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. Last Monday, we saw another Christian holding up a banner on the 580 Freeway. 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 May and June outreaches in San Francisco is below.
I would like to hear what you are doing to reach people for Jesus during this time.
LAST DAYS CHAOS
Dear Christian friends,
“It seems hard to believe. It was only a few months ago that the United States had a strong economy and a bright future. How we went from domestic peace and prosperity in February 2020 to the madness – cities on fire, military rule, curfews, economic desperation – we see today will be the subject of historical reconstruction for many decades hence….”
“There is much more going on here than police abuse of power. George Floyd became such a powerful symbol for people of all races and classes. He could have been any one of us. The boot on his neck smacks of George Orwell’s chilling prediction of life under government plans: ‘If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.’” (American Institute for Economic Research)
Since March 26, our leaders have been ordering us to “shelter in place” because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our governors and mayors have repeatedly warned us that if we get closer than 6 feet from another human, we are likely to spread a deadly disease. In many places, gatherings of 25 or more have been illegal. But suddenly an event happened that caused many of our leaders to violate their own order, and encourage others to do the same.
As you all know, on May 25, George Floyd (an unarmed black man) was killed by Officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis. This event resulted in mass worldwide protests which often resulted in rioting, looting, and burning of buildings. Large portions of our cities have been destroyed. At least 12 people have been killed by rioters. In Minneapolis, police evacuated a precinct station and allowed rioters to burn it down. In Nashville, the City Hall and Courthouse were burned by protesters. The White House was under attack. Throughout the country, police were ordered to “stand down” and allow burning and looting of buildings. Thousands of prisoners have been released recently because of COVID. In some states, no-bail laws allow looters to be released instantly. Almost everyone was quick to condemn Floyd’s death. Very few leaders condemned the violence.
Many of the governors and mayors who banned gatherings of 25 or more people because of COVID have violated their own orders and encouraged others to do the same in order to participate in these mass protests, many of which drew thousands of people who practiced little or no “social distancing.”
Over the past two months, many of our leaders have arrested Christians for attending drive-in church services, ordered police to pull swimmers out of the ocean, arrested parents playing ball with their children, sent police to shut down funerals, and condemned those who attended anti-lockdown protests and church services as mass murderers. Yet, every one of them has refused to condemn these mass protests or enforce their COVID orders against these protesters.
How do they justify this? When New York City Mayor de Blasio was asked about his endorsing the gathering of thousands in demonstrations against racism that violate his COVID order along with the fact that churches are still not allowed to meet under that order, he responded: “There is no comparison.” New Jersey Governor Murphy said the issue of racism is so important that it overrides any concern about COVID. 1200 health care professionals sent out a letter saying essentially the same thing.
“Many people–out of a respect for social distancing–missed a parent’s dying hours,” author J.D. Vance wrote. “If you think experiencing that–while watching mass gatherings praised by the same scolds who prevented you from seeing family–doesn’t erode trust in authorities, you’re actually an idiot.”
In much of our nation (and world), churches can still not meet. We cannot visit our dying relatives or attend their funerals. Pastors can’t minister to the sick and dying. The government is still deciding under what conditions we can leave our house, go to work, or see a doctor. But thousands can gather for protests, as long as our leaders endorse their cause.
Many of the protesters are now demanding that we defund our police. A veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council has signed a pledge to “dismantle” their police department after their city was devastated by rioting, burned buildings, and looting. San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York have already announced plans to defund the police.
According to the Washington Post’s database, in 2019, 15 unarmed blacks and 25 unarmed whites were killed by police in the US. This year so far, 6 unarmed blacks and 10 unarmed whites were killed by police. There are 680,000 police officers in the US.
San Francisco Area Riots
On June 1, I received a notice from the county sheriff ordering all Alameda County residents to stay home after 8 PM because of “large, mobile groups of rioters and looters traveling throughout the East Bay Area.” Banks and many stores throughout the San Francisco area are closed and boarded up. San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Walnut Creek and other cities in this area have experienced a great deal of violence and looting connected to protests over George Floyd’s death. So far, several people in this area have been shot by rioters and a Federal security guard in Oakland and a Santa Cruz police officer were killed.
While much of our nation has begun loosening their COVID-19 restrictions, the San Francisco area has been tightening them. First, we were ordered to wear a mask inside any building. In San Francisco, we are now ordered to wear a mask outdoors whenever we are 30 feet from another person. Apparently, 6 feet is no longer adequate. Fortunately, the police don’t seem to be enforcing that rule.
While our governor has now allowed church gatherings up to 100 people, the Bay Area counties are still not allowing any church gatherings. Thousands of churches in California were supposed to reopen on May 31, Pentecost Sunday. This may have happened in other parts of the state, but I saw little evidence of churches reopening in our area. Almost all churches are waiting for the government to give them permission to reopen, and to dictate the conditions they must abide by.
On May 29, the US Supreme Court ruled (5-4) that California had the right to shut down church services. We have seen in the past few months how easily our government can take total control over the lives of individuals and take away our freedom, order healthy people to stay in their homes except for “essential” business, order “non-essential” businesses to shut down, and order churches to stop meeting. Now that the government is now allowing mass gatherings for one, and only one, cause, perhaps the Supreme Court will take notice.
On the Streets
We normally get a lot of rain in January and February, but this year our outreaches were all dry both months. On Sat. Jan. 11, we witnessed at 5th St. and Market. We all forgot to bring the cables that connect our PA mixer to our speakers, so we were unable to use our sound system. Fortunately, Tim Moon, who was playing music that day, had a small sound system we could use. Alex witnessed to Zabdio. He told him, “I used to be like you, smoking and drinking. After a while, these things give us less satisfaction. Meanwhile, they are destroying us.” He also ministered to Sharon, who said she was a Christian but was addicted to heroin. She said she was in recovery. Mike and Tiffany witnessed to Rachel, a Jewish woman in her 20’s. Mike told her about God’s plan for the Jewish people and how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. Mike also ministered to Clarence. He had spoken with him on Nov. 23 and he attended City Impact Church the next day. He had been stabbed in the vocal cords and could barely talk. He said he had previously been in a church in Chico, where he said he had been falsely accused of child molestation.
On. Fri. Jan 17, we witnessed at Powell and Market. Mike and I spoke with Jarrell. He is Filipino, about 20, and said he had just gotten baptized a week ago. He was excited about his new life in Christ. Mike and Alex spoke with Dustin, 35, who has a Christian background. He was homeless. He said he had not been walking right with God, so they ministered to him and prayed for him. Alan asked Alex what we were doing. He listened intently as Alex explained the gospel to him. He said he wanted to get right with God, so Alex prayed with him to receive Christ.
Ministry News
We continue putting out our two 10 foot banners on the 580 Freeway near our house for 3 hours on Friday. On Saturday, we have been evangelizing San Francisco.
On May 16, we witnessed at 16th St. and Mission and at Dolores Park. We had no problems on Mission Street. But as soon as we arrived at Dolores Park, some police officers told us we could not use an amplifier. So we walked around the park holding our Christian signs and witnessing to people. There were about 2000 people in the park. Few were wearing masks or “social distancing.”
On May 29, San Francisco protesters shut down the Bay Bridge for an hour. The next day, we held an outreach at the Embarcadero Farmer’s Market. About 15 Christians joined us. We preached for 4 hours at three locations. About 800 protesters walked by two of the locations where we were preaching. Fortunately, we experienced no violence.
On June 6, we held an outreach at 24th and Mission. We did not know that a large protest group would assemble on that corner. We had about 15 Christians and preached at 3 locations. About 1000 protesters gathered, and some threatened us, but God protected us and we had good conversations with several of the protesters. We also witnessed at Dolores Park. This time, our preaching was not shut down.
We are still planning to have our 41st annual SOS-San Francisco outreach. We expect to hold it in late September or early October. We are hoping that by that time we will be able to get permits and that tourism will have restarted in the city, so more people will be on the streets. But we intend to hold the SOS outreach whether or not we can get permits.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support for our ministry. God has answered our prayer for Christians to live in our evangelism house. Our evangelism house is now full. We have another new member for our house, Corey Colavito. Corey is 21. He was saved at the age of 14 by watching Christian videos on the internet. He has been witnessing on the streets for several months, and we are blessed to have him join us.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum