Going through high school I experienced bullying in my life. It was a hard season and it created bad memories. But if you don’t deal with bad memories with people, you give them the power to isolate yourself from people and to believe something that is not true.  They start shaping the way you make decisions and they start shaping how you see people and lead to isolation. I guarantee you that there are many people around that experience isolation because of memories of bad experiences in the past.

If you are on the side of the memory one thing you have to start doing is to forgive and move on. You have to let go of the hurt and the pain and give it up to God. That is the key way of seeing change come. Next you need to make a step out of your bubble and start to talk to people around. Yes I said it before, you might have some bad experiences but you will not be able to find true community if you don’t go out there. So try today and connect with someone

But what about if you are on the other side and you have people around you that isolate themselves? One of the key things is to show that you are a trustworthy person. I remember many people that I met over the years that first were hesitant to talk and build relationship, but over time they started opening up and trust was established.  But it takes time. They might watch you on how you interact with others and how you react to others and based on that might be open for trust. When they see good things they start to replace the bad memories. So we need to be real and extra loving with people around us.

Lets all do our part to break loneliness and isolation!!

Hey our friend

Wow God is awesome. This week we were randomly able to encourage a group of young people in the coffee shop with what we are doing in North Beach. He literally brought them to us in the coffee shop. We also could celebrate this week with our friends Tim and Karol since they got the key to there apartment which they were able to buy for 30% of the value. God is so good!! We want to encourage you this week to remember moments of Gods goodness in your life. Those times are great reminders when we face uncertainty and challenge especially with all the thingredients goIng on in the world around us.

Also please pray with us for the families of the victims in Munich germany. Pray for God’s peace and comfort in this time of grief. Also  keep  praying for favor for our 81 year old friend who faces eviction. Pray for Gods favor for him to find an apartment that he can afford (the average one bedroom goes for 3500 dollars and studios are on average 2500 dollars).

Remember to shine his light into this world by showing Him through the way we live our lives.

Have a great week!
Markus and Jen

Carl is an older man who lived in one of the many apartment buildings in North beach for 40 years. He moved to the city to pursue his career. By doing that he also cut off most of his old relationships since they lived far away. Over the years success came and his business took off, but it also took a toll on his relationships. He was not able to build any friendships since his whole life was consumed by work. The only ones he knew was people from the bar he frequently visited. But then a sickness came, which bound him to his apartment. With that a loneliness and isolation sneaked into his life which took more and more over. When he read an add we put on craigslist about meeting up and finding friends, he was the one who came to the coffee shop and connected with us. Out of that a wonderful friendship was established.

This is just one story of a person that was caught in loneliness and isolation. Recently a friend tagged me on Facebook with an article which I read and it talked about Canada and how they started calling loneliness and isolation an epidemic since it affected 6 million people (if you want to read the article click on this link). But what can be the cure for that? The cure lays in each one of us. Either way we need to be a community for people or we need to find a community to fit in. Both take an action.

When you look at the story above you see how the man reached out and took a step towards finding a community. So if you are struggling with having a community or friends you have to take a step. Yes I understand it can be scary and nerve wracking, but it is so worthied. It will transform your life. Yes you might run into people that might not become friends and might be mean, but you will also run into wonderful people that become friends for life. Start to go up to people and talk to them. Host a game night or some other event at your house and invite neighbors.

And for the ones who don’t feel lonely or isolated be a family to people around you. Meet your neighbors and love on them. Invite them into your home and invest in a friendship with them. In Psalm 68.6 it says: God places the lonely into families. But who are the families? We are the families, so lets be open for the people, lets have our hearts open for neighbors and for the community to come in.

The cure is there, but the change can only come if each one of us starts to do their part!

If you want to know how to start read our Blog series Love your neighbor by clicking on this link. You can always go to the next one by clicking on the bottom of each blog on the link for the next one.

Hey our friend

Summer arrived in San Francisco and with that I mean winter temperatures! Jen already pulled out her winter sweater! Monday we still had great weather for our 4^th of July barbecue. It was a lot of fun and our apartment was packed to the max with 16 neighbors and friends from the coffee shop. Each one had a part in it through contributing food or something to drink. It was awesome. Then I was able to meet with a Pastor about what we do and how he can encourage his convergation to invest in their community and become friends with their neighbors. Its awesome how God opens more and more doors in this season. Please stand with us in Prayer for a friend from the neighborhood who faces eviction from his apartment. He is 81 years old and it will be a challenge for him to find a new place, but pray for Gods favor for him to find an apartment that he can afford (the average one bedroom goes for 3500 dollars and studios are on average 2500 dollars).

Remember you have the cure in your hands to fight loneliness and isolation now its up to you to use it!!

Have a great week!

Markus and Jen

In 2003 I went with my DTS outreach to Rome. While we were there we visited the Vatican and the Sistine chapel. The art of the paintings Michelangelo did literally takes your breath away and its undeniable that God gave us creativity to create. When the bible talks about that we are created in His image, it also implies that God placed the creativity in us; the creativity with which He created the earth and everything in it. Michelangelo, Bach and many others used their gifting’s to glorify God. Bach wrote under each of his music pieces “Soli deo Gloria – to the Glory of God alone”. If you listen to a concert of Bach or if you look at the paintings in the Sistine chapel, you can’t deny that God placed creativity in them and that the work they did still moves people today.

But God did not just place a creative gift into a few people. No each one of us is creative. Yes it looks different for each one of us. For some of us we might be creative in creating business, for others it is art or music, for others its creative ways to encourage people etc. It doesn’t really matter in which way you are creative, what matters is that you use your creativity to show people the Glory of God. If you don’t know in which area God has given you creativity start exploring. I believe sometimes we think that using the creativity God has given us could be seen as pride, but in reality it is actually more prideful not to use it and saying to God I don’t believe that you can use my gifts.

Ask yourself those questions:

1. In which area do I think I am creative? If you don’t know start to ask God and friends and see what they say.
2. Start using your creativity in a way that that shows people how great your Father in heaven is.

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week!! We had a wonderful week with dinners with neighbors, and time to graduate our DTS Students. All of them are moving into a new season. Pray for Gods guidance for them, in this time of transition. We also had other friends visit from Germany which was awesome. I was also able to help someone we knew randomly to come up with a strategy for her business. Its wonderful to see how God uses the creativity he has given me to bless others.

The challenge for this week is to start to find your creativity and to start using it to show the God to people in your surroundings!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen