ISEMA Newsletters
News around the World
by Sondra Berry Young
(Ed. Note: One of the main purposes of this letter is to give you reports on what is happening in evangelism ministries around the world. This past week, ISEMA director Sondra Berry Young has called over 20 ministries to obtain these brief reports of what they have been doing. Following is the first part of her report. The second part will appear in next month’s newsletter.)
- Rock singer Ozzy Osbourne has recently been saved and is testifying of his faith on TV. Please pray that Ozzy will get grounded in the Lord.
SOUTH AFRICA (Randburg). Peter Rahme, evangelist on staff at Rhema Bible Church, South Africa, reports taking teams out into the Randburg area where they preach the gospel to people of all colours and races. For the first time ever in Randburg’s history, the city council has granted permission for the gospel to be preached in the Sanlam Shopping Mall, and plans are being made for Christian drama and dance groups to perform in the mall. As the Word goes forth each week, 200-300 people experience the miracle of salvation, baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the healing power of Jesus. Contact Peter Rahme, Box 606, 2154 Bromhof (Randburg), Republic of South Africa.
SOUTH AFRICA (Hillbrow). Ted McHugh takes out a team to the streets of Hillbrow every alternate Saturday night. Hillbrow is known as the Hollywood of South Africa, one of the most densely populated areas, per square mile, in the world. It is home to alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, and criminals. The team does one-on-one witnessing and has seen many people receive physical healing and salvation through Jesus Christ.
EYEGLASS OUTREACH. Project Compassion evangelizes by offering the gift of vision to impoverished people in third world countries. Optometric professionals teamed up recently in an outreach to Mexico to examine eyes and dispense free eye glasses. Gospel literature was passed out. Seventy-five people were led to the Lord through this outreach. They worked along side of a local church and each person was prayed for individually. Contact Carolyn Barga, Eyeglass Outreach Director, Box 85271 Ste. 404, San Diego, CA 92186.
STREETWISE MOVES TO HOLLYWOOD, CA. Bobby and Dot Chance report that they are moving back to Hollywood after a long, fruitful ministry time in Texas. Their goal will be to start a street church for the hurting and hopeless people there. Bobby recently went to Washington D.C. for the Inauguration to street preach and evangelize there. On their trip to Florida their Jesus float was aired on the Hard Copy TV show during a Key West, Florida outreach. For now, you can reach Streetwise at Box 866503, Plano, TX 75086.
THE OASIS, formerly the Holy Ghost Repair Service, reports they have bought their building for street outreach in Hollywood, CA. They will be having their SOS-Hollywood outreach on June 25-July 2. Write or call Box 1590, Hollywood, CA 90078, (213) 77-OASIS.
HOPE FOR HOMELESS YOUTH, Hollywood, CA. Clayton Golliher reports that a new facet of their ministry is to train laity to disciple and be a role model for hurting youth. They welcome teens for first time missions on the streets. They will host them and train them in evangelism. Recently he went to the Rodney King court trial on the day of the verdict and passed out fliers that read: “Only a love relationship with Jesus will be the key to bring peace in the city of Los Angeles. Not riots or gangs or racial attitudes.” If you wish to join Clayton in Hollywood as he walks the cross you may contact him at 804 N Harvard Blvd, Holly wood, CA 90029.
- Mark Johnson from Forerunner Ministries reports that they will be going on a six week trip to do outreaches in Montana, Washington, Idaho, Oregon and California. They will be heading up Twin Cities for Jesus, July 8-24. Contact them at Box 6084, Minneapolis, MN 55406, (612) 722-0751.
VICTORY OUTREACH WORLDWIDE MINISTRIES. John Loya reports that they are doing concert rallies in parks and various locations in inner city locations. Victory Outreach churches have street ministries in various areas around the world where you can join them for outreaches. Contact Victory Outreach, Box 2828, La Puente, CA 91746.
PALM SPRINGS, CA. Mel Gerrard from The Wayside Harvesters reports he used his motor home and parked it downtown. Christian Marines and other soulwinners participated in sharing the gospel with 74 people and 34 prayed to receive Jesus as their savior. The week before, they worked in Desert Hot Springs at a festival and shared the gospel with 83 people with 46 decisions among their 9 workers. Contact Mel Gerrard, Box 4307, Palm Springs, CA 92263.
- Pastor David Ridenour from Urbana Christian Assembly reports they are street preaching at main events with a cross. They witnessed at the Kentucky Derby and will be going to the Indianapolis 500 to evangelize, working with other teams. For more information, call (800) 487-7526,
GANG OUTREACH. Set Free Christian Fellowship reports that they go out street witnessing every Friday night into an area where shootings and carjackings take place daily. They pass out Christian concert fliers and tracts. They concentrate especially on ministry to gang members, prostitutes, and homosexuals. Every Friday night they have a concert called Friday Night Live at 2000 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90806. For a Set Free in your area, call (310) 218-8499. If you wish to have an outreach in your area, they will come and help you.
NEW YORK CITY. Pastor Rick and Arlene Del Rio, who have been faithful on the streets for 10 years, have now started a church called Abounding Grace Christian Center that will serve as headquarters for all their outreaches, including Jesus Loves You – New York — July 25-31. They also plan to start a coffee house. For more information contact them at 740 E 6th St., New York, NY 10009, (212) 614-0370.
WORLDWIDE TRACT OUTREACH. Patrick Laurie and Tom Schultz reported sending over 3 1/2 million tracts out in the last 6 months to Mexico, South and Central America, Spain, Europe, Australia, and America for street literature distribution free of charge. Anyone wanting additional tracts free of charge may write 1210 S. May flower Ave #C, Monrovia, CA 91016. Tracts are in English and Spanish only.
HOMELESS OUTREACH. Gail and Helga Wiggington reported from Mountain Movers Fellowship that the second of each month they are feeding at least 50 homeless people. On Saturday mornings they are hitting the streets and passing out tracts. Then once a month they invite homeless people to a hot cooked meal where they are also given used clothing and the gospel. They even threw a “baby shower” for a homeless woman who had a new infant. The mother was trying to kick drugs. Their current goal is to start a rescue mission in that area. If you want to join them, write or call them at 21804 Halldale, Torrance, CA 90501, (310) 320-4171.
Coming Events
June 16-18 East St. Louis, IL Outreach. Contact Faith in Action Ministries, Box 26159, Indianapolis, IN 46226, (317) 899-5602.
June 20-23 Taking Back Our Cities’93 Conference, Kansas City. Tommy Barnett, Scott Hinkle, Sonny Arguinzoni. Contact Victoria Tabernacle, 1500 Central, Kansas City, KS 66102, (913) 281-0607.
June 25-July 2 SOS-Hollywood Outreach. Contact The Oasis, Box 1590, Hollywood, CA 90078, (213) 77-OASIS.
Sat. June 26 Worship Rally and Evangelism Outreach, San Francisco. 3-6 PM. Meet at Powell Street BART Station. Contact SOS Ministries, Box 27358, Oakland, CA 94602, (510) 531-5325.
Sat. June 26 Ministry Conference and Street Machine Nationals, DuQuoin, IL. Contact No Greater Love Box 263, DuQuoin, IL 62832, (618) 542-4503.
July 2-3 7th Annual Freedom Festival, Houma, LA. Jeff Fenholt, Bill Henderson, Jules Boquet, and others. Contact Sharon Saltee, Christian Community Fellowship, Sta. 2 Box 5, Houma, LA 70360, (504) 851-3000.
July 3-4 St. Louis VP Fair. Contact No Greater Love (address above).
July 8-10, 15-17, 22-24 Twin Cities for Jesus, Minneapolis, St. Paul, MN. Contact Forerunner Ministries, Box 6084, Minneapolis, MN 55406, (612) 722-0751.
July 9-17 14th Annual SOS-San Francisco Outreach. Chuck Girard, Ray Comfort, Jerry Brandt. Contact SOS Ministries (address above).
July 25-31 Jesus Loves You – New York. Contact Abounding Grace Ministries, 740 E 6th St., New York, NY 10009, (212) 614-0370.
March for Jesus is scheduling public praise marches in many cities around the world on Sat. June 12. For more informa tion, contact March for Jesus, Box 3216, Austin, TX 78764, (512) 416-0066.
The Pope is coming to Denver in August. Want to witness to the crowd that will gather? Contact Gilbert & Lynn Zertuche, Fishers of Men, 2308 W 34th Ave., Denver, CA 80211.
Forward Edge is sending outreach teams to Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Crow Indian Reservation, Romania, Kazakhstan, and China this next year. Most outreaches are about two weeks long. For more information write or call them at 15121-A NE 72nd Ave., Vancouver WA 98686, (206) 574-EDGE.
Calvary Commission is sending summer outreach teams to 3 cities in Mexico and Sibiu, Romania. Contact them at Box 412, Hidalgo, TX 78557, (800) TEL-HOPE.
A Final Word
I want to thank Sondra Berry Young for spending many hours call ing street ministries and typing up these reports. If we didn’t get a report from your ministry, please send us one so we can include it in this newsletter. Write a brief report — 2 or 3 sentences — and mail it to us. Also, don’t forget to order the 1993 International Street & Evangelism Ministry Directory. This contains a listing of over 500 ministries–name, address, phone number and a brief description of the ministry. It will help you become familiar with other ministries in your area and around the world.
Our Tape of the Month is Building a Church with Street People by Phil Aguilar. Phil is Pastor of Set Free Christian Fellowship, a network of street-level churches that are committed to radical evangelism.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
IRVINE, CA. James Holt from the Eagle’s Nest Evangelical Eaglets reports that they are regularly taking a street team to the UC Irvine campus and going witnessing at the piers on the beach. Every Saturday they go door to door in Irvine and in the after noons go to Santa Ana to minister to the gangs and people in barrios. If you live in that area and wish to join them, contact James at 18842 Teller Ave, Irvine, CA 92715, (714) 539-0150.
FLORIDA. Benji and Gena Garcia from World in Need Outreach are actively training people in street drama and street ministry in Orlando, Miami, and Daytona. They also feed the poor, evangelize in low income projects and strip areas, do street dances, rap, drama, puppets, door to door, and Bible studies in high schools twice weekly. They have a center in their city called Answer to Life Center where they have a radical youth connection program. Contact them at Box 525, Winter Park, FL 32790.
