Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. Every day God gives us something to be thankful for, and that is where we need to put our focus on. Last week we were able to connect with some new people in the community through a neighborhood meeting. God keeps opening up new ways into the lives of people. Our normal weekly meetings went really well too and we were able to spread more hope in that community. Pray that God shows us more and more ways on how to move forward with the ministry as well as providing more fulltime staff.

Be always ready

Last Saturday Jen and I went on a date to Walnut Creek. We planned to spend some time in that beautiful town. On the way there a lady on the train started talking to us about her life and started sharing about how she got clean and how she slowly started connecting with a church. During the ride we were able to speak hope into her life and at the end of the ride I was able to pray for her. It seemed that during her whole life she had only bad experiences with man and when I prayed for her she was really touched by a man not using her but really caringly praying for her. When I finished praying another couple that sat across said that they totally want to agree with the prayers. We found out later that they just came back from a mission trip in Thailand and seeing us ministering to the lady really helped them to transition back in after being in a mainly Buddhist country. After that conversation we met another guy and offered him to pray for him, which he declined with saying I’m not religious. But we were able to encourage him to learn more about Jesus. That all happened in about 40 min and none of it was planned, all we did was being available to what God wanted to do. If you look at the ministry Jesus did, you will notice that he had many unplanned ministry opportunities like the lady at the well, the blind man etc. All he did was being available to be used by His father to do a miracle.

Now we need to ask ourselves the question. Are we available when God opens up an opportunity? What holds us back not to step into that opportunity? Ponder a bit on those questions and then go for the opportunities God gives you.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. We saw God coming through in many ways. Over the last week we saw more and more parts of the vision of End Loneliness coming true. Our God is awesome. Jen led an aerobic class together with the DTS at the Italian community center, and through the prayer walks in the last week we saw more of God coming through in the neighborhood. Praise God.

What are your wrong believes?

Todays blog is inspired by Steve Backlund who was speaking at church last Saturday. He shared on the topic of wrong believes. Our actions and the way we live our life is controlled by what we believe. As an example if we approach life like this: “Its hopeless”. If we have that believe we will look at things with a way more negative and not hope bringing attitude. But if you look at the bible and the different situations people went through, you realize that its not that hopeless: Abraham got a son in really old age (Genesis 17-21). Joseph was hated by his brothers and almost got killed but became a ruler over Egypt (Genesis 37-41),Moses stood in front of the ocean with enemies behind him and the crowd he was leading, so God just spilt the water. The disciples were afraid to get killed by the Christian hater Saul. God just turned his heart and he became the greatest apostle in the bible (Acts). Lazarus came to life after being dead  for 4 days (John 11).
But now after you addressed the lie just laugh out loud at it, because it is so ridiculous. And then take action steps. If you feel hopeless ask the holy spirit to show you the lies you believe in that area. Start cutting those lies out of your life. Start believing that there is hope for your life. And then start declaring that over yourself on a daily base. I recommend reading Steves book Lets just laugh at that.

So now if you think about that one lie, you notice that there are many lies like this one or similar ones in our believe system. Its important to bring those lies to the light and laugh at how ridiculous they are. And then start looking at the truth and the things God is saying. Then proclaim the truth over yourself.  Ask God this week what lies you believe and find truth. And the truth will set you free John 8:32

Have a blessed week.

Markus and Jen

Hey friend

We hope your last week was great. Our students from the fall school graduated and are moving into the new things God has for them. Its always so exciting to hear how God is using young people to change and impact this world. We also had 2 good friends from Iowa here for a visit. It was a wonderful time. During the week we were also meeting with different people in the neighborhood as well we started to connect with a neighborhood association which is exciting since we prayed for that to happen a week before. Praise God.

Heaven is more real than you think or believe

I want to share a story of hope with you that will hopefully encourage and challenge you. It actually just happened a few month ago. Jens grandpa, a wonderful loving old amish man, was close to dying. He was a man that was loved by everyone and people said about him that in his presence they felt loved. He was always humbled and had a huge love for Jesus. I would say a man after Gods heart. During his time of dying he was sharing about 2 heaven experiences he had. In one he saw many happy children and his son (Jen’s dad who passed away 14 years ago), who he didn’t recognize because of how young he looked. He also saw his wife. Another thing that happened was an encouragement to a hospice lady that was with him. He told her about a child that he saw in heaven and that she was ok. The lady was crying but also got really encouraged, her child died 5 month before that. After that experience he said that the food here was moldy and the water tastes bad. Shortly after that he died. His last days on earth he used to encourage and bring hope. A few weeks after that a not related person shared with me about a person in there life and how they experienced something similar and they also saw children.

Now you can put this down and say that it was a fantasy, or you can try to explain it in a medical way. But i believe that God brought him back for a short time to encourage us in our faith, to stop and think about what life really is about. Is it about success, money, power, ministry, doing good things or family etc.? Or is it about getting into a deeper relationship with Jesus and to learn more about his plan for our life and also get ready for the time in eternity. I think both of the reasons will coexist, but our main priority should always be our relationship with Jesus and after that all other things can come. Let this be a wakeup call for all of us to think about what has priority in our life.

You might read this blog and never had a personal relationship with Him. If you want to have a personal relationship with him just ask him into your life through this simple prayer.

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

After you did that get connected with a church, small group in your area so you can learn more about what it means to live our lives with and for Jesus.  Under this link you can get more info about everything.

Have a blessed week and know that you are loved

Markus and Jen

P.s. San Francisco, besides Manhattan, is the most expensive city in the nation to live in. However, we believe God has called us to be missionaries in the urban world. We found a few more monthly supporters in the last months, but currently we are still in need of $3,000 more a month to cover life and ministry costs. We’d like to offer you an opportunity to join us in engaging a city with a loving God.

This is what we are looking for

5 people that commit to give $200 a month
10 people that commit to give $100 a month
10 people that commit to give $50 a month
20 people that commit to give $25 a month
20 people that commit to give $10 a month

Or you can support us with any amount you would like. This could be monthly or as a onetime gift. Anything helps. Under this link you can find all the info on how to support us.

Thank you for partnering with us through your giving!

Hey friend

We hope you had a great week. Ours was really good but in the same way super busy. We had a ministry evaluation meeting, which was really encouraging. Then we had our normal events going on which ended up being wonderful.  We also had some wonderful friends here to visit us. It was a great time. Stand with us in Prayer this week that more people in the neighborhood see more of Gods loving and healing character.

Jesus heals the brokenhearted

This morning I looked at a big picture of a broken heart at the YWAM Base. In big letters it said “Jesus heals the brokenhearted”. Think about Valentine’s Day and how much our focus on that day is to show our wife, girl or boyfriend or just people in our life how much we care about them. I see that day a focus change of taking our eyes of ourselves and instead putting our focus on others. We have to do the same thing with Jesus. When we take our eyes of off our issues and problems and totally focus on Jesus it will change the perspective we have about the situation. I’m not saying ignore your issues, but bring them to the one who can actually heal or help with them. If you would have a heart attack, would you go to your computer and Google about how you can cut open your heart and take out the blocking? No, you would automatically call a doctor to help you. But how many times do you do that with Jesus? How many times do you look at him to find answers or healing? How often are we trying to figure it out ourselves instead of asking Him for help? He wants to bring healing and the answers, but we have to let him. And we can do that by taking our eyes off the issue or the circumstance and look at Him and trust that he knows best and that He has the perfect solution. It makes us dependent on him, but let me tell you, depending on Him is a healthy dependence.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Hey friends

We had a great week here in San Francisco. During our week we were able to encourage kids, bring hope to the elderly, bring counsel to people, prayer walk, work on a city ministries website and spend time with a friend from Germany. It was amazing to see a week go by and see God move. Please keep one of our friends in prayer who is still battling cancer. Jen and I are feeling a lot better after getting over the cold, which is great. Thank you for your Prayers

God’s heart is relevant

When I prayed about what to write in today’s blog I felt God put John 9 on my heart. The story is about Jesus healing a blind man, but I think it’s even more about the heart of Jesus. The day he healed the man was a Sabbath which was in Jewish tradition a day were you were not allowed to do anything. So Jesus broke the rules of the time and all the religious leaders got mad at Him. Instead of celebrating that the man got his eyesight back they accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath. The point is not that we should break all the rules and not have a Sabbath, if you look at the life of Jesus he took time off and he also said that he didn’t come to take the law away but instead to fulfill it, but the point is to stay connected with Gods heart and to see what he wants to do. If we live our life guided by the love and compassion of God, we will see more happening then if we base our decisions on fear on what other people are thinking. If we base it on fear our decisions will always be based on people pleasing. God doesn’t fit in a box of rules; he has many ways on how to move. How does God want to move through you?

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

P.s. San Francisco, besides Manhattan, is the most expensive city in the nation to live in. However, we believe God has called us to be missionaries in the urban world. Currently we are in need of $3,200 more a month to cover life and ministry costs. We’d like to offer you an opportunity to join us in engaging a city with a loving God.

This is what we are looking for

5 people that commit to give $200 a month
10 people that commit to give $100 a month
10 people that commit to give $50 a month
20 people that commit to give $25 a month
20 people that commit to give $10 a month

Or you can support us with any amount you would like. This could be monthly or as a onetime gift. Anything helps. Under this link you can find all the info on how to support us.

Thank you for partnering with us through your giving!