Getting Our Priorities Right
Dear Christian friends,
As I was walking through our neighborhood, I encountered a Jehovah’s Witness man with his two children going door to door. They come through our neighborhood about once a month. I have seen mothers bringing their infants in baby carriages. I learned from a former Jehovah’s Witness (J.W.) that the average active J.W. witnesses about 4 hours a week. At that rate, it takes about 16 years to gain one convert. Also, they spend many hours at their church meetings practicing how to witness, using role-playing to go over various questions they might be asked, and learning how to respond.
Every time I see them, I marvel at their dedication to a false cause. Christians often say they have no time to witness, because they must spend time with their families, church activities, and work. But J.W.’s also work. They spend time with their families and participate in all the activities at the Kingdom Hall. Yet they all spend time going door to door spreading their message. Why can’t we Christians, who know the truth, do as much?
Christians often say witnessing is ineffective because we don’t lead someone to Christ every time we go out. Yet the J.W.’s will patiently go door to door, facing one rejection after another, for 3200 hours to get one convert! Many Christians will not inconvenience themselves for even one hour to witness to an unsaved person.
The only explanation I have is that Satan opposes our witnessing, but not theirs. Satan has given us a variety of excuses not to witness, and we have believed him. Two thousand years ago, our Lord Jesus Christ said that “the harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers.”
At SOS Ministries, we see that our responsibility is to encourage and train Christians to become more involved in evangelism — on the streets, to friends and relatives, at work, on the foreign mission field, and in praying for the work of evangelism. We also want to help those who are called to be evangelists to become more effective in their personal ministries and in equipping the church to witness.
Chinese New Year Parade
Saturday February 14
For the past 15 years, we have been witnessing at the Chinese New Year Parade. This is the largest annual event in San Francisco, drawing about 300,000 people. We will have a worship rally at the Cable Car Turnaround (near the Powell St. BART station) from 3-9 PM. This is a block from the parade route, so we will minister to those going to and leaving the parade. We will also witness to people along the parade route from 6-8 PM. It’s also Valentine’s Day–a great day to tell people about God’s love for them.
SOS-San Francisco
By the time you receive this letter, we will have set the dates for this summer’s SOS-San Francisco outreach. Please call us if you need to know the dates to take the time off work this summer.
Coming Events
EVERY FRIDAY 7 PM. Witnessing in various S.F. neighborhoods. Meet at Vineyard, 7th St. and Harrison, San Francisco. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
Saturday February 14 Chinese New Year Parade Outreach. 3-9 PM. Cable Car Turnaround (near the Powell St. BART station). Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
February 19-25 Mardi Gras outreach, New Orleans. Call (414) 445- 9490, (770) 924-0201 or (703) 368-6286.
Saturday February 21 San Francisco worship rally and outreach. 941 Market St. (near Powell St. BART station). 11 AM – 5 PM. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
Saturday February 28. Berkeley outreach. 12-5:30 PM. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
Ministry News
Thanksgiving and Christmas season provides a wonderful opportunity to proclaim the Gospel. On Thanksgiving, Derek and I went to San Jose to have dinner with Paul and Noreen Coca. For the second year, they invited street kids to their house. Also Shanna and Mariella, who witness with us regularly, invited three people they had witnessed to–Tes, Christina and Charles–to Shanna’s house. Charles has made a solid commitment to Christ and has been attending New Life Christian Church and witnessing with us.
In December, we witnessed in the Union Square area each Friday night. We sang Christmas carols, preached about the true meaning of Christmas, and gave out Christmas tracts to hundreds of shoppers. On December 5, Mariella prayed with Ronnie from Hayward and Vincent and Alexander from San Francisco.
On December 13, Children of the Rock and Paul and Noreen Coca ministered in Berkeley. Telegraph Ave. was packed with thousands of Christmas shoppers and we gave out hundreds of tracts. Jeremy and Juan prayed with us that afternoon. We also had problems with the police in Berkeley for the first time since 1989. In response to persistent complaints from a street vendor, a police officer wanted to shut us down. When we refused, he insisted we turn down our volume to an absurdly low level. Please pray about this situation. We want to continue reaching the people of Berkeley, but do not wish to get involved in another legal struggle.
On December 20, Church of the Valley (Morgan Hill) ministered at the Cable Car Turnaround at Powell St. in San Francisco. They sang Christmas carols and worship songs. At times, hundreds of people stood around to listen and sing with us. (We provided song sheets.) We gave out thousands of Christmas tracts as well as food and clothes for the homeless. When we arrived in the city, it was raining and we were not sure we could hold the outreach. But the rain stopped right at noon and we had a wonderful outreach.
On January 3, I spoke to a team from Church on the Way, Van Nuys. They came to San Francisco to witness on the streets that weekend. Afterwards, Brandon, Derek and I witnessed with them and invited people to a free dinner that night at Living Hope Church in the Mission District.
Please pray for Shannon, whom I have been witnessing to since he was 13. He now is 30, has AIDS and is a heroin addict. I visited him in the hospital last month. He indicated a desire to follow Christ but since then left the hospital and I don’t have his address. Please pray also for those who have written us this past month in response to tracts: Anne and Michelle (SF), Jeff and Nathaniel (Berkeley), Josefina (Union City), Carmen (Hercules), Judy (Martinez), Steven (San Quentin prison), and Clifton (Madison Co., IL jail).
In the November, 1994 newsletter I wrote: “pray for Erick, an 18 year old from San Diego. We met him on Haight St. on September 16. He grew up in Christian foster homes and had attended Calvary Chapel for many years. He had just arrived a few hours ago and his money and clothing had been stolen. We took him home and have been ministering to him, seeking to find a place for him to live. Please pray that God will guide him and help him to truly commit his life to Christ.”
In December, I saw Erick at the Prodigal House in San Francisco. He had spent two years with a cultic group. Some Christians at the Prodigal House ministered to him. Erick went to their discipleship ranch in Mendocino County to study the Bible and grow in the Lord.
Ministry Needs
Again, we want to thank you for your prayers and financial gifts to the ministry. We purchased two new outreach tools this past month. We got a color electronic moving message sign that we can program to display gospel messages to use on the street. Also, we ordered two canopies to allow us to minister in the rain.
We need to print several hundred thousand more tracts to use this coming year. We give out about 250,000 tracts each year. Also, we still need one Christian to live in our house. This house is not for new believers but for those who are ready for evangelism ministry. Our Tape of the Month is “Ministry to Family, Friends and Co-workers” by Rick Rael. Rick is an evangelist from Colorado. This teaching will help you become more effective in this important ministry that all of us are called to.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
