ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
E-mail: assistcomm@cs.com, Web Site: www.assistnews.net


Thursday, August 29, 2002

"IF YOU ARE THAT SMART, HOW COME YOU ARE IN HERE?"
Born-Again Doo Wop singer asks this question to "hard" prisoners on Rikers Island

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

NEW YORK CITY, NY  (ANS) -- The 200 inmates at the Rikers Island Jail in New York Harbor were restless and were making it clear that they didn't want to be at the service organized by the Festival of Life NYC02 outreach on Wednesday August 28.  (Pictured: Festival of Life NYC 02 banner).

But then some "Born-Again Doo Wop" and straight talking from Santos changed everything. (Pictured: Santos at Rikers Island).

The singer and percussionist who had a miraculous conversion and deliverance from drug addiction, looked at the group before him and said, "You guys think you are so smart. If you are that smart, how come you are in here?"

Santos, who had been in jail in New York years previously for drug-related offenses, preached on "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

He said, "The prisoners had given our Christian rap singer a really rough ride and you could see they didn't want to be there. But after I challenged them about their so-called smartness, they settled down and when I invited them to receive Christ, many of them did. The Holy Spirit softened their hearts."

The Rikers Island outreach was just one of many taking place in New York City by the team of over 800 Christians from all over the USA and led by Mike MacIntosh, senior pastor of Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego, CA, and a 9/11 chaplain.

NYPC OUTREACH

A Christian outreach team spent much of the day sharing their faith and bringing encouragement to law enforcement officers. One of the team, Sammy Sanders, said, "Our team went to this precinct to pass out literature, lapel pins and patches. One officer was thinking about leaving NYPD. He prayed to receive Christ at his complaint desk and received follow-up literature. Our team went to the 3pm roll call, shared our testimony and LOVE. We prayed for the uniform officers. They were very appreciative and received our literature gladly." (Pictured: Mike MacIntosh speaking to staff at Rikers Island).

HOSPITAL OUTREACH

Sandra Watson, who was part of the Festival of Life hospital outreach said, "We were able to go into a hospital and witness to staff, families and patients. It was totally a miracle that we were able to openly share the gospel and invite them to the Festival at the Centennial Hall. We also met the chaplain of the burn center at Cornell Hospital. She was in the tower the day it fell. She said that the Lord spoke to her and told her to 'GET OUT NOW!' At a time when they were telling people to stay put for further instructions. She told everyone to. 'Get out. Don't wait!' She was in Tower 2 and God used her not only to minister to them, but also at the hospital because two hours after the collapse of the World Trade Center she went to work to begin her ministry there. During the entire time she never told her co-workers that she too was in the tower. They found out later and her silence and willingness to be supportive to her staff was a major witness to her co-workers."

STREET WITNESSING

Emelyn Garcia from one of the street witnessing teams reported, "God used my being tired this morning due to lack of sleep. I prayed and ask Him to strengthen me today. God opened the door of opportunity for me to share the Gospel to Joe (from Cuba) and Joe (from Uganda) and they received the Lord. As I went back to distribute Bibles to them, they invited me to other departments to pass out invitations. Employees also invited me to their cafeteria and they were very receptive. Almost everybody received the invitation and they were very excited about it. I met a group of Russians and I shared my recent missionary trip to Russia. I also met Christians who allowed me to pray for them."

DRAMA IN HARLEM

A drama team went to Harlem and one of the team said, "We met Sabrina there. She had just shot up heroin 5 or 10 minutes before we met her on the street with her friend and she prayed with us to accept the Lord while her friend was yelling cuss words. Our team was praying out loud as she accepted the Lord."

CLOWNING IN CENTRAL PARK

Even a clown saw a smile that blessed her. "Polky Dot" said, "I was part of the clowns team and met a homeless woman in Central Park. She was coming toward us with her ears plugged with her fingers. I smiled and 'squeaked 'and she put down her hands and smiled. Our street witnessing team, Jon and Roberta, had an open door to share a tract with her. It is awesome just to share a smile."

The Festival of Life continues until Sunday, September 1.
Note: If you like to interview Dan Wooding about the festival, you can contact him at (714) 292 3114 (mobile).
Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times). Wooding is also a syndicated columnist, and was for ten years a commentator on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 40 books, one of which is "Blind Faith" which he co-authored with his 93-year-old mother Anne Wooding, who was a pioneer missionary to the blind of Nigeria in the 1930s. Copies of this book are available from the ASSIST USA office at PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126. His writings are on the ASSIST Website at: www.assistnews.net
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