Coming Events
Friday October 4, 11, 18 4 – 7 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Saturday October 5, 12, 19 12 – 4 PM Fisherman’s Wharf outreach. Powell & Jefferson St.
SCOTT CRAWFORD
Dear Christian friends,
On Sat. September 7, Scott Crawford went to be with Jesus. I first met Scott in 1977 while he was doing evangelism in Berkeley with Mario Murillo. In 1980, Scott rented a large house near San Francisco State. I moved into the house with a number of other evangelists. Scott had a vision for a large week-long city-wide outreach in San Francisco. He named it SOS-San Francisco. About 1000 Christians joined us for that first outreach. We held our 45th annual SOS outreach this past July.
Around the same time, Scott brought together several leaders to start an outreach to the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. That annual outreach continues to this day. Scott would attend every year for over 40 years. He also helped start outreaches in several other cities. His vision was to see Christians from various churches be equipped in evangelism and join together to reach their cities and towns with the gospel.
Scott and his wife Jeanne lived in Colby, Kansas for many years. We kept in touch and he occasionally came to San Francisco for outreaches. He continued to evangelize in other cities as well. About 8 years ago, he moved back to California. He lived with Paul and Noreen Coca for 3 years and lived in our ministry house for the past 5 years. During this time, he preached with us and shared the wisdom he had gained during his 50 years of evangelism ministry with our house members.
On Labor Day Weekend, September 6-9, he drove to Reno to preach at their annual Barbeque Cook-off. His 85th birthday was that weekend and this is how he celebrated his birthday each year with some friends. He drove back to our house on Thursday. I spoke with him briefly that day. He was sick Friday and the next morning he was with Jesus.
His home church was Church of the Valley, San Martin. His pastor had arranged a celebration of Scott’s life on August 11. Several of his friends, including me, spoke about the blessing Scott has been to us and to the kingdom of God. Scott also spoke. It was great being able to celebrate his life while he was still around. (youtube.com/live/sbR5nH3agoI).
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” 2 Tim. 4:7-8.
Using Gospel Tracts
During most of our San Francisco outreaches, several hundred people will pass by us on the streets. At Fisherman’s Wharf, several thousand people pass by each afternoon. We put up a large 10 foot banner that says on one side “Only One Way to God: Jesus” and on the back “Jesus – Open Your Heart/Open Your Mind.” We also have several signs. Almost everyone who passes by us will read the signs. Many hundreds of people driving down the street will also read our signs and banners. But this only gives a brief message about Jesus – not the entire gospel.
We also preach and sing Christian music at our outreaches. But most people are in a hurry and only hear a few minutes of our preaching, not the whole gospel message. Usually, we have several conversations with people. We are able to explain the gospel more completely to these people, but the vast majority of people do not stop and talk with us.
So possibly the most effective thing we do on the street is pass out gospel tracts. Most of the tracts we give out are ones that I wrote. They provide a clear explanation of the gospel and a prayer that a person can use to receive Christ. Some of our tracts include apologetic arguments such as how Jesus fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies. We have tracts written for college graduates and also simple tracts for children and those with limited reading ability. We also have foreign language tracts. We mainly give out Spanish and Chinese tracts.
Each tract we print has our address, email and phone number so a person can contact us if he wants more information. We get calls and letters from our tracts, having distributed several million. Some people have questions or need help. Others have received Christ from the tract. Some people tell me they collect tracts and read them from time to time. Often a person will read a tract when he is depressed or in a crisis. If a person is drunk, or doesn’t want to talk to you while his friends are around, he can take the tract home and read it later in the privacy of his home. Even if he throws the tract on the ground, tears it up, or throws it in the trash can, someone else may pick it up, read the tract or fragment of the tract, and get saved! I know of several instances where this has happened. Many people respond to our tracts from prison. Maybe they received the tract on the streets but later ended up in prison.
The last time we printed gospel tracts was 3 years ago. We printed 100,000 copies of three tracts. They are all gone. So during the past 3 years, we have passed out 100,000 of our own tracts plus tens of thousands of other tracts that we did not print. That is the good news. The bad news (as we all know) is inflation. The cost of printing tracts has increased by 80% in 3 years.
On the Streets
On Sat. April 13, we witnessed at Powell and O’Farrell. Rain had been forecast, but there was virtually no rain while we were there. The man who owns a small phone store next to us complained about us to the police. Three police spoke with us but they walked away without citing us. They had discussed with the man the possibility of citing us for disturbing the peace, so that is an ongoing concern. While we are not violating any law, we don’t want to get entangled in legal battles.
Tats and Daniel witnessed to Shane, 30, who was raised in a Christian home but is homosexual. He claims to be a Christian, but says the Bible has errors, homosexuality is not sin, and there is no eternal Hell. Tats shared his testimony of coming out of “progressive Christianity” and homosexuality. Tats told him, “You’re denying the truth. You just want to stay in the gay lifestyle.”
On Fri. April 19, we witnessed at 16th St. and Mission. Mike ministered to Justin, who claimed to be a believer. He seemed unconcerned about sound doctrine, since he thought that he couldn’t judge any church that helps the poor. Mike said that many so-called “churches” help the poor but do not preach the true gospel. He also explained what Jesus taught about judgment. John witnessed to Armageddon (that’s really his name) who is from Africa. His father is a pastor but he was not right with God. John prayed that he would be delivered from alcohol and black magic.
The next day, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Andy saw two men sitting right next to the place where we were preaching. They were drinking and smoking marijuana. He offered one of them a tract, but he said “I already have Jesus.” Andy said, “If you have Jesus, you wouldn’t have to use drugs.” The man responded, “All things in moderation.” Andy asked, “Can you show me where that is in the Bible?” The men walked off, convicted. Tats witnessed to Mark, 65, who was raised in church but was very much backslidden. He said the Bible doesn’t apply to certain cultures. Tats showed him that Jesus wants to save people of every tribe and race.
On Friday May 3, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. A young man we call Kat (he won’t give us his name, but when we first met him several months ago he was dressed like a cat) sat down and listened to our preaching for a long time. He walked away several times but came back and listened some more. He claims to be a Satanist and is homosexual. Mike told him that Tats had been saved out of that lifestyle. He also said that God made us male and female. Alex warned him about how Satanism can cause him to be deceived by evil spirits.
A Final Word
Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We need to print 110,000 gospel tracts that will cost about $4000. We really appreciate any help you can give us for this project.
We have a new member of our ministry house, Adrian Franco. Adrian is 19 and has been saved 2 years. He was raised by his grandparents. He loves to preach the gospel and also is fluent in Spanish.
John Yamada has been living in our house but married Viviana last month. They are living in San Francisco and we hope to be seeing them at outreaches.
We have three openings in our ministry house. We are looking for spiritually mature young men with a serious desire to evangelize San Francisco.
I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month or witness in your own community.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum