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Coming Events
(Outreaches subject to change. Call (510) 282-5629 on day before outreach to confirm.)
Friday August 31, September 7, 14 5 – 8 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Sat. September 1 Union Square, Powell and Geary St. 12-2 PM “Bueno” band. 5th and Market 3 – 5 PM
Sat. Sept. 8 UN Plaza, 7th St. and Market. 12 – 5 PM.
Sat. Sept. 15 Berkeley outreach 12:30 – 4:30 PM Shattuck and Center St.
SOS – SAN FRANCISCO OUTREACH REPORT
Dear Christian friends,
Our 39th annual SOS-San Francisco outreach was held on July 25-28. A week before the outreach, I was able to share about the outreach on KFAX radio’s Lifeline program. This is the largest Christian radio station in this area. I invited Adam Hood to join me to share about the Love-San Francisco outreach, which went from July 21-28.
On Mon. July 23, I joined a panel discussion at the Love-San Francisco outreach, with 8 other Christians who had been in evangelism ministry for over 30 years. About 100 Christians were present at the meeting, and we prayed for all of them afterwards.
On Tues. July 24, the day before the outreach, we still hadn’t received three of our permits for SOS week. Apparently there was a mixup, and after a number of phone calls and emails, we got the permits by the end of the day.
On Wed. July 25, our SOS outreach began at Fisherman’s Wharf. Chuck Girard and Paul and Noreen Coca played music for our entire outreach. Tim Moon played music from Wed. through Fri. Dan Beaudoin of Open Air Campaigners preached the gospel using a sketchboard on Wed. and Sat. Jeff and Alina Parrot performed some dance songs. They also brought some Christians from Love-San Francisco to the Wharf. Some of them preached and shared their testimonies. Jeff and Alina witnessed to Petra and Alisa, who were from Sweden and had never heard the gospel. They gave them New Testaments. Tamara prayed with Chris, who said he wanted to receive Jesus. Dave witnessed to Tommy, from Ireland, who works for a company that rents bikes to tourists. He gave him a gospel of John, and Tommy said he would read it. He also witnessed to Jolissa and Camilla, teenage sisters from Salinas. They were Catholics, and both took a gospel of John and thanked Dave for sharing with them. Cal witnessed to Johnny, 30, a Jehovah’s Witness who was raised in that religion. After showing him some problems with the organization, Johnny said, “I’ve thought about those things before.” They exchanged contact information.
On Thurs. July 26, we witnessed at First Street and Market, in the heart of the Financial District. Cal witnessed to Noel, a homeless woman in a wheelchair. He prayed for her. Dave spoke with Lee, 30, from China. His grandmother had witnessed to him many years ago, and recently he became a believer. Dave encouraged him to get baptized and grow spiritually. He witnessed to James, 23, a heroin addict who was trying to quit. Cal and Dave prayed for him and bought him some food.
Dave also witnessed to Anti, from Finland, who was teaching a seminar at Stanford. He grew up as an agnostic. His girlfriend got pregnant and their baby girl was very sick and not expected to live. He and his girlfriend prayed “God please save our daughter.” The next day, she was fine. He took a gospel of John and Dave shared his testimony with him. Dave also spoke with Jason, 40. Five years ago, when Dave and Larry DuBois witnessed in Oakland, Jason would yell at them and call them hypocrites. Jason was now a Christian but struggles with depression. He apologized to Dave for his past behavior.
On Fri. July 27, we witnessed at Fifth and Market for 5 hours. Mike witnessed to Jimmy, whom he had met at Union Square the previous week and had given a gospel of John. He said he was reading it but having a hard time understanding it. Mike answered some of his questions. Dave witnessed to Louic, from France, who is a professional tennis trainer. He had a lot of questions and took a gospel of John. He also witnessed to Karen, an art student, who was Catholic and very receptive to the gospel. She also took a gospel of John. Scott and I both spoke with a man who legally changed his name to “Jesus Christ.” (He showed Scott his ID.) He had been involved with the Bay Area Rescue Mission for 20 years but had some serious mental issues.
That evening, we had a three-hour outreach at Haight and Masonic. Mike witnessed to Helen, who is Jewish. She said her brother and sister-in-law are Messianic Christians. She said she was going to see them in a few weeks and didn’t mind if they talked with her about God. I witnessed to Austin and Marjorie, 20, who had driven here from Atlanta. They were living in their $2400 car, borrowed from his brother, when it was towed. They now owe $900 in tow fees and likely will lose their car. As a result, they are homeless. Austin said he had been free from drugs and alcohol for 9 months. I shared the gospel with them and also shared my testimony. I also spoke about the Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus.
Our final outreach on Sat. July 28 was at UN Plaza. Love-San Francisco joined us for this outreach and they set up several booths. They gave out hundreds of meals. They had cotton candy, popcorn machines, face painting and balloons for children and a prayer tent. They brought two Christian music groups, a Christian DJ, a Christian rapper, and had a raffle with prizes every hour. They also brought about 70 chairs for people to sit in. Several people preached the gospel that afternoon.
About 100 Christians from several different churches and ministries participated and several hundred people stopped to listen throughout the day. Christians prayed with several dozen people. James prayed with several people, including Terrence. He said he wanted to receive Jesus today so they prayed. However, he had been involved with the Jehovah’s Witnesses so James warned them about their errors. James and Mike witnessed to Jedida, a Hindu from Nepal. She said she had Christian friends in Nepal. They went through the plan of salvation with her and she took a gospel of John.
Dave witnessed to Larry, 60, who said he had read the Bible but had his own philosophy. He had been a multi-millionaire contracter who lost all his money in the 2007 financial crisis and was now homeless. His bag was in shreds so Dave bought him a new one. He didn’t want it, because he said everything he has gets stolen. So Dave bought some duct tape and taped up his bag. Noreen witnessed to Ernie, who said he wanted to receive Christ. However, his girlfriend showed up and he left with her. She also witnessed to Joshua, a heroin addict. He said his girlfriend was prostituting herself for drug money. He said he wanted to receive Christ, but he wanted to wait until his girlfriend was there.
Love-San Francisco reported that 263 Christians from 67 different churches and ministries participated in their prayer gatherings, and 175 Christians participated in outreaches over the week. They shared the gospel with almost 3000 people and reported that 87 people prayed to be saved or rededicate their lives to Christ. I am very thankful for the work God did during this week, and was happy to be able to partner with them.
Ministry Needs
Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. James Dumanovsky was here for the summer, but has returned to Colorado to finish college. We hope he will return after his schooling is done in a few months. His brother Matt is leaving for Sri Lanka. He will be working for a company manufacturing clothing there and preaching the gospel. This leaves us with an opening in our ministry house.
I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
