Monthly Archives: July 2015

Love your neighbor Part 4 Small things change big things

Love your neighbor Part 4Often we think big things make all the difference. The big gift, the big house, the big car, the big church etc. But in reality a lot of little ones make an even greater difference.

A few years ago we had a thanksgiving meal and invited a neighbor. He wasn’t able to make it so we send him off with some food to go and wrote him an encouraging card which we put in his mailbox. A day later he thanked us and we thought he talked about the food, but it was the card that he was so thankful for. Something so easy.

Another time a neighbor went through a hard time so I called and by that showed that we cared. The person was so encouraged and so thankful that we kept hearing that for a long time.

Once we hang up a sheet of paper at our door which said: Take what you need. On the bottom we had words like forgiveness, hope, joy, healing, inspiration which you could rip of and take home. We later found out that some of our neighbors took them and hang them up at their fridge to be inspired daily.

All of those examples are easy and small things, but they make a huge difference. To go further in a relationship, this is a great way to show that you care. What about if you start doing that with your neighbors? Think about how it can change your immediate neighbors and neighborhood! You can become a hope bringer to people that might be hopeless and a true friend.

How to start?

  1. Brainstorm and pray what little things you could do for your neighbors!
  2. When you figured it out, do them!! Faith without works is dead!

Hey our friend

Hopefully summer is still in full swing for you and we hope you have a chance for a few days off to enjoy it. Jen and I are on our way back from PA. We had a wonderful time which ended with speaking at a church in Lancaster about how to love your neighbor. We were also able to attend the wedding of Cousin Dave and his now wife Rebekah. What a wonderful day.

When we are back in San Francisco we have quite a few things going on. Please pray for a quick time to get over jetlag.

Thank you for all your Prayers.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Love your neighbor Part 3 Find ways to connect

Love your neighbor Part 3So over the last weeks we wrote about how to start an initial contact with our neighbors, but to really become friends with them that is just the beginning.

Getting to know people better takes time and effort. One thing that really helps is to compliment on things that matter to them. As an example if your neighbor loves his car compliment him on his car. If he loves his garden compliment on that. Also show interest in what he is doing. Sometimes there are things that you might not be as interested in, but trust me you can even then learn something. Make an effort. If you are interested in what they are passionate about it can open a door for deeper relationship.

Now take an action:

Compliment one neighbor this week!

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful summer week! Jen and I are in PA sharing about the work in San Francisco and connecting with friends and supporters. Pray that God gives us a fruitful time of empowering people to live the great commission in there neighborhoods.

Let us know if there is anything we can pray for you!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Love your neighbor Part 2 Be interdependent

love your neighbor part 2Last week we talked about the first part of how to love your neighbor by actually having the first interaction through a simple hello. Today we want to talk about how to be more interdependent with neighbors. As an example if you need a certain tool, instead of buying it just borrow it. Or one example that happened to us. Jen and I were making lunch and we realized that we were missing one egg for that certain dish. Instead of running to the grocery store we went over to our neighbor and borrowed one from them. The next time we would go back to the store we would give it back to them. That opens up 2 conversations for you. It also builds trust, because they see that you stand to your word and return things.

Today we often live with an independent mentality; we drive home from work open our garage door from the car and close it without even seeing anyone around our house. This doesn’t help to build relationship and love your neighbor. So living interdependent will help to change that.

How would you feel if you would have to totally depend on your neighbors? Would it not be good to have a relationship with them?

Take a first step: Next time you need something that you could borrow from a neighbor do it. And also offer it to them as well. It will help you to be more connected with neighbors!

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. I (Markus) didn’t have the best week since I found out that I had a kidney infection and had to stay in bed. It was a bummer. But sometimes things happen in life and you just have to deal with them. Please pray for a quick recovery.

For the next 2 weeks we are sharing with friends and supporters in Pennsylvania about the work here and also share with them how they can impact their community. Pray for clear vision for each person we talk to and a open heart for the people right around them.

Thank you for being a great friend to us! May God bless you richly

Markus and Jen

Love your neighbor Part 1 say hello

love your neighbor part 1Last week we started this series with writing about the issue that 7 out of 10 Americans don’t know there neighbor. For the next weeks we want to give you some helpful tips on how to change that.

To get to know neighbors we have to start the initial contact. It can be as simple as saying hello and asking how they are doing. When we moved to North Beach we made an effort to say hello to people that live around us. Sometimes we saw them in front of their house cleaning or we meet them while they walked around. A simple hello and name exchange started to build a relationship. The next time we saw our neighbors we could actually call them by name.  We also know that this can be harder if you live in a suburb where people drive back from work right into their garage, but even there you can still do it. Just walk up to their house ring the bell and introduce yourself as the neighbor. It opens up conversation.

This is the challenge for this week:

  1. Set aside time to say hey to your neighbors
  2. Take an effort and meet your immediate neighbors by just introducing yourself

You can do it!!

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. We celebrated independence day with a barbecue to which we invited our neighbor friends and other friends from the city. It was a wonderful time!

We also had many great dinners this week at our house with Pastor friends. It was a wonderful time. It is always fun to spend time with like minded friends.

Please keep our encouragement group in your prayers. We want to see the concept spread to different areas and see people start them. But for that to happen we have to write a how to. Pray for Gods guidance in that.

It’s a blessing to know you

Have a great week

Markus and Jen