Hello all. We’re getting very close to the holiday season, so I wanted to share an update on all the things that God allowed us to do this summer. Well, not ALL the things. My last report covered my trip to Alaska and Becky and my ministry trip to Ecuador, which were both amazing, but there is a lot more to share. Those two trips, all the things I’ll be sharing here, along with our regular weekly outreaches (I’m generally out three or four days a week) give you an idea just how busy this summer and fall really were! Since there’s so much to cover I’ll just give some verbal snapshots, and a few pictures to flesh them out.
Also, I added a short support update at the end. I hope you’ll take a minute to read it and pray for us. Thanks!
Dan B.
OAC Norcal
408-768-9262
SET in Baltimore, MD – SET stands for Sketchboard Evangelism Training. It is Open Air Campaigners USA’s annual training seminar. During this week we teach students the basics of evangelism, and the use of our sketch board for adult and kids ministry. Then we take them out into the community to put their skills to the test. This was my second time attending as an instructor, and it was wonderful. Much of our time was spent ministering to youth at a camp in inner-city Baltimore. We had a very promising group of students. Please pray that God leads them to regular ministry, and possibly to consider OAC as their ministry calling.
VBS – This was the vacation bible school for my church, the Home Church, in Campbell, California. This was our second year partnering with Child Evangelism Fellowship. Last year their teenage interns did all the teaching, but this year I was asked to use my sketch board as well. So each day they would share from scripture, and I would reinforce it with a unique message. They did a good job, and I always love the challenge of developing new messages to existing curriculum. Please pray those young evangelists continue to grow and mature in their faith, and that the mini seeds that were planted in our students will grow and mature as well. I think we had 45 or 50 kids between the two classes!
Tiny Heartbeat’s Visit – This was year 3 of Tiny Heartbeat Ministries coming to the Bay Area to train in street evangelism. Their director Andrew almost joined OAC before discerning that his call was to pro-life ministry instead, but he’s remained connected with us. And he wants to be sure his interns not only understand pro-life ministry, but also to have a solid gospel presentation to pair with that. It’s always fun to have them visit, and this year we went to Pier 39 in San Francisco, and then to Old Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey. San Francisco is always fun for the quantity of people, and the tourist experience (you can’t come to the Bay Area and NOT get a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge!), but Monterey really gave them a chance to use their skills, and I lost track of the number of good conversations they got into. Again, please pray for these young people as they grow in their faith, and pray He will continue to use them in a powerful way.
Santa Clara Art and Wine Festival – This is one of our regular yearly festivals, one I always enjoy. It was also nice that another church set up in the free speech area, and the couple running the booth, Jim and Susan, are good friends of the ministry. We were able to share the evangelism load with them throughout the two days, and many people stopped to talk. I had a particularly good interaction with a student from Santa Clara University, who’s trying to figure out his faith and asked a lot of questions. We shared contact information, and he has reached out to me several times with questions about theological issues and things he’s been reading in the bible. We’re planning to get together soon. Please pray the Holy Spirit continues to work in his life.
Campbell Octoberfest – And yet another festival outreach! This event is in downtown Campbell, and my home church sponsors a booth for us each year. Sign-ups for coverage at the booth seemed thin going into the weekend, but as usual many more people than I expected came by to say hi or to hand out tracts for an hour or two. We ended up with plenty of people to cover the booth all weekend, and about 8 different churches were represented. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to work with brothers and sisters in Christ, who might disagree with us on secondary issues, but are passionate about sharing the gospel message. What a blessing!
Halloween Safe Trick-or-Treat in Morgan Hill – Once again I partnered with the good folks at West Hills Church in Morgan Hill at the Safe Trick-or treat event downtown in that city. I have a Halloween themed riddle sketch, which you can see below, that I tweak and update each year. It worked really well, and it was great to have Brenton, our missionary from the Salinas and Monterey area, come out and join us. Very often both of us were speaking to groups of kids and parents at the same time, with 15 or 20 people gathered around the board. I am not a fan of Halloween at all, but what better way is there to respond than to take what the Devil has meant for evil and use it for good, and God’s glory!
Sikh Parade – This was my third year visiting Yuba City for the Nagar Kirtan. Most Christians don’t know much about the Sikh faith, though it’s the fifth largest in the world. If you see somebody with a long beard and a turban, they are most likely Sikh, not Hindu or Muslim. Their annual Festival in Yuba city is the biggest outside of India, and we suspect they drew appropriately 200,000 people this year. We post on the outskirts of the event (we don’t try to disrupt anything), and we hand out tracts and talk to people. Sadly, many tracts ended up on the ground, but many more were read, and many good conversations had. I even had one Sikh, in full regalia, who was drawn to talk to me and it turns out he lives in San Jose as well, probably 10 minutes away from me! We exchanged contact information, and I hope we will be able to talk soon. Please pray that he reaches out.
This link has some general information on the festival: http://www.seecalifornia.com/festivals/yuba-city-sikh-festival.html
Milpitas Christian School – This one just happened last week. Thanks to a connection at church (thanks Michelle!) I was invited to Milpitas Christian School to speak at two of their chapel services. They needed someone to talk about Veterans Day and connected with Christian principles. The messages went well, the kids were great, and I’ve already been invited to come back! God willing I’ll have three or four more visits in the first half of next year. Please pray that God gives me wisdom and blesses those times.
Coming soon: OAC Director’s Conference! – This trip is about a week and a half away. I’ll be heading out a couple of days after Thanksgiving to our director’s conference in Florida. It’s a bi-annual time for our Branch directors to fellowship, pray, and share Ministry reports and ideas. Please pray for a safe trip, and a profitable time.
Support Update:
As always, God is good and provides for Becky and I. Most of you know since I started in the ministry I have done side work to help pay the bills. Over the last few months I have decided not to look for extra work. I will occasionally take work if specifically asked, but we have been trusting that God will provide for us financially. Also, as of last week, the one day I work every week is gone. Our company’s client didn’t want to renegotiate the contract, so our owner dropped the account. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a little scary, but God is good and faithful, and I’m looking at this as an opportunity to trust him more. Please pray that Becky and I have wisdom in this, and that God brings more supporting families and churches on to our team. I don’t want to be presumptuous in my expectations, but I don’t want to doubt God’s goodness either. Please pray we make the right choice.
Thank you so much for those who are already supporting us. You are a great blessing!
If you would consider supporting us, please reach out and we can find a time to get together and talk. I always want people to understand as much as possible about our ministry.
If your church has a missions committee, and you believe it’s appropriate, I would love to be connected with them.
Finally, if you have a friend or family who you think might be interested in supporting this kind of work, feel free to share my contact information, or give me theirs (with their consent!) And of course, all of this needs to be by God’s will, in His way, so please keep us in prayer. Thanks!
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