisted that temptation and trusted in God’s faithfulness: “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength.”

Often, an evangelist will find that his gift is not wanted or appreciated in the church. The evangelist who wants to encourage church members to get involved in outreaches may find himself at odds with church leaders who want those members to be more active in church functions. Very few churches have a full-time minister of evangelism. A large church may support many full-time pastors, administrators, secretaries, and janitors but not a single evangelist. As a result, it is very difficult for an evangelist, especially one who must support a family, to be involved in full-time ministry. 

As an evangelist, I have my faults and the local church has its faults, but we must work together. I need the fellowship of other believers. I need to be encouraged in my Christian walk. I need to join together with other believers in worshipping God. One of my main functions as an evangelist is to equip believers in evangelism (Eph. 4: 12). And those I lead to Christ must have a church home if they are to be discipled.

The Church of Jesus Christ has been given three main tasks: to love God, to love one another, and to love the lost–worship, fellowship and evangelism. Like a tripod, a church needs three “legs” of equal length to stand. A church that neglects evangelism will become a self-centered “bless-me club.” It will die of stagnation. I personally cannot understand how it is possible for a person to be a Christian, believe in the Bible and what it says about eternal hell, and not have a burden for souls. However, the fact is that most Christians do not have this burden. The evangelist is needed to stir up this burden within believers and facilitate their involvement in evangelism.

A church needs variety in its evangelism. All Christians are not evangelists but all Christians are called to witness for Jesus. Most people come to Christ through the personal witness of a friend, co-worker, or family member. We need to be witnessing to people in our everyday lives. Yet, some people will not be reached through “friendship evangelism.” Many are saved by being invited to church meetings or evangelistic crusades. But many people will not attend such meetings. We also need to go into the “highways and hedges” and compel people to come to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Luke 14:23). I believe that every local church should have its own outreaches–ministry to nursing homes and prisons, door-to-door witnessing, street witnessing, etc.

Some Christians are critical of ”parachurch” ministries, i.e., ministries that are not part of a single fellowship or denomination. But some ministries must by their nature be interdenominational or “parachurch.” For example, much of the success of large evangelism crusades comes from bringing together Christians from many different denominations. In John 17:21, Jesus prayed, “that they also may be one in us, that the world may know that you have sent me.”

Many unbelievers are stumbled by the divisions they see in the church. If they see an outreach organized by a single church fellowship or denomination, they may think that “they are just trying to promote their church.” If they see an outreach organized by Christians of different denominations, they will see a tangible demonstration of the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17:21.

SOS Ministries was established to bring together Christians from different denominations to reach the people of San Francisco and the Bay Area for Jesus. We believe in the local church and we want to serve local church fellowships. We require that all the members of our ministry house be part of a local church. We refer new believers to local churches for follow-up and discipleship. And we provide a means through which local churches can join together as a united witness for Jesus Christ.

Friendship Evangelism

Dear Christian Friends,

As you know, I have been using Facebook to find Christians who are interested in evangelism. Recently, I got a response from a student at a Bible college. He was quite strongly opposed to street evangelism. He wrote, I “think that it is dangerous and even harmful for you to corner random people and tell them about a religion that you believe in.”

“How much better and more effective is it for you to use the love of Christ to build relationships with people first. Then through the establishment of that relationship tell them about Christ. Far more effective and efficient. I think you turn A LOT of people off when you just shove tracts and beliefs in their faces….I promise people will be more receptive and open to the gospel when they know you are genuinely interested in taking the time to build a relationship with them without a hidden agenda.”

I tried to respond to him. First, the idea of establishing a relationship with someone with the idea of eventually telling them about Christ is, in fact, a hidden agenda. The person you are befriending does not know that your true intention is to eventually share the gospel with them. I do not think that is wrong, if you don’t lie to the person, but it is a hidden agenda. In contrast, the Christian who offers someone a gospel tract or starts talking with someone about Jesus has no hidden agenda.

This student, it seems, thinks that “friendship evangelism” is the only proper way to witness. He said it was “dangerous and even harmful” to “corner random people” and tell them about a “religion” you believe in. He spoke of “shoving” tracts and beliefs “in their faces.” ”It makes it much harder for us Christians to build relationships with the world when the world thinks Christians are pushy religious fanatics.”

“Do I know the best way to evangelize? What did Jesus say? Love God, love people. Take care of the poor, needy and broken. No hidden agenda. When God fills you with His love you can’t help but love on people around you. People will ask you the questions. You won’t have to confront people with them….Obviously to you the culture today is the same as 2,000 years ago.”

While this Christian student has adopted many of the negative stereotypes held by those who oppose the gospel, his views do not line up with the Bible. Of course, our culture has changed a lot over the past 2000 years. But hostility to the preaching of God’s word is nothing new. If anything, it was worse in the past than it is today. In the past, God’s people were put to death for preaching His word. That is unusual today, at least in the U.S.

It is certainly scriptural to help the poor and needy. It is wonderful when someone asks us questions about Jesus. But nowhere in the Bible are we instructed to keep quiet until that happens. In John 4, for example, Jesus initiated a conversation with the Samaritan woman. He turned the conversation to spiritual things. I do not believe that the people we witness to are “random.” God is directing our paths.

What is a “pushy religious fanatic”? Is it wrong for Christians to share their faith with others? Is it wrong for Christians to be dedicated to following Jesus? The world sees nothing wrong with a “football fanatic.” But they think it is wrong to be fanatical in our belief in Jesus. Many people think that a little religion is OK. We can believe in God and attend church occasionally, as long as we don’t get too serious about it. Often, they equate a person who is dedicated to Jesus with a Muslim terrorist who flies planes into buildings. They equate a Christian who seeks to persuade another person of the truth of his beliefs with someone who forces another to convert or die. All are “religious fanatics.” Such thinking is absurd.

I am not aware of any examples of “friendship evangelism,” as it is taught today, in the Bible. Nor am I aware of any teaching in the Bible concerning it. Philip brought his brother Peter to Jesus, but of course they already knew each other. Jesus made friends with the Samaritan woman, but that process took only a few minutes. The Samaritan woman told the people of Sychar about Jesus, but they were people she already knew. I cannot find a single example in the Bible of anyone making friends with someone with the intention of eventually sharing the gospel with them.

In contrast, the idea of proclaiming God’s word in public places is found repeatedly throughout the Bible. The Old Testament prophets, Jesus, and the New Testament disciples all proclaimed God’s word in public places. They also all faced rejection and persecution. In the New Testament, many were saved through the public preaching of the gospel. Throughout the New Testament, we are instructed by Jesus and His disciples to proclaim the gospel throughout the world. While our culture has changed, and we need to adapt our approach to the people we minister to, God’s word does not change. I see no reason why we should stop proclaiming God’s word in public places or stop approaching non-Christians and speaking with them about Jesus. 

I am not opposed to “friendship evangelism.” God has gifted each of us differently. He will also direct us differently in how we should approach people and share the gospel with them. Many Christians have used “friendship evangelism” very effectively. Others wait for years for the “right opportunity” to witness to their unsaved friends — but it never comes.
I realize that there are Christians who preach in unnecessarily offensive ways. They angrily condemn people to Hell, often using very crude language to speak about sexual sins. I think we should preach and witness in a gentle, loving, and respectful way, without compromising God’s word.

But it is tragic that so many Christians have been poisoned by unscriptural attitudes toward evangelism. They condemn any Christian who seeks to proclaim God’s word in public places.

Kirk Cameron teaches evangelism to 1500 Christians at the Transformed Conference in San Jose.

Jill passes out tracts on Castro St.

Oscar from Teen Challenge witnesses to man on Polk St. while woman reads a tract.

Noreen Coca prays with woman who was unsure of her salvation

Eric ministers to Curtis, a temporarily homeless Christian.

Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 761-6120 to confirm outreaches or for more information.
Friday May 7, 14, 21, 28 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. 7:30 – 10 PM (Call for location.)
Sat. May 8 and 29 11 AM – 4 PM San Francisco Evangelism Outreach Fisherman’s Wharf.
Sat. May 15 1 – 5 PM San Francisco Evangelism Outreach Dolores Park, 19th St. and Dolores.
Sat. May 22 12 – 5 PM San Francisco Evangelism Outreach UN Plaza, 7th St. and Market.

July 16-24 SOS-San Francisco 31st year. Please consider taking time off work so you can attend this important outreach.

Ministry Needs

About 1500 Christians attended the Transformed Conference at San Jose. Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron taught evangelism. We were able to set up a table with literature, and an announcement was made there concerning our ministry outreaches and evangelism house. It was certainly exciting to see so many Christians attending an evangelism conference. I hope they will apply what they learned.

Today, the high school leader of Calvary Chapel, Thousand Oaks, called me about bringing his youth to San Francisco to witness on the streets with us on Friday April 9. I will also be teaching their youth about evangelism.

On Friday March 26, we witnessed on Polk Street. This used to be one of our main witnessing locations, but we had not witnessed there for about 10 years. We stopped witnessing there because there were fewer people on the streets. For many decades, this was a predominately homosexual neighborhood, with many male prostitutes. Today, it is predominately heterosexual, and we did not see any prostitution. We are looking for new places to witness, and this is a pretty good location.

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We do have some good news. First, we got most of the permits we had requested for San Francisco parks. If you know any church worship groups or youth groups that would want to minister in San Francisco, have them call me.

Second, we have developed a relationship with Teen Challenge in Oakland that should help us get people for our ministry house. A number of people have completed their program and are looking for a ministry to be involved with. We expect that a few, at least, will join us. I am also planning to teach evangelism to the Teen Challenge students and start taking them out on the streets to witness.

Teen Challenge is a one-year Christian live-in program for people who want to be free from drugs and alcohol. It has a very high success rate. Despite its name, many of those in the program are not teenagers. In fact, the ones who have applied to our program so far are all over 50. We still need some younger believers to live in our house. Please continue to pray that God will bring the right people for our house.

Yours in His Love,

Larry Rosenbaum

 Is Anyone Called?

Dear Christian Friends,

For the past two months, I have been giving statistics that show, in a dramatic way, the spiritual decline that has taken place in the U.S., especially among youth who claim to be “born again” Christians. The majority of these youth, while claiming to be certain of going to Heaven because of a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, do not believe that Jesus lived a sinless life on this earth or that it is impossible to get to Heaven by good works. According to pollster George Barna, while 9% of Americans have a biblical worldview, less than ½ of 1% of Americans aged 18-23 have a biblical worldview.
This lack of a strong Biblical foundation in many Christians reflects itself in their attitudes towards evangelism. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Christian youth spend millions of dollars on “mission trips” that involve work projects and food distribution, but no mention of God’s plan of salvation. In the U.S., countless Christian youth are involved in giving out food to the homeless and similar “ministries” that don’t involve talking about Jesus. Many Christians, it seems, believe that people will be saved if we pray for them and live a good life in front of them. They think there is no need to share the gospel with unbelievers.

As our nation becomes increasingly hostile towards Christianity, Christians are looking for new methods of “evangelism” that will avoid any possibility of being rejected or persecuted. Perhaps, they think, if Jesus and the apostles had used our new “evangelism methods,” they would never have been persecuted. I often hear from Christians that not everyone is called to witness on the streets. Sometimes, however, I wonder if anyone is called or, rather, if anyone is responding to God’s call. I’m exaggerating, of course. There is a small group of Christians who faithfully witness with us. And there are other Christians witnessing throughout the country. But the laborers are indeed few, and they seem to get fewer each year.

Last April, in an attempt to recruit Christian youth to work with our ministry, I went on Facebook. Almost every day, I have been adding young Christians from Bible colleges and other Christian groups to be my “friend.” I now have over 7000 friends, most of whom are under 30. Occasionally, I let them know about our ministry house. Less than 10 have expressed interest, and, so far, none has moved in. I certainly did not expect all 7000 Christians to respond to my appeal. All we need are three or four Christian men to live in our house. But, so far, we have not found one. As far as I know, there is no other house like the one we have, where Christians can live with others who are interested in doing street evangelism. Most Christians who want to witness on the streets find it hard to get other Christians to join them. A few people may come one week; nobody the next week. Eventually, street witnessing teams tend to die because they lack consistent involvement from Christians. By having a core group of Christians who are committed to witnessing on the streets regularly, and who hold one another accountable to this commitment, we have been able to maintain a regular street outreach for over 30 years in San Francisco.

One reason that it is difficult to get Christians to do street evangelism is the hardness of many people’s hearts towards the gospel. If I could guarantee a Christian that every time he witnessed at least one person would be genuinely saved, we would have no lack of workers. There are witnessing “methods” that can get a lot of people to “say sinner’s prayers.” Unfortunately, when we try to follow-up on these people, we find that few who recite these prayers are truly converted.
It is far more satisfying to us to witness to a person who really wants to get saved, than to someone who is hardened to the gospel message. But are we witnessing to make ourselves happy or to obey God and reach the lost? It is hard for us to walk by faith and trust God to use our witness to work in people’s hearts. We want to see results, but we can’t see what God is doing in someone’s heart.

I haven’t given up on Facebook. It is a great way to let thousands of Christian youth know about our ministry and encourage them to witness for Jesus. In the past, I would call churches and Bible colleges, and try to set up meetings to share about evangelism and about our ministry. Almost all would turn us down. A few times, I have had an opportunity to speak to Christians at a Bible college chapel. The Christians who attended, it seems, soon forgot about us. We saw no response from any of these meetings. With Facebook, I can invite almost every Christian in a Bible college to be my friend, and continue to share with them about our ministry, and about evangelism. But it seems that the task of finding a few Christian youth to join our ministry will be harder than I originally thought. Please pray for us that God will give us guidance in this matter, and meet our need.

On The Streets
I realize we won’t get much sympathy from those who have been hit by record snowfalls in the East. Our only problem in the winter is rain. Almost every weekend, I look at the weather forecast and try to decide where to witness, depending on whether I think it is going to rain. On Friday nights, we go to Powell and O’Farrell on rainy nights. This location, a block from Union Square, has a big awning. Lots of people pass by, but it is hard to get them to stop. So far, we have only needed to come here twice this season.

In the winter, we get permits both in Berkeley and at Fisherman’s Wharf on Saturdays. The Wharf permits involve attending a six-hour long monthly meeting. Fortunately, right now, another performer has agreed to get permits for us. Please pray that this continues. Lots of people are at Fisherman’s Wharf on nice days, but very few on rainy days. When we expect rain, we witness in Berkeley. We try not to witness there every week, because vendors get upset with us.

We were able to witness at the Wharf on February 13 and 20. On February 27, there was a 40% chance of rain so we went to Berkeley. We put up our canopies to protect our equipment. As often happens, the forecast was wrong and we had a nice, sunny day.

While I was preaching, I said that if anyone had a good reason for not believing in Jesus, I wanted to hear it. A young man, probably a college student, approached me. I gave him the microphone. He said that he did not believe because he saw a movie called Religulous which stated that Christianity was merely copied from pagan religions. I had not seen the movie but had heard of it. Bill Maher, a political comedian, made this movie to mock all religions, especially Christianity. He interviewed various people like truck drivers and an actor who plays Jesus at a Christian theme park, and edited the interviews to make them look ridiculous.

After this young man spoke, I asked him specifically what evidence in the movie made him not believe in Jesus. He could not think of anything. But one idea that was in the movie was that the major ideas in Christianity, such as the virgin birth and the resurrection, were copied from pagan religions. Later, I looked into the matter and learned that the similarities between Christianity and pagan religions are quite superficial and don’t prove anything.

Dan offered tracts to four teenagers. Three of them took one, but the fourth said he didn’t need it. They crossed the street on a red light. As I preached, the fourth teenager looked at me and yelled “Go Satan.” As he did, he came within inches of being hit by a car.

Coming Events
Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 761-6120 to confirm outreaches or for more information.
Friday April 2, 9, May 7 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. 7:30 – 10 PM (Call for location.)
Saturday April 3, 10, May 8 San Francisco or Berkeley Evangelism Outreach (outreach location depends on weather. Call Sat. from 8-10 AM for location.)

July 16-24 SOS-San Francisco 31st year. Please consider taking time off work so you can attend this important outreach.

Ministry Needs
Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We still have three openings in our Oakland ministry house. We are looking for men in their 20’s or 30’s who are spiritually strong and are committed to evangelism. We need to train younger believers in evangelism – to reach a new generation and help us continue this work of evangelizing San Francisco and Berkeley. We are also open to having older Christian men live in this house. Please pray that God will bring the right people for our house. It is very difficult to do these outreaches with such a small outreach team.

Please pray for those we have ministered to and those who have written us in response to tracts, including Joel (a backslidden SF City College student whose parents are missionaries), Adam and Erin (Berkeley), Sean (Israel), and Lonnie (Tecumseh, NE prison). Please pray that we will get our San Francisco park permits for this year. I applied for the permits in January but have still not heard from the park department. Also, please pray that we will find a church to host our SOS-San Francisco outreach.

Yours in His Love,

Larry Rosenbaum

Our Nation’s Spiritual Decline

Dear Christian Friends,

In our January newsletter, I gave some disturbing statistics from Gallup polls. According to Gallup, from 1976 to 2005, the number of Americans who believe that the Bible is the word of God has decreased from 38% to 32%. Since then, my friend Matt Bromberg showed me some poll results from George Barna that are even more frightening.

According to Barna, only 9% of Americans have a biblical worldview. But less than ½ of 1% of Americans aged 18-23 have a biblical worldview! (Perhaps this is one reason we are having such a hard time finding young men to live in our evangelism house.) Of those who say they “have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and that they are certain that they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior,” only 19% hold a biblical worldview.

So what does Barna consider to be a biblical worldview? “A ‘biblical worldview’ was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.”

That certainly is reasonable. So if only 19% of those who consider themselves to be born-again Christians hold to these views, what is happening with the other 81%? Certainly, many are false converts – they think they are saved but really aren’t. The rest, I suppose, are confused by bad teaching or perhaps did not understand the questions that were asked. Of course, it is possible to hold a “biblical worldview” and not be saved.

In another Barna survey, only 51% of Protestant pastors have a biblical worldview. There are many theologically liberal Protestant churches, so I was not surprised to learn that only 27% of United Methodist pastors have a biblical worldview. But only 44% of Pentecostal or charismatic pastors have a biblical worldview! The number is highest with Southern Baptists—but only 71% of them have a biblical worldview. Almost twice as many white senior pastors (55%) have a biblical world view as black senior pastors (30%). That possibly reflects the influence of “liberation theology” (the belief that Jesus came to liberate people from economic oppression) in many black churches.

So what are the doctrinal issues that “born again” Christians have the most difficulty with? Only 53% of “born again” Christians believe that it is “impossible for someone to earn their way into Heaven through good behavior.” How could they get that one wrong? Only 62% of “born again” Christians believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life while He was on earth. Certainly, we’re talking about a lot of false converts who think they are saved.

I hope you aren’t too confused by all these statistics. Here is what I think they are saying: First, many of the pastors in evangelical churches, and especially Pentecostal and charismatic churches do not have a biblical worldview. If you attend such a church, most likely you belong somewhere else. Many of those who think they are “born again” Christians are either false converts or confused by poor teaching. Finally, only ½ of 1% of adult Americans between age 18 and 23 have a biblical worldview.

Many of these young adults were raised in evangelical churches. We are losing almost all of them. America is in the process of rapidly becoming a pagan nation – if we do not reach our youth with the true gospel of Jesus Christ.  For the past 150 years, we have been sending missionaries to other nations. But we have neglected our own nation. The United States is in danger of becoming even less Christian than the Third World nations that have been the focus of our missionary efforts.

Dealing with Discouragement

Everyone who is involved in Christian ministry will experience times of discouragement. After Elijah’s great victory over the prophets of Baal, he ran into the wilderness after being threatened by Jezebel. He felt that he was the only one left who was faithful to God, but God assured him that he had 7000 left who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18).

The ministry of Paul the apostle had its moments of victory, but largely it was one of tremendous suffering and opposition. He was beaten at least eight times, stoned, shipwrecked, and spent many years in prison. Other Christians questioned his apostleship and several of his closest friends deserted him. When Paul and Silas were jailed at Philippi, at midnight they were singing praises to God. Paul wrote most of his epistles from jail, yet they are filled with joy and encouragement. At the end of his life, Paul wrote from prison, “At my first defense, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (2 Tim. 4:16-17).

The Bible promises us that if we are to serve God we will suffer persecution, afflictions and tribulations. We will be rejected by the world and often also by other Christians. There will be times when we won’t understand why God does something or doesn’t answer some prayer. Peter writes us, “Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

Many American Christians have been taught, and come to expect, that the Christian life will be easy, that problems should be small and easily overcome through faith in Christ. When persecution comes from witnessing, they think they must be outside God’s will so they stop witnessing. “Yes and all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).

True disciples of Christ have always known that the Christian life is not easy. In fact, it is very hard. It will include much persecution, afflictions and suffering. There will be times of disappointment and discouragement. Yet we must persevere in the work God has called us to do.Today, American Christians find that they can have a pretty comfortable life, without persecution or too many afflictions, by not witnessing for Christ or by watering down the gospel so it doesn’t offend anyone. Many have fallen for this temptation. Don’t let it happen to you.

“Endure hardship, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man who wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The farmer who labors should be the first to partake of the fruits.” (2 Tim. 2:3-7)

Kevin (r) witnesses to John while Tim sings at Wharf.

Kevin witnesses in Spanish to Lily from El Salvador.

Youth worship group sings at Powell & Market.

Chuck prays with woman in Berkeley.

Coming Events

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

Friday March 5, 19, 26 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. 7:30 – 10 PM (Call for location.)

Saturday March 6, 20, 27 San Francisco or Berkeley Evangelism Outreach (outreach location depends on weather. Call Sat. from 8-10 AM for location.)

Saturday March 13 Transformed Conference Calvary Chapel, 1175 Hillsdale Ave., San Jose 1-5:30 PM. Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, Todd Friel. Free.

transformed@wayofthemaster.com

Ministry News and Needs

We have set the dates for our annual SOS-San Francisco outreach: July 16-24. Please consider taking time off work so you can attend this important outreach. Please pray that God will help us in planning the outreach, and that He will call many laborers to bring in a great harvest of souls this summer.

On Friday February 12, we were planning to witness at Powell and Market St. When we arrived, about 40 high school students from Colorado were right in front of us. I started preaching, and several of them asked me questions. Most were silly, like “Can God make a rock He can’t move?” Still, I had a good dialog with them. Later, we saw a group of high school students from Southern California. They were a school choir, and five of them were Christians who were also part of a youth worship group. I invited them to sing some worship songs. Later, we met a group of Mormon students from Brigham Young University. They took tracts from us, but didn’t want to talk.

 Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We still have three openings in our Oakland ministry house. We are looking for men in their 20’s or 30’s who are spiritually strong and are committed to evangelism. We need to train younger believers in evangelism – to reach a new generation and help us continue this work of evangelizing San Francisco and Berkeley. We are also open to having older Christian men live in this house. Please pray that God will bring the right people for our house. It is very difficult to do these outreaches with such a small outreach team.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum

A New Decade of Street Ministry

Dear Christian Friends,

During the Jesus Movement of the 1970’s, there was a lot of street evangelism. Young people who had been recently been saved out of drugs, sexual immorality, and Eastern religion were zealous to witness to others about Jesus. I was saved in Portland, Oregon in 1970. At the time I was living in a Christian ministry house called Shiloh. Two months after I was saved, we stopped working at our agricultural job to witness full-time on the streets. During the winter, it rained almost every day. We walked around downtown Portland and passed out gospel tracts for hours. I would stand on the street in the rain, peeling off wet gospel tracts and offering them to business men! Amazingly, a lot of people took them. We also invited young travelers to our house for dinner and a nightly Bible study. Quite a few people joined us and, at times, we saw at least one person radically saved every day.

The Jesus Movement ended around 1978, but some Jesus Movement veterans began street ministries in the 1980’s. Many cities around the country had ministries that witnessed in busy areas and at special events. Christians from many locations joined together to witness at events like the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Rose Parade in Pasadena, and the Super Bowl. These outreaches are still going on. We had a Street Ministry Association and a National Street Ministry Conference which drew 1000 Christians each year.

After the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals of the late 1980’s, there was a sharp decline in financial contributions to street ministries. Many street ministries closed down. Others changed their direction. Christians, it seemed, did not want to support “pure evangelism” but they would support a ministry that was helping with people’s physical needs as well as witnessing to them. Almost every street ministry started to focus on helping the homeless or drug addicts. Some got government funding as “faith-based” organizations. Often, a ministry that focuses on the poor will get so caught up meeting physical needs that they neglect or even reject evangelism. 

The last time I attended the National Street Ministry Conference in the early 1990’s, I was surprised to learn that we were virtually the only ministry there that did not focus exclusively on reaching the poor. When we witness at a place like UN Plaza, with lots of poor people, we see a far greater response to the gospel. God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith (James 2:5). We need to continue witnessing to them. Many Christians find it satisfying to walk up to a homeless person at UN Plaza and offer him a sandwich. He clearly appreciates it. It is often easy to talk with him about Jesus. He may even pray with you. It is far less satisfying to try to witness to middle-class people who often act like you don’t exist. But there are dozens of places that offer free food to the homeless. Many if not most of the homeless in UN Plaza hear the gospel several times a month. Quite a few Christian ministries focus on this place. We don’t witness for our own personal satisfaction but rather to please God and reach the lost.

Unlike the people in UN Plaza, 95% of the people in San Francisco and Berkeley almost never hear the gospel. In many of the places where we witness, we are the only Christians who witness there. It is much more difficult witnessing to tourists at Fisherman’s Wharf and intellectuals in Berkeley. They also need to hear the gospel. They may pretend they have no needs, but we know that they need salvation as much as anyone. Who will go with us?

Redeeming the Time

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5: 15-17). Many Christians drift through life with no clear understanding of God’s will. Sometimes we think of God’s will as a mysterious thing, but the greatest part of God’s plan for our lives is clearly revealed in scripture. First, God desires that we will know Him. Second, He wants us to make Him known to others. 
How much time should we give to evangelism? The average Jehovah’s Witness spends four hours a week spreading their false message. They go to work each day, spend time with their families, and are involved in “church” activities, but still find time to “witness.” Should we do less than they with the true gospel? They are also persistent–it takes them about 16 years to make a single convert!

We find time for the things that are important to us. But are our priorities the same as God’s? For most Christians, evangelism is at the bottom of their list of priorities. As we enter into a new decade, let us reevaluate our priorities, making time for the things that really matter. Let us redeem the time (make the most of every opportunity), find out what God wants us to do, and give ourselves to His work.

If you live in the SF area and are not presently involved in some kind of evangelism, consider joining us once a week, either on Friday night or Saturday afternoon. If you are timid about witnessing, come out with us and pray for the other workers. One easy way to start witnessing is by passing out gospel tracts. If you make yourself available, God will use you, giving you boldness and an anointing to witness for Him. If you don’t live in this area, look for an evangelism ministry in your area that you can work with. One good way to find a street ministry, for example, in Dallas, is to do an internet search for “Dallas street evangelism” or something similar to that. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Jesus is coming soon, and we need to make an extra effort to bring in an abundant harvest before He returns.

Jeanette witnesses to men at Wharf.

Paula prays with a homeless woman also named Paula

Dave and Richard minister at Fisherman’s Wharf on January 9.

Eric witnesses to man at Powell & O’Farrell St.

 Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 761-6120 to confirm outreaches or for more information.
Friday February 12, 19, 26 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. 7:30 – 10 PM (Call for location.)
Saturday February 13, 20, 27 San Francisco or Berkeley Evangelism Outreach (outreach location depends on weather. Call Sat. from 8-10 AM for location.)

Ministry Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We have three openings in our Oakland ministry house. We are looking for men in their 20’s or 30’s who are spiritually strong and are committed to evangelism. We need to train younger believers in evangelism – to reach a new generation and help us continue this work of evangelizing San Francisco and Berkeley. We are also open to having older Christian men live in this house. Please pray that God will bring the right people for our house. It is very difficult to do these outreaches with such a small outreach team.

We have a new ministry phone number: 510-761-6120. This number rings on my cell phone and our internet phone, making me easier to reach. We are getting rid of a landline phone (510-531-5325), which will save us $35 a month.  Our CD of the Month is Raising Up Frontline Leaders by Sonny Arguinzoni. Sonny is founder and director of Victory Outreach, a worldwide network of churches ministering primarily to drug addicts and gang members.

Yours in His Love,

Larry Rosenbaum

A New Decade

Dear Christian Friends,

When I was saved in 1970, I thought that Jesus would return within a few years. It was a simple calculation—Israel became a nation in 1948, a generation was another 40 years, and Jesus would return by 1988. Subtract 7 years and the rapture would be in 1981. If instead you started with 1967 (when Jerusalem was unified), that would bring the rapture to 2000. It all fit so well. If you figure one day for 1000 years (2 Pet. 3:8), and date the creation at 4000 BC, that makes 4 days before Christ, 2 days for the church age, 1 day for the millennium, making one full week.

Of course, I knew Jesus had told us that “no man knows the day or the hour” of his return. Still, in the back of my mind, I thought Jesus would return by 2000 at the latest. I still believe that the reestablishment of the nation of Israel is in fact a fulfillment of Bible prophesy. I believe it is a sign of the soon return of our Lord. But long ago I gave up trying to figure out exactly when that would happen.

Another reason I was sure that our Lord’s return was quite soon, was the amount of evil in the world. Certainly, the decadence of the 1960’s was related to the unleashing of Satan. “But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short” Rev. 12.12. Surely it was no coincidence that in the year 1967, in which Jerusalem was reunited, the “hippie” movement also began with a flood of drugs, sexual immorality, and new age thinking.

Here we are entering the second decade of the twenty-first century. The Western world, at least, has become wicked beyond anything we could have imagined 50 years ago. We have certainly come a long way from the world I grew up with in the 1950’s. Who could have imagined that some of our states would be legalizing same-sex marriage in a few decades? One of the biggest and most damaging changes in the past two decades is the epidemic of internet pornography in the Christian world, even among pastors. Rev. 9:21 accurately describes four of the chief sins of our day: “Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (drug-taking), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

According to Gallup, it is difficult to tell if the number of evangelicals is increasing or decreasing. From 1976 to 2005, the number of Americans who say they have tried to “encourage someone to believe in Jesus Christ or encourage them to accept him as their Lord and savior” has increased from 47% to 52%. The percentage who believe that the Bible is the actual word of God has decreased from 38% to 32%. The number who claim to have had a “born again experience” where they committed their lives to Jesus Christ has increased from 35% to 48%. The number who said yes to all three questions was 22% in 2005, which is probably closer to the true number of evangelicals in the U.S.

In Europe, the situation is far worse. Among Protestant European nations, regular church attendance is from 3-15%. The number of evangelicals, undoubtedly, is far smaller. Church attendance is much higher in Catholic nations—ranging from 18-75%. I have been witnessing for Jesus for almost 40 years now. In my opinion, it has become a lot more difficult to reach people with the gospel. In the early 1970’s, I lived in a Christian ministry house. We did a lot of witnessing to “hippies” who were traveling. At times, we saw someone dramatically saved almost every day. When I came to San Francisco in 1975, I found that many people were willing to pray a “sinner’s prayer” but few were truly converted. After Anita Bryant and Jerry Falwell (1977-80), there was a tendency to equate evangelism with conservative politics, which caused increased opposition to our witnessing. After the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals (1987-88), a lot of people became cynical about Christianity, believing that all Christian ministers are hypocrites who are involved in secret sin and greedy for money. With each new scandal, it seems that Americans have become increasingly hardened against the gospel.

How are we to reach people for Jesus in this new decade? I believe we need to show people that our Christian faith is genuine. We need to seek to be Christ-like in our behavior—to walk in humility, love, and true holiness. We need to remain faithful to the gospel message. Despite the moral relativism of our times, the gospel message is eternal. We need to make witnessing for Jesus a priority in our lives. If Christians do not believe in the gospel strongly enough to witness to others, why should we expect non-Christians to believe the gospel?

Dealing with the Police

On Friday December 4, we witnessed at Powell and Market, in the center of San Francisco. The area was filled with Christmas shoppers. We were able to share with them the “reason for the season.” Eric Martinez sang worship songs. A police officer approached Eric while he was singing. He said we were too loud, so we turned down our sound. We did this several times, but the officer kept telling us to turn it lower. Our sound level was so low that the people in the area could not hear us. The officer was still threatening to arrest us. We asked him what law we were violating and he said, “I’ll put it on the citation.” According to police regulations, officers are supposed to look up codes when a request is made. However, most officers don’t want to do this. We just stood there for a while, and eventually the officer left. We continued to minister, and he didn’t return.

On Friday December 11, it was raining, so we witnessed at Powell and O’Farrell in San Francisco, one block from Union Square. For about five years, we have used this location on rainy days, because of the large overhang on this corner that protects us from the rain. That night, we had about six encounters with police officers and security guards. Several security guards told us we couldn’t be there. Finally, an officer told us we would have to shut down. I asked him to tell us what law we were violating. He said there was a person in a nearby hotel who “always” complains about amplifiers in the area. So he wanted to shut us down based upon a complaint he hadn’t even received. Eventually, he told us we could stay unless he received a complaint.

On December 12, we were scheduled to witness at Fisherman’s Wharf. However, the weather forecast predicted 100% chance of rain. There are very few people at the Wharf on rainy days, so we decided to return to Powell and O’Farrell. While I was parking the car, a Police Lieutenant told the group they could not use that location. He said they were blocking the store doorway, even though they were on the side of the building, not in front of the door. When I returned, I brought my video camera and spoke with the Lieutenant. Seeing the video camera, he said he would shut us down if he got any complaints but would not stop us otherwise. Tim Moon sang Christmas carols and worship songs, and Loi and I preached, for five hours. Despite the rain, thousands of people passed by us that afternoon and heard the gospel.
In order to prevent problems, we taped our Christian signs on a corner across the street from us. Someone tore down our signs and took one of them. We found it three blocks down the street.

As I write this, I realize that these things will seem strange to a lot of Christians. Even though the U.S. is supposed to have freedom of speech and religion, almost every person who seeks to proclaim the gospel in a public place will have difficulties with the police. Most officers have little knowledge of noise ordinances or Constitutional rights. Unless a Christian is willing to stand up for his right to preach the gospel, he will probably be shut down by the police. In Berkeley in the 1980’s and in San Francisco in the 1990’s, the police made a serious effort to stop us from witnessing, If we had not fought to defend our Constitutional rights, we would no longer be able to preach the gospel in these cities. “All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).

“Santa” takes tract from Dan

Sky preaches to large crowd at Wharf.

Eric talks with officer who wants to shut us down.

Dan Losak, Larry DuBois, Eric Baxter and Larry Rosenbaum

Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 761-6120 to confirm outreaches or for more information.
Friday January 8, 15, 22, 29 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. 7:30 – 10 PM (Call for location.)
Saturday January 9, 16, 23, 30 San Francisco or Berkeley Evangelism Outreach (outreach location depends on weather. Call Sat. from 8-10 AM for location.)

Ministry Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. The economic recession has affected our ministry, as it has many others. Our donations for the past year are down 28%. We trust that God will continue to provide for our needs as He always has. 

After serving in this ministry for three years, Larry DuBois has decided to move to Sacramento. Larry was our best preacher, and did a lot of our ministry administrative work. He will continue to update our web site. We will miss him greatly.

We have two openings in our Oakland ministry house. We are looking for men in their 20’s or 30’s who are spiritually strong and are committed to evangelism. We need to train younger believers in evangelism – to reach a new generation and help us continue this work of evangelizing San Francisco and Berkeley. We are also open to having older Christian men live in this house. Please pray that God will bring the right people for our house.

On December 8, Berkeley passed a new noise ordinance which could make it more difficult for us to get permits. Please pray that we will continue to be able to minister there. Our CD of the Month is The Gospel in Today’s World by Winkie Pratney. For over 30 years, Winkie has been traveling 150,000 miles a year ministering to millions of Christian youth.

Yours in His Love,

Larry Rosenbaum