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Coming Events

Friday July 31, Aug. 7, 28 6 – 9 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Sat. Aug 1, 22, 29 12-5 PM UN Plaza (7^th St. and Market) SF. (Aug 1 New Life Christian Church, Hayward; Aug. 22 Isaiah; Aug. 29 Sonhouse)

Sat. Aug. 8 11 AM – 4 PM Fisherman’s Wharf (Jefferson St. and Powell) Paul and Noreen Coca, Eric Livingston and family.

Suffering for Christ

Dear Christian friends,

(continued from June newsletter)

As Christians living in 21^st Century America, our lives are far from perfect. We have problems – with our spouse, children, boss, etc. We may have financial or health problems. But compared to the way people have lived for most of human history, and the way many people live today in much of the world, our lives are pretty comfortable. In many respects, the average American lives a more luxurious life than kings lived in the past.

So Jesus’ teachings about denying ourselves and picking up our cross don’t mean a lot to us. Our Christian life is largely self-centered. When I attend church, my concern is whether I am getting spiritually fed, is the church meeting my needs and the needs of my family, does the church recognize my gifts? We are often not concerned about whom in the church we can minister to, how we can serve, and how we can reach the lost.

In regards to evangelism, it is inconvenient and unpleasant, so most of us don’t do it. “I work all week and the rest of my time belongs to me and my family. I need to relax. I need to take care of errands. I simply have no time to witness. And I don’t like getting rejected by people.”

In the June newsletter, I wrote about my early experiences as a Christian in Shiloh ministry from 1970 to 1975. In 1975, I moved to San Francisco. When I first arrived, it was hard to find anyone who wanted to witness on the streets. Eventually, I met some other Christians who were interested in evangelism. About 1977, we started doing regular outreaches in city parks, playing Christian music, preaching, and witnessing to people. We also started a regular street witnessing team on weekends. This outreach team has continued to the present day – about 38 years. I am not aware of any other street evangelism team that has lasted that long.

In 1980, we were given our first ministry house. Since that time, we have had a ministry house for Christians who were committed to witnessing with us every week. When we started, we witnessed every Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday night. We never took a weekend off. Today we witness three Friday nights and three Saturday afternoons a month.

The Band “Book” ministers at UN Plaza on May 9.

I believe that it is because of this ministry house, and the evangelists living in it who have committed themselves to participating in outreaches, that we have been able to sustain a street witnessing team in San Francisco for 38 years. Every month in our newsletter, we include testimonies of some of the people we witness to on the streets. These are just a few of the many people whose lives have been touched by the gospel because a few Christians committed themselves to be inconvenienced, to sacrifice some of their precious time to bring the gospel to people who might otherwise never receive a Christian witness. We do this in faith. Rarely do we see someone get saved right on the streets. Occasionally we hear months or years later of someone whom we witnessed to who got saved in part as a result of our witness. But in most cases, we sow in faith, trusting that God will send others to water the gospel seeds we plant and that He will give the increase. We look forward to the day in Heaven when we will meet the people who were saved in part through our witness to them.

Since I now work full-time in Christian ministry, it is sometimes hard for me to appreciate how difficult it is for someone who has been working full-time to come home after a hard day’s work, grab something to eat, and come out witnessing on Friday nights. Then, when they have a day off on Saturday, instead of doing errands or visiting with friends, they witness with us during the afternoon. This is not easy, especially in the culture of self-gratification we live in. Their friends may be going skiing, or having a barbecue, but they “have” to witness. And some house members have had difficulty finding a job that doesn’t require them to work Friday nights and Saturday afternoons.

Admittedly, the suffering we endure to preach the gospel is quite small compared with the suffering Paul endured – five times beaten with 39 stripes, many imprisonments, involuntary fasting, shipwreck. And it is small compared with the suffering Christians have endured through the ages and that many endure today. But to us it is a real sacrifice, one that we know God will honor. “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Cor. 9:27).

However, the Christian world has changed. It is very hard to find Christians to live in our ministry house. A lot of Christians are attracted by our extremely cheap rent — $350 per month including utilities. But they don’t like the requirement to witness six times a month. For many, this is just too great a sacrifice.

As I age (I now am 69), I often wonder whether this ministry will continue when I am too old to continue it. Will anyone have the vision to keep it going? Will Christians in the present generation be willing to sacrifice their time so that others will hear the gospel? Will they be willing to face the rejection of an increasingly hostile world? I don’t know. But I really appreciate your prayers for me and for this ministry. Does God want this ministry to continue? I don’t know, but I do know that God wants there to be an ongoing, visible witness for Jesus Christ in San Francisco. “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’” (Matt. 9:37-38).

On the Streets

On Sat. May 16, we witnessed in downtown Berkeley. Tim Moon played music. Mike witnessed to a teen named Wadi. He took a New Testament and said he would read it. Dave witnessed to Nick, who was listening to our preaching. He grew up in a Christian family, but had left the faith. He also witnessed to Natalie, who thanked him for sharing the gospel with her, and Gotham, who was raised in a Hindu family. He asked Dave what it meant to put your faith in Jesus. Loi and Dave also witnessed to three Saudi Arabian students who attend Southern Methodist University in Houston. All of them grew up Muslim, but one was now an atheist. One of them, Ahmed, was quite receptive to the gospel and took a Muslim tract. I witnessed to Mustafa, a UC Berkeley student from Pakistan. He was sitting with his suitcase, having just arrived from a visit in Pakistan. He had visited his grandmother who is a Sufi Muslim. He was searching for spiritual truth in Sufism and Buddhism. I spoke to him about the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus and gave him a Muslim tract. He was quite receptive and listened attentively.

On Fri. May 22, we witnessed at 16^th St. and Mission. Dave witnessed to Chris and Chat, both of whom had a Catholic background. He also witnessed to Sharon, who grew up as a Buddhist in Indonesia but said all her friends are Christians. He spoke with her for 20 minutes, explaining the gospel to her. Afterwards she asked him what she needed to do to be saved. Eddie and Robert witnessed to Crystal, who had been slapped by her boyfriend and was on the street without a place to stay. They shared the gospel with her, and Eddie gave her his coat, since she was cold. Eddie told her, “Jesus is the only man you need.”

The next day, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf and held our first Union Square outreach of the year. Tim Moon played at the Wharf. Dave witnessed to Rohan, who was from India and is in his 20’s. Paul and Noreen Coca ministered at Union Square. They brought their son, Paul, and three grandsons, Paul, Joey and Joshua. Their grandson’s friend Alex, 14, had recently been saved. He gave his testimony. Dave witnessed to three Muslim women from Morocco who now live in Montreal. He shared the gospel with them and gave them Muslim tracts. He also witnessed to Omar from Pakistan and Khalid from Saudi Arabia. He ministered to Eric, who was raised in a Christian family but was not right with God. They prayed together.

On Fri. June 12, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Allan ministered to Rita, a Christian from Ukraine, for 1 ½ hours. She had experienced tremendous suffering, and wondered why God allowed these things. Allan gave her phone number to Daria, who is from Uzbekistan and could continue to minister to her. We also met Hesham. He was raised as a Muslim in Lebanon, but was saved and is now a pastor in Chicago.

Ministry Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. Our 36^th annual SOS-San Francisco outreach went very well. Next month’s newsletter will feature an outreach report.

We have a new member in our evangelism house. Kathy Ciochon lived with us 20 years ago. She now lives in Washington state, but will be spending a year with us doing evangelism.

Please pray for those we have witnessed to recently and those who have written us in response to tracts. I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month.