What Happened to the ISEMA Newsletter
Dear Christian friends,
We have set the dates for our 17th Annual SOS-San Francisco outreach: June 21-29, 1996. I want to let you know about this outreach early so you can schedule time off work or make necessary arrangements to be here. I spoke with Kyle Rasmussen, youth pastor for Cedar Park Church near Seattle. He is planning to bring a group of about 70 youth for at least three days of the outreach. This group ministered with us two years ago for one day and his brother brought another large youth group here for three days last July. I expect this to be an exciting outreach and hope other youth (and adult) groups will join us next summer.
What Happened to my ISEMA Newsletter?
Some of you may be surprised to get an “SOS Ministries” Newsletter instead of your usual ISEMA (International Street & Evangelism Ministries Association Newsletter). In 1985, I began writing the newsletter for what was then called ISMA (International Street Ministries Association) four times a year. Since 1988, I have been sending out the newsletter every month. After much prayer, and with sadness, I believe it is time to let it go.
ISMA began in 1984 with four people on staff–Jonathan Gainsbrugh, Scott Hinkle, Sondra Berry Young, and Scott Crawford. Sondra put together the first newsletter (which was actually a 36 page newspaper) in 1984. This paper included extensive outreach reports, a preview of upcoming evangelism outreaches, several teachings, a book review, and an introduction to regional and state directors for ISMA. I was appointed the regional director for Northern California. In 1984, fifteen ISMA directors met together at the first National Street Ministry Conference in Dallas.
In 1985, Jonathan Gainsbrugh asked me to take over the administration and newsletter writing for ISMA. I also organized four ISMA evangelism conferences in Northern California. ISMA also organized evangelism conferences in Portland, Denver, Atlanta and Lake Worth, Florida from 1985 to 1988.
Do We Need a Street Ministry Association?
Street preachers have the reputation of being very independent. Some do not even see a need for the local church. Separated from other believers, they often become harsh, bitter, argumentative, and self-righteous. When I first came to San Francisco, I used to watch the preachers at Powell and Market call other preachers “devils” and condemn everyone to Hell. But in the early 1980’s, God raised up a number of street ministers who understood their responsibility (Ephesians 4) to equip the church to do the work of ministry. A number of these evangelists witnessed each year at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Through these relationships, both ISEMA and the National Street Ministries Conference were born.
From the beginning, there was disagreement among those who were leaders of street ministries as to whether a street ministry association was needed. Ultimately, there has been a dramatic decline of interest and involvement in ISEMA which has led me to my decision to let it go. I still believe in the concept of a street ministry association. But a true association is not possible without the active involvement of street ministers. I believe that a successful street ministry association would help all of us, and would promote street evangelism in the local churches. But I also understand the problem. Most street evangelists are so busy with their own ministry that they think they can’t commit their time to a street ministry association. Most are overworked because they lack laborers and funds. But an active street ministry association could do a lot to help these ministries become more effective.
Some of you are familiar with Exodus International, an association of Christian ministries to homosexuals. Exodus organizes an annual week-long conference. At this conference, member ministries meet to elect Board members. The income from this conference largely supports Exodus, allowing them to pay four staff members. The Exodus Board meets twice a year to discuss policy issues. The staff puts out a quarterly newsletter and a shorter monthly newsletter with information about what is happening in different ministries. They also have a referral list of 75 member ministries around the country. They have sent out missionaries to start ministries in other nations. They also have literature on many different subjects. They have booths at major Christian events and often write articles in Christian magazines. By joining together, the various Exodus ministries have been able to help one another, to help new ministries get started, and to promote the idea that Jesus Christ can help those who are struggling with homosexuality.
I still believe in a street ministry association. I pray that God will raise one up, and I will be happy to participate. Last month, I spoke with Sondra Berry Young. She told me she intends in the near future to work to revitalize ISEMA. She says you can expect to receive a new ISEMA newsletter in the near future. Sondra can be reached at P O Box 92802, Pasadena, CA 91109, (818) 441-6777. She would welcome your input and encouragement.
Meanwhile I will try to incorporate some aspects of the ISEMA newsletter into the SOS Newsletter. From time to time, I hope to include a list of upcoming outreaches around the country. We will continue to mail out teaching tapes on various issues related to evangelism. If there is sufficient interest, I will continue to update and reprint the Street Ministry Directory. I will mail out the SOS Newsletter to ISEMA readers for the next few months.
Let me know if you want to keep receiving the letter by mailing me the enclosed response card. This goes for SOS Newsletter readers as well. If I don’t hear from you once or twice a year, I stop mailing you letters. Printing and postage are very expensive and we cannot afford to send newsletters to those who won’t read them. It certainly helps if you can send us an occasional donation to help with our costs.
Coming Events
(Events not sponsored by SOS in italics.)
January 26-28 Super Bowl Outreach, Phoenix, AZ. Contact Rescue Atlanta, Box 965039, Marietta, GA 30066, (404) 924-0201.
Saturday January 27 12-4 PM. SOS Evangelism Outreach, 5th St. and Market, San Francisco. New Life Christian Church, San Lorenzo, worship. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
February 16-21 Mardi Gras Outreach, New Orleans. Contact Heart- Fire Ministries, Box 14031, Milwaukee, WI 53214, (414) 445-9490 or Rescue Atlanta, Box 965039, Marietta, GA 30066, (404) 924-0201.
Saturday March 2 1-8 PM. Chinese New Year Parade Outreach, 5th St. and Market, San Francisco. Worship rally followed by witnessing at parade. 400,000 attend the parade. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
March 13-17 St. Patrick’s Day Outreach, Savannah, GA. 500,000 gather for this celebration. Contact Rescue Atlanta (address above.)
EVERY FRIDAY 7:30 PM. Witnessing in various S.F. neighborhoods. Meet at Vineyard, 7th St. and Harrison, San Francisco. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
EVERY SATURDAY Noon. San Francisco or Berkeley witnessing. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
Ministry Needs
As we enter a new year, I want to thank all of you who have been praying for this ministry and supporting us financially this past year. Through your help, we were able to end the year with every bill paid. A local church has offered to pay most of the cost for a brand new state-of-the-art sound system to be used exclusively for outreaches. They also want to train several people to operate the sound system. This would enable us to do a lot more outreach es, including at least one a month in the financial district. It would also lower our costs as we presently pay our sound person $150 for each outreach. The total cost of the system is $15,000. We need to raise at least $5000 from individuals and other churches.
For those of you who didn’t receive our earlier newsletter, SOS Ministries has joined up with Lifeline, a Christian-run long distance company. They provide the same conveniences as other long distance companies at rates 4-15% below AT&T’s standard rates, and give back 10% of your bill to SOS Ministries. You can call them directly at 800-800-7550 (include SOS Ministries code, 30323) or indicate your interest on our response card and we’ll mail you information.
Please pray for those who have written us in response to tracts this past month: Jose, Jackie, and Emilio (SF), Suzanne (Union City), Matthew (age 10–Redding), and Ozzy (Hayward). Ozzy asked for prayer for high blood pressure. Later, he told us he had been healed and had even gone running! Please pray also for Chris (a Filipino teenage boy who prayed with Dona Gowker in the Tender loin District of S.F. on Nov. 10) and James (who prayed with Scott Robbins and Steve Styles in Berkeley on Nov. 18).
Our Tape of the Month is Take Him to the Streets by ISEMA Founder Jonathan Gainsbrugh. As we enter this new year, I urge you to make a commitment to share the Good News more often. While we should always be available to share Christ in our daily lives, we also should schedule regular times for outreach, whether on the streets, in jails or nursing homes, door to door, etc.
Most of the people we witness to on the streets don’t have any other Christian witness in their lives. They need someone like you to make a special effort to reach them. If you were on a beach and saw someone drowning, surely you would try to rescue him. Thousands of people around us are heading for eternal torment in Hell. We have the ability to introduce them to the One Who can save them from Hell and bring them into His glorious Kingdom! I hope many of you will join us for at least one of our outreaches on Friday night or Saturday afternoon this next month.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
