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.
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
We hope you had a wonderful week. Ours was exciting but also a bit hard. After we got back from the retreat Jen had a cold which lasted for most of the week. By Tuesday night I got hit with it as well which grounded me for the rest of the week. On Monday and Tuesday we had a great time with the students. We prayer walked all over north Beach, worked with the boys and girls club and did a teaching on bullying. On Monday night we also had the alpha meeting at our house. It was a really good time as always. On Wednesday night I forced myself out of bed to host a class from our church at our house. It was a really good time. Please keep praying for the people we work with in North Beach that they find true freedom and hope. Also thank you for your prayers for the retreat. 3 people gave their life to Jesus and many got encouraged in their faith. Oh and a last one, I Markus got my green card in the mail last Friday, so no more waiting for visas. Praise God
Meat or a way of how a loving father blessed me and Jen
Last Sunday Jen and I talked about life and in some way we got on the topic meat and my love for it. I told her that I don’t eat as much meat anymore since it is pretty expensive and our budget is tightly planned. Literally 1 minute after that conversation our doorbell rang and one of our neighbors was waiting out there. He asked me if I would like to have some ribs and of course I would never say no to meatJ. So he came back and literally brought me at least 10 pounds of ribs. I was just standing there and could not believe what just happened.
If you think about a the best father you know and how he wants the best for his child, just think about how many great things God wants for you. God is a loving father who deeply cares about you. He wants the best for your life. Sometimes it is hard to understand especially if you had no example of a good father. We want to encourage you this week to really look at and think about how you see God as a father. That can affect every area of your faith as well as practical things in your life. It can also affect your motivation on why you do things. Are you doing them for God because you feel you have to, or do you do them because you love him and know that it is the best thing you can do? Do you believe that God wants to bless you personally? To get a better picture of how he sees you read or watch through this love letter from god’s side as a father. Life is too short to live it without knowing and believing that you are truly loved by your father.
Have a blessed week
Markus and Jen
My Child,
You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image.
Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring.
Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented
by those who don’t know me.
John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
An amazing week went by so quickly. Last Tuesday we had our interview for the green card which went well. Then we went off to Mount Hood to speak at a snow camp. We spoke on 3 topics: there is a purpose for our life, we are all in need of a savior and last but not least, the need of community. It was a fantastic time where we saw God moving. We left the retreat Sunday with a sad feeling since we left back many new made friends. This coming week will be another exciting week with our alpha group tonight, boys and girls club, teaching the students, coffee shop meetings, business men meeting, elderly meeting, game night, small group meeting and starting Saturday a really good friend from Germany comes for a visit. Yeah. Please keep us in your prayers this week. Pray that we are sensitive to Gods guidance with all the upcoming events.
How a Amish horse and buggy speaks about value
When I was in Pennsylvania Uncle Dave gave me a buggy ride. On the ride he was telling me about the horse and how he bought it at an auction. The horse was brought there to be sold to a butcher for meat, since one of his legs was lame and his hoof was partially ripped. Dave took it home and gave it some time to rest. After a while the hoof healed and the leg recovered. Now the horse is the best horse Dave ever had. I believe that is the way God sees us and all people. He doesn’t just see the things that are wrong with us, but instead he sees our potential. He doesn’t look at the outside and at what people say about us, but instead he looks at our heart. He picks the people that the world often rejects and uses them in a powerful way for his purposes. Another interesting thing of the buggy ride is this one: God sometimes puts us into a season of rest to recharge, grow and heal so we can live in the full potential he placed in us. What is God speaking to you in this season? Are you like the horse and need a season of rest and healing, or are you in the season to run forward? Pray about it.
We also added 2 videos for you. 1 of our wonderful buggy ride, the second one about a wonderful song we sang at the retreat.
We hope your week was fantastic. We started to get ready for a snow camp in Oregon we speak at this upcoming weekend. Please pray that God gives us the right word to speak to the youth there. So far more than 50 youth signed up. We also had a really good ministry week with great conversations at the coffee shop and home visits. God really moved in the lives of the people. Today the students starts working in north Beach which will be a huge blessing. Please keep them and us in your prayers in this season.
What about the bullie
Last week I talked about how a nice word can change the course of someone’s life that gets bullied. But this week I want to talk about the person that bullies. When you think about Jesus and how he called us to love our enemies, you see that we are called to love the bully as well. To bring change we always need to think about both sides of the picture. But how?
First of all we have to see them with Gods eyes, meaning see all of them. People don’t just become bullies. In 99% of the cases there is a reason behind it. Many times people act out that way because they want to get the feelings of hurt out of there system (abusive home, seeing all people around them act the same way etc.). In other cases they are insecure themselves and play hard so that no one sees there insecurities since that is seen as weakness in many cultures. Whatever the case is, bullies are often hurt people as well. They believe that if they hurt others it makes them feel better about their situation.
But how can we bring change to someone like that? First of all, start praying for them daily. Love on them and show them that they are deeply loved (maybe give them a hug). Act with them in the opposite spirit: They are angry, you love on them (look at the example of Jesus at the cross Luke 23.34). Try to build relationship and help them to see their true value in Jesus. All this is easier said then done, but if all of us start working on it, we can make a big change. Start change this week. Start praying for a bully at work or in your school or in your everyday life.
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.