Recently I was reading a book which quoted a parable Jesus gave, the one with the wise man who build his house on the rock and the man who build it on sand (Matthew 7.24-27). One thing that really spoke to me was the fact that the storm came to both houses. But the one house stood through the storm the other didn’t.

In 1989 San Francisco had a pretty strong earthquake. One neighborhood in specific is built on landfill and because of that doesn’t have a very solid foundation. When the earthquake hit, all areas of the city felt the shake but the area build on landfill felt it the worst. Part of the freeway collapsed as well as many houses got destroyed.

When you read the parable in Matthew it is really clear that the storm hits both houses pretty hard. We as Christians will face hard times, the bible makes that clear many times. But it also talks about that God is with us in those. So we need to do a checkup and see where our foundation is built on. In which areas do we still have to grow in our trust in Him and in which ones are we more secure? When hard times come we can often see the cracks in our foundation and what things we have to work on. Spend time this week to ask God to show you the areas you have to work with Him on. He is faithful and will show you. We all need a strong foundation in Him because He will never fail us and at the end of the day we all want to be the house that is standing.

Hey our friend

Last week we celebrated the 70^th birthday of my Dad with a whole family vacation. It was a great time. For the next few weeks we will be in Germany so you will not get many updates from San Francisco, but please keep praying for our city. Thank you so  much!!

Don’t forget to check your foundation!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

We hope you enjoy this weeks’ video Blog!

Hey our friend

God is good and that is true for every day of your life!! During the last week we had a big event in our neighborhood which was called National night out. It is a day to bring the community together with the purpose of crime prevention and to get to meet the local police. I enjoyed meeting people and seeing updates on things that are going on in North Beach. At the a friend of us and his church small group was able to pray for all the police officers. Please keep praying for our police in this challenging time!!
I wonder if all of us as Christians could do something similar to bring the community together  to build relationships? Lets keep pondering on that.

Thank you for all your prayers for our 81 year old friend who faces eviction. Last week many people gathered to show their support in the park!! Lets keep praying

Remember Little things done consistently brings change!!

Have a great week!
Markus and Jen

Recently Jen and I watched the new Will Smith movie Concussion. The film was about head injuries of football players in the NBA and how a doctor fights for the truth. The doctor is a man from Nigeria and he worked hard to get all his degrees. His job now is to examine people who died. When he does that he finds out that football players that died often had the same kind of problem in there brain. He does research for which he pays from his own money and through the research he knows that he is right. The injuries came from a continuous hitting of their heads. Since the NFL is a huge organization they try to shut him down, but he did not give up because he wants to do what is right. He keeps fighting for the truth even if it meant for him to be sent back to Nigeria.

One thing that really spoke to me was the fact that he put everything on the line to do what’s right. He did not quit or back down till the truth came out. And when the truth came out he did not even look for a benefit for himself, he just wanted the truth and the right thing to be done.

It is a great parable for our lives as well. There will be days when we face things where we know what’s right, but it will cost us something to do the right thing. Many times in life it is easier to just choose the easy way, but this is not what Jesus called us to. He told us that it will be hard and that it will create challenges, but it is worthy in the end. So if you have opposition in your life, don’t quit. Keep moving forward. Let God guide you how and make a difference. We are called to make disciples and bring the good news to everyone we know, so lets do it and remember:

 YOU CAN DO IT!!

Hey our friend

I hope your week was as good as mine! I (Markus) had a great birthday celebration last week. It was a so much fun we went hiking for 2 hours and then celebrated with 2 friends. Each one shared something special they saw in me. I felt so encouraged after this time. I want to encourage all of us to tell people around us what we love about them. You will see how it lifts them up.

Thank you for all your prayers for our 81 year old friend who faces eviction. As of this point there is nothing new to write so lets keep praying!!

Remember opposition is not bad, it will strengthen your muscle!!

Have a great week!
Markus and Jen