Halloween Outreach

On Saturday, October 30th, we had by far the best outreach we've had in over a year of regular ministry in Isla Vista.


First we gathered at Daniel's church in downtown Santa Barbara. We had a worship service, shared communion, a meal, and listened to a few words given by Pastor Rudy and a few other team members.

After a few hours we were filled up and ready to go. The team consisted of various people UCRAVENSLO has met, including Pastor Young from Kenneth's church and about six or seven members of his congregation. From Santa Rosa (RAVEN WESTCOST) we had the Gonzalez family. From Santa Barbara we had the regular team that hits DP with a few guys who went out to evangelize for the first time.

We split up into two teams, one team was a team of drivers, the others were basically the "army" who got dropped off on the outskirts of Isla Vista and headed to Del Playa on foot. Amidst all the choas, we were able to drop everyone off, park the cars, and reunite both teams on Del Playa without too many problems. Once on Del Playa, we held up signs with simple messages. A direct quote from an individual that repented: "The sign convicted me, and the person holding the sign convinced me." The Gospel works, you don't have to sugar coat it.



TESTIMONIES:
1) Michelle
As soon as we held up the signs and started witnessing, preaching, and standing for the truth, a young girl named Michelle found us out there. She was lost, not only away from the Lord, but unsure of where she was and afraid of the intense party scene. She came into Maddie's (15 years old) arms crying. The Gonzo women huddled around her and comforted her and preached to her. They explained the truth of being a new creature in Christ and Michelle cried out to the Lord. After over an hour of sharing with her and praying with her we got her to my house, gave her a Bible, some food and water, and got somebody to drive into Isla Vista to pick her up and take her home. I can't help but wonder what would've happened to Michelle not only on that night but eternally if we weren't there.

2) Dale
Anthony was holding a sign about repentance, and Dale, a young man who had graduated from UCSB a few years earlier, was convicted by the sign and talked to Anthony. Dale had fallen away from the Lord and knew he needed to come back. After talking for awhile, the team huddled around Dale and prayed for him. We spent a long time witnessing to him and helping him with some issues. He broke out in tears and confessed his need to get right. On the streets his Sin started manifesting itself as he lashed out on those mocking the Lord. We were able to minister to him for most of the night and he's now in contact with one of our Raven team members on the East Coast.

Here we are praying for Dale.

Dale and the team after tears and prayers.

3) Jay
Jay spent some time with Gracie filling her in on his story. He had gotten back from Afghanistan, and overseas he was doing well with the Lord. As soon as he got back to the States, however, his friends became a negative influence in his life. Gracie called me over and I spent some time telling him about the darkness he's allowing himself to adjust to and told him that the Word would be the light to open his eyes. He completely agreed. I told him he needed to do something bold in front of his friends and get on his knees and pray with me to get right with the Lord. His direct quote was "Can't we do that at Church on Sunday?" I replied by saying, "If you're not willing to get right with God in this kind of environment you won't stay right with God in this kind of environment, you need to stand for him now." He then agreed and we got on our knees in front of his friends and prayed.


There were numerous other testimonies, I'm sure there were some I don't even know about. Logan shared a story of two girls repenting as soon as he held up a sign. Pastor Rudy had a story of a kid who started out argumentative eventually repenting and coming to the Lord. In addition, many people were witnessed to, many heard open air preaching, Gospel tracts were handed out to people. Seeds were planted everywhere, and a harvest of souls was also reaped.

At the end of the night, the team gathered together and prayed in the middle of Del Playa


What is the secret to successful ministry?
Faithful preaching of the Gospel

October 22, 2010
I’m on the train to SLO, and it’s a perfect time to blog. This weekend I’ll be with ucravenslo.blogspot.com while the rest of the crew stays in Santa Barbara and continues the work on Del Playa.

A few Testimonies:
1) Last Friday, a guy talked to Phil briefly and then spent over an hour talking to Ian. Ends up the guy was the son of a preacher and knew he wasn’t living right. In the middle of the party street he was convicted by the cross. The following night he was out on the same street, but preaching righteousness rather than living in unrighteousness.
2) Last Saturday night, a group of guys I don’t even think I’ve met decided to set up a cross on the opposite side of Del Playa (near the Del Sur intersection, right outside of Jesus Burgers). Some Westmont students joined us at our intersection, bringing our number of evangelists to around 15. So Phil and Daniel decided to check out the other cross and ended up witnessing there all night. What is so amazing about this is two things. One, that enough harvesters are coming out that we are getting too crowded at one cross, sending guys elsewhere. And the second is that a second cross has been raised up on the other end of the street. For those who don’t know, the vision from the beginning has been to have a cross on every intersection of Del Playa…
3) On Wednesday I preached in my usual spot and while preaching, a guy named Kevin stopped and listened. After preaching I talked to him, and it ends up he’s 28 years old, been with the Lord for about 10 years, and currently trying to get his life together. All he’s really got to work with is that he thinks he can find a job and a place to live up north, and has some friends in the area. He told me he will be sleeping in the bushes that night. I invited him over and to make a long story short, he stayed with us for two days. We were able to get him some food, a couch to crash on, and this afternoon he hopped on a bus to head north. The entire time he was there he and Kyle were constantly discussing the Lord and his Word. Kevin attended a Bible study with Ian and the Real Life meeting with Kyle in his two day stay at our house, and now he’s on his way to Arcata. It’s amazing how things work. The Lord sends me to open air preach, and as a result I meet Kevin and my roommates and I were able to give him a hand and he got two days of solid Christian fellowship before heading north. You never know why the Lord sends you to preach.

Ministry Opportunities:
1) Del Playa Street Church: Jesus said “I will make you fishers of men”. DP is full of fish just swimming through life and we bring a cross out there to chum up the waters and attract every hungry person. Come stand for the Gospel with us and catch a soul for Jesus and a testimony to share with your grandkids. Contact: Josh (707-327-6343), Daniel (805-729-4023), or Paul (805-455-4242).
2) Storke Plaza Sanctuary: UCSB is a ripe harvest field. On Wednesdays two brothers from Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara spend a majority of the day witnessing on campus and hold a Bible study at 1:00 PM at the Ucenn. In addition, Chris Comstock and Real Life witness on Campus from 12:00-2:00 every Wednesday. And finally, I open air preach, on Wednesdays starting at 1:45 PM to the passing bikers. Wednesdays are a busy day for Jesus. For witnessing, contact Chris (805-451-4387), Nate (909-638-6792). For an on campus Bible study, contact Nate. And to open air preach, learn to open air preach, or listen to some open air preaching contact me (707-327-6343).

Upcoming Events:
1) Halloween Outreach: Next weekend is the big outreach, with teams from SLO and Santa Rosa coming to preach. If you want to get involved call me (Josh Rowden) as soon as possible at 707-327-6343.
2) Homeless Outreach: In the next few weeks, we will spend a day with food in our backpacks and good walking shoes and march around Santa Barbara looking for homeless to feed, pray for, witness to, and encourage. It might become a regular thing. Call me if you are interested in donating homeless gear (toiletries, clothes, food) or if you’d like to join us.
3) Skid Row Outreach: It’s not for sure, but it’s a possibility that we might go to Skid Row and do an outreach. It’s still in prayer. Call me if you are interested in going to Skid Row.

Our Needs:
1) Prayer
2) Harvesters (people willing to witness and/or street preach)
3) Homeless kits
4) Material to build additional crosses.