Newsletter October 1990

ISEMA Newsletters

National Street Ministries Conference Issue

Summer Outreach Reports

SOS-Hollywood

(by Mark Johnson, from the Forerunner Ministries newsletter (Box 4066, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315, (714) 886-1171.)

The  first night,  my partner Leon and I stopped to listen to  an elderly couple play music.  While listening, a long-haired fellow stopped  to  listen and it turned out to be a former member of  a band I was in 18 years ago.  Naturally he asked me what I was  up to, so I was able to share with him how I had become a Christian. He expressed a real need in his life for God. Several weeks later I was able to pray with him on the phone.  He definitely realized our meeting was not a coincidence but a divine meeting ordered by God.

Hollywood  is a place where sensuality,  pleasure and the lust of the flesh controls so many lives.  One particular night on  Santa Monica  Blvd.,  where  many young male prostitutes  hang  out,  I talked  to a young man who seemed so scared.  He told me he had a Christian sister who was praying for him and seemed open to  what I shared with him.

On  the  Fourth of July,  we served free food at an  outreach  in Griffith  Park.  As the drama presentation was going on I noticed an Hispanic fellow watching.  I got an interpreter and  explained the gospel to him. Carlos seemed very sincere as he gave his life to  Christ.  I  had a Spanish New Testament on hand and gave  him that  and he was introduced to a pastor from a  Spanish  speaking church.

Jesus Loves You-New York

(by Mark Johnson)

Our  first night was on the streets in Union Square.  My  partner Jefferson  Haase  and  I spent several hours with Ralph  who  had already accepted the Lord,  but was bound by drugs,  alcohol  and perversion.  He  wanted  to  be totally  free.  He  is  currently enrolled in a detox program and after that is scheduled to go  to the Genesis drug program in Brooklyn.

We did a street meeting in Brooklyn with the Redemption Ministry. The  needs in this area are some of the greatest we have seen  in any inner city area of this nation. The drug addiction and number of  AIDS  victims (from drugs) is said to be the highest  in  the country.  Not  long after we got there,  Jefferson and I  invited prostitutes and drug addicts to the street meeting. Free food was being  passed out.  Many were saved and ministered to that night. Some were admitted immediately into the Genesis drug  program.  I spent  some time with a young man named Willie,  who at one  time was a Christian who even played in a gospel group.  We prayed and the power of the Spirit of God hit him so strong he fell over. He was introduced to a local pastor and given a Bible.

Praise  and  worship played a vital part of this outreach  as  in times  past.  On several occasions,  once outside Tompkins Square Park  and then at Washington Square,  as we sang songs of  prayer and  worship  people would  come to us and ask  for  prayer.  The closing  night at Washington Square a tremendous unity  prevailed as we sang. I couldn’t help notice one fellow just standing there with  his  mouth  open,  “what  is this?”  Another  night  as  we worshipped at Washington Square for three hours straight, a noted comedian from the park who always drew a crowd, ended up watching us. Hs words said it all: “Man, there’s a lot of love here!”

Street  Machine Nationals (DuQuoin,  IL) and Veiled Prophet  Fair (St. Louis)

(by Gary Lukas, Box 1232, Richmond, TX 77469, (713) 232-6002)

The  Street Machine Nationals is a car show with over  3500  show vehicles  displayed at the State Fairgrounds and drawing  107,000 visitors from many states.  Each evening the grounds were  closed and  these  portable  idols  were cruising a  four  mile  stretch through DuQuoin (pop.  6600). Over a dozen of us (from No Greater Love  ministries) teamed up to march into the rowdiest sector  of the shopping center parking lot singing songs about Calvary,  and then  spreading  out to witness.  There with  large  banner  type signs,  a large cross,  and gospel tracts the battle was on.  Our march  into the main party disturbed the sinners and resulted  in some  verbal  abuse,   but  many  were  drawn  to  us  for  solid conversations about the Lord.

Fifty Christians from No Greater Love ministries witnessed at the “Veiled Prophet” Fair Parade in St. Louis. About a million people attend this parade,  and many of the Christians wore clown makeup and  gave  out  tracts and Christian  stickers  to  people.  When crossing  the  plaza west of City Hall,  Pastor Brown sat on  the grass  to talk to a guy who needed our help.  He  had  considered jumping  off  the  Eads Bridge for two  days.  A  day  before,  a pastor’s  daughter  had seen him,  shared a pizza with  him,  and witnessed to him.  Then we came and were able to talk,  encourage and  then pray with this ex-Nam Vet,  who had now found a  reason for living.

SOS-SAN FRANCISCO

(from  the  SOS Ministries Newsletter,  Box  27358,  Oakland,  CA 94602, (415) 531-5325)

Over  200  Christians registered to participate  in  this  year’s outreach,  with  an average of 80 workers per day throughout  the week and extras at night and on weekends.  Believers flew in from Pennsylvania and Minnesota,  and a team from Jesus Inn Ministries drove here from Tulsa,  Oklahoma.   A team from Teen Challenge in Watsonville  and a youth group from Christian Heights Assembly of God in Sonora also joined us for the week.

The  outreach began with a Saturday afternoon rally at the Powell St.  BART station.   One young man,  a drug addict with AIDS, had been embittered by the church.  After some Christians  ministered to  him,  he rededicated his life to Christ and was taken to  the Richmond  Rescue Mission.  Since then,  he went back to  Southern California  to  be with his parents and at last report was  doing well spiritually.

On Monday,  we had  a worship rally at the Embarcadero Plaza,  in the  financial district.  We gave out 200 New Testaments  to  the businessmen  in  the  area.  It was exciting to see  hundreds  of people  listening  attentively  to  the  worship  and  preaching. Several people received prayer for salvation and other needs that day.

On   Wednesday  and Friday afternoons we witnessed  on  Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.   Wednesday we met Eric,  a young man who had just been released from jail that day.  While in prison,  God had been  working  in  his life,  and we were able to  help  him  get established  in  the  Lord.  He  joined us for the  rest  of  the outreach  and  then went to Teen Challenge  in  Watsonville.  His excitement  about his new-found faith was an encouragement to  us all.

Also  that  day,  our  worship leader Tim Charles was  cited  for “disturbing the peace” for singing worship songs (with a  permit) as  the  Berkeley police continue to violate  our  constitutional rights. On Friday, a police officer came to check our permit. One of  our workers recognized the officer as a former friend and was able  to  witness  to him of  her  changed  life!  That  day,  an Ethiopian  man  who was studying Mormonism made a  profession  of faith.

We  had  three  worship  rallies  at  Union  Square–on  Tuesday, Thursday  and Saturday.  On Thursday,  we began to see the  first opposition  from  the  homosexual  community.  About  ten  people protested our rally, including one person with a sign accusing us of “homophobia.” On Saturday,  the Revelation drama players  from Sacramento  performed  some  excellent  skits  at  Union  Square. That  afternoon  we met James,  a backslidden Christian  who  was deeply involved in satanism.  His “friends” tried so hard to keep him  from hearing the gospel that he had to escape from them  and hide in the bushes. A brother took him to his ranch near Lakeport and  we saw him there the next week and baptized him.  Also  that afternoon,  a man who had said he had been in a wheelchair for 15 years  got  out  of the chair and marched with us six  blocks  to Civic Center, where he gave his testimony!

That afternoon, we marched through downtown San Francisco to City Hall  for  a worship rally with Jerry Brandt.  When  we  arrived, there were about 100 homosexuals there to disrupt our rally, with signs  and  whistles.  Some were dressed as priests and  nuns  or wearing  obscene  costumes.  They blew whistles in our  ears  and destroyed several of our signs.  The police riot squad was called in to protect us.  This was the first organized opposition we had seen  since 1981,  when 2000 people had come against us in  Union Square.  As we did that year,  we joined together in  worshipping God. When we sang “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord” we all kneeled on the ground,  publicly confessing our sins. At that point, we saw a real spiritual breakthrough. Before long, most of the  homosexuals had dispersed and we were singing,  dancing  and rejoicing before the Lord.

Last  winter,  as we were praying about God’s direction for  this year’s   SOS  outreach,   God  gave  us  the  theme  “end   times evangelism.” On August 4,  Iraq invaded Kuwait and the  attention of the world was focused on the mideast. Not long before, changes in  the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe had led many to hope that the  world was heading for a lasting peace.  But this  new  event reminded  people  that  the sinful nature of mankind  makes  this impossible.  These  events  were  very  much  on  people’s  minds throughout SOS and we incorporated them into our preaching.

Coming Events

Saturday October 13 San Francisco  Worship  Rally  and Outreach 3-6 PM. Powell St. BART station. Contact SOS Ministries, Box 27358, Oakland, CA 94602, (415) 531-5325.

October 26-November 4 Hawaiian Halloween  Outreach  to Maui.  $300  plus airfare.  Contact Christ in  Action,  Box  100, Chatsworth, GA 30705, (404) 695-1868.

October  27-November  7  The   Alternativa   Surfing Championship Outreach,  Brazil.  Contact Forward Edge, Box 65238, Vancouver, WA 98665, (206) 693-EDGE.

October 31-November 2 San Francisco Prayer Breakthrough Contact Larry Lea Ministries, Box 9000, Rockwall, TX 75087, (214) 771-7000.

Some Final Thoughts

Many of you may be hearing about the International Street and Evangelism Ministries Association (ISEMA) for the first time at the National Street Ministries Conference in Dallas. ISEMA was founded in 1984 by leaders of several evangelism ministries. Our purpose is to help evangelism ministries help one another and to encourage Christians to get involved in evangelism. We have put together an ISEMA brochure that explains our purpose and vision more fully. Write us if you’d like to receive a copy.

We need your help to make the ISEMA vision a reality. Write us and let us know what is happening in your community. Send us outreach reports, a description of your ministry, and information about upcoming outreaches. Also, let us know of ways we can help you learn more about evangelism or be more effective in the ministry you are involved in. Become  a  member  of  ISEMA,  if  you  haven’t  already  joined. Membership through the end of 1990 is $10 for individuals, $17.50 for churches and ministries. If you have already joined, consider supporting us on a monthly basis. Like most street-level ministries, we operate on a shoestring budget (about $700 monthly) and  are  often limited by lack of finance.  We also put  out  an annual International Street and Evangelism Ministry Directory,  a listing of over 500 evangelism ministries around the world,  with a  description  of each ministry.  The directory is $7  to  ISEMA members,  $14  to non-members.  Write us if you would like to  be listed in the next directory.

OurTape of the Month is “Starting a Street Ministry from Scratch” by Jonathan Gainsbrugh of Worldshakers for Christ. Jonathan was the founder of ISEMA and a father to many of us in street ministry and this teaching will give you a lot of useful help in starting a street ministry to reach your community.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum