What makes Seattle distinct is the many prayer requests I receive while on the streets. The most touching was a man who mentioned his daughter Vicki, who is 19 years old and addicted to pain pills. I always try to pray for the people I meet each day at least once. The other aspect is the many Christians who pass by and show encouragement by what they say. Sometimes it is only a jester to let me know they are for Jesus Christ. I do have people stop and listen here too.

Westlake Center
This is the hub of the shopping district. A three-floor Westfield mall is located here with the transit tunnel underlying the basement. You can catch the monorail to the Seattle Center where the space needle is located. Needless to say many people pass by here everyday. Other vendors and street performers line the area at times. I always get my favorite spot on 5th & Pine, which is the east side of the mall. I perch on the corner out in front of Nordstrom's and have never had any kind of trouble here. It has an overhang that goes the width of the sidewalk for rainy days.

The most memorable time this trip was a conversation with a new young pastor. Alex wanted to know what made me tick, seeing as I preach out on the street. It was a good conversation with mutual agreements and differences. At the end we had a time of prayer and said our goodbyes. His main concern was how effective did I think this method of evangelism was. Like many, he preferred the friendship evangelism method winning someone to Christ over a period of time as they see what kind of life you live. I agreed this would be a good thing. But reminded him as I am reminding you now; Jesus said, "For in this the saying is true: One sows and another reaps. Full text: John 4:35-38 Friendship evangelism is a better reaping method, but not a better sowing method.

Rats Return to White Center
White Center, a community south of Seattle was dubbed, "Rat City" back in the 1970's. Rats, referring to the addicts and other "low life's" frequented the area and it was a hotspot for heroin and subsequently crime. In our day and age it seems a lot of areas are known for drugs and gangs, even in the suburbs. My friend Rich Dover has found White Center and Burien the place to minister these days. I went out with Rich and others from his Church as we walked the streets visiting and witnessing to whoever we came across.

Probably the most significant person I talked to was Tera. She was standing along with others at a spot where her cousin was shot to death the night before. I heard about it on the news but paid little attention since that is the norm these days. I had a little comfort for her and she took a Gospel tract.


Shrine set up for shooting victim.

July 2011
I arrived here in Seattle in late June after being in the San Francisco Bay Area for a week. Upon arrival I stayed with some old friends that are moving to Spokane, Washington. Like Sacramento, the Puget Sound area has had more rain and lower temperatures than normal for this time of year. I still preached on some of those days where showers were forecasted. I am visiting lots of people up here as well which makes a full schedule. I have highlighted some stories below. Check back for more updates, I should be here a few more weeks yet.

A Seattle Homecoming - Vexed But Victorious in Christ
While I started preaching one day in Seattle I saw a gal coming across the street toward me. She was saying something and I thought oh no, an agitated listener. She was a young woman with shoulder-length greasy hair and her face was polka dotted with sores. She came up close and asked if I remembered her. At that point I recognized her. It was Molly.

It has been about eight years ago that I knew Molly from the Capitol Hill district here in Seattle. I first met her when I was ministering up there with Pastor Rich Dover. We made great efforts in trying to get Molly off the streets and cleaned up. She landed in jail and we visited her there. After that Rich made appeals to the parties at hand to let her out in his custody provided she went right into treatment. We took Molly to the Lord's Ranch women's house. She stayed several days and then left. We then saw her on Broadway and after awhile she was on the run and the authorities were looking for her.

During all of this time I got quite chummy with Molly. Sparing you the details, Molly is the reason I no longer do any direct ministry with heroin addicts or those in recovery. I should have learned this lesson before after falling several times in the past. I am more influenced by them, than they are by me. 1 Cor 15:33 Although ministering to people with addictions should be right up my alley, my track record would indicate this is not God's will for my life. So now I leave it to the experts like Rich Dover.

Today as I saw her I was amazed that first of all she was alive, and secondly, she remembered me. She said she recognized my voice. For what ever reason, probably guilt or maybe a defense mechanism, I told her right away that I had been clean going on 7 years now. She said, wow, I have been clean for about 7 minutes. She gave me a hug and we visited a few moments. She said she was going to some shelter to take a shower but she would come back if I would still be there. I said I would be there for at least another hour. She gave me another hug and walked away briskly as there was another person waiting to talk to me. I was very tempted to call her back and some how make our encounter a longer one. This would not have been wise Prov 22:3. I prayed she wouldn't return and she didn't. I can best help her by praying for her, as I ask you to do the same. On the bus ride back I listened to 1 Cor 10:13 on my Mp3 player. This was a very fitting way to end my day!

The Streets of Everett - I Think it was the Fourth of July
It was a milestone for me as I preached the Gospel at the Everett Fourth of July parade. Everett , just north of Seattle, was my hometown for a number of years. I always wanted to preach at this event but chickened out. Tim Gruner, a brother from Pennsylvania, joined me as we took turns preaching down Colby street before the start of the parade. We preached about twice in a block as we worked our way down to the start of the parade. We had a few supporters and a few boos, however it went great I thought. A lady on stilts that was the statue of liberty came close to us and made some negative comments. We turned the corner and went down Wetmore street and preached there as well. I had one antichrist person engage me as Tim preached there. We had to end about two blocks early as the parade had turned the corner and was coming our way. We stopped on Hewitt street and went down a block to put away our equipment. (we used the amp and mic and it sounded good). Tim was handing out tracts to some people at a tavern and we caught some flack. We went across the street where it was quiet and prayed to close off the day. Tim continued to hand out tracts before returning to Seattle where he was to leave the next day for Israel. I had a wonderful time and the Lord gave me boldness and energy. Loved it!!! Many people heard the Gospel.

A Cup of Cold Water
There are lots of tourists this time of year here and this last Friday was no exception. With the sun peaking through the clouds it was a great day of preaching near Westlake Center on 5th and Pine. This has proven to be a good corner. Don, a man who joined me today to try his hand at speaking on the microphone brought me a sandwich and a soda pop. (bless him) I didn't say anything to Don but I don't drink regular pop because of the sugar, which he didn't know about. My mouth was dry and I thought within myself I wish I had just a bottle of plain water. A few minutes later a man in a van pulled right up next to me as 5th avenue is a one-way street. He had his window down and said, "Praise the Lord" and handed me a bottle of ice cold water. He drove away just as fast as he came. I thought, wow, the Lord is so good. And He delivers! As small as that seems I marvel at the Lord's timing and provision, Wow!

Seattle Report October 14, 2010

Thank all of you who have been praying for me & the evangelization of the cities I am going to. I have been able to preach in downtown Seattle many times since I’ve been here. I rotated on 4 different corners all within several blocks of each other. All are great locations which have much pedestrian traffic during mid day. Determining my effectiveness on the crowd’s response is subjective; however I had both positive and negative reactions from the people. Overall it was a wide-open door and a great experience. I had extreme favor with the police and shop owners concerning the amplification. I had experiences witnessing one-on-one, as well as, relationship evangelism. I saw several old friends and supporters including my old pastor that has been there for me through thick and thin. There was opportunity for me to teach God’s Word in some home churches. I was on the radio show I frequently am a guest of. This time being in the studio, it was very impressive to see the station etc. The weather was overall most excellent and I also enjoyed many of the treats available to the Northwest this time of year like blackberries, salmon, and apples. I never made it to Vancouver BC or Spokane as I had hoped to. Below are some detailed highlights of the trip. Thanks again for all your support. I couldn’t do it without you.

Divine Appointments Preaching
The last day I preached in Seattle went very well. I preached for about an hour and fifteen minutes on the corner of 3rd and Pike, which is a very crowded area during mid day. It has all walks of life but it tends to be an area where the poor and down & out frequent. It also is one of the busy hubs for buses. I met a man whose name was Delmar. He is a minister and has been praying over the exact corner I was preaching on for several years now. He was very excited to see me out there. He said a wonderful prayer for me and we visited briefly before he left. I mentioned that I noticed someone has been praying for this city. I could never do this without the prayer support of the body of Christ.

This leads into the next encounter I had while preaching on the corner of 2nd and Pine the first week I was there. A young woman stood near me for a few minutes. I handed her a Gospel of John and then eventually stopped to talk to her. Although I forget her name she introduced herself as a believer and an intercessory prayer person. She prayed for me and the Spirit had her pray for my health. I asked her to keep praying for me as the Lord reminded her. Our visit was short but it was a great encouragement to me to have Christians like her stop by. There were many others as well.

The same day another lady came up and tapped me on the shoulder and said that she wanted to tell me that she had been around the corner and was listening to the message. As we talked it, was revealed that she was a heroin addict who had been through treatment and was just kicked off the methadone program. I shared with her my story and then prayed for her. When I was done she said that she had seen me before. I thought she meant downtown here preaching but I had just arrived. I inquired further and she remembered that it was the video I made on heroin addiction that she saw a couple of years earlier. Small world or big God don’t you think?

One-on-One Ministry
I may have mentioned in one of my emails that my friend Bob and I went out on a Saturday night into the tougher area of Seattle. There is a park that is famous for drug deals and the homeless stay there often. We had several interesting conversations and prayed with several people. We continued down the hill to Occidental Square. I did a little open air preaching and drew a small group who wanted to talk about Jesus. After that, up the block we went into Pioneer Square where there are a lot of bars and the typical night life. This is also close to the stadiums so when there is a game it is a very crowded area. Not tonight however, there were just about 20 Hell’s angels at a bar with several of them standing outside. Bob opened air preached on the corner across the street. While he was preaching I went over and handed out some tracts, or tried to. The reception was not the greatest. We continued down by the ferry docks and then back another way to the park where we started. It was refreshing to be at home with the crack addicts and demonized people in the park after facing the Hell’s Angels.

On another day I left the amp at home and went downtown with a backpack full of tracts. I handed most all of them out. The people seemed to receive them well. What I had left over, including some Chinese tracts, I left with an old friend of mine Pastor Don Tatum, of Bible Study Outreach Ministries. They moved to a new location just up the hill from the International District of Seattle. It was good to see some of the old gang as I attended a Bible study there for a few hours. I saw the growth the Lord has done in the fellows since I saw them last which was several years ago.

Relational Evangelism
While staying at my sister’s house in Everett, a few miles north of Seattle, I was able to minister to a neighbor of hers. His name is Lucas and he wanted to ask me a question about drugs. This led into a wonderful opportunity for me to share the Gospel with him. My sister also heard the message again. This was very encouraging because I saw all of her children and their families without really sharing anything. Being able to witness to Lucas showed me how the Lord opened a door with him and really not with my family. It was bittersweet.

An old friend, Pastor Rich Dover, and I went to Capitol Hill, an old stomping ground for us and a place where I grew up. The old Lowell grade school is still there. Capitol Hill has certainly changed in appearance and in the spiritual climate over the last several years. There are not many, only a few addicts, that roam the streets up there now. After we walked the length of Broadway, the main drag, we headed back down the other side of the street. We finally met with a couple of guys sitting on a bus stop bench that Rich recognized. We started talking with them and they remembered the burger feed at Jack in the Box several years ago that Rich and others did as part of the ministry there. They remembered many of the old crowd as well. After reminiscing for a short time Rich gave them a card to the recovery house (Fairhaven House) he is the director of and I gave them a tract. As I started to share my testimony with them, as they were open to hear, a police officer came upon us and stood about ten feet away against the building. It looked like he wanted to know what was going on or else he wanted to talk to one of us. I started sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and had the full attention of all those who were immediately around us including the officer. After we concluded our visit the officer made those guys move along. This is called “rousting”. It was interesting he let us finish our ministry to those fellows. I already forgot their names but I will be praying for them.

Praise & Glory to Jesus Christ our Lord

Larry