One thing about Jesus that fascinates me is how He inspired people. He healed people and His disciples got excited about that. He walked on the water and Peter starts to walk on the water. He preached to the people the good news and the disciples later on did the same thing. What is it about the fact that people tend to step out more if they see others do it? They feel inspired and their faith gets a boost.

When we started doing our neighbor brunch we invited many different neighbors that became friends over time. Recently one of them said that they would love to host a brunch at their house and then another one said the same thing. They saw that it isn’t too hard to host and how wonderful it is to connect through it with others. Now instead of having one brunch location we have 3 places that could potentially host it. If we coordinate it right we could have brunch 3 Saturdays out of the month were neighbors could connect and build relationship. But again it started by people seeing it, being inspired and getting excited to do it themselves.

You see it’s easy to do, and now it’s your turn! Get started with something easy that brings your neighbors together and then inspire them to do the same.

Ask yourself this question:

1. What things can I do that would bring my neighbors easy together? (Game nights, brunches, barbecue, themed dinners or just have them over)
2. Plan it and keep the focus on simple. Don’t cook a 5 course meal, make something everyone can make.
3. After you run a few events Inspire neighbors and encourage them that its easy and that they can do it too!
4. Make sure to pray for everyone who comes before they come and after they leave and then watch how your community starts to change!

Hey our friend

Wow less than 2 weeks and Thanksgiving is here. Time flies so fast.  Have you thought about inviting someone who doesn’t have family to go to, to your turkey feast. Maybe a neighbor?

Our week in San Francisco was a good one. Our weather is a bit off right now and we still have some kind of summer temperatures which is really not a bad thing! Last week we also had a YWAM Fundraiser which we helped a bit to get ready for as well a day of Prayer for the different ministries. Of course all the other things were going on too.

This week we really want to encourage you to pray with us to pray for healing over relationships that were hurt during this election. Pray that forgiveness will be spoken and healing can happen! Thank you for praying with us!!

Have a blessed week!

Markus and Jen

³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13.34-35

During the last week we had a big event going on in San Francisco called “Love SF”. It was a powerful week with 24.7 worship and Prayer for 8 days combined with outreaches all over town. For that event many churches from the city as well from other places in the US worked together. It was amazing to see how much love was shown to each other and I don’t even know about the impact it made on the city.

When you read the statement Jesus made you notice the need of us to live that way. People will not know us by the things we do or the miracles god does through us, no they will know us through the love for each other. This is what the world is longing for being a part of a community that truly loves each other. But how can we become more like that? Here are a few ideas on that!

1. We have to look at the things that unite us and not the things that separate us
2. We have to be quick in forgiving each other and help each other to grow
3. Let’s speak live and encouragement into each other even if we don’t feel like it.
4. Let’s do things together so we grow closer together. As an example let’s do a city wide event together with all the churches instead of each one doing their own thing.

Let us change our cities together with the love of God

Hey our friend

We hope you do well!! Last week we had a celebration for Reformation day at our place. We watched the movie Luther and all of us got really inspired by him. His little action changed the world forever. What is the little action God calls you to do? We also had many Prayer events going on with Love SF this week as well as dinners with our neighbor friends. It was a really good week.

Join us in Praying for unity in the Body of Christ to see our world changed and bring greater hope! Thank you for praying with us! You are a huge blessing!!

Have a blessed week!

Markus and Jen

In this video blog we use a garden as an example that growth takes time. We can’t speed it up or we might actually destroy it. Be challenged and encouraged!

Hey our friend

We hope you had an amazing week! What’s new with you? In the near future we are planning to have a workshop at our church to encourage people to get involved in their neighborhoods and bring hope and God’s love to people around them. Pray for the class and that we will find the right words while preparing for it!

Thank you for praying with us! You are a huge blessing!!

Have a blessed week!

Markus and Jen

Whom the son sets free is free indeed! John 8.36

On of the greatest traps we can get into is getting stuck in guilt and condemnation. Those 2 have power to hold us away from what God really has for us. They can make us feel that we are not good enough. When we do something wrong, we feel inside a conviction which challenges us to change and ask for forgiveness for what we did wrong. That is a godly thing that is helping us to keep a clean conscience. But how often did we still feel guilt even after we asked for forgiveness. I remember a while ago I made a mistake in putting a meeting in my calendar. That mistake led to me missing that meeting. I asked God and the person, I had the meeting with, for forgiveness but even after that I felt condemnation that I made that mistake. But where did that come from? It didn’t come from the person or from God. It came from the fact that I could not forgive myself for making a mistake. It held on for a long time till but when I realized what it was I asked God to forgive me for not forgiving myself and asked Him to take away the guilt and condemnation. It was so freeing.

So the key is to forgive ourselves and believe God when He says that he has forgiven us. He does not hold anything against you. When he said he forgave its gone. So guilt and condemnation is not coming from Him. Conviction for change is coming from Him, because he loves us.

I want to encourage you to ask God if there are any areas in your life where you haven’t forgiven yourself. Ask God to help you to forgive.  You don’t have to live under guilt, you can be free!

Hey our friend

We hope you had a great week wherever you are right now. WE had a neighborhood watch meeting this week with many neighbors to talk about the safety in our community. Its so great to see more about what people care about and to support them in it. What does your community care about and how can you support them in it? Think about it!

Thank you also for all your prayers. You are such a blessing!!

Have a great week!
Markus and Jen

Over the last few weeks we started playing worship music right in the morning in our place. When we started doing that it changed our perspective on the day and our focus went in a deeper way on the presence of God. We were less distracted from life and things that came at us. Another thing we noticed was that our faith and courage increased to reach out to others in other ways.

One situation brought me to a beach in the city and led me to talk to an older wealthy man and help him in a hard situation since he was stuck with a broken down car. I couldn’t fix the car but I helped with everything I could do by standing with him and then trying to find help even to pray that the engine would start. None of the things worked, but finally we got help from a car repair place. I waited with him till they arrived and then said goodbye. I was about to take off when the man came back and told me how me standing with him restored his hope in humanity. I was surprised how something so little could have such a huge impact in someone’s life. It was just the fact of me being present with him and not leaving that brought hope.

So what do you think about how much more of an impact does it have in our life to have the presence of God with us? Spending time in His presence totally changes and transforms us and makes us the people He created us to be. It takes away the thriving and helps us to trust in his abilities and not on what we can do.

We want to encourage you to start to adjust your life in a way that you always walk in his presence. Regular worship and times with Him is a good start to do that!

Hey our friend

What a wonderful week! Last week we launched a small group at our house with focus on spending time in Gods presence with other believers. The first one has been amazing and really encouraging. The time at encouragement group was amazing as well and uplifting for each one that came. Our Saturday brunch with our neighbor friends was also a highlight of the week. I made my first hash browns from scratch and they came out good! We really love our friends around us!

Thank you for all your Prayers for us and this city. You are a huge blessing!!

Have a great week!
Markus and Jen