Hello! My name is Markus Haeusser and I grew up in a small town in the Rems Valley called Hertmannsweiler. In the community where I lived, I worked with various youth ministries. Bringing the hope that I found to people is one of the most important things to me. I want to encourage people, through the things God did in my life, to find Him and His purpose for their life. I joined YWAM San Francisco in 2003 and was able to work with youth, street kids and the homeless community.

But how did I get there?

I was born in a Christian home and as a child heard a lot about the Bible and about God. In one way I knew that there was a God and in another way I couldn’t believe it. After my confirmation I started to go to a Christian youth group. The leader of the group had a huge passion and love for God and you could see it in the way he lived his life. I looked up to him because I wanted to experience the same happiness and joy that he had. One year later I was close to becoming a Christian but then an accident happened. My youth group leader was on a vacation in Africa where he was killed by a lion. When I found out that he had died and especially how he had died, I stopped believing that there was a God. My life went downhill from that time on. My school grades got worse and I started hanging out with people who weren’t good for me.

When I was 20 years old a lady from my church asked me if I would like to help her by working with a youth group. I liked the idea and said yes. One year after that I had a bad car accident where God really saved my life and made me think. Most people in the car were badly injured, but I had only a little scratch above my eye. It was a total miracle. That day I told God that my life was His. A few weeks after that, I had already forgotten about my promise. I think one of the reasons for this was, that I didn’t connect with other Christians in our community to learn more about God and to ask questions. Quickly I fell back into my old lifestyle. I pretended to be a Christian while I was in the youth group but outside the group God was not really a part of my life.

Some years later we had a big youth meeting called Jesus house and a guy asked me if I would like to do the filming for it. That week God reminded me of my promise. But I kept pushing it away since it would mean I had to change something in my life. Two months later my grandma died and I realized that my life will end someday. That night I planned to kill myself, but I decided to give God a chance and ask him to show me if He really exists. A few moments later I felt arms wrapping around me and a deep feeling of peace. God really showed up in my life. That day I gave my life back to him. I asked him to help me understand what it means to live my life with and for him. After that God put people into my life that helped me to grow and learn more about him.

I felt arms wrapping around me and a deep feeling of peace. God really showed up in my life.

A while after that I went to an information night from the Torch Bearers. The speaker was talking about how God had a plan and purpose for our lives. I felt like God was saying that my purpose was full-time ministry, which brought me to YWAM San Francisco. I applied for a Discipleship Training School and got accepted. During my time in San Francisco I learned a lot more about God as well as missions. During my school I worked with at risk youth, street kids and the homeless community. Through this work, God gave me a heart for ministry. During those six months God shared with me more and more how my place of ministry would be San Francisco. After my school I went back to Germany to raise support and return to San Francisco.

However, this decision got harder because I realized more and more how I had to leave all my friends behind and no support was coming in. So I started to work again with the local youth and got back into my old job. The youth work was very good and important and God used it to prepare me more for the ministry I was going to do in San Francisco, but it was not the place for me to stay long term. San Francisco never went out of my head and heart. In January I applied for a local Bible school, because I was confused about what I should do even though God spoke clear direction before. In May I finally went back on track when God gave me another confirmation about San Francisco. I started to raise support again and set a date to leave for San Francisco. God provided everything that I needed for going. And since then he has always been faithful in providing for me through people.

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to see many lives changed by his love, on the streets of San Francisco, as well as with the short-term missions teams I’ve worked with. His love became more and more real for so many people. And so many people started to see value in themselves. I want to encourage you to really follow the things God has for your life. You will not regret it and it will change your life and the life of many others. Thank you to everyone who have helped and is helping me to do this work. God is using each one of you to make a difference in the world through your partnership!