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 The Gospel Herald Takes on
Meaning
In the late 1980's, I began using the name Gospel Herald to
identify myself and the ministry I hoped to be involved
in to preach the Word of God where He was unknown, on the streets of America.
For example, in the picture above, I am conducting an Open Air Meeting on Coney Island
in New York City.
Eventually, the name was carried over to marketing the book and video
on street preaching I produced in 1991, while in Los Angeles,
California.
The word Gospel is the Greek word for good
news (message) and Herald is a proclaimer of that good news. From the earliest
of times the verse I used to identify what I did was
Col. 1:28, "Whom [Him] we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus."
San Francisco
Ministry
In 1984 at the invitation of Dr. David Innes we came to San
Francisco to preach the gospel on the street. The time
there was fruitful; many were saved and added to churches throughout the Bay
Area and Christians recommitted themselves to the Lord. Jon took a tract from me and said, "I'm a Christian." I replied, "Are
you living for Him?" He later told me that he put that
tract on the dresser and every time he saw it, it brought conviction, plus he had to pass the church everyday. He told me that this
went on for three or four months when finally he began
attending the church, joined, met and married a young lady, and then they moved away to Colorado. While he was in San
Francisco, he joined our open air team when we held
meetings in the financial district and counseled after the meetings.
While preaching I found that I was not always understood because
of the multi-cultural nature of the city. In 1988 I enrolled in a seminary course that equipped men to
preach in a cross-culture manner. I graduated in May,
1992, with a Doctor of Ministry in Urban Missions and while working toward the degree I conducted surveys after my open
air meetings and found some interesting information
on the way people thought. Applying these new found principles to my
messages people stayed longer at the meetings and were better able to
understand what was said. It was a fruitful year in
my ministry.
In 1990, I produced a two-hour training video on street preaching
with the help of friends, Dennis Running, James Dockery,
Bob and Jan Vasquez and a gentleman in Ohio who gave us
$1 seed money. Many from Hamilton Square Baptist Church helped in the
shooting. Although Children's meetings were not as
successful in San Francisco as they were in New York City or Chicago. There
was some fruit our first summer.
Another associate pastor and I began visiting the San Francisco
prison with the plan of walking up and down the cell block asking the inmates if we could talk with them
about the Lord. Although there were more negative than positive, some of those that said yes
had their lives transformed by the Lord. One such person was
Ricky. When I asked him if he would like to talk with me he said, No! The next week, after he said I could explain
the Bible to him in twenty minutes, I
asked, Would you like to receive Jesus Christ into your
life? He said, Yes and received Christ. The next week
he told me the men were betting that he would not show up. He grew in the Lord and completed two
correspondence lesson series. From
this experience, as well as several things I learned
in the street, the pamphlet, Growing in the Lord
was developed for discipleship.
In 1989 I had a feeling that the Lord was changing our ministry
and that maybe we should begin working with evangelists.
Instead the Lord moved us to the Los Angeles area, to help my mother. The
Lord opened the door at Grace Community Church, in Sun Valley, about 20 minutes from where we lived. If it had not been for this move
the book and video, "Street Preaching for the 21st Century"
would not have been possible as I was their pressman and I
had access to the press to print and publish the book. During this time the
church allowed me to begin an open air ministry. Men
from the Master's Seminary went out with me. There were
some loyal laymen and a retired missionary who also helped.
1994-1999 God's Timing Is
Perfect!
In 1995 my mother needed greater care, so we sold her house
and moved to Mission Viejo with her and Linda's mother.
After fifteen months due to homesickness we moved Mom to a retirement home
in Tujunga, near where she had lived for close to fifty years. Linda, her
mother and I moved to Cypress closer to my teaching
position in Los Angeles.
We were not there long when we found out that Elma, Linda's
mother, had some physical problems so we moved to Bellflower to a home that
was on one-level and was close to our daughter. All
during this time I was allowed to minister to my mother and Elma. Elma
went home to be with the Lord in February, 1997, and
my mother, Alma, died in October, 1999.
Reno, Nevada, is Now Called
Home
Early in 1999, I felt the need to move out of Los Angeles because
Linda and our grandsons were experiencing some serious
health problems. We began to pray, as we all wanted to move together. We
made several visits to the Reno area and while there I phoned for possible
jobs. God gave Ben, Mary Cay's husband, and I job interviews
on the same day. Two days later we both had jobs. One week after that we moved
the first truck load and the next week we moved another
truck load, plus ourselves. The Lord provided a house which closed just a
few days after we moved in. Our realtor even helped
me unload the first truck!
After six weeks working in Reno, I lost my job, but the Lord
is sovereign and I had time to finish my book, "Bible
Biographical Index." I started this project right about the time I was ordained, April 7, 1988. I have worked for over eleven years
writing, editing and rereading.
A New Page Unfolds, Back to Street
Preaching?
In December 1999 I went to see the pastor of the church we were thinking
of joining and after I asked all my questions I began to tell him about the
ministry I had been involved with, open air preaching. After I was finished,
he said, "What can we do to help?" That was the beginning of a new direction
in our lives. The Gospel Herald was incorporated as a non-profit organization
in Nevada in March 2000 and recognized by the IRS in November of that year.
The Lord has given us a great board of directors.
A New Work begins in Phoenix Arizona,
July 2004 In moving to Higley,
AZ in July 2004, we began to look over the area on a weekly basis to find
out ways and locations where the open air work could continue in the new
setting. If you would like to join in this ministry, just contact us
through e-mail gospelherald@cox.net or phone, 480-350-7929.
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