March 2008
Dearly Beloved of Our Lord:
Greetings in the mighty and wonderful name of our Lord, Savior, and King – Jesus! We are so thankful and very blessed to walk with Him each and every day. He is the Light of our World bringing His presence through the Holy Spirit wherever we journey. Here are some testimonies of our journey.
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Ron’s Testimony ~ A Native American woman came up to me on Pioneer Square and asked if I had a gospel of John because someone had taken hers. I reached into my pack and pulled out two editions, one of which was written specifically for Native Americans. Then she asked for a New Testament as she told me of her love for Jesus. I got the idea that she was asking for some things to give away to others. Then she asked if I could pray for her about some of her needs and concerns so I called Karen and Jean over to pray with her. It is always good to have some sisters available to pray with women when they stop by.
Karen’s Testimony ~ Ron was talking to an elderly woman. He asked her if she would like prayer and she told him “Yes”. Ron called Jean and me over to pray for her. She said she wanted prayer for her ankle and for her son. I asked her to pray for her son and we would agree in prayer with her. She and her son are American Indians and her son had gone through financial difficulties and was going back to the reservation in South Dakota. She was praying for his successful journey and the ability to survive in the snow and cold at this time of the year. After she interceded for her son with brokenness in her heart we agreed in prayer. She thanked us and started to leave. I stopped her and said we wanted to pray for her ankle. Jean and I laid hands on her ankle and prayed for her. I gave her a card to the Healing Rooms if she needs more prayer. She informed me that it was a block away from where she lived.
PSU ~ The Daily Vanguard Publishes The Gospel
We have had the privilege of bringing the gospel message of the Kingdom to Portland State University in downtown Portland for over thirty-five years. We have worked with many different campus ministries and several campus preachers and Martin Kennedy is one of the most dedicated and committed. He has been with us for over fifteen years. We were together on the campus on a beautiful winter day near the end of February and had the privilege of preaching open-air to hundreds of students. The campus paper (www.dailyvanguard.com) published The Gospel on the front page at the very end of the month 2/29/08 using a photo of Marty carrying his signboard.
Please Remember Us in the Missionary Field
This is an important time for us as we continue in more open-air ministry. We have increased demands on our time, energy, and finances as we become more and more active with good weather and increasing needs among the people we minister to. We are very thankful for your kindness, encouragement, prayers, and support! We send you our love and prayers with this newsletter.
~ Ron & Karen
E-mail: awakening1s@comcast.net
Home Page: awakening1s.net
church @ 24/7
Ron & Karen Rohman
PO Box 14292
PORTLAND OR 97293
Current Issue: Friday, February 29, 2008
Street sermons
For 15 years, two men have spent their days preaching God in the park
By: Matt Alpert
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: News
With a wooden yellow sign that reads "Jesus
Forgives" draped over his shoulders, Marty Kennedy delivers his Christian
message to PSU students in the South Park Blocks on a cold day in mid-February.
Street preachers are a common sight in the PSU Park Blocks. Among some of the
regulars who choose to deliver their messages on campus are Kennedy, 53, and Ron
Rohman, 65.
Both men have been preaching Christianity together on campus for over 15 years.
Kennedy and Rohman said they are out to talk to PSU's intelligent and insightful
students about their message.
"We're not so much interested in a crowd as we are a serious conversation about
God," Rohman said.
Some students walk right by them, some sit and listen and some discuss or argue. On at least one occasion, the men have even been attacked. Last fall, Kennedy and Rohman were outside Smith Memorial Student Union when a young red-haired man rushed toward them, pushed Rohman off the Park Block stage and attempted to tear Kennedy's sign from his shoulders. Police quickly apprehended the man. Kennedy and Rohman say they did not press charges, forgave the man and quickly went back to their preaching.
"People will do some wild and weird things," Kennedy said. Kennedy, a St. Helens resident, devotes most of his time to street preaching. Back in 1983 he suffered a serious eye injury, which left him unable to work in his machine-shop trade. In 1993 he said he decided to devote his time to street evangelism downtown and around PSU. Both Kennedy and Rohman preach on the street full time, splitting their work between Pioneer Courthouse Square and the PSU campus.
Two lives devoted to preaching
Rohman has been involved in gospel work on and off the campus since 1971. He
originally lived in Berkeley, Calif., and is now a resident of the Hawthorne
District, where he lives with his wife, Karen. He met his wife in 1970 in
Berkeley, where he earned a bachelor's degree in math and physics and a master's
degree in communication.
In the early 1970s, Rohman said, he and his wife moved to Portland and began
operating the "House of Olivet," a Christian ministry that was housed on the
corner of Southwest Park Avenue and Jackson Street, where the current PSU Native
American Student and Community Center is located. (Correction:
The House of Olivet was a ministry house and a part of the Prince of Peace
Fellowship.)
For 20 years, Rohman worked as a pastor in Portland's Prince of Peace church
(now meeting at SE 19th and)
Southeast Madison Street. It was here that he met Kennedy in 1986. The two
started preaching at Saturday Market. Then, in 1993, Rohman stopped working as a
pastor, and he and Kennedy began full-time street evangelism.
Kennedy said Rohman has mentored him through a lot, and their street preaching
has been a partnership. Rohman said his street preaching work is supported, in
part, by monthly donations from individuals and local churches.
Preachers in the Park Blocks
During their years on campus, Kennedy and Rohman said they have seen good and
bad preachers who have taken the Park Block stage. Some are infamous for
causing disturbances and some have even harassed and assaulted students, like
street preacher Daniel Lee--known to some as "Preacher Dan"--who was arrested on
campus back in 2001. "Some preachers come through and rile people up,"
Rohman said. Rohman and Kennedy said that some preachers who have spoken in the
Park Blocks have had motives other than promoting Christianity. "It's just
emotion, and that's harmful," Rohman said. Rohman and Kennedy both said they try
to hold reasonable discussions with students. "It's important to be
respectful of people," Rohman said. "We're not into name calling or stirring up
people into anger." Some students say that Kennedy and Rohman’s
presence, as well as the presence of other street preachers, has offended some
on campus. "Them yelling about their beliefs isn't going to change
anything," said Jesse Gwinn, a junior at PSU. "It'd be fine if they were
preaching all the love and all the good." Martin Carr, a junior at
PSU, said he has no problem with Kennedy and Rohman’s being on campus.
"They don't act abusive like the others," Carr said. Kennedy and Rohman
said the younger generation needs to hear their message, and they will continue
to preach in the Park Blocks for quite some time. "As long as we still got
breath, and as long as the Lord don't come back first," Kennedy said.
Article written by Matt Alpert and Photos by Eva Schifter
(c) Daily Vanguard 2008 (Edited for accuracy by church @ 24/7)
Daily Vanguard Link: www.dailyvanguard.com
Edition in pdf -- http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper941/documents/o09t76ty.pdf