Coming Events
(Contact me at mail@sosmin.com or (510) 282-5629 for outreach locations and times one or two days before outreach.)
Friday January 7, 14, 21 3:30-6:30 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Saturday January 8, 15, 22 11:30-4 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.
TATS’ STORY
Dear Christian friends,
By Tatsuya Yoshino. Tats is 22. He graduated from San Jose State University this past year. He is very zealous for God and is a great blessing to our ministry.
I was born in Japan. I was a victim of Satanic sexual abuse, starting when I was 3. Soon after that, I was encouraged by family members to practice witchcraft. I was overcome by fear that controlled my childhood.
When I was 4, I moved to the US to live with my mother. She moved me here because I had been diagnosed with autism, and autism therapy was not available in Japan at the time. She told me at that time that “I should not blame God for any of my problems” even though she was not a Christian. These words resonated with me throughout my life when I faced difficulties. She sent me to Supplementary Japanese School on Saturday where I made some solid Christian friends and was taught under some great Christian teachers. When I was a second grader, my younger brother’s kindergarten teacher took me to church where I learned about the basic stories of the Bible including Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, and Jesus’ crucifixion. I remember that there was a video they showed me about Jesus on the cross, and the sky turned black when Jesus was on the cross. While at Sunday school, I just knew deep down in my heart that Jesus was the only solution to come out of the trauma I experienced from witchcraft, but my mother did not allow me to go to church for some time.
The witchcraft presence was so strong in my life that I rejected the light for the darkness. I became very violent and mentally unstable. I got violent with the authorities, my neighbors, and my family members at the age of 11. It became so bad that my apartment manager almost kicked my whole family out of our apartment because of my misbehavior. My mother sent me to a behavioral psychologist who told me that “I deserve to be locked up in a mental institution for the rest of my life.” For five years after that, I sought vengeance against him.
Also at the age of 11, I got involved in homosexuality and watching gay pornography. I hated Christians who said that AIDS and HIV were caused by the homosexual lifestyle. I remember that I mocked God, insisting that He would not judge me for my homosexuality. In order to deal with my anxiety, I took anxiety pills and practiced yoga, meditation, kung fu, and karate.
The one thing I loved doing was studying Japanese. Through my studies, God got me in touch with a Japanese Christian couple who offered to pray with me at the dinner table. The next thing I know, my YouTube channel became filled with videos posted by a Christian YouTuber called Eden Media. They were translating the subtitles of English Bible content into the Japanese language. I watched their videos only because they translated English content into Japanese phenomenally. These videos told me that all that I was doing in this life was wrong.
Deep down I knew that what the Bible was saying was right, but I did not want to submit to the Lord. Instead, I got offended, and I ran away from God. But because of the power of the Word of God, God started to work in my life. God pulled my spirit out of my body and showed me the gates of Hell. Every sin that I did in my life flashed before my eyes, including the tiniest sin that I did which was disobeying my mother when she told me that play time was over. I repented of all my sins and I gave my life to Christ. I got filled with the Holy Spirit, and the first thing that I noticed about the Holy Spirit was that He was so pure! This was a purity that I never had ever experienced before.
But, after I was born-again at the age of 17, there was one thing that I did not want to give up to the Lord. That was my Japanese talent. At that time, I had a big dream of going to Columbia University to become the best Japanese language translator in the US. God told me to stop studying the Japanese language for a year, and instead, study the Bible in my first language, English. I initially disobeyed, but after I read the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14–30, I surrendered. After a year, God gave me a Japanese Bible for free. After I finished reading both the Old and New Testament in both English and Japanese with proper understanding, one day God told me to go preach the gospel in both Japan and the United States.
Initially, I was very shy preaching the gospel. In January 2020, I was helping my mother move back to Osaka, Japan, and I had many opportunities to street preach the gospel and witness to others one-on-one in Japan, but I did not because I was too shy and ashamed of the gospel. I remember this one man in Osaka Japan who was praying to an idol at a small Buddhist temple next to a busy street near the station. God told me to ask this man who he was praying to and to lead him to the Lord Jesus. But I was afraid to do so, so the Lord told me to proclaim Bible verses in Japanese out loud and start preaching to this man and to the people around him. But fear overtook me, and I did not speak up. Because of a deep godly sorrow, I repented. The Lord carried me through a 20 day Daniel fast in Japan.
When I came back to America, I chose to build up my courage in the Lord, so I decided to step out of my comfort zone alone and go door-to-door and hand out gospel tracts to save souls. But, in June 2020, I felt very lonely because my church was not supporting me in my evangelism, and some in the church were condemning me. Many of my neighbors in San Jose were offended by the gospel tracts I gave them. That month, I started to entertain lustful homosexual thoughts like I used to do before I was saved.
After I repented and got right with the Lord, God told me to go to SOS Ministries. I had heard about SOS from brother Jesse who did a Bible study every Tuesday and Friday over the phone. I had been consistently attending brother Jesse’s Bible study since Summer 2019. Brother Jesse saw my zeal for evangelism and recommended I go to SOS in February 2020, but I did not go for a very long time.
In August 2020, I started to consistently participate in SOS outreaches both Friday and Saturday. One day, brother Alex from SOS Ministries invited me to go with him to a worship service by Outdoor Church in San Francisco after the SOS outreach. The people of Outdoor Church prayed for me, I was truly set free from homosexual demonic spirits, and I literally heard chains falling off of me. Because of this, I felt very encouraged. The power and the presence of the Lord was so strong at the SOS outreaches and the Outdoor Church prayer service that it really built up my boldness in the Lord to share His gospel with everybody! I came back to SOS every week, and through this ministry, the Lord gave me new hope and gave me new courage that I never ever had before to preach the gospel. I moved into the SOS house in April, 2021. SOS has really given me new hope and encouragement to become an overcomer in Christ! Amen.
On the Streets
On Sat. Sept. 18, we joined about 80 Christians from different churches and ministries in a Praise Parade. This was part of the Jesus Reigns movement. There were marches and rallies that day in six other states. The movement is based in the Philippines, where it is quite large. After the march, we gathered for a worship rally at United Nations Plaza. Before we started, a ranger from the park police cited me for violating conditions of the park code. We have conducted hundreds of outreaches in San Francisco parks for over 40 years and I have never been cited for any violation. This woman was on a clear mission to find some excuse to cite me. With the help of attorney friend Spencer Scheer, I wrote a 12 page statement contesting the citation by mail.
Alex Stewart, who lives in our ministry house, has been cited four times this year for violating park regulations, in connection with outdoor church services. Clearly, the Park rangers are trying to stop all Christian activities in San Francisco parks.
After the citation, we held our outreach. Adam Hood prayed with two people to receive Christ that afternoon. Their repentance seemed genuine as they wept as they prayed. He was told that five others received Christ that afternoon. Mike spoke with Shane, 24, who asked for prayer. Mike shared the gospel with him and prayed with him. Alex witnessed to Julia, who believes in Mother Earth, at a nearby anti-vaccination rally at City Hall. Alex warned her that she was dabbling with demonic spirits. She was receptive to what he told her. Andy witnessed to Arnold, who was homeless. He knew something about the Bible, but was trapped in the street life. He said he is currently sober and agreed to pick up a Bible and read it again.
A Final Word
Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry.
In general, people’s hearts are pretty hard towards the gospel. For some Christians, this is another excuse not to witness to them. However, Noah was called a “preacher of righteousness.” (2 Pet. 2:15) He preached to his world for hundreds of years, but only his family was saved. Fortunately, each week we find a few people who are receptive to the gospel message. Please pray that God would open more hard hearts to the gospel.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
