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

Living 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

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

During 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

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

When 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 2^nd 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 🙂

Hey our friend

This was the last week of our vacation and we will return to San Francisco Tuesday June 3rd. It was amazing to see the beauty God created. We hope you enjoyed the pictures. If you would like to see some more click on this link.

We also have an urgent Prayer request for all of you. The main location of YWAM San Francisco rented the main bulidings for many years. But now we got a notice that we have the first buy right for them since they are put up for sale. To be able to buy them YWAM has to raise $500.000 by June 9th to come up with a downpayment otherwise the buildings will be sold to the other person that put the offer in. That could mean for us that our monthly rent cost could go up and in the worst case scenario we could loose the building. It needs many people to come together to get that amount but our God is greater then numbers! Pray if God wants you beeing a part of this miracle.

What legacy are you leaving?

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6.33

the last few weeks we talked about how important our relationship with God is, what our role is and what affect choices can have. Today i will finish this series with the topic what legacy are you leaving.

I want to do that by looking at 3 people in the bible and there legacy. The first one is Joshua and Caleb. Those 2 were put in a position of power to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. The interesting thing about this situation was that they were some of the only ones that believed that God was able to bring them in there even while seeing the enemies. Both of them totally trusted and knew God well and ended up leaving the Promised Land as their legacy to the Israelites.

The other one I wanted to look at was Paul. For a long time he persecuted Christians till he had an encounter with Jesus and got radically changed and started to bring People into the Kingdom. He started reaching out to many churches writing letters of encouragement and correction to them and helped the gospel to move forward tremendously. We are actually all part of his and the legacy of many other Apostles.

Let’s look at the need today. When we look around we see more and more the need for the gospel to be lived in our today’s societies. We see more and more people that are isolated without true relationships. More and more people that live around us don’t even know Jesus. So leaving a legacy doesn’t necessarily mean we have to change the whole world. It could mean changing the lives of neighbors. Paul helped to bring the Kingdom to one place at a time and out of that all other things started happening.

So now it’s time to ask yourself the following question: What legacy are you leaving with the live you are living right now? Are you doing the things god called you to do and if not how can you change your course? How can you be more effective in bringing the Kingdom and leaving a great legacy?

Ponder on those questions this week and then make adjustments if needed.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Hey our friend

Jen and I are on a vacation with family. So the next 2 blogs will not have an update on the ministry. But the ministry will still go on with our Staff so please keep praying for Gods move in North Beach and in the heart of the people there.  Thank you for all your Prayers.

If you would like to see some Pictures from our trip click on this link.

Seek first the Kingdom Part 3 Choices

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6.33

Over the last 2 weeks we talked about 2 important things to first seek the Kingdom: 1. to have a relationship with God to hear his voice in guiding us. 2^nd we need to understand what our role is. Today I want to talk about Choices.

Each one of us makes many choices on a daily base. Some of them will have good outcomes some of them will have not so good outcomes. It is important that we seek His Kingdom when we make decisions to eliminate more of the bad outcomes. Think about it: You go to College to get a degree. Many times that seems like a good choice. But what if college is not what God planned for you. You will leave college with a lot of debt. What if God calls you now to give up your job and go into overseas missions? You will have to think about this twice, because your mind is all set on the debt and how to pay it back. I’m not trying to say with that that God could not use you and take care of those things, he totally can and I saw it in many people’s lives, no but I’m trying to say that it would be harder from your side.

So when we make choices focused on building Gods Kingdom the outcome will be different. But the foundation to do that is laid with the things I talked about in the last 2 weeks. When we have a deep relationship with Him and out of that we start understanding our role we can start making choices that will be based on the Kingdom. And we will not just make them because we have to, but we will make them because we know they are great choices. Peter didn’t just magically get into the water and started to walk towards Jesus, no he actually made a choice to trust Him and go for it. But first Peter was seeking the relationship to Jesus, long before that event took place.  So ask yourself the following questions:

1. Where is your relationship with God at? Are you seeking His Kingdom in every part of your life or what changes do you have to make in your life?
2. Do you know what your role is in building his Kingdom?
3. What choices did you make in the past, that you feel are holding you away or disqualify you right now from totally walking out the things God has called you to? Debt etc.
4. Spend time with God and ask Him how to move forward from here!

Ponder on those questions this week and see how God will move you forward.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen