Hey our friend

We hope you had a really blessed week. Today I have a special prayer request for you. One of the first friends we made in the neighborhood has cancer and it seems that he has only a few more months to live. Please join us in Prayer that he will accept Jesus in the time he has left. We saw great things happen in his life over the last few years so keep praying that God will help Him in making this life changing decision. In 3 weeks we will leave for Germany to meet up with family, friends and supporters. Pray for a fruitful time over there while sharing and reconnecting and also that we get all the needed preparation done before we leave. Also pray for good connections for Jen since it will be the first time for her being in Germany.

This week we will have a staff training week with all the YWAM San Francisco Staff. Pray for good learning and fun together.

 Love changes Perspective and helps to overcome

Over the last 10 years being in ministry I saw this statement being true many times. Many times I worked with people and have had a hard time understanding why they would not change. Many times they kept making the same bad decisions over and over again. That was a pattern that kept happening over and over again. In those times I asked God for more of his love for the situation as well as the people. After I did that I got a deeper understanding and through that a love for them. Most of the time the situations didn’t change right away, but I was encouraged to stay on track and not give up on them. I just loved on them despite their circumstance. Because of doing that I experienced many changes in people’s lives and after a while saw them overcome whatever was holding them back from changing.  Again it is not easy and it is a love that you have to ask God for on a daily basis, but it is worth it. The second thing it does, it builds community. If you truly love on people they are close to your heart and you care about them. That’s a reason why you want to spend time with them. Through spending time with them and having them being a part of your life you are inviting them into your community. Through that, you will see more of a long-term change. Many people fall back into whatever their stronghold was if they don’t have a loving and supporting community around them. We are not made to be alone, we are all made for relationship. And out of a loving relationship we are growing because we have others look into our life and help us to see the blind spots and help us to break free from them. If you have a hard time reaching out to people and find people to love, read again over our 10 week series how to make true friends and change the world. Make it one of your goals for this month to find someone to love on and help them to grow through that.

Have a blessed week and know that you are loved and show it to someone else.

Markus and Jen