Las Vegas Outreach Team Newsletter 

May & June 2008

Fruits From the Labor

One of the most common questions we hear from churches about the Las Vegas Outreach Team is, “Everything you are doing sounds biblical, but how many people are being saved?” Honestly this question is a concerning, because salvation can never be produced by the giver of the Good News. If a ministry is heading to the streets and biblically sharing the Good News of the gospel to people who are not born-again, then numbers are meaningless. The most important thing that is taking place is not the number of converts, but that God is praised and glorified through the revealing of His Word. When the focus is placed on the giving of the Gospel message, and not on the numbers then the motive is correct.

Romans 4:14-16
What shall we say then? [Is there] unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

 

God is the one who converts people once they hear the word of God.  We are the voice that proclaims the gospel to all creation.  To think that we are responsible for the conversion of people is a gross misunderstanding of how God works.  And through our obedience of proclaiming the gospel, God will affect the heart of a sinner and convert them into a new creation. 

It is a blessing when you can see some of the fruit of God’s conversions.  The video we are presenting is of a gentleman who heard the gospel on the streets of Las Vegas and was mercifully changed into a born-again believer.  We hope you will give God the praise and glory for what he did in Mark.

Update on the Bellagio

As you may remember, on March 14th, both Frank Francesco and Doug Koch were contacted by the law office that represents Bellagio Hotel and Casino.  The problem they raised was both an issue of trademark violations and preaching the gospel in front of the hotel.  By the grace of God, a friend of the ministry from California contacted Doug Koch and directed him to the Alliance Defense Fund.  After a couple of phone calls, the Las Vegas Outreach Team agreed to allow the Alliance Defense Fund to represent them in this matter.  This is the letter that was sent to the Lewis and Roca Law Offices:

Dear Mr. Krieger,

My office has been retained by Doug Koch and Frank Francesco, who are in receipt of your letter to them sent via e-mail dated March 14, 2008.

In response therof, please be advised that Mr. Koch and Mr. Francesco ceased distributing the tracts bearing an image of the Bellagio Hotel upon receipt of your e-mail, and the remaining tracts in their possession are enclosed.  Also, please be advised that Mr. Koch removed the video labeled "Bellagio-365" from the GodTube website upon receipt of your e-mail, and the group Mr. Koch and Mr. Francesco are a part of renamed their "Bellagio-365" ministry to "Vegas-365" approximately six months ago.

Your further contention that Mr. Koch and Mr. Francesco and their associates have no right to exercise First Amendment rights on the sidewalk in front of the Bellagio Hotel adjecent to Las Vega Boulavard is blatently incorrect.  Contrary to your letter, which inaccuretely cites a Nevada case as a case from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Sup[reme Court of the United States has long held that "[w]hatever the title of streets and parks may rest, they have immomorially been held in trust for the use of the public and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions.  Such use of the streets and public places has, from ancient times, been a part of the privileges, immunities, rights, and liberties of citizens."  Hague c. Comm. for Indus. Org., 307 U.S. 496, 515 (1939).

Federal law gives Mr. Koch, Mr. Francesco and their associates the right to engage in First Amendment activities on the sidewalk in front of the Bellagio adjacent to the public road, and any attempt to prevent them from doing so is a violation of their constitutional rights.  We request that you advise your client accordingly in order to avoid unnecessary litigation.

If you have any questions about the above matters, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Heather Gebelin Hacker

Litigation Staff Counsel

Alliance Defense Fund

San Gennaro Feast

This May was the third time that the Las Vegas Outreach Team has manned a booth at the San Gennaro Feast.  Unlike the previous two times, the Las Vegas Outreach Team did not get the word out early enough for the event.  With only seven days before the event an e-mail blast was sent to get people signed up.  

On the first day of the event, the sign up sheet still had fifty percent of the slots open, and the LVOT Team Coordinators were getting worried.  But the fear quickly turned to joy by Thursday night.  On Wednesday there were several people who came to man the booth even though they were not on the list.  Then on Thursday there was an over abundance of people manning the booth.  There were so many people, that at one point Frank Francesco asked a couple of the brethren to join him in the tent to pray, instead of overcrowding the front of the booth.  Then on Friday night, to everyone’s amazement there were eight people at the booth, most of the night. 

 

Now we had to find an answer on how to handle the overcrowding at the booth.  It became clear that there was little we could do for this Feast but we could make changes for the next Feast.  After some time of talking and prayer the answer quickly came that we needed to add another booth.  By doubling our size we could have more people at the booth and hopefully attract more people to hear the gospel message.  For some there was the concern that the cost would be too great since a booth at the San Gennaro Feast costs $600, so two booths would be $1200.  This figure seemed like a large amount until Frank Francesco spoke to his boss and his boss offered to pay for one of the booths.The final blessing came on Sunday evening when Doug Koch filled out the contract for the next Feast.  He told the San Gennaro Manager that we wanted to come back and asked for a second booth.  She filled out the paperwork and informed Doug that it would only cost an additional two hundred dollars or $800 for a double booth. 

Praise the Lord for continuing to open the door for the Las Vegas Outreach Team to share the gospel at the San Gennaro Festival. 

So the next San Gennaro Feast will be held from Tuesday, Sept. 9 through Sunday Sept. 14.  We already have a sign-up sheet for this Feast and recommend that people sign up as soon as possible.  We are also making some additional rules that will help us keep the event better organized.

1.  Each person who signs up, will get a San Gennaro Vendor badge so they can get into the event for free.  We must do this because we have a limited number of badges from the Feast management.

2.  We need to have everyone signed up by September 1 so we have plenty of time to mail out a badges for the event.

3.  If you are not signed up but still want to help, we ask that you not stay at the booth but instead hand out tracts through the festival or tract cars.

4.  Please begin to pray for the people who will hear the gospel at the September Feast. 


First Baptist Church of the Lakes:

Evangelism Training

Should the church work to design beautiful buildings and create exciting programs for the purpose of increasing membership, or is the church called to go out to the people with the gospel message and when new believers come create the building and programs?  In my opinion this is an issue of putting the cart before the horse. 

The trend across the nation seems to be to raise the money, create the building, and then design programs to get the people in the church.  This method has become so popular that churches are defined by their buildings, their programs, and how large a membership they attract.  But some people within these churches will tell you that these ends often come at the sake of watering down the gospel message or even failing to disciple the members in righteousness. 

Recently some of the Las Vegas Outreach Coordinators started attending the First Baptist Church of the Lakes (FBCL).  This relationship has been a blessed one because of the like-minded thinking.  We were also blessed when they didn’t have the deer in the headlight look when we said we go to the people to share the gospel.  Upon the request of the Las Vegas Outreach Team, a one-day Way of the Master course was taught at First Baptist Church of the Lakes February 2008.  This training was well received by the church staff.  Since that time FBCL has developed a growing passion to see God’s word preached and shared throughout Las Vegas.  To accomplish this, the church leadership admonished the people that they needed to become evangelistic minded.  To help in this process both Marty Gillespie and Doug Koch have been asked to teach the entire church on how to share the gospel for the next eight Sundays.  The plan is to have all the Sunday school classes meet for a short time of prayer, and then everyone from high school aged to the oldest member will meet in the sanctuary for the training.  The training will go for eight weeks starting May 18th and ending July 6th. 

We invite anyone who lives in the Las Vegas area to join us for these training sessions if you want to increase your preparation to share the gospel of peace.  The address for the church is 9123 Spring Mountain Drive.  The church is on the south side of Spring Mountain just west of Durango.

 

LVOT Calender

May 25th      Prayer and Team Meeting                        2:00 – 4:00 pm

                          Koch Home:  1976 Violet Bouquet Way  Las Vegas, NV  89142

Sept. 9-14th     San Gennaro Festival           Check Schedule

Dec. 31th        4th New Years Eve Outreach     5:00 pm – 1:00 am

 

Prayer Concerns

  • That God’s name will be praised throughout the city of Las Vegas.  That new people each month will begin to praise and worship Jesus Christ.
  • That the Las Vegas Outreach Team will find a local church that will oversee the ministry for the purpose of leadership and accountability.
  • The gospel will be proclaimed on the streets of Las Vegas each day of May 2008.
  • That the brethren will have wisdom when sharing the gospel at
    •      The Strip
    •         Fremont Street Experience
    •         Abortion Clinic (Killing Place)
    •         Clothing Ministry
    •         Las Vegas High School Outreach
    •         First Friday Art Fair
  • Financial Needs
        $1800 for a new order of 50,000 gospel tracts.  So far this year over 75,000 tracts have been handed out on the streets of Las Vegas.
  •         $850 for the next San Gennaro Feast Booth.
  •         $200 for another tent for the San Gennaro Feast Booth.

If you are interested in donating to some of these financial needs, please realize that any donations will not tax deductible, since LVOT is not a non-profit organization.  All money that is received by the Las Vegas Outreach Team is managed by the six Team Coordinators.   If you do send a check or money order please make it out to Doug Koch and send it to: 1976 Violet Bouquet Way, Las Vegas, NV  89142