Coming Events
Because of the Coronavirus situation, California, like most states, has issued a “Shelter in Place” order. We have no idea when it will end. We are praying that God will give us wisdom to continue reaching people with the gospel while seeking to protect ourselves and others from this virus. Meanwhile, we encourage Christians to be in prayer for our nation and seek God for ways to share the gospel with others.
Once a week, we have been putting our 10 foot Christian banners up on a fence that overlooks Interstate 580. We estimate 5,000 people an hour will see these banners as they drive down the freeway. One side reads “Only One Way to God: Jesus.” The other side reads “Jesus: Open your heart/Open your mind.”
I encourage each of you consider doing something similar. Find the busiest spot in your area, make or purchase a Christian sign or banner, and hold it or put it up somewhere. People are probably more receptive to the gospel now than any time in recent memory.
Also, I recommend that each of you consider becoming an online missionary. Here is a good site with helpful information: https://bloggersforthekingdom.com/internet-evangelism-church-priority/.
We are also witnessing once a week at various places in San Francisco. If you email me at mail@sosmin.com, I will keep you updated on our ministry plans during this pandemic. A report on our April outreaches in San Francisco is below.
I would like to hear what you are doing to reach people for Jesus during this time.
WITNESSING DURING A PANDEMIC
Dear Christian friends,
In our May newsletter, I wrote about the difficult decision we made to continue doing evangelism during this time. The instruction in Romans 13 to obey those in authority is not absolute. In Acts 5, when commanded by Jewish leaders not to preach the gospel, Peter and the other apostles said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
While the COVID-19 orders in most states do not explicitly command us to disobey God, it is not possible to obey them without disobeying God—especially the Biblical commands to baptize, lay hands on the sick, and to preach the gospel.
There are at least 6 places where government officials have arrested or threatened to arrest Christians for holding drive-in church services in their cars with the windows shut. Activities that involved no risk of spreading a virus have been outlawed.
Faced with this dilemma, I think the best approach is to obey God while being sensitive to the legitimate public health concerns of our government and its residents. We are seeking ways to bring the gospel to others while minimizing the risk of spreading a virus to others or getting it ourselves.
Nothing in life is without risk. There is always going to be some risk in leaving your house, and there is also risk in not leaving your house. Maybe an earthquake will strike or you will slip in your bath tub or have a heart attack from living a sedentary lifestyle. Each of us needs to educate ourselves concerning the virus and make an informed decision, guided by much prayer, concerning how we should act.
We have started hanging our 10 foot banners over Interstate 580 so that those who are driving by will read a Christian message. While there is not as much traffic as usual, about 10,000 people an hour will see the message. We don’t have many opportunities to talk with people, but we pray for those who pass by.
We have also resumed evangelism outreaches in San Francisco. On Friday April 3, we witnessed at 24th St. and Mission. We put up our signs and banners, preached, and gave out some gospel tracts and food and witnessed to some people. As I mentioned last month, everyone carried hand sanitizer and sanitized their hands after touching anyone or any questionable surface. Thus, we took more precautions than grocery workers, who do not sanitize their hands between customers whose food they touch.
On Friday April 10, we witnessed at 4th and Market St. Most of the people on the street were waiting in line for about an hour to get into the Trader Joe’s grocery store across the street.
For the first two weeks, a number of police passed us but none of them stopped. On Sat. April 18, we witnessed at Market and Embarcadero. There was a Farmer’s Market there, and a lot of people on the street. As soon as we started preaching, two vendors at the Farmer’s Market immediately called to complain about us. About 8 police officers showed up right away. A female officer spoke with us and asked us to move across the street. We complied. However, the vendors still complained so she said we could stay there and preach but could not use an amplifier. She said if she came back, she would cite all of us. And after that, if we continued, she would put us in jail. We decided to move to a different location.
On Sat. May 2, we returned to the same location. Instead of preaching next to the vendors, ten Christians preached at three different locations to hundreds of people going to and returning from the Farmer’s Market. We stayed far enough from the market that the venders could not hear us, and were able to preach for four hours with no problems from the vendors or the police.
On the Streets
We’ve gotten quite a bit behind in our outreach reports. We’re still in November, 2019. But I want to let you know what happened during these outreaches – back in the “good old days” when lots of people were on the streets and we had great freedom to preach the gospel. It seems we appreciate freedom a lot more after it is gone. Please pray for these people, that God would continue to work in their hearts and draw them to Himself.
On Sat. Nov. 23, we witnessed at 5th and Market. Mike, Dave and Scott all witnessed to Clarence, who had been stabbed in the vocal cords and stomach and could hardly talk. They shared the gospel with him and he prayed to get right with God. Mike invited him to City Impact and he attended the next day. Several people at City Impact knew him, as they had been ministering to him in a Tenderloin hotel. Josh saw a man in a wheelchair who could hardly move. He had an electric wheelchair but the battery had died. Josh helped him go down the street and then shared the gospel with him. He said he had a Christian friend who had been witnessing to him and was planning to attend church with him on Sunday.
On Fri. Dec. 4 we witnessed at Powell and O’Farrell St. This is our rain location, since the corner store has a large awning covering the street. It is also a very busy spot, one block from Union Square. Mike witnessed to JJ, who had gotten free from heroin through Celebrate Recovery, a Christian program. He knew a lot about the Bible, but was not saved. Three year ago, after his girlfriend left him, he went back to using heroin. Mike invited him to attend City Impact.
The next day, we witnessed in downtown Berkeley. That day there was heavy rain and wind. We had difficulty holding down the tarp that covered our sound system. Tim Moon played music and several of us preached. Mary Nordskog witnessed to Tendai, 20, who is homeless. Asked if he understood the gospel, he said, “I need to surrender to Christ moment by moment.” Alex and Kathy ministered to Kofi, 27, who is also homeless. He had been reading the Bible and was interested in learning about Jesus. Mike witnessed to Amir, who is from Ethiopia and has Muslim parents. He indicated that he was demonized and asked what the Bible said about that. Mike shared his testimony of being delivered from demons when he was saved. Mike also witnessed to Andrew, 20, who said some Christians had been witnessing to him. As they spoke, one of these Christians came along. He attended the Ark Church in Berkeley.
Ministry Needs
Please pray for us that God will give us wisdom going forward. On March 17, the President announced a “15 day plan to flatten the curve” to keep our hospitals from being overwhelmed. With few exceptions, most of our hospitals are quite empty but the lockdown has been extended for an indefinite period of time. How long is up to each state. Although California’s COVID-19 rate is well below the national average, I do not expect Gov. Newsom to loosen his restrictions any time soon. Hopefully, I am wrong.
Meanwhile, we intend to continue preaching the gospel as long as we can. Two of our locations, 16th and 24th and Mission, have been roped off, making it far more difficult to witness at these places. There are still several places where we can witness. If you wish to join our outreaches, please send me your email address.
While we in the US have certainly suffered from this situation, the suffering in other nations is far greater.
The director of the UN’s World Food Program says that an additional 130 million people around the world will be on the brink of starvation as a result of the shutdown. Pray for those people, and especially for those few Christians who are seeking to help them materially, but also share the gospel with them.
Pray for our government leaders, that God will give them wisdom in reopening our nation. Pray for our Christian leaders, that God will give them wisdom in knowing how to respond. Pray that God will use this situation to humble the people in our nation and that they will repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ.
We have two new members in our evangelism house. Both of them, Andy Conway and Mary Nordskog, have witnessed with us for over 15 years. Both have a strong commitment to evangelism and we are blessed to have them.