Newsletter & Coming Events – July 2014

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Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 282-5629 to confirm outreaches or for more information.

Friday July 4, 11, 18, 25  6 – 9 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Sat. July 5 11 AM – 1PM Fisherman’s Wharf (Jefferson and Powell) SF 3-5 PM Union Square Powell & Geary St. (New Life Christian Church, Hayward.)

Sat. July 12 12:30-4:30 PM Berkeley outreach. Telegraph and Haste St.

Sat. July 19 1-5 PM Dolores Park 19th St. & Dolores

Sat. July 26 12-5 PM UN Plaza

August 6-9 SOS-San Francisco 35th year!


An Amazing Story

Dear Christian friends,

This article appeared in our newsletter ten years ago. I’m sure some of you are familiar with this story, but many of you are not, and it is worth repeating.

In 2004, I heard a tape with an amazing testimony on it. The pastor who told the story, Dr. Francis Dixon, died in 1985. I emailed his son-in-law who confirmed that it is true.

Dr. Francis Dixon was a well-known pastor in England (from Lansdowne Baptist Church). One night in church, he asked a man named Peter Culver to share his testimony. Peter got up and said, “This is how I was saved. I was in the Royal Navy. I was walking down George Street in Sydney, Australia and out of nowhere stepped a little old gray-haired man and he said to me, ‘Excuse me, sir, but could I ask you a question? I hope that it won’t offend you, but if you were to die today, where would you spend eternity? The Bible says that it will either be in Heaven or it will be in Hell. Would you think about that, please? Thank you, God bless you, and Toodle-oo!’ Then the man left. I had never been confronted with that question – I couldn’t get it out of my mind; I got back to London, I sought out a pastor, and I became a Christian.”

Several weeks later they had a revival in the church and Noel, one of the visiting revival team, shared his testimony, “This is how I came to know Christ. I was in the Royal Navy and I was walking down George Street in Sydney, Australia and out of nowhere stepped a little old gray-haired man. He said to me, ‘Excuse me, sir, but could I ask you a question? If you were to die today, where would you spend eternity?…What he said bothered me and later, I sought out a Christian and I was converted to Christ.”

Several months after that Dr. Dixon was in the city of Adelaide in eastern Australia, he decided to share the testimony of Peter and Noel. A man in the congregation jumped up waving his hands and said, “Well, I’m another. The same thing happened to me. I couldn’t get what he said out of my mind and I became a follower of Jesus.” Dr. Dixon went to western Australia for a revival meeting and shared this story. Afterwards a deacon of the church came to him and said, “Dr. Dixon, I’m another, I’d never been asked that question and later I prayed to receive Christ.”

Pastor Dixon went home to his church in England and shared about Peter and Noel and the man in Adelaide and the deacon from the western part of Australia. When he finished a young lady came up to him and said, “Pastor Dixon, I’m another. This man said the same thing to me and later I became a believer.” Several weeks after that, Dr. Dixon was attending a conference in northern England where he shared this growing story. Afterwards, a man came up to him and said, “Dr. Dixon, well, I’m another. Several days after hearing the little man’s question, I made Jesus my Lord and Savior.”

A year later Dr. Dixon went on a world tour and one of the stops was India. He was at a missionary conference and spoke on the topic of personal evangelism. Dr. Dixon thought, “What a perfect illustration!” He went through the story and afterwards a missionary come up to him and said, “Dr. Dixon, I’m another. It happened the same way for me and I trusted Christ later.”

After India he went to Jamaica. He was meeting with a group of pastors. He shared this story with them. A pastor came up afterwards and said, “Excuse me, Dr. Dixon, I’m another. The exact same thing happened to me and later, I was converted and went on to seminary.”

Well, do I need to tell you where Dr. Dixon went? In 1953, he went to Sydney, Australia. He sought out a Christian friend of his and told the story. He asked him if he knew a little gray-haired man on George Street? “Oh, yes! Everybody knows him. That’s Mr. Frank Jenner. He did that for twenty-three years! But he’s very old now.”

Dr. and Mrs. Dixon were invited to the Jenner home for tea. As he was giving specifics of each story, Mr. Jenner began to weep. And he wept and he wept. Dr. Dixon asked, “What’s wrong?” And Mr. Jenner said, “Sir, this is the first time in my life that I have ever known of anyone coming to know Christ through my witness.”

I hope you remember this story the next time you get discouraged sharing the gospel with people, or you hear someone say that street witnessing is not effective.

sos newlsetter july 2014
Factor 11 plays at our first Union Square outreach of the year.

On the Streets

On Friday May 16 we witnessed in downtown Berkeley.  Several police officers were there. They were concerned about violence by young people, as had occurred the previous week. Our outreach was peaceful, and there were no problems. I spoke with four Berkeley high school students. One of them told me that his father used LSD and he planned to do the same when he got older. Right now, he only uses marijuana, which he doesn’t consider a drug. He said he had been to church a few times and that it wasn’t for him. He knew very little about Jesus or the Bible, so I encouraged him to read the Bible.  Dave witnessed to Derek, a high school student who was raised in a Christian home and Mike, a UC Berkeley student who was raised Catholic in the Philippines. Mike understood the gospel and asked a lot of questions, including “What will have to change if I become a Christian?” Larry DuBois witnessed to a Jewish man named Shem.

The next day, we witnessed on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. It was graduation day, so a lot of graduates were there with their families. I spoke with some Seventh Day Adventists who were giving out food in People’s Park. I also met a man named Merritt who was passing out booklets about People’s Park. It turns out he was involved in the protests of 1969, but got saved that year. The booklet was a gospel tract. Later that afternoon, while I was preaching, Ted heckled me. Afterwards, I spoke with him. He is Jewish and has lived in the Telegraph Ave. area for over 40 years. After we spoke, he said he respected us for what we are doing. Dave witnessed to Aldo and Eric, who were here from San Diego to attend a friend’s graduation. Aldo’s grandmother is a Christian. Dave said, “She’s praying for you.” Aldo said he’ll start reading his Bible.

As Brother “G” was preaching, a heckler named Bob shouted “Hail Satan” and walked down the street. Dave started talking with him. He told Dave that he got mugged in Oakland.  He woke up in a hospital with a cracked skull. Dave said, your friend Satan did that to you. Bob said he thought Satan would give him what he wanted if he worshipped him. “No,” Dave said, “he influences evil people to do evil things.”

Dave asked Bob if he was hungry, and took him to lunch. Bob told him about how he got arrested for terrorism in connection with a protest at the university. While the other protesters got represented by lawyers for free, he had to pay for his own lawyer, and he faced very serious charges. When he didn’t have any money, the others in his group took an offering and raised $25,000 to pay his legal fees. Dave said, “That’s like what Jesus did for you. He paid for your sins, because you couldn’t do it yourself.”

On May 23, we witnessed at the Sony Metreon. Dave witnessed to Reggie, a Filipino Catholic who works on a freighter. San Leandro High School held their prom at the Metreon that night, and many of them took gospel tracts from us. Larry DuBois ministered to Chris, who met him a year ago and committed his life to Christ. He now attends Calvary Chapel, but is having some difficulties.

Ministry Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We are happy to have Eddie Shields back in our house. He has spent the past three months doing evangelism with a church in Lagos, Nigeria. He said many people would listen when he preached on the streets there. Almost everyone he talked with considered himself to be a Christian, even though many were not saved. Eddie also had opportunities to preach and teach evangelism in churches.

This past month, Larry Perez went to be with the Lord. He was run over by a car whose driver didn’t see him as he was crossing a street. Larry ministered with us for about 15 years, singing, playing guitar, and witnessing to people. He always seemed to be filled with God’s love and joy. Please pray for his wife Margie and his grown children Monique and Larry.

I hope some of you will join one of our outreaches this next month and that many of you will join us for our  35th annual SOS-San Francisco outreach, August 6-9.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum

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