Hello all!
Thanks to all of you for your interest, support, and prayers. I’m trying to be more consistent with these newsletters, sending them out about quarterly, so I hope this one encourages you. God is keeping us very busy, and we are thankful for your prayers and support.
As a missionary evangelist, God has called me to do two things. The first is to do the work of an evangelist, what 2 Timothy 4:1-5 talks about. I love being out in our local communities, I love sharing the Gospel, and I love answering tough questions about God, faith and eternity. But I’ve also been called to help equip the saints for the work of ministry, as Ephesians 4:12 says. If I’m fully funded, which I pray I will be soon, I can reach even more people. But if other believers like you join the battle, many, many more people can hear the good news of the Gospel. So I would ask you to read this newsletter thinking about how you can get involved, not only financially, but through direct participation. As I’ve told many of you in person, not everyone is called to the kind of ministry I have. But every believer can benefit from public evangelism. Make it a priority. You will be encouraged, and your faith will grow!!
West Coast SET Training
SET stands for Sketchboard Evangelism Training, and is Open Air Campaigners‘ yearly training for use of our paint board, and for general evangelism. Up until now it has taken place yearly on the East Coast. A few weeks ago two of my bosses, Tom Fox from Baltimore and Brain Harmon from Michigan, along with our Southern California director Frank joined Brenten and I here in Norcal to talk and plan for a SET here in California in 2025. It was a productive time, with several recognizance trips and testing out a new kids club location in Salinas. We are excited about training up more evangelists on the West Coast to share the Gospel in the public square! If you would be interested in attending, or would like to learn to use the sketchboard sooner, please reach out to me at dan@yoursoulmatters.org so I can add you to our interest list. I’d like to to an abbreviated training early next year. You can also watch our training announcement page HERE.
A key part of this training, and something I want to be a key part of local ministry, is weekly kids Bible clubs. This would mean a team going out weekly to a place in our area, usually a public park (although a front lawn can work too) to teach the Bible to kids and their families. If you would be interested in participating in this kind of club, let me know that as well. It’s not something I can really do solo. I need fellow laborers, particularly women and teens, to help. We would probably try for a Wednesday or Thursday, late afternoon or early evening, so let me know if you have time free one of those days.
Sikh Parade in Yuba City
This last weekend I attended a very unique outreach up north in Yuba City, to the Sikh community. The Sikh faith is young compared to other major world religions, but ranks 6th numerically, even larger than Judaism, and there are a TON of them in the Yuba City area. Sikhism emphasizes moral behavior and community service, and I have seen them to be kind, respectful people. But, as with all those who work for heaven apart from Christ, they are separated from the grace of God and need people like you and me to share it with them.
Last Sunday around 200,000 Sikhs (yes, you are reading that number right) gathered in and around Yuba City for their annual Nagar Kirtan celebration and parade. I joined Cynthia Petross from American Ethnic Ministries and her team at their parade outreach, and it was amazing! Some parade participants were not happy that we were there (though we stayed on the outskirts, and made no attempt to disrupt the events), but we also had many very good conversations, and thousands of pieces of literature went out. The new tract we used this year, written by Cynthia and comparing descriptions of the Satguru, or true teacher (often used by Sikhs to refer to their version of God) to the person of Christ (think of Paul and the unknown God in Acts 17:23) was very well done, and really intrigued some Sikhs who read it. I had one conversation with two young men who read it and said “This is dope! I’ve never seen anything like this!” Over 3,000 pieces of literature went out! But there were so few of us to reach so many in need of salvation. Would you consider joining us next year? Email me or call me for information.
Halloween Safe Trick or Treat
What about Halloween outreach? How do YOU use Halloween (or All Saints Day, or Reformation Day, if you prefer) to reach out to your community? Maybe you can’t stand Halloween because of all the negative, ungodly things connected to it. I’m not a fan either, but I’d rather use it as an opportunity to reach people with the Gospel than ignore it. And praise God, lots of good opportunities are available!
This year I joined my friends from West Hills Church in Morgan Hill again for the city’s safe trick or treat event. The event went from 10AM to 4PM, and it seemed like the whole city came out! Several other churches participated too, giving out candy, tracts and Bibles. I was able to chat with a couple of their pastors, which was a blessing. And as always, I had lots of good conversations with kids and families coming by.
Does your church do something similar? If not, perhaps you could suggest they do, and help organize something. If they already have an event, are tracts going out too? Is the Gospel being clearly preached? There are great Halloween tracts available from Living Waters and Tract Planet. Kids need a safe place to go on Halloween for sure, but they need a safe place to spend eternity even more! Maybe you can be the voice your neighborhood or church need to hear.
Octoberfest
We had another wonderful weekend at Octoberfest in downtown Campbell a few weeks ago. Thanks so much to The Home Church for, once again, sponsoring the booth! We had believers from 10 different churches help out at the booth, and we had a great time. Please pray particularly for a young man named Chris. He is an atheist, but was very willing to talk to us. He stopped by the booth both days, and said he would contact me to talk more. Pray he does!
We always get so many good conversations at community festivals, so I encourage churches to consider participating in their local area. Festivals are well worth the time and money, and are a great experience for congregation members struggling to share their faith. If you would like advice on community festival outreach, let me know. You can join us in a Campbell festival (Octoberfest or the Boogie Music Festival, or I’m happy to work with you or your church on something close to you. With a few basic tools and tracts, you can make a huge impact!
Calvary San Mateo and Mall Ministry
I recently started working with my friends at Calvary San Mateo on a mall tract table. Our first trip to Hillsdale Mall was last month, and it was great! Pastor Jason Frei did the right thing, and led from the front. He promoted the event to the congregation on Sunday mornings, and that resulted in a couple dozen church members stopping to help that first day. Many of them stayed for an hour or two, handing out tracts and talking to people. Like a community festival, the local mall is a place where people gather, and where they generally have time to stop and talk. I LOVE to see people stepping out in faith for the first time.
This is another great way to be encouraged, or to have the people in your church encouraged. As with community festivals, I’d love to help you or your church organize something like this. I have the background to make it easy, and there is no cost to you. If you’d just like to join me sometime to see what this kind of outreach looks like, I currently set up at The Great Mall in Milpitas twice a month, and will be starting a regular Saturday mall table at Valley Fair in Santa Clara after the first of the year. Please let me know if you’d like to stop by.
Christmas in the Park
Believe it or not, we are coming up on Christmas time soon, which means another year of Christmas in the Park outreach. There isn’t a better time of year, or a better place, to share the Gospel. Just give people a smile and a “Merry Christmas!” and most are happy to take a tract. I plan to be there every Friday and Saturday evening through the month of December, and likely a few other days too. Plan to come join us at least a day or two if you can, and bring a friend or too. You won’t regret it!
Ministry Partnership
As we near the end of the year, and have space in your giving to support a local missionary, please consider supporting us monthly or through a one-time gift, or share our info with your church. I’d be happy to talk over the phone or a cup of coffee. You can reach me at dan@yoursoulmatters.org or at 408-768-9262, or visit HERE to give a one-time or monthly donation.
Also, so people prefer to help with specific projects or needs. We have two currently:
- I need a camper shell for my new pickup truck, so it’s easier to transport my evangelism gear, especially for big events and festivals, or on road trips.
- We have an international conference/mission trip to Equador next May, and could use help with travel expenses.
Reach out to me if you would like to learn more.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for our unsaved family members
Pray for Melody, our younger daughter, as she prepares for her wedding in February
Please pray for my dad, who is struggling with poor health, and wisdom for my brothers and I as we decide how best to help him
Please pray for our Christmas outreaches, and for our planned Equador trip next May
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