Hey our friend

Remember today and during this week that you are amazing and loved!! We had a wonderful but also really busy week here in San Francisco. It was awesome to see God moving in all the different areas of the work. Please pray this week for the kids from the boys and girls club that they are encouraged since they are all out for a weeklong camp. Please also keep all our sick friends in the neighborhood in your prayers. The coming weeks are going to be busier than usual for me and Jen since we have different helpers coming in and many speaking arrangements. Pray for Gods guidance for us in this time.

Get involved Week 10

During the last weeks we focused a lot inward, but today I want to focus outward. After you build a solid friendship with everyone, start reaching out together to your community or start to support a project that is on the heart of you and your new friends. Some probably will ask themselves the question how can I serve my community. There are many different things you can start with. If you live in a city start with a clean-up event or help at a local program (like a soup kitchen, shelter etc.). The great thing about serving together is that it brings even closer friendships. It will help each one to see that every person has something to give. It will help you and your new friends to see that God placed value on you and that he wants to partner with you. When you look at Jesus and the way he did things with his disciples you notice that many times some kind of service was involved. If it was handing out food, or going out and heal the sick. I’m sure he could have done another miracle so the disciples didn’t have to do any work, but he wanted them to be involved. And it also gives back to your community and people will see that God cares about them as well.

I want to encourage you to research and find places where you and your new friends can serve and with that think about what would work best for you guys. Have a blessed week.

Markus and Jen

P.s. this is a picture I took a few days ago in our beautiful city

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. Our week was a week of training. Last Saturday we had a finance class for our missionary coworkers. We taught on how to make and live by a budget and save money on everyday purchases and some other topics. After that we had some great quality time with everyone. We also showed our summer interns around the neighborhood and talked to them about the work they are going to do over the summer. All in all it was a really good week. Please keep our friends in the neighborhood in prayer since 2 of them are dealing with severe sickness, one of them with cancer. Also keep praying for Gods guidance in everyday decisions.

What influences your new friends Week 9

When you look at our society today and how it gets influenced you will notice that the media and books have a big role in that. So it is really important to look at this area together with your new friends. When you watch a movie together you will have the opportunity to talk and discuss about it. There are many great movies out there that have a message of hope in them. And when you look at Jesus and his ministry you will notice that he often used Parables or stories to get his point across. Movies are the modern day story tellers. Of course not all of them are good movies to watch with your new friends, that’s why you have to pick one out beforehand.  Movies often open up a great conversation with your new friends and they will often open up the opportunity to connect it with your faith in Jesus. As an example, the last Superman movie had a conversation about why the world needs a savior. What a great opportunity to talk about Jesus. Also another way to go deeper is by reading a book together. Don’t pick a deep theological book but more of a story that gets people thinking. Something like a new York bestseller, which people recognize and have heard about before, like “The Shack”. It will also bring great discussions and opens up a door for a deeper talk. But again the same rule applies as with the movies; make sure you read the book beforehand.

So while still preparing look for some inspirational movies and books to get started.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Hey our friend

What a wonderful week seeing our faithful father at work. One friend at the coffee shop got deeper breakthrough through studying the bible on his own. It is awesome to see him get more and more revelation by reading the bible filled with the Holy Spirit. During the week we also had 2 visitors from Germany who joined us for a prayer walk in the neighborhood. It was also great to have them meet some of our friends at the weekly game night. Keep praying for more breakthroughs with all the works that are going on right now. Friday and Saturday Jen and I and 2 of our coworkers went up to Redding for a SOZO meeting with Bethel. It was a really encouraging, refreshing, new revelation and healing time. It was also really nice seeing an amazing friend of ours and spend some time with him.

Week 8 Deal with Fear

A little while ago we saw a movie with Will Smith and one of the lines in the movie was “Danger is real, but fear is a choice”. I believe there is a lot of truth to that. Fear can cripple us and take away the great things God has for us. If you just look at the example of Moses, and this is just one out of many, you see it really well. When God called him to go to Egypt his first response was that he could not do it. Why did he say that? Probably out of fear that he would not be equipped enough and also his past in Egypt (He killed the Egyptian guard before he fled). He also probably didn’t totally believe that God could protect him. So the past and wrong believes can bring fear into our lives. But if you look at the rest of the story you see how God came through and showed Moses that He is with him. He used Moses in mighty ways to show His power.

I believe that fear is also one of the main things that is holding many of us away from things in our life. Some who read this might think I can’t run a group because …. But I tell you that is not true. God placed all the tools in you to do it and he brings all the healing from your past that you might think discredits you from a good future. Others who come to the group might be afraid of what people think of them if they come and if they are accepted. And that is another reason we need to pray for them and pray against fear. Again fear is a choice, but you can choose different. Keep your eyes on God and who He is and what he has promised. You will see how fear dissolves more and more from your life and how your faith grows. Practice this week. First ask God to show you fear in your life, ask him for forgiveness for living in fear and then ask him to give you revelation and faith to break it. It is a choice you have to make on a daily base but it will help you as well as your new friends.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

http://youtu.be/kNAV98bAqng

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. Last Monday we had a barbecue with our YWAM Family for Memorial Day. It was a wonderful time to catch up with everyone. On Tuesday our Summer Interns arrived. Please keep them in your prayers during this summer. Some of them will help with the work of the boys and girls club and other things in the neighborhood. During the week we had great opportunities to invest into the lives of many different people through the different giftings God has given us. It is always so humbling and wonderful to see how God is using our lives to bring hope and change to his children. We love it!!

Ask the right questions Week 7

Wow its already week 7 in our series and time is flying by quickly. Today we want to talk about the right question. A big part of the groups is to make our new friends think about God and help them to understand His love for them. But how do we stir the conversation towards God without making it awkward for the new friends? We need to ask the right questions. Questions that make people think and that really connect with them. If you look at how Jesus approached people you will see that it was often through a question as well. It always opened a door into the lives of people and it brought them into a place that they had to respond. Those questions can serve 2 purposes: 1. They open up the Conversation to talk more about God. 2. They connect us in a deeper way and give us better understanding of the new friends because they bring more depth into the relationship.

Here are some example questions that one of our Pastors is using.
Who has inspired you most in life and what have you learned?
Have you ever experienced a miracle in your life or did you feel god try to communicate with you?
If you could ask god any question what would it be?

So these are just examples but find the ones that are fitting in your situation. Think about questions that are not threatening to people but in the same way questions that are strong enough to make them think. Every time you try to come up with questions just pray and ask God to guide you since he always knows the best questions. Try it out during this week and see what happens.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen