Prayer Requests for December

Well, it's December 6th as I'm writing this, and today is my last official day at YWAM San Francisco.  In 6 days, I'll be moving on to Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, where I'll be spending the holidays with Joelle, and preparing for my upcoming Peace & Justice Internship at the base in Winnipeg. It's been a wonderful just about 2.5 years with YWAMSF, full of genuine people, deep challenges, and fulfillment in ministry for Christ.  Here's how you can be praying for me as I transition:

This Year, I'm Thankful

It's been a great year for me with YWAM.  I have a lot to be thankful for.  I've been able to help alongside YWAMSF in drawing people to participate with God in the Tenderloin, and the way is paved for me to help with YWAM Winnipeg as I prepare for my internship in the new year.

November Prayer Requests!

My mind's been preparing to leave SF, and this month I've been a little frazzled on the blogging front, but here it is, November's prayer requests:

•Pray for transition to Winnipeg! I've been with YWAMSF for 2 years now and it's been a wonderful time.  Now it's off to the next step of the journey!  I'll be doing an internship with YWAM in Winnipeg this upcoming year, and I'm going ahead of time to spend the holidays with Joelle's family.

•Pray for finances for my upcoming internship.  I've got my plane ticket and I'm ready to go to Winnipeg, but the internship will cost around $2,150.  Please pray that God would provide these finances, and please let me know if you'd want to help by emailing me at Jon.T.Owen@gmail.com

•Pray for preparation for this next season and the upcoming internship.  I'll be spending tim with Joelle's family for the holidays, and debriefing my time here in SF as I reflect back on these last two years of ministry.  Pray that I can be prepared for the Peace & Justice Internship I'll be doing with YWAM Winnipeg.  I'm really excited to dig in there, as I've been reading the book the base director wrote called The Cost of Community.  The base director Jamie and his wife Kim seem to have built a really great intentional community in the lower income neighborhood of the West End in Winnipeg.  Please pray that God would prepare me with the right spirit to go in, learn, and most of all serve.


It's an exciting next season! It's so weird to imagine I'll be leaving my home of two years.  I've been selling all my big things, and giving away a lot of my stuff as I prepare to move everything I own to a new country.  It's a little unnerving! Thank you all so much for your prayers in the midst of all my ministry.

October Prayer Requests

Fall weather's turning the corner everywhere else in the US, in San Francisco, we're just now verging on Indian Summer.  This is the only time of the year otherwise average 60°s SF hits the heat.  I'm not much for hot weather, so I'm definitely pining for the smell and temperature of an Ohio autumn.  Here's how you can be praying for me as we turn over into the last quater of the year!

September Prayer Requests

Hey!  These are my prayer requests for the month of September, in the year of our Lord 2012.  Thanks be to God.


•Pray for our DTS which started this month!  We've had 15 students come in to participate in a deeper instruction of Christ in our Tenderloin SF context.  They'll be learning about aspects of Christ, prayer, God's heart, and much more, then going overseas to spread God's Word.  Pray for them as they all grow together.

•Pray for Provision in finances.  Since I've been in SF, I'm been surviving, but not thriving.  I've been a good steward of what God's given me, but San Francisco is much more expensive than expected, and I want to be responsible for my future and flourish in my ministry in SF, not just get by.  Please pray that God brings provision financially.

•Pray for Communications!  Everything I do in SF is communications-centric.  I create structures in our organization to help things run more smoothly, I produce our newsletters, our print media, and I head up and supervise projects like our upcoming website, and others that anyone under me does.  Please pray that God would flourish communications in SF!  We have a lot of ministries, and a lot of opportunities for others to get involved, which means we need a lot of structure to communicate that, and welcome people into ministry. Your prayer helps make it happen!


Thank you all so much for your prayers!  If you pray for me consistently, please let me know!  It's always nice to hear that I've got prayer support.  I can also pray for you!  So please email me if you have any specific requests.

Time in Ohio

I just got back home from some time spent away from SF in Ohio, for one of my best friend's weddings!  Thank you so much for everyone who I was able to see, and sorry for everyone I wasn't able to!  It's always bittersweet going home for just a few days.  I was only in for 9, and then back to work!

August Prayer Requests

Hey there!  Thanks for taking the time the care about what I'm doing in SF.  This week's our Staff Retreat week where we take time to refresh and reflect on the coming year of ministry.  We talked about support raising this morning, so my mind's a buzzing with all of it!  I figured I'd share some prayer requests for the month of August going into September.  

When You Do it Wrong

We're all human, and sometimes that's not easy to remember.  Sometimes it's easier to remember that everyone else is human.  Sometimes we do it wrong.

Partnership: A Catalyst

For the past year and a half here at YWAM San Francisco, I've been doing my ministry fundamentally by myself.  I've worked with people to facilitate the media projects and marketing, but as far as the actual stuff I've been doing, it's been just me.  It's been such a great time being able to learn along the way and gain new skills to help YWAM here in San Francisco, but I have to admit, it's been hard!

June : Prayers

Hey everyone!  Here are some things you can be praying for in my ministry in SF this month.

Missions in All Spheres

We live in an era of activism and slacktivism, great apathy and great action.  I think the information technology boom that we've experienced in the past fre decades has pushed us as people into an age where we never could have guessed we'd be fifty, one hundred years back.  Lately, I feel like I've been blessed to look as one from outside, from the other side of the lens.  It's odd to me sometimes, to feel like I'm on the outside looking in.

Keeping the Faith, and Pressing On

The beginning of this month officially marked 1.5 years since I began here at YWAM San Francisco.  1.5 years of memories, of trials, and of joys.  It's been, as I've said before, the most challenging season of my life.  I can certainly say if I never had a work ethic before, I sure have one now.  It's been a tough couple of months in some ways, a great couple of months in others.  I've been stretched, and I've been blessed.  This is to all those in support of me, and to all those also not, and to everyone.  I am so thankful for every path I cross in my days on this earth.  Truly all are the beloved of God.

Like You Were Really There!

Friday, March 16th here at YWAM San Francisco, we had one of our Community Nights.  The Community Night is an event we have every quarter or so, to invite people in from the city to find out about what we do and who we are.  Each time, we also have a guest speaker to speak on something thought provoking about San Francisco spirituality or the Christian life.  This time, our speaker was Mark Scandrette, who's doing a lot of awesome stuff in SF.  I've explained seemingly a million times online what he does, and it's in the description in the link below, so I'll spare you.  Just know, it was awesome.  And guess what?  This time around, we recorded it, so you can see it too!  Click through the jump to get the link to our website.  It really was such a great time!

Vision // Sacrifice

Hey everyone!

I have a few announcements before my post today. I'm going to start sending out these updates through email too!  There are probably some of you reading this in the email right now which is....awkward.  I suppose, somehow.  Anyway, for those who don't know, my primary source of update about everything I've been up to in San Francisco thus far has been through blog form, on my blog Communicating Missions.  This has been a convenient way, since it gives people the option to check out how I'm doing if they want, but they don't have to get overloaded by reading everything I write.  Well, I'm making kind of a change, and I'm going to start pushing these updates to email as well.  I want to make sure everyone who is keeping track of my missions work out in San Francisco has the ability to see what I'm up to, and doesn't feel out of the loop.  So!  Once a month, anyone signed up for my email newsletter will get something in their inbox from me, about everything that's going on with me in SF!  If you're not on this list already and you want to be, you can sign up for that here.  So, that's the big news!  If you'd like to get the newsletter, click through to the link, and if you'd rather just keep track on the blog, you can feel free to unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time.  Thanks for being great!

Prayer // March

Hello!  And greetings on this mild March day in SF.  It's so odd to think that we're already three months into the year.  Being out here, it seems like time passes by so much faster.  Is it because of ministry, because I'm getting older?  I don't know.  Either way, here's how you can be praying for me this month.

In case you've missed!

Hello everyone!

So, for the past little while, it's been a little hard for me to sit down and write out specifically things that I've been doing, up to, and how I've been.  I'm particularly vexed by this, since I know there are people out there who want to know how I'm doing, and what I've been up to.  So, I finally said, what the heck!  I'll at least write something about how I'm sad I haven't done something, and try to give a glimpse of stuff.

Click through the jump to get a picture of my life here at YWAMSF

..Meanwhile, in San Francisco

Hello, all you people, wonderful and great.  I hope as you read this your day is bright.  It's been an electric season at YWAM San Francisco, and my time here in the new year has been edifying and progressive.  Recently, I've been really encouraged to get to some projects that were on my heart when I first started staffing at YWAMSF.

One of my desires as part of our ministry here is to see people able to work together better, bare one another in each other's burdens, and to see YWAMSF have an even more whole realization of our work together in the city of San Francisco.  Here at YWAMSF, there're a lot of different ministries going on at the same time.  It can be easy to lose track of each other in the flow of our own streams.  That's why I'm glad I've been able to focus more on getting a top-down look at YWAMSF's activities throughout the year.  As I look at all the stuff we're doing, and all ahead of us, I'm really excited about what's to come.  So, for those who are behind me in all I'm doing, here's a little look into what all we're doing.

Not The Same Old Usual

Luke 18:18-23 ESV:
"..And a ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'" And he said, "All these I have kept from my youth." When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich."
All my life I've heard this story, but every time I get new revelation from it.  This time I'm reminded of what we can perceive as 'obvious' sins versus true rightstanding with God.
In the past, it was easy for me, as the man in the story, to justify myself by the things I wasn't doing to demonstrate rightstanding with God.  I wasn't stealing, always tithed, wasn't angry, etc.  But here, Jesus peeps away a layer of our life, and shows us that it's not about the things we do, but our position towards God. 
Sure, the man looked like he had everything going, but Jesus sees him coming and, in seeing that he's all about representation, makes a point even to say that no one is good but God.  Jesus sees his heart, and wants to be sure that it's not about what you do or say about God.  Instead, when faced with the man's percieved righteousness, he gives him a task much harder than the standard he holds himself up to.  Not to say none can see God, but to show that we can't receive wholeness from our own hands, only as a gift when we have a Love for the Creator that is willing to push all odds. 
Later in the chapter, Jesus' disciples mention that it must be impossible for anyone to be in rightstanding.  He responds, "What is impossble for man, God makes possible."
Even though we are flawed, incapable of being in the right place fully, God wants us to know, it's not about our goodness or perfection.  It's about our pursuance, it's about Him, not us.  He makes a way for mankind to be whole, not by their vain perceptions of what is right and wrong, but even defying law, in His grace, that man can be reconciled by His Love to fullness.
I think that's a beautiful thing.

Christ in the Mundane

Tea is an everyday fixture in my office routine.

It's been a year+ now of trying to figure out what it means to be the Communications Director of YWAM San Francisco.  Going into this year, it's crazy to think of all the ways I've grown in my current phase of life.  When at home, I was hanging out with my friend Josh one day.  Him and his fiance made the comment that I was so much more helpful than I used to be.  It was such an odd thing to think of.  As I've been with myself this whole time, it's easy to not see these kinds of changes.  But when someone points it out, it's such an endless blessing.

January Prayer Requests

It's that time for me to share my monthly prayer requests!  This is something I wanted to start doing in the new year as a way to help people know more about what I'm doing, going through, battling, and triumphing over.  I'm going to start doing this the first Monday of every month, so keep an eye out for them if you'd like to pray for me!  Thank you so much for who you are!  Also, if you'd like to receive my prayer card to put up somewhere, please email me at Jon.T.Owen@gmail.com and I can mail one to you!

Last Year; Reflections, Thoughts, Processes.

Man!  It's been a year, that's for sure.  It seems as if I'm finally starting to coagulate it into something tangible.  It's been a blur at times, and full of clarity others.  That's how it is though, isn't it?


This past year has been a year of learning, a year of processing, a year of growth.  As a missionary, this has been my first full year with YWAM.  As a human, and Christ follower, this has been the toughest most stretching year of my life.  I feel like Christ had been showing me glimpses into every nook and cranny of life every second of every day.  I grew to appreciate life in a million more ways than before.  I learned how others may live, how vastly different we may live, what struggles human beings may have in their lives, and both appreciate and steel myself for their realization.  If I was ever sheltered before, my eyes have been opened a little bit more.  This has been a year of appreciating others, a year of appreciating God, and a year of appreciating life.