Newsletter September 1990

ISEMA Newsletters

Romania Outreach

by Jerry Brandt,  Action Evangelism,  Box 908,  Cameron Park,  CA 95682, (916) 677-6711.

The  principles of outdoor street and plaza evangelism  work  the same in Romania as they do in San Francisco,  Sacramento,  or any other  American  city.  God had specifically trained me for  this kind  of  overseas  evangelism.  I was able to  hold  16  outdoor crusades  in  parks,  city squares,  and coliseums in  a  21  day period. Large crowds gathered to see an American sing and preach. Worship   was well received and many received Christ.  We went to the  most atheistic section of southern Romania and  specifically to five cities that had never heard the gospel before. Near riots broke  out as we handed out Bibles,  so after the  first  outdoor rally  we  decided to hand the Bibles out at a local church or  a home where there was no church.

The simplest salvation messages were in order so there could be a clear  understanding of who Christ was and what He did for  them. Often people stood weeping when they heard the good  news.  Twice secret  police tried to stop us and each time the people attacked them.  We were concerned that they would be injured.  The  people cried,  “We  have  waited  40 years to hear this and  you  secret police are not going to stop us!” The hunger for the Word of  God was incredible.  While I was leading worship I had my Bible on my amplifier and an old man came up and kissed it. One lady took her Bible  home and her daughter wouldn’t give it back.  The 16  year old had stayed up all night reading it into the next day. We gave the  mother another Bible.

A group of Communist men were in the back of the coliseum and the healing power of Christ fell.  One of them,  who was blind in one eye,  was  totally  healed.  As  he  ran forward  all  the  other skeptical  men followed him to the platform.  They wanted to  see firsthand  the power of God.  Many of them then received  Christ. The liberty to preach was astounding.  No permits needed! We just found the busiest section of the city and set up our large  sound system  and  began  to worship.  Thousands would  gather  out  of curiosity.  Most  of them stayed the full 2-3 hours listening  as many received salvation and healing.  All the street meetings and experience  for  the  last five years here in  America  had  just prepared  me for what had happened in Romania.  Another man  from America who was part of our team kept a running tally of results. He said his conservative estimate was just under 5,000 indicating a profession of faith.

One pastor in the city of Orsova had been there for thirty  years with  about  20 people in his church.  Following two large  plaza meetings  in  his  city  hundreds showed up  at  his  church  the following Sunday morning. He had to move his church outdoors into the parking lot to accommodate the crowd!  His words to us seemed to verbalize what was happening in Romania.  He said, “It is like a farmer who plants his crops for thirty years and no rain comes. Then  all at once it begins to pour!  Your coming to us  here  to help us is the refreshing rain we have been waiting for!”

The Effectiveness of High-Visibility Evangelism

by  Larry Rosenbaum,  from Take Him to the Streets:  How to Reach your City for Christ

In San Francisco as in many other cities, the voices advocating sexual immorality, drug abuse, occultic activities, and Eastern religions and cults are very loud.  The voices calling people to turn from such things to faith in God through Jesus Christ have been virtually silenced. As God’s Word is continually proclaimed boldly and openly in the public places of the city, people will be continually confronted with their need to make a decision regarding Jesus Christ.  Satan is seeking to distract people from that reality, and we need to remind people continually that they have a choice to make which will determine their eternal destiny.

Since  so  many Christians question the effectiveness  of  street preaching,  tract  distribution,  carrying signs and  other  high visibility methods, let me give eight ways in which these methods are effective in advancing God’s kingdom on this earth:

1. They help people to learn how they can be saved.  Often, people have read dozens of tracts and may even collect them.  They may never have prayed to receive Christ, but they know what they need to do and are familiar with many of the scriptures relating to salvation.

2. They cause people to become conscious of God`s Word and their need to make a decision either to accept or reject Jesus Christ.  Each time a person is confronted with the gospel, he must think about Christ and his need for salvation.  God can use each witness to draw the person closer to Himself.

3. They leave people without excuse.  God has given each person a free will–to accept or reject Him.  If he chooses to reject the truth, he will give account of his life before God on Judgment Day.  He will not be able to say he never heard the gospel, or had no opportunity to be saved.

4. They cause an entire city or nation to become more conscious of God`s Word.  Often, we find that when we witness at major events, people comment that we are everywhere.  People get used to expecting Christians to be at rock concerts, parades, downtown parks, etc.  They start talking to one another about all the Christian activity.  They are also impressed by the dedication they see in these Christians.

5. The atmosphere of a city or neighborhood can change.  Demonic principalities lose their hold on an area where Christ is consistently preached and worshipped.  As the Holy Spirit descends upon an area, demonic strongholds are broken up and people become more open to God`s Word.  Demons cannot stay in a place where Christ’s Lordship has been established.

6. The Christians who participate will be strengthened spiritually. We have found that many of those who participate in our outreaches find that they have become bolder in witnessing in other situations.  They become more excited about their Lord, as they see Him using them to witness to others.  Their desire to intercede for the lost increases, as does their desire to grow spiritually so that their life will be a better witness for the Lord.  Their renewed excitement about the Lord spreads to other Christians.

7. Other Christians are encouraged by our boldness to witness for Christ.  After seeing what we are doing, many Christians have been encouraged to witness to their friends, or even to start a street ministry  in their own community.

8. Many people do get saved as a result of preaching.  However, we only get to see a small percentage of the fruit.  Some come to the Lord on the street and we are able to follow-up on them.  Others are saved on the street but we lose track of them, or we do not see an immediate change in their life.  In many cases, the person may not get saved until much later.  The person who witnessed to him may never learn about it in this life.

Coming Events

September  12-16  Mario  Murillo  Crusade  and  Street Invasion,  San  Francisco.  Evangelism outreach and downtown tent crusade.  Contact Mario Murillo Ministries,  Box 5027, San Ramon, CA 94583, (415) 820-5470 (note new address, phone).

September 15,  October 6, 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.

September 27-29 National Street Ministries  Conference, Dallas,  TX. Tommy Barnett,  Winkie Pratney,  Gary Greenwald  and others.  Contact  S.H.O.M.,  Box 380306,  Duncanville,  TX 75138, (214) 331-6902.

September 28 Washington for Jesus,  Olympia,  WA. Meet 9 AM at Capital Steps.  Contact Action Evangelism, Box 908, Cameron Park, CA 95682, (916) 677-6711.

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.

Some Final Thoughts

During the past month,  we have received reports from a number of groups that have done outreaches in the Soviet Union and  Eastern Europe. Now is certainly the time to reach these nations with the gospel.  There  appears to be total freedom to preach and witness in  these nations,  after so many years of repression,  but  this freedom may not last long.  Also, a missionary friend reminded me that now is also the time to reach Nicaragua,  where even in  the public  schools  a  Communist curriculum is being replaced  by  a Christian one.

Meanwhile,  events  in the Middle East remind us that our  Lord’s return is near,  and only He will give us lasting peace.  “I must work  the works of him who sent me while it is day;  the night is coming when no man can work” (John 9:4). Our Tape of the Month is “Praise,  worship and spiritual warfare”  by Chuck  Girard.  This tape   outlines  a  strategy  for  reaching  our  cities  through concerted prayer,  worship and evangelism.  (By the way,  if  you ever  receive a tape that is defective,  let us know and we  will replace it.)

God  bless  you all.  I hope to see many of you at  the  National Street Ministries Conference in Dallas.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum