Coming Events
(Outreaches subject to change. Contact me at mail@sosmin.com or (510) 282-5629 one or two days before outreach to confirm.)
Friday November 6, 13, 20 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Saturday November 7, 14, 21 Fisherman’s Wharf 12-4 PM East of Franciscan Restaurant (Pier 43 ½) – Embarcadero St.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Dear Christian friends,
I was saved 50 years ago, in September 1970. Having come out of the “hippie” lifestyle, I knew how morally degenerate much of our world had become. “Surely,” I thought, “this world can’t get much worse.”
During the past 50 years, we saw the legalization of abortion, the widespread acceptance of homosexual behavior, an epidemic of internet pornography, the legalization of same-sex marriage, and many other things that are contrary to God’s Word. We have also seen a great moral decline in the church,
as many professing evangelicals endorse these behaviors that the Bible says are immoral.
Still, even last year, I could not have imagined what has happened this year. For the first time, virtually our entire world has gone into lockdown over COVID-19. Billions of people were ordered to “shelter in place.” Millions of businesses were forced to close. In many locations, churches have been forced to close and remain closed. And in much of the world, everyone is required to wear a mask, even while outdoors. There is much debate over whether these lockdown and mask orders are effective or justified. And even the question about what treatments should be used for COVID has become politicized, especially the use of Hydroxychloroquine, after the President endorsed it.
Beginning on May 26, a series of massive demonstrations took place instigated by the death of George Floyd. While many were peaceful, there was also a lot of looting, burning of buildings, injuries and even deaths. Many of our cities that had been devastated by the COVID lockdown were further devastated by the rioting. There were also calls to defund and even eliminate police departments. Many thousands of prisoners have been released because of COVID concerns. Some have committed murder and other crimes after their release.
At the same time, we are entering a Presidential election year unlike any other. There is talk about the losing party not accepting the results of the election, about a prolonged legal fight possibly accompanied by mass rioting on our streets.
“Surely,” I thought, “things can’t get much crazier.” But on September 18, we had the death of Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg followed by the nomination of Amy Barrett to replace her and a massive fight to get her confirmed before the November 3 election. Then, on October 1, President Trump tested positive for the COVID virus and entered the hospital for treatment for 3 ½ days. As I write, he appears to have totally recovered. Three Republican Senators and several other high-ranking officials also tested positive. A few days later, the second Presidential debate was cancelled after the Debate Commission ordered it to be virtual without consulting Republicans.
I have no idea what’s coming next. We are living in very difficult times. A lot of people are hurting, stressed out, fearful, lonely. As I read about the plagues in Revelation, it is clear that things will get a lot worse. A third of mankind will be killed by three of the plagues (Rev. 9:18). (That’s 2500 times as many as have died from COVID-19.) But we also know how this all ends. Jesus will return and set up His eternal kingdom. There will be no more sickness, suffering, injustice and death.
I received an email today from a friend who read this on Facebook: “We have been given just a portion of gas in our tank. And then it’s all over. We don’t have gauges. So we don’t know how much time or mileage we have.” His advice: Don’t waste your gas on dead-end streets. Focus on these two things: knowing Christ and making Him known. Simple.
SOS – San Francisco
Outreach Report
We knew that our 41st annual SOS-San Francisco Outreach would be unlike any previous outreach. Because of the worldwide pandemic lockdown, we moved it as late as possible – to October 8-11 – in hopes that the city would at least partially be reopened. On Thursday October 8, we witnessed at 24th St. and Mission. This is the first place we had witnessed at after the lockdown began in March. It has been consistently filled with people. Ryan, Alex and Mary all witnessed to Jose. He is a homeless man who was stricken with fear, holding on to a trash can. Alex bought him some clothes and gave him a Bible and some gospel tracts. They prayed that he would be freed from bondage. The fear started to leave him and he was able to let go of the trash can. Mike witnessed to Eddie, who said his mother hated him and he had been molested. He understood the gospel but is an alcoholic. He also ministered to Victor, 75, a backslidden Christian who had been at Victory Outreach.
On Friday, we witnessed at 16th St. and Valencia. This street is closed to traffic on weekend nights, and hundreds of people are eating at restaurants with outdoor seating. Noreen prayed with Geraldine, a single mother with three children, who wanted to receive Christ. Sarah ministered to Ricardo, 25, who said he had recently been saved. He took a Spanish New Testament. She also ministered to Roxanne, a Palestinian who wanted to get closer to Christ. Finally, she ministered to Curtis. She had a word of knowledge that his mother had died of cancer and he was still hurting because of this. She prayed for him. Ryan witnessed to Daniel, whose brother had died in his arms a week ago from a cocaine overdose. He shared the gospel with him, gave him a Bible, and bought him dinner and prayed for him. Alex witnessed to Manny, a Jew who owns Manny’s Restaurant, which is across the street from where we witness. He is also a Board member of the SF LGBT Democratic Club. He asked about homosexuality.
While I was preaching, Timothy approached to listen. Paul witnessed to him and prayed with him to commit his life to Christ. His mother is a Christian and her husband is a pastor in Nevada. He had recently gotten into a fight with his girlfriend, who is into witchcraft. We bought him dinner and several of us ministered to him. We have been witnessing on 16th and Valencia for over 20 years and it is one of the locations most resistant to the gospel. That evening we saw the biggest spiritual breakthrough we have ever seen in that neighborhood.
On Saturday and Sunday, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf for 5 hours each day. Earlier that day, Paul and Noreen had joined an outreach at Civic Center with the Homeless Church and Love-San Francisco. Henrik began shouting profanities at one of their preachers. Paul took him aside and spoke with him. He said he was bitter because of hypocritical Christians. Paul said that Christians are not perfect, but that he needed to look at Jesus, who is perfect. Henrik’s attitude changed dramatically and he let Paul pray with him. He came to our outreach at the Wharf and several of us witnessed to him. Corey spoke with him for over an hour. Henrik said he did not believe Jesus is God and thought he was a good person who did not need to repent. Corey went through God’s law with him. Ryan ministered to Jerome, who was with his 5 children. He said he was a Christian, but was abusive towards his children. He asked for prayer that God would help him change.
On Sunday, Mary witnessed to Ira, a Lakota Indian who was bitter because of bad experiences at a Catholic school. Alex witnessed to Sonny, who was pushing a shopping cart. He said he didn’t believe in God. Alex shared his testimony with him. As we left, a group of 15 Christians from Christ Forgiveness Ministries, who were on a nationwide preaching tour, began witnessing at Pier 39.
In the past, the security guards at Pier 39 immediately stopped any Christian from witnessing, but this day they left us alone. When we first started doing outreaches after the COVID lockdown, very few people would take gospel tracts. However, we gave out about 2000 tracts during our four-day SOS outreach.
Ministry Needs
Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. Please pray for all those we witnessed to during SOS-San Francisco, that God would give increase to the many gospel seeds that were planted.
Please pray that God will continue to protect us and bless our evangelism outreaches during this difficult time. Pray that God will use this pandemic to draw many people to Himself.
Please pray also for our President, our government leaders, and our nation during this very dangerous time and for leaders to be elected who will support religious freedom and Godly principles.
I hope some of you will join us for an outreach this next month.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
