Author Archives: Markus

The great commission not the great suggestion

Hey our friend

20140702_132806We hope you had an awesome week. Ours was a blast. We had 3 visitors from Germany, 2 from LA, 1 from Kansas, 1 from Chicago and 1 from Florida. It was wonderful to see each one of them. We also had a big barbecue at our house for the 4th of July. The great thing was that neighbors, church friends and others came together to celebrate that special American holiday. It opened the door for great conversations.

During our next week we will try to spend some extra time on preparing for the teachings in July. Please pray for time to do that. Also keep the San Francisco YWAM base in your prayers while they are working on raising funds to keep the building and minimize loans for it. http://www.ywamsanfrancisco.org/miracle/

The great commission not the great suggestion

Over the last few days I started to think about the great commission in Matthew 28.18-20 and what that means for us.  When you look up the meaning of commissioning you find out that it means to place an order, with which you get authority to do that order. So the great commission is not just a suggestion, but instead Jesus is ordering us to do it. He didn’t just tell us to do it, but he also gave us authority to do it. I think many times we don’t look at the full picture. I think sometimes we don’t realize that Jesus doesn’t have a plan B. He trusts each one of us to fulfill the great commission because we are His friends. He doesn’t put a guilt trip on us or try to use us against our will. No He partners with us as His friends to change the world. If we want to get something big done, we would make the same choice and ask our friends to help us because we know we can trust them. We know they would get the job done because they love us. Are we using them? No, because we would do the same for them. So the great commission is Jesus asking us to bring the gospel to the people. But in reality, he did the same for us since we are His friends. I want to challenge you to start thinking of the great commission and how you can actively live it. Start with your neighbors!!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Love your Neighbor

Hey our friend

We hope you had a great week. After a wonderful time in Pennsylvania with seeing family and celebrating at the wedding we started into a great week back in San Francisco. During this world cup season we often get the opportunity to connect with more people through our coffee shop work. Its awesome how little conversations will often leave a lasting impact. We also saw progress in many other areas of the ministry. Please keep praying for our training in July. We still have to finish up some more teachings and details.

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Our Winter 2014 DTS North Beach Team.

We also celebrated the graduation of our Winter DTS school. We were for them but also sad to let them go. Please keep praying for them while they transition

ywamAlso some good news from the YWAM Base: We got into a purchase agreement with the owners!! Yeah praise God. Now we have to work on raising 3.2 million dollars for the rest of the cost to keep going with all the ministries. That sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but more the 12.000 people helped out or worked with the ministries of YWAM San Francisco since its beginning. So if each of them gives $270 we are there. Help YWAM San Francisco in this journey by praying, giving and sharing of the need with others. You can find more info here on how to support:  http://www.ywamsanfrancisco.org/miracle/
or share directly the posts from the YWAM Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ywamsanfrancisco

Thank you for all your help with this.

Love your Neighbor

When we think about missions we often think overseas work or going on a short term mission trip. That makes it sometimes so easy to say that we can’t do that since we have a full time job or we cant afford to travel some other place. Many times the language issue is there as well. But guess what, there is a way. Jesus himself gave us a really good guideline which makes it possible for each of us to do missions: love your neighbor.

Some of us will say: It is hard to love our neighbor because they did something we didn’t like. Maybe some say we haven’t even met all of our neighbors. Others might say I don’t have time. But the truth is Jesus called each of us to be part of the great commission.

So how can we love our neighbor? Maybe through a simple word of encouragement, a helping hand when they need it or a dinner.

Think about it this week how you can love your neighbor. We have also written a 10 week series last year which can give you some more tips. Here is the link to the final part of the series which gives you links to all of the topics: https://markus-jen-news.com/lets-look-back-to-look-forward/

Be encouraged and challenged!

Markus and Jen

P.s. I saw this clip a little while ago and it shows how loving someone is making a difference

How to get better sleep

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. We had a great week here in San Francisco with some amazing conversations which challenged and brought hope to different people. One situation was really encouraging. A few years ago I (Markus) encouraged a man in the coffee shop. I haven’t seen him since then. Last Monday we watched the world cup game and he was there. After the game we ended up talking and he shared about how he is still thinking about and being encouraged by the conversation we had years ago. Sincere Encouragement can touch people’s lives for a long time.

Last weekend we went to the wedding of Jens Mom in Pennsylvania and were also able to see family during that time. Thank you God for times like that.

Please keep praying for the situation at the base. Things are moving forward with everyting and we are closer to figure things out. Yeah!! Please keep praying with us for finances.  http://www.ywamsanfrancisco.org/miracle/

How to get better sleep

20140619_093533Living in San Francisco showed me more clearly how many people have a hard time sleeping. This can be caused by many different things. It could be stress, not enough exercise or just no time to process things. One thing I also noticed is that people stimulate their minds pretty much till bed time with video games, tv or computer stuff. I learned for myself that I need some time to wind down at night to get some good rest. I heard the saying that with the things you fall asleep with you wake up with. And I believe it is true. It is crucial how we start our day but also as crucial how we end it

I want to give you some tips, that I learned myself over the years, to start and end your day right.

  • The number one thing to start and end your day right, is with a God time. It can be a time in his presence through Prayer, soaking or reading his Word. Meditating on a scripture is something that helps as well. It is also important to finish our day with brining God the things that went wrong during the day and by giving him our burdens. Both of those are very crucial, because it sets you up for your sleep and for your day.
  • In Jewish tradition the new day actually starts with sunset. Look at the start of the Sabbath, it started Friday after sunset. So it is important to set ourselves up for the new day when it starts and that would be at sunset the day before. If you look at the Amish way of life you notice something similar. Every night before they go to bed they read and pray together. They are also praying for the new day that is coming up and bring before God the day that passed. So it is important to change our mindset by setting ourselves up to start our day right when it actually begins, the night before.
  • Another practical thing that was really helpful for me is not to use any electronics at least one hour before bedtime and not first thing in the morning. When you use electronics first thing in the morning or last thing at night it will stimulate your mind and get you back into work and stress mode right away. If you avid that and give your body time to get ready you will eliminate lots of stress.
  • A good thing to relax your mind is to read a relaxing book. Something that is easy to read and doesn’t stimulate your mind.
  • For some people it also helps to take a bath or have a hot cup of herbal tea. The main thing is to get your mind off the day and relax.

Try out those tips and see if it helps you. If you have other tips, write them in the comment section so it can help others.

Have a blessed week and may God bless you with good sleep from now on!!

Markus and Jen

A lesson from a vulture who thinks he is human

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. We had the North Beach festival this weekend and Jen was helping out at one of the booths. We also had our first Wednesday night Prayer walk to which we invite churches and Christians from the neighborhood to join us in praying for the community. We do it by walking to significant places and pray there.

Also some good news from the YWAM base in the Tenderloin. The owner gave us some more time to find a way to purchase the building since he really wants to sell it to us. Pray along with us that God will open up the right doors for us in that situation. Under the link you find daily updates on where we are at with raising the funds for it.

A lesson from a vulture who thinks he is human

20140519_131521_AndroidDuring our trip we went to a museum which had an exhibition about birds. Some volunteers came to present different birds which each had some problems which would not allow them to survive in the wild. One of them was a vulture who was left as a baby and raised by a farmer. The interesting thing that happened was that the bird started behaving like a human and was scared when he was around other vultures. It was interesting to hear that even a bird would be influenced by his environment and starts to take on characteristics of it.

I believe the same happens to us as people. Every day we get influenced and shaped by circumstances, people, media etc. and each of those often makes us more like them. Many times we don’t even notice it right away. As an example: When I did my Mission school 10 years ago I watched only 2 or 3 movies in the whole 6 months. After we got back from our outreach the new Matrix movie was out and we went to see it. While watching it I was horrified by the violence it showed. Before it never really affected me as much. So everything you do in life influences you. Either way positive or negative. That is another reason why it is so important to have our focus on God and be shaped by Him. We learn about His standards by reading his word and spending time with Him and when we know his standards we can start to positively influence the environment around us. We want to challenge you to think about the things that influenced and influence you and how it changed your perspective more towards or more away from God. When you did that pray and ask God for the truth in areas you had the wrong thinking!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

God is still in the miracle business

Hey our friend

We had a great week back in San Francisco. Last Friday we had our encouragement group at the coffee shop and it was the biggest group so far with 9 people since we started in March. It’s awesome to see Gods faithfulness. Please keep us in your prayers in these coming weeks, while we prepare for our first training on how to live the great commission with people around you in July.

Please also keep praying for favor for the Leaders of the YWAM Base in the Tenderloin while they meet with the Landlord about the purchase of the building and for more finances to come in for that. So far over $100.000 were given and more then $100.000 were promised in pledges so they need at least 300.000 more to make an offer to the owner.  Consider to give towards this amazing ministry. Under this link you can find more info about it.

God is still in the miracle business

IMG_8101-2When we look through the bible we see many stories of miracles and how God showed up and brought provision to people through simple steps of faith. In 2nd Kings 4.1-7 is as story about how 2 sons of a lady got saved from slavery because of a miraculous provision of oil. She took a step of faith and believed Elisha and through that God was able to do a miracle. But it took a step of faith on her side.

Many times I heard from people that God doesn’t do miracles in todays times. But I have to say that was never my experience. Just thinking back 2 .5 years I saw God show up in an amazing miracle. When God told me to start the ministry in the north beach neighborhood of San Francisco I didn’t know anything about that area. Over time I learned more about it and also about the fact that it is one of the hardest neighborhoods in San Francisco to find housing. Here an example of how hard it is: at every apartment we applied between 20 and 30 people were waiting in line to rent with an average income of $84.000. That didn’t make things easier. To do effective ministry in a neighborhood you actually have to live there but all the odds for that happening spoke against us. But God kept encouraging us that he is still in the miracle business. So the waiting and rejection went on for 1.5 years but God was already getting ready for a great miracle. In February we send out an email to about 1000 people to pray with us for an apartment. A friend from Korea prayed and fasted for us for 1 week. 3 days later God did the miracle and we got the apartment. But it was not just an apartment, but it was exactly what we were praying for place wise and location wise. God even fulfilled a personal wish for a fire a place. Our rent is also $1.000 below market rate.

So what do those situations teach us. First of all God is still in the miracle business in today’s time. Second for a miracle to happen it needs faith. To see miracles happen in bible times as well as today you need to step out in faith and trust in a God who is in the miracle business. Through stepping out in faith the Mom saved her 2 kids from Slavery. Through stepping out in faith many people in North Beach could be and still are and will be impacted by the love of God. I want to challenge you to really step out in faith if God calls you to. Not only for your own sake, but for the sake of others.

Remember: God is in the miracle business

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

P.s. Here a short fun video for getting ready for the Fifa World Cup in Brazil 🙂