Post by bullhornbob on Sept 29, 2008 22:42:47 GMT -5
San Francisco State University
Tuesday, September 2, 2008:
This university, as with most, have Labor Day off. So this would be a 4 day week, and our good friend Kevin Farrer would accompany us through Thursday. After checking in with Administration first, we were ready to attend to the task at hand: Preaching the Gospel!
The large courtyard near Student Services is called Malcolm X Plaza. Hundreds of students congregate in this area, especially during the lunch hour. Kevin began preaching at about 11:30AM, and immediately had a cussing heckler that would make a sailor blush. I mean this kid was cussing, and to top it all off, he said he was a christian, and that we were giving Christians a bad name by publicly confronting sin. Go figure!
About 100-150 kids gathered around, as JK filmed the action. After about 45 minutes, the police showed up to observe the preaching. JK took over the somewhat hostile crowd and preached hard on sin, repentance, and living a holy life for about 45 minutes. I also took my turn, and we pretty much held crowds of 75-200 throughout the afternoon.
We would gain some hecklers today that would stay with us all week, including a catholic student who was intent on proving that we were preaching in the flesh, and not in love. Often these same students will oppose to the point of frustration, and then the filthy language and malice will begin to pour out of them. This Catholic young man was persistent, and I must say, sometimes a bit irritating. He would quote John 3:16 over and over, but would not allow us to explain the verse in context.
Kevin and JK would both take another turn before leaving campus at approximately 4PM. It was a very successful first day, and we announced our intentions to preach here all week. JK also had an older woman “amen-ing” him throughout his second round of preaching.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008:
Kevin, JK and I arrived at the free speech area around 11:00AM. Kevin began preaching at 11:40 and did so until 12:15. He did a good job and drew in a crowd of about 200-250 students. There were a few with signs, chanting a song that we were bigots and didn’t tolerate homosexuality.
Kevin’s Pastor, Joe Jacowicz, showed up in order to preach to these students. He preached a message of Christ’s forgiveness and mercy, and did so from 12:15 until 12:35. The crowd seemed to dwindle a bit to approximately 75 to 100 students. It seemed, however, that during his message, the students very intolerant of his preaching as well. They held up signs that said gluttony is a sin, and even pasted a “kick me” sign on his back. He was unaware of until one of the students who was for the preaching pulled it off of him.
From 12:35 until 1:00, JK preached and the crowd size increased to what it was originally and even more so. Some students turned on the boom box and began to break-dance. As a result of that, JK and Kevin decided to do some one on ones. One young lady approached JK and was very thankful that we were out there preaching and expressed her thanks to him. Another young man, who interestingly enough was a Catholic, seemed encouraged that we were out there sharing our beliefs and mentioned to me that JK did a great job preaching. Some minutes passed by and JK decided to preach at the spot we preached yesterday, which was a few feet away from the main open area. A large crowd quickly formed once again. JK preached from 1:05 until 2:05 and did a great job refuting all of the unbiblical arguments.
From 2:05 until 2:45, I preached and answered questions. I tried to reason with the students, but they continued to spout their hatred towards God and were unwilling to repent and turn to Jesus Christ to receive mercy. JK eventually asked me to stop preaching and walk out of the circle of students that were slowly closing in on me.
Kevin began to preach again and did so from 2:45 until 3:25. I confronted a young man whom I caught in JK’s bag earlier in the day, and asked him if he took anything from it. He ignored my question, and asked where we were from. I began to have a civil conversation with the young man until a muslim/lesbian girl, who was eavesdropping, got right up into my face and began yelling and screaming at me, all because I asked the young man if he had tried to steal something from our book bag. The young lady acted like a thug and even had her thug-like girlfriend next to her. JK stepped in with the camera and she tried to grab it. Other students tried to step in to hold her back. An officer, who had witnessed the entire incident approached JK and asked if he wanted to do a citizens arrest. JK said no.
We decided to call it a day at about 3:45PM, as things were getting way too rowdy. We were confident that the Lord was working on the consciences of the hearers, as we prayerfully returned to the van for the long ride home.
Thursday, September 4, 2008:
We arrived on campus today around 11:00AM. Kevin started us off and did a good job once again. Then JK preached and also did a great job handling the large crowd. I also preached for a few minutes, or tried to, when that same Catholic student was rude again and interrupted my preaching. I quoted Psalm 5 and one of the kids who had been heckling simply could not refute what God’s Word said. Since I was interrupted, and because a girl seemed to have sincere questions, I felt led to answer her and stop preaching temporarily.
The Catholic continued to relay his anti-biblical message to the students for a few minutes as well, but no one seemed interested. He had a huge problem with our preaching style and content, and I guess he though he would be able to put things back into balance. JK lifted his voice at the end of his rant and asked if everyone wanted to come to Jesus now. No one responded.
Kevin began to preach again for a while, and had probably the biggest crowd of the week. He patiently preached the scriptures, and testified of the grace of God which is able to save men’s souls. He also drew in a perverted heckler who kept simulating sexual acts.
JK also had another turn before another street preacher, Bill H., who decided to join us on campus, had a turn as well. He had a number of attentive listeners as he preached the Bible. He did a good job dealing with a somewhat subdued crowd.
Eventually the crowd started to get a bit rowdy again. We decided to leave around 3:30PM, as Bill continued to preach to the 150 or so students. The reason we decided to leave was because the faculty and the police officers seemed that they were trying to find a way to shut us down. We decided that we would count our blessings and head home, and planned on returning for the final day tomorrow.
Friday, September 5, 2008:
Two other street preachers decided they would join us on campus today: Kevin B. and Justin H. We all arrived on campus at 12:30, and JK began to preach.
He did a great job preaching and drew in a crowd of approximately 100 students. It seemed to be a lighter day today. JK preached for an hour and handed to crowd over to Kevin B. He preached for approximately 10 minutes, and then decided to do some one on ones on the sidelines.
JK called on Justin to preach next. He mostly tried to reason with the students and didn’t necessarily lift up his voice, but did a great job in handling the students’ questions. Since it was Friday, most of the students would leave campus early.
After about 2 ½ hours, we decide to call it a day. We felt that our week of preaching had accomplished what the Lord intended, and believe to see fruit of it in the coming months. We will keep you informed as soon as we hear from the guys back in the Bay Area.
One interesting note: All week there were police on every corner of the free speech area, sometimes up to 10 or 12 officers at a time. Even the Captain of the Campus Police and the Dean of Students were out there every single day, standing watch and making sure things were not getting out of hand.
PLEASE PRAY FOR US AS WE PREACH THE GOSPEL PUBLICLY ON CAMPUSES AND STREETCORNERS EVERYWHERE!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008:
This university, as with most, have Labor Day off. So this would be a 4 day week, and our good friend Kevin Farrer would accompany us through Thursday. After checking in with Administration first, we were ready to attend to the task at hand: Preaching the Gospel!
The large courtyard near Student Services is called Malcolm X Plaza. Hundreds of students congregate in this area, especially during the lunch hour. Kevin began preaching at about 11:30AM, and immediately had a cussing heckler that would make a sailor blush. I mean this kid was cussing, and to top it all off, he said he was a christian, and that we were giving Christians a bad name by publicly confronting sin. Go figure!
About 100-150 kids gathered around, as JK filmed the action. After about 45 minutes, the police showed up to observe the preaching. JK took over the somewhat hostile crowd and preached hard on sin, repentance, and living a holy life for about 45 minutes. I also took my turn, and we pretty much held crowds of 75-200 throughout the afternoon.
We would gain some hecklers today that would stay with us all week, including a catholic student who was intent on proving that we were preaching in the flesh, and not in love. Often these same students will oppose to the point of frustration, and then the filthy language and malice will begin to pour out of them. This Catholic young man was persistent, and I must say, sometimes a bit irritating. He would quote John 3:16 over and over, but would not allow us to explain the verse in context.
Kevin and JK would both take another turn before leaving campus at approximately 4PM. It was a very successful first day, and we announced our intentions to preach here all week. JK also had an older woman “amen-ing” him throughout his second round of preaching.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008:
Kevin, JK and I arrived at the free speech area around 11:00AM. Kevin began preaching at 11:40 and did so until 12:15. He did a good job and drew in a crowd of about 200-250 students. There were a few with signs, chanting a song that we were bigots and didn’t tolerate homosexuality.
Kevin’s Pastor, Joe Jacowicz, showed up in order to preach to these students. He preached a message of Christ’s forgiveness and mercy, and did so from 12:15 until 12:35. The crowd seemed to dwindle a bit to approximately 75 to 100 students. It seemed, however, that during his message, the students very intolerant of his preaching as well. They held up signs that said gluttony is a sin, and even pasted a “kick me” sign on his back. He was unaware of until one of the students who was for the preaching pulled it off of him.
From 12:35 until 1:00, JK preached and the crowd size increased to what it was originally and even more so. Some students turned on the boom box and began to break-dance. As a result of that, JK and Kevin decided to do some one on ones. One young lady approached JK and was very thankful that we were out there preaching and expressed her thanks to him. Another young man, who interestingly enough was a Catholic, seemed encouraged that we were out there sharing our beliefs and mentioned to me that JK did a great job preaching. Some minutes passed by and JK decided to preach at the spot we preached yesterday, which was a few feet away from the main open area. A large crowd quickly formed once again. JK preached from 1:05 until 2:05 and did a great job refuting all of the unbiblical arguments.
From 2:05 until 2:45, I preached and answered questions. I tried to reason with the students, but they continued to spout their hatred towards God and were unwilling to repent and turn to Jesus Christ to receive mercy. JK eventually asked me to stop preaching and walk out of the circle of students that were slowly closing in on me.
Kevin began to preach again and did so from 2:45 until 3:25. I confronted a young man whom I caught in JK’s bag earlier in the day, and asked him if he took anything from it. He ignored my question, and asked where we were from. I began to have a civil conversation with the young man until a muslim/lesbian girl, who was eavesdropping, got right up into my face and began yelling and screaming at me, all because I asked the young man if he had tried to steal something from our book bag. The young lady acted like a thug and even had her thug-like girlfriend next to her. JK stepped in with the camera and she tried to grab it. Other students tried to step in to hold her back. An officer, who had witnessed the entire incident approached JK and asked if he wanted to do a citizens arrest. JK said no.
We decided to call it a day at about 3:45PM, as things were getting way too rowdy. We were confident that the Lord was working on the consciences of the hearers, as we prayerfully returned to the van for the long ride home.
Thursday, September 4, 2008:
We arrived on campus today around 11:00AM. Kevin started us off and did a good job once again. Then JK preached and also did a great job handling the large crowd. I also preached for a few minutes, or tried to, when that same Catholic student was rude again and interrupted my preaching. I quoted Psalm 5 and one of the kids who had been heckling simply could not refute what God’s Word said. Since I was interrupted, and because a girl seemed to have sincere questions, I felt led to answer her and stop preaching temporarily.
The Catholic continued to relay his anti-biblical message to the students for a few minutes as well, but no one seemed interested. He had a huge problem with our preaching style and content, and I guess he though he would be able to put things back into balance. JK lifted his voice at the end of his rant and asked if everyone wanted to come to Jesus now. No one responded.
Kevin began to preach again for a while, and had probably the biggest crowd of the week. He patiently preached the scriptures, and testified of the grace of God which is able to save men’s souls. He also drew in a perverted heckler who kept simulating sexual acts.
JK also had another turn before another street preacher, Bill H., who decided to join us on campus, had a turn as well. He had a number of attentive listeners as he preached the Bible. He did a good job dealing with a somewhat subdued crowd.
Eventually the crowd started to get a bit rowdy again. We decided to leave around 3:30PM, as Bill continued to preach to the 150 or so students. The reason we decided to leave was because the faculty and the police officers seemed that they were trying to find a way to shut us down. We decided that we would count our blessings and head home, and planned on returning for the final day tomorrow.
Friday, September 5, 2008:
Two other street preachers decided they would join us on campus today: Kevin B. and Justin H. We all arrived on campus at 12:30, and JK began to preach.
He did a great job preaching and drew in a crowd of approximately 100 students. It seemed to be a lighter day today. JK preached for an hour and handed to crowd over to Kevin B. He preached for approximately 10 minutes, and then decided to do some one on ones on the sidelines.
JK called on Justin to preach next. He mostly tried to reason with the students and didn’t necessarily lift up his voice, but did a great job in handling the students’ questions. Since it was Friday, most of the students would leave campus early.
After about 2 ½ hours, we decide to call it a day. We felt that our week of preaching had accomplished what the Lord intended, and believe to see fruit of it in the coming months. We will keep you informed as soon as we hear from the guys back in the Bay Area.
One interesting note: All week there were police on every corner of the free speech area, sometimes up to 10 or 12 officers at a time. Even the Captain of the Campus Police and the Dean of Students were out there every single day, standing watch and making sure things were not getting out of hand.
PLEASE PRAY FOR US AS WE PREACH THE GOSPEL PUBLICLY ON CAMPUSES AND STREETCORNERS EVERYWHERE!