Hey our friend

How was your Easter week? Catch us up by sending us an email on how you are doing. We had a great week in San Francisco. Some of the nights we had friends and family come for visits, which was awesome. This week YWAM also has a cities conference in Texas. Please pray for the people that are going that GOd gives them an even bigger heart to reach our cities around the Globe.

The Cross and what it brought to us

With celebrating Easter last weekend it made me think of something that  i have been seeing happening a lot:

Many times I saw people just looking at the act of Jesus dying on the cross but then getting stuck there. It would be comparable to having a full education to be a doctor but then just look at the degree but never use it. Don’t understand me wrong in this. It is really important to look at the cross and to remember what Jesus did for us, but it is as important to look at why He did it. We need to understand that Jesus went on the cross to reconcile us with the father and set us free from sin which holds us away from God. His dying on the cross set us FREE. But his focus was not only the cross since it was only a part of his journey, His purpose was to bring freedom and the good news to each one of us. But even more important with going through all that He is saying that He believes in each one of us more than we do. Look at Peter who denied Him 3 times, Jesus still choose him as a rock to build his church on. We need to start focusing on that reality of freedom that he gave us and the reality of him teaching us how to bring the good news into the world. If we don’t do this we are missing out on the fullness of why Jesus came. We need to believe the fact that He truly set us free and we need to stop disqualifying ourselves for things that He is calling us to do. Jesus said that He did great things but we will do greater things. Jesus taught his disciples all things that are possible with the goal to have them do even greater things than he ever did. And they did, 12 people brought the gospel into the world and reached more people then Jesus during his whole life time. Jesus was talking to each believer when He said that. And I want to say, who gives us the right to disagree with Jesus?

But what did he call us to do? He called us to bring the good news into the world and to make disciples. And this is something each one of us needs to do. It can be at our workplace, at our homes or by reaching our Neighbors (read more about how you can do that with the ministry concept God gave us under this link). Lets do this together, let’s start living and believing that God can use each one of us. Let’s live with the mentality and mindset that we can do all things through Him who gives me strength. Let’s change the world with the hope Jesus brought.

Have a blessed and challenged week and remember God is with you.

Markus and Jen

Hey our friend

We hope you had an opportunity this week to think about easter and the meaning of it. It’s a time of saying Thank you to our amazing father for choosing to save us and adopt us back into his family. It’s the ultimate proof of love. We wish you a blessed Easter time.

We also had one of our wonderful friends come and visit us on her way home. We felt so blessed to see half of the Kimm family 🙂

Adoption The Ultimate proof of Love

I have many friends who got adopted when they were little children.  A couple adopted them because they choose that specific child. It is interesting, that adopted children often see themselves as second class children. I think sometimes the reason is the thinking that they are not good enough because they feel that their birth parents didn’t want them. But the truth is actually quite different. Adoption is actually a picture of true love.

Think about this: When you adopt someone you actually make a choice for that person. You are actually saying I really want this child. Often with birth parents it is not exactly like that. We hear many times about unwanted pregnancies. Another point is that parents that adopt have to go through a really long process to get the child which involves many sacrifices on their side, like time and money. But they are willing to make those because they love that child. These are just 2 points but I’m sure there are many more.

Adoption is also a beautiful picture of what God did for us. He adopted us as His children and He choose us. He made the biggest sacrifice possible this Easter weekend to adopt us back into his house by giving His son. I think this is the ultimate proof of His deep love for each one of us. He adopted us and He always believed and will always believe in us.

Even if not one Person on this planet believes in you, God does!

Remember today that you are amazingly loved.

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Hey our friend

We hope you had a great week. We hold a memorial service for one of our friends from the neighborhood. It was sad but in the same way something to be happy about, because 9 months before he died he gave his life to Jesus. We had 2 of his friends come and share stories about his life to honor him. It is important to honor people, because all of them are children of God. I also believe that it shows people the value that God has for them. Honor doesn’t mean we have to agree with everything they do, but it is a choice to see people the way God made them. We also had a leadership training class with our church on Saturday which was awesome as well. All in all a good week.

How to make decisions Part 3 Choice

So over the last 2 weeks we talked about decisions that are made by listening to God and decisions that are made by circumstances that we cant control. This week I want to conclude the topic with make decisions by choice.

The story that came right away into my mind when I thought about Choices was King Salomon. God literally asked him what he wanted. Salomon had at this moment a choice which literally could give him anything he wanted. But the choice he made was to receive wisdom. He asked for wisdom, because he wanted to lead Gods people well. So his choice wasn’t based on selfish motives, instead it was based on how to serve others.

So we can have similar situations in our life. We have 3 different choices, but we don’t have a clear guidance from God which one to take. Start thinking about the outcome of your decision. First of all ask those questions. Who will benefit from the choice I make? What of the outcomes will serve the Kingdom? How will it affect my life?

As an example if one of your choices is to have a job that keeps you 6 days a week away from your family and the only outcome by you working this job is lots of money, this job might not be the right choice. You might provide for your family things that they don’t really need, but miss out providing things that they need like time with you.

Or it could be a choice between a job that you would really love and you would really make a difference in this world and also gives you time for family, but which would stretch you in your available money, compared to a job that just pays the bills and give you lots of access.

I think those 2 examples illustrate pretty well the point I want to make with this. When you look at a major decision always look at the outcomes it can bring. Always check your motives when you make the decision, and if you prayed about it, they are not just for your own gain, you feel that it would bring Glory to God and you have a peace about it, I would say go for it. Of course sometimes you will see later on that it was maybe the wrong decision, but then again your motives were right. And God looks at the heart.

The most important thing with any decision we make is to bring Gods Kingdom to this earth and bring people closer to Him. If this is what we base our decisions on we live a fruitful life with a purpose.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Hey our friend

Wow an eventful week here in San Francisco went by in the wink of an eye. First we had all our normal events going on in North Beach, but then we had a few out of the ordinary ones as well. On Thursday we had a team of 17 Students from Bethel Church’s Super Natural Ministry School in Redding partner with us in ministry. First we shared with them about our heart for the ministry here and then we went together with them on a Prayer walk and treasure hunt. We love the special anointing God has given that church for revival. It was also amazing to see how many people you can teach in a small space. And on Friday we had a college team from Idaho join us as well for a Prayer walk. On Friday night we had the YWAM community night (if you missed it you can watch the Video Recording at the end of the blog) with a speaker who shared about how to learn about the community you want to influence and to not burn out while you do it. It was great. And Saturday we went to a conference of the same speaker learning some more. If you are interested here is also a link to his newest book which speaks of most of the stuff he talked about.

Thank you for your continuous prayers and financial support for us and the ministry here. God is really moving in mighty ways through them. May he bless you richly for that!

How to make decisions Part 2 Decisions guided by circumstances

Last week we talked about how we have to pray and listen to Gods voice when we make decisions. This week I want to talk a bit about situations where decisions are made for you by circumstances.

Like last week lets look at a story in the bible, Joseph. When you look at his life you notice that most of the decisions in his early years weren’t made by him. He was sold into slavery by his brothers without a choice. He served then at the palace of Potiphar without having a say in that. But in all of that he served really well in his full capacity. He gave the best he could. Even after being accused of things he didn’t do he still served well. It lead him to a place of power in the palace and made him the second most powerful person in whole Egypt. So sometimes decisions are made by circumstances. But the important thing is that we keep having the right attitude in those and keep moving forward. Sometimes the decisions are not up to us, but we have to trust in the process that God can still use them to work for the greater good.

As an example. I have a good friend who has a brother who had a baby with someone. But the brother didn’t take care of the baby instead he is using drugs. So my friend took on the child and took care of it. It was not my friends choice to have a baby, but the circumstances brought him to the place that he just had to help the child. He served in the circumstance to his best capability.

Think about the decisions that were made for you in your life, and then think about how your attitude was in those circumstances. Did you serve to your best ability or did you just do the bare minimum? God can use every circumstance in your life to bring you forward, but you just have to trust Him and serve well.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Video streaming by Ustream

Hey our friend

 We hope you had a wonderful week in the Presence of our wonderful Father in Heaven. Its just so awesome doing that. We went to a Fundraiser this week for a ministry that helps women to choose a child instead of abbortion. They help them with diapers and other services after the child is born. They were sharing that San Francisco has about 34.000 pregnancies a year and 18.000 of those are ending up in abbortion. Please pray for those women to choose the life of those children. God loves each one of them dearly. Here is a link so you can find out more about them and how to support the work they are doing!

Our Students are leaving the 7^th of April for Outreach and have only 2 more weeks in the city. Keep them in your prayers that they will be open to what God has for them for the remainder of their time in the city as well as for outreach and after. One of our Staff is working on a prayer map for our neighborhood. It will enable us to take more church groups or Christians from the neighborhood activated in that area of ministry. Spend some time praying for your town today.

How to make Decisions Part 1 Decisions guided by God

All of us are faced with decisions on a daily base. Some of them might be simple decisions like which shirt to wear or what to eat. Others might be a bit harder like where to apply for a job or what to do with our lives.  Simple decisions are fairly easy to manage, but how do you manage big life decisions?

When we look at the different people in the bible we see a pattern which guides them. Moses as an example was always connected with God when he was making decisions. When he stood in front of the red sea he got the direct command from God to hit the water with his stick so they can pass through. I’m sure he was thinking about many other ways how he could get Israel away from the Egyptians, but he trusted God. Before David went into battle he always consolidated God to make the right decisions. The battle didn’t start when he went to fight a battle, no it started when he prayed and spend time with his father in heaven. After he did that he had the confidence and assurance to be on the right track. Another great example is Jesus.  He always prayed and spend time with His father before he did things. But after he prayed, he was moving forward.

A few years ago I went on a jail visit to see some of our street kids. But one thing we forgot was to print out directions to the jail. So while in the car I asked God for guidance, and he guided us in the decision making of which way to go. We ended up being faster at the prison than ever before. So it is important to listen to His voice.  SO the first part in making decisions is to pray and ask God for guidance in your situation. Start this week with little situations and ask for His guidance in making those.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen