Tag Archives: wohngebiet

Love your Neighbor – Host a brunch

Leave a reply

Love your neighbor host a brunch

How did you start this week to link with others? We know it takes time, but it is really worthied!

“I love those pancakes and I love that I get to meet neighbors at your brunch. I try to never miss those brunches” our friend declares. Our table turns into a spot where we hang out with our neighbor friends and new neighbor friends. Sometimes it is really crowded, other times its just a small group. But each time it’s a wonderful time for all of us. And it is so simple. Each one brings something to contribute to the brunch and we make German pancakes (they are like crapes) and have jelly, Nutella and butter ready. Preparation for the pancakes takes about 10 mins and then we just make them fresh during the brunch. In those 10 minutes, Jen sets up the table so not much time needed for that either.  We became really good friends with many of our neighbors and they are family to us through the brunch. The time and money invested is small, but the outcome is priceless.

Reading the stories of Jesus always reminds me of the importance of food. Some of the greatest fellowship he had with people was always centered around food. Why did he think its that important? Because he knew that food opens up the door for conversation and through conversation relationship.

Consider doing a brunch at your house! Invite neighbors over for it. One key thing is to keep it simple and don’t get your crazy cleaning skills in action. If you keep your house the way it is you will encourage others to do the same and show them inviting someone over doesn’t have to be a lot of work. When you do your brunch just make it your style and do things you like and invite your neighbors into that. The German pancakes are not a typical American thing, but everyone loves them. So be creative and be you!!

Hey our friend

We hope you are doing great! We had a great time at the conference and learned a lot. Our Staff Retreat time after the conference was really wonderful as well. Next Sunday we will have another love your neighbor class at our church. Pray that each one who came is inspired and keeps getting to know his or her neighbors.

Bon Appetite and have a wonderful brunch with your neighbors!!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Love your neighbor – Be interdependent

Leave a reply

Love your neighbor Be interdependentThis week we have a video blog which we recorded during our book writing trip. Enjoy!!

Hey our friend

How was your Easter weekend? Did you have some neighbors over for a meal? Ours was great we watched the movie Risen and also had a nice lunch with neighbors.  This coming week we will be on a vacation which will be nice.

We are praying that your week will be amazing!!

Markus and Jen

 

Love your Neighbor – Testimonies

Leave a reply

Love your neighborTestimoniesHow were you able to take care of your neighbors last week? We are sure however you did it you were a blessing!!

This week we just want to share 2 stories with you about how much of a blessing it is to love your neighbor and how much it changes lives. A few days ago I got a free ride from Lyft and I used it to go into the woods to go for a hike. On the way there I encouraged the driver and I found out we live really close to each other. So I invited him to our game night the day after. He was moved by the invite and came. He had a great time getting to know the other neighbors that came and played his first bingo game. Each guest brought a small silly gift as a prize for the bingo game. So when it was his turn to win he picked one of the prices and it included a fortune cookie. He opened it and everyone asked what it said because he seemed really moved. He didn’t want to share first but then he did. It said today you will find what you were looking for. Then he said he was looking for family and he felt like family with all of us and it was something he wanted for a long time. All of us around the table were moved by it too. And it was a simple invite.

For Thanksgiving, we hosted a big meal at our house and invited our neighbor friends. Many people came and our apartment was full. We had friends from all over the neighborhood and all the different places we are connected to. We also had the full age range as well as all different walks of life from rich to poor. During the dinner time, Jen asked everyone to share about what they are thankful for. The common answer was this moment with people, sitting around this table and talking and spending time together. Someone said it was the first meal at a table with a family since home 3 years ago, another said they would have eaten at a restaurant but his mom convinced him to go and he gave us a hug later with tears in his eyes saying thank you so much. And again it was a simple open home.

We hope those 2 stories inspire you to invite your neighbors over and become friends with them. We all need a place to belong so let us create those places!!

Hey our friend

We hope your week was great!! We got back from our writing trip last week on Tuesday and it was a successful time. God really inspired us during the time. When we got back we had a neighborhood watch meeting and also a wonderful brunch. It was awesome!! We feel so blessed by all of our neighbor friends around us and our heart is to inspire others to love their neighbors too. So let’s do it!! This will also be the last week before our DTS Students leave for Outreach. Please keep them in your prayers!!

Thank you for all your prayers. You guys are a blessing to us!!

Have a wonderful week!!

Markus and Jen

Love your Neighbor – Share an encouragement

1 Reply

Love your neighbor bring encouragmentSo how did being positive go for you? Did it change your attitude?

This week we want to write about the need for encouragement. Encouragement is something simple but can really change the outlook for people too. Again looking at Jesus we see many times how His encouragement really changed people. Last week we share about the encouragement for Peter but that was only one of them. Jesus encouraged people by breaking down walls, just think about the tax collector. A man that was not loved in that society, but he came to his house, which was a huge encouragement for that man, so much so that he totally changed his life.

So when you speak a word of encouragement to someone or do an action that is encouraging you can change people’s outlook on their day, week, or even life. Encouragement brings courage! I experienced so many times that just by caring and acknowledging a person they would feel encouraged and uplifted. Its not hard. Just think about your neighbors. What about if you encourage them in something they do really well! Maybe there yard or some art they did or even just a little act of kindness you saw them doing.

  1. Start encouraging someone in your family.
  2. Then encourage a neighbor through something little.

Hey our friend

We hope you had a good week!! We are on a writing trip right now in Seattle to work on the book. We are excited to move forward with this project. During the last week we had a great celebration of Saint Patricks day which is a big event in San Francisco. Many times it is used for heavy drinking but not really in remembrance of this amazing man who lived forgiveness very practical by going back to the people that once enslaved them and bringing the gospel and hope to them. Here is a link that shares a little bit about him. Be inspired by him!

Have a wonderful week!!

Markus and Jen

Love your Neighbor – A deep need

Leave a reply

Love your neighbor a deep needHow was your time last week? Where you able to do things together with your neighbors?

This week we want to share about a deep need that we saw for so many years. Many people in our cities and our world are longing for it, but often can’t find it. The need for community!! Again when we look at the example of the life of Jesus we notice that he build a community around him. He took the first steps to invite people in. He talked to his later disciples and they followed him. They must have felt his love to a degree.

So what does that mean for us? If we want community we can’t just say I want community, we have to do our steps. We have to go up to our neighbors and build relationship. We have to be the ones that invite them into our live and not expect them to come to us. Over the last few weeks we gave some first step tips for that, but it is not a structure system. Relationship has to be build natural. But you have to make an effort. I give you an example. I went out for a run in the morning and while doing that I ran into a neighbor. I said hello to him every time I saw him and after a while we started to talk a bit more. After talking a bit more we invited him to our house for a game night. It was a simple way of building a friendship with someone. So it gave me something to look forward to doing my runs in the morning seeing my friend and for him it did the same thing. It also probably motivated and challenged us to have someone else that is exercising out there.

Take this week some simple steps towards becoming friends with people. I don’t know how it looks like for you in your area, but if you take an effort you will find out.

  1. Think about how you started your other friendships and then start building it with neighbors.
  2. Invite some neighbor into your life by saying hey and getting to know them.

Instead of looking for community be the one who brings community!

Hey our friend

We hope your week was great!! We had a wonderful brunch and a game night at our house. We also got the chance to connect with different neighbor friends which is awesome!! All of us also really enjoyed watching The Shack movie together. Invite a friend and go together to see it. Also make sure to bring tissues when you see it.

Have a blessed week and remember that God is not done with you!!

Markus and Jen