Tim and Dana's journey

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

2011-12-21T17:33:00.000-08:00

2011 has been a great year full of many surprises and life lessons. We started out the year in Minnesota living with 5 other adults and 2 other kids. Tim was working mostly full time hours at Sholom while Dana stayed home with Shiloh and watched our friends' daughter 3 days a week.

In March we celebrated Dana's Grandma's 80th birthday and bought an RV from some dear friends in Missouri. We drove the bus back to Minneapolis (mostly fueled by used veggie oil) and we prayed about traveling with friends to Rainbow Gatherings. We had just paid off all of our debt (thank you Jesus!) and were ready for something new.

In May we went to a national 24-7 prayer gathering in Tulsa, OK. Again we drove our RV (see picture) mostly on used veggie oil and enjoyed a refreshing weekend with Dana's family as well as dear friends from 24-7 Prayer. During the weekend gathering we had some great conversations and Father brought a lot of clarity to our hearts.

As a result we moved to Woodland Park, Colorado, in July to rest and grow in deeper understanding of Father's love for us through his family, the Church. We spent a few months of simply 'detoxing' from city and intense community living. Our days consisted of going on walks, playing at local parks, reading, painting, going on hikes, visiting the local farmer's market and starting new friendships. During this time Tim found a used pottery wheel and started making lots of pottery, some of which he has been able to sell! The most amazing part of it is all is that Tim's wrists, which you probably have been praying for, have been doing awesome! Some folks at a fellowship here prayed for Tim's wrists a few months ago and they have been feeling fantastic. Praise Jesus!

After many months of job searching Tim got a job at Moolala. Unfortunately they made major lay offs just two weeks later. Tim took the in between time to make more pottery and started selling some pieces on Facebook. Since then Tim has been taking orders for Christmas and shipping pottery to several states across the U.S. After only a few weeks of searching for jobs Tim got a job at the local UPS Store and has been there for a month already.

In November we hosted most of Dana's family for a weekend to celebrate Shiloh's 2nd birthday. It was a wonderful time of celebration and Dana's twin brother even got engaged on the same day as Shiloh's birthday party!!!!! Ryan and Maria will be getting married in Texas in July and we plan to attend. We also enjoyed a week long visit from Jake, Rachel and Donovan in October as well as a week long visit from Tim's mom in early December. We are thankful to have this time with family even though we moved far away.

As if there wasn't enough to rejoice in already, we also made the joyful announcement that we are expecting another baby in March!!! Dana has been doing great though she is starting to feel more and more uncomfortable. Little Kramer is growing and doing great. Little Kramer seems to be just as active as Shiloh and eager to come out and play in a few months!

We will be traveling to Bartlesville to celebrate Christmas with the Nagele's. Dana and Shiloh will remain until Jan. 2 while Tim returns Dec. 27th in order to work.

As we look forward to the New Year our hearts are full of hope, joy and peace. We are so excited for baby #2 to be welcomed into our lives. We are excited to grow further in relationships out here as we continue to settle in. We are excited to see the family of God growing together in love as we follow Jesus together. We are excited to express God's creativity through painting, pottery and parenting. We are filled with hope for our families, friends and neighbors to understand God's love for them more. We are filled with joy in the presence of our loving Papa who lavishes his love on us as his children. We are filled with peace even when the world around us continues to spiral down and down.

Praying for God's rich presence in each of your hearts this Christmas and New Year!

Kramertribe

Update

2011-11-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

We just wanted to give a quick update and ask for prayer.

Tim enjoyed two great weeks at Moolala before finding out last Thursday that Moolala has to make major layoffs. It is very disappointing but we are staying in Papa's love.

We would love prayers for:

Favor with a new job.
Peace during this season.
The other individuals and families affected by this lay off.
Continued direction for our time in Colorado.
Grace for Dana's body as baby #2 continues to grow.

As Tim looks for another job he continues to dream of pottery. If you would like to purchase any of Tim's pottery to help us out in this time here are a few ways to do so:

Go to Tim's new facebook page (pictures of pieces coming later today).
Email Tim at mplspoetree@gmail.com and let me know what you might like to buy. I am able to do custom orders on some things as well.

We feel very supported by everyone here, there and elsewhere. Thank you so much for your prayers in this season.

Exciting News

2011-10-19T07:19:00.000-07:00

Baby

Our last blog contained the great news that we are expecting. We wanted to give a quick update. Yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound appointment. We did find out the gender of this little mover, so, if you want to know and do not know already, just send us an email.
Baby is doing wonderfully and so is Dana. We continue to be amazed at God's creativity in pregnancy. We were able to see baby's foot and can tell already that baby's foot is like Tim's!!! See picture to the right. We are right on 'target' for an early March birth. Shiloh is going to be a great big brother. He is getting so big and will be 2 next month! He is currently getting all 4 of his 2 year molars in.

Job
Our other bit of exciting news is that Tim has a job!!! He starts Monday (the 24th) and will be working for Moolala, a deal-of-the-day company. Tim will join a small team of 4 others who make up the Member Experience Team (customer service). The pay is really good for Colorado, there are benefits and a Mac laptop! Oh yeah, and it is right in town, only 1 mile from our house. Thank you all for praying with us over these last several months. Tim will be working 25-35 hour a week to start out. Please keep us all in prayer during this transition.

On October 8th we had around 8 inches of snow! Here is a picture of Shiloh all suited up for his first Colorado snow adventure. Remind any one else of 'A Christmas Story'?

Fantastic Fall Family Fun

2011-10-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

Baby!!!!!
That's right friends, we are having another baby! Dana has been feeling great overall and is 4 months along. For those of you calculating that means we will be having this sweet little baby around the beginning of March. We are really excited for this gift to our family and Shiloh is going to be an awesome big brother. It is common for him to walk about the house randomly saying, 'Big brother Shiloh' or giving baby a kiss. He also likes to wrap his stuffed animals in blankets, hold them in his arms and whisper, 'Shh shh shh.'

Creativity
One of our favorite things of our time in Colorado so far has been lots of time for creativity! Many days of the week, during Shiloh's nap, Dana can be found working on an oil painting while Tim is in his pottery 'studio' throwing pots. This has brought much life to both of us. Though Tim does not have a kiln, he has been able to connect with several potters and even has the opportunity to participate in a wood kiln firing next month! More on this to come soon. Please visit Tim's pottery blog for updates as well.

For those of you who may not know, Tim also has been working on a fun creative music project centering around the theme of gold prospectors. Colorado has a rich (pun intended) history of gold prospecting so it has been fun to learn about that. For those of you who want to know more about Tim's project please visit his Prospector Hip-hop website.

Also, if any of you or anyone you may know, would like to order pottery please let us know. Tim is currently taking orders for custom mugs or anything else you may desire. Though there is no website yet Tim would be glad to email you pictures of past/current work. Just email, call or send us a message on facebook.

Future
We continue to pray and dream with our Father of the present and future. We have felt really blessed to meet and connect with many folks out here already. We believe God is giving us little glimpses of our future. We are enjoying time with friends that we know already, with new friends, weekly fellowship, random parties and refreshing time spent at the nearby house of prayer.
God continues to put an emphasis on family-both natural and spiritual and we know this is going to blossom more and more as we wait on him. We are loving being in the mountains, in a small town and continue to dream of someday having some land with a house for our family, hermitages for weary people to come rest, a big garden, an art studio.....yeah, it is a big dream. We are content here and love what God is doing in and around us. As of right now Tim still has not found a job. He continues to look as we all pray and wait on our trustworthy Father.
We love you all and pray God's peace and joy fills you this Fall. We send Father's rich blessings to you all from the mountains of Colorado where we have already had our first snow (no accumulations.)

Love,

Kramertribe!!!

colorado welcome

2011-08-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

We made it safely to Woodland Park and are settling in. We made the journey and 3 days and got here two weeks ago today. Woodland Park is vastly different from Minneapolis but we really enjoy it. Right now life consists of getting up, going on our morning walk, playing at the park, seeing deer eating in peoples' yards, hanging out at home, Shiloh napping while we unpack, read, look for jobs, afternoon playing, dinner and an evening walk.

Everytime we go out our door we see Pike's Peak and surrounding foothills. It is breath-taking and we are in awe of God's creativity.

Shiloh is adjusting very well and enjoys being outside playing so much. We think he is even getting a tan!

Some highlights already include: a wonderful hike at a near by State Park, getting to spend time with Holly several times a week, connecting with a local house of prayer, lots of sunshine, and meeting local potters who will fire our pottery for very reasonable price!

We would appreciate your prayers in the following areas:

- Healing for Tim's wrists that continue to ache and tingle.
-Direction for job search for sources of income.
-Grace in the transition as everything is different.
-Discernment for opportunities with local fellowships.

Hey, We are moving

2011-06-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

That's right dear friends and family, kramertribe is moving.

Over the past year and a half, and especially in the last few months, our hearts have been in a season of preparation for change and movement. In the last few weeks we have had much focused conversation and prayer. The result is a decision to move to Woodland Park, Colorado.

It has been a very tough decision but we are excited and have much peace about the decision. We feel a lot of joy, peace and safety with our Father to take this step, or leap, into something very new.

"What will you do in Woodland Park?" "Why Woodland Park?" "Where is Woodland Park?" "Did you get a job offer?" "Who is in Woodland Park?"

We are guessing most of you are asking at least a few of the above questions. Most of them should be answered in the rest of this blog, but if not, or not as adequately as you desire, do not hesitate to ask us. By then we might be able to tell you. haha!

Woodland Park is nestled in the Rocky Mountains west on 24 from Colorado Springs and surrounded by the Pike National Forest. We will be renting a 2 bedroom house, working jobs, spending time with friends-old and new, and enjoying God, each other and God's beautiful creation. The decision to move here has mostly to do with an invitation from God and from his family in Woodland Park, to have a season of restoration, healing and recovery of who we are in God.
You may remember us writing in a blog last year about a retreat called Churchthink hosted by Ben and Robin Pasley of Enter the Worship Circle. Though the retreat was canceled we still got to spend a day with Ben, Robin and some of their friends in Woodland Park. Shortly after our dear friend Holly moved in with Ben and Robin. Since then she has pestered and invited us to move there. In the last year we have received much encouragement and teaching through Ben and Robin via music, books and blogs. The passion of the hearts of these fine folks in Woodland Park is to shepherd and parent the beautiful family of God (Church) into her amazing inheritance as sons of God, made possible by adoption through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This resonates very deeply with our hearts.

So, without much of a clue as to what to expect we are planning on moving to Woodland Park the end of July. We are excited and sad at the same time. There will be many great but hard partings with many dear friends in Minneapolis. For those of you in Minneapolis, stayed tuned for a going away/sending out party sometime in July.

We would greatly appreciate your prayers for:

-Continued clarity in this transition.
-Grace for Shiloh in all of this change.
-Continued open hearts to hear and follow our Papa.
-Trusting God's provision for jobs and such.
-Powerful transformation, renewal and healing in this season.
-Open hands to receive all Papa has for us as his sons.

Shiloh mowing with Grandpa Nagele. Wheeee!

What happened?

2011-02-17T07:09:00.000-08:00

Where did they go? (Shiloh's favorite expression.)

We are still alive and well. Though we have no posted anything on here since September life has been very full for us. We had a year end letter ready but never got around to posting it. Sorry. Many of you received a snail mail copy of the letter and for those who did not we are sorry.

Shiloh
Shiloh is almost 15 months old! He is such a joy and delight. His favorite thing to do is to run around throwing, kicking and dribbling balls, balloons and anything else that is round. He astounds us with his ability to run and kick. Some see a soccer star in the making. Ha!
Shiloh has also become very fond of reading books, trying to say words, wearing our clothes (see picture above) and yes, still loves cats. We are so thankful for the gift of laughter that he is in our lives and often watch in awe, wondering what this little man will become.

Dana
Dana continues to watch little Isabel three days a week at home. She enjoys going to the YMCA weekly, cooking wonderful meals, spending time with other moms and babies at playgroup and bringing much life to all around her. She is dreaming of spring and summer when she can be outside on walks, bike rides and working in the garden. She also dreams of having more time for creating through painting and sewing.

Tim
Tim continues to seek a balance in life at home and work. Beginning next week he is transitioning back to a part time position at Sholom after many months of mostly full time work. His new position is Monday-Friday, 6am-10am, as well as being on-call. This is very exciting as his wrists continue to be greatly affected by carpal tunnel syndrome.
He will continue leading the non-denominational services at Sholom every other Sunday. This has been such a blessing and Tim looks forward to it every time. You can read some of his homilies from these services on his blog. Also on his blog you can find updates about his pottery ventures.

We are all very excited for the season that we are entering. There are some really exciting possibilities in the present and future. God continues to teach us about his kingdom and unfailing love. We continue to keep open hearts and ears to what the Holy Spirit is saying. Thank you all very much for your love, support and friendship. We are realizing more and more the blessing of meaningful relationships in this life. Peace be with you each.

Kramertribe

Shana Tova! (Happy New Year!)

2010-09-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

Shana Tova everyone!
This week marks the Jewish 'New Year' called Rosh Hashana. It is a joyful time of blessing God and blessing one another with the prayer for a sweet new year celebrated by eating honey, apples, challah bread with raisins and asking God's blessing on the coming year. We truly say, 'Shana Tova' to each of you.

Shiloh
Shiloh is 9 1/2 months and doing well. He has been crawling for a few weeks and is pulling himself up on things. He just cut his sixth tooth this week! He is still as cute as ever. Though we are sometimes exhausted we still love being parents and can hardly believe Shiloh will be a year old in a few months. Tim and Dana
We are doing pretty well. There are some exciting opportunities on the horizon. One exciting opportunity is that we are hoping to be part of a prayer ministry training class. This class covers a myriad of topics and will equip us to pray for people from diverse backgrounds. The class will meet every other Tuesday evening from October through May. We are looking forward to times of worship, teaching and small group prayer. Most of the folks involved are older generations so we look forward to gleaning much from their wisdom. The ministry is called All Things New.

Another opportunity that opened up is at Tim's work, Sholom Community Alliance. Even though it is based on Jewish philosophy, there is a significant number of Christians. As a result they have volunteers lead Christian services on Sunday mornings. The man who has led them for the last six years is moving and upon hearing that Tim has a theology degree the chaplain and rabbi asked if he would want to lead the services. He said yes and will lead his first one this Sunday. It is a wide open opportunity to lead the service in anyway.

Dana started her 'day care' this month and is watching our friends daughter Wednesday-Friday. The adjustment is going well although it is hard for Shiloh to share his mama. We are thankful for the opportunity to help Josh and Courtney as well as the opportunity for Dana to work from home.

Prayer Requests

Grace for Dana as she adjusts to watching Izzy and Shiloh.
Discernment for Tim as he leads services at Sholom.
Wisdom and healing for Tim who has carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms.
Open hearts as we start the prayer training in a month.
Thanksgiving for Shiloh's growth and development.
Thanksgiving for all the new opportunities in our lives.

July 2010

2010-07-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!
We decided it is due time for an update about our lives. Shiloh is eight months old already! He has three teeth and is working in two more right now. He will probably start crawling any day now and we are sure walking will follow close behind. We have been enjoying summer in Minneapolis. The pictures are a sampling of the beautiful flowers all over our yard thanks to Sara's hard work.It has been a nice change of pace to spend so much time at our house and with family.

After a month of job searching, four interviews and two job offers, Tim has a job! He is a janitor at Sholom Community Alliance in St. Paul. Sholom started out as the House for the Jewish Aged in 1908 and has evolved into a very nice hospice, nursing home, assisted living, equal opportunity housing apartment facility. Right now Tim is working 25 hours a week and has night and weekends to be with the fam! Thanks for your prayers.

Dana will start her job the end of August. She will be watching our friends Josh and Courtney's daughter, Isabel Grace. We are excited for this season of life and thankful for God's provision of jobs.

In other exciting news, we are building a pottery studio on our front porch. The picture above is the wall and door Tim and Andrew framed and walled. When completed it will be home to a brand new pottery wheel that we are buying together with the Howards. The Howards will also be purchasing a used kiln so we will be able to throw, trim, glaze and fire in our house! There is a lot of work to be done but it is definitely worth it. We are dreaming together of doing a couple sales a year on our front porch. We would be selling pottery as well as other handmade goodies all from our housemates. Stay tuned!

This month we enjoyed visits from the two grandmas and great-grandma. We are looking forward to grandpa beaver being here next weekend as well! We also enjoyed a visit from our dear friend Lydia who is from Holland. Overall life is good.Below is a picture of 'the twins' Leif and Shiloh. Though Leif, Andrew and Sara's second son, is three months younger he is bigger than Shiloh! We love you all and welcome your calls, emails, letters or visits! Shalom!

Pilgrimage part 2

2010-05-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

Midwest
After a lovely month in Albuquerque we headed to the Midwest to visit more family and friends. We brought with us several boxes of Tim's pottery. We unpacked the kiln Monday and left Wednesday evening. Whoo! To see pottery and read about the firing go to Tim's blog.

We stopped by Bartlesville, OK for a day of rest before heading to Southwest City, MO to camp with friends. We spend a rainy fun weekend in conversations, walks, fireside storytelling and a trade circle. Tim was able to trade some of his pottery for various things like homemade goat's milk soap, homespun yarn and handknit socks! We were refreshed in the fellowship, learned about some yummy edible wilds and even got some sassafras root for some homebrewed root beer!
We then spent a few days in Siloam Springs, Arkansas where we went to college. We had a great time visiting old friends and even a few professors. We had fun remember lots of dear memories from our years in Siloam.

We are now back in Bartlesville for a week and a half. We are getting more and more excited to be back in Minneapolis.

Shiloh
Believe it or not Shiloh is 6 months old already! He is sitting up pretty well, eating some solids and growing every day. Everywhere we go people are drawn to Shiloh like insects to light and comment on how adorable he is. We love being able to introduce him to friends and share him with family. He is a daily reminder of how many people have prayed for us.

Here are some pictures and videos of the little guy. Shalom!

First leg of our pilgrimage

2010-04-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

Lincoln, Denver and Woodland Park

We have had a great pilgrimage so far. We have been very encouraged and blessed by God's presence each part of our journey. Shiloh has been a traveling champion though he has let us know when he is tired of being in the car.

Our first stop was in Lincoln, Nebraska to visit Dana's grandma and grandpa. Shiloh is the first grandchild on both sides. We had a wonderful visit and Shiloh really enjoyed being with his great grandparents as well as lunch with his great uncle and aunt.

From Lincoln we drove to Littleton, Colorado for a day. We stayed with our friends from JBU and had fun reminiscing about the 'good old days.' We enjoyed a warm sunny day and even got a little sun burn! They say we are closer to the sun because of the altitude.

After a short visit in Littleton we headed to Woodland Park, Colorado, where we stayed for 3 days. We stayed at our friend's mountain home but missed him because he was on tour in Iowa! We had a very restful time at his house even though the altitude seemed to really bother Shiloh a lot. On Friday, we spent the day with Ben and Robin Pasley. They are part of Enter the Worship Circle and Churchthink. The retreat was canceled but they were gracious enough to share most of a day with us. We hungout, ate lunch, had great conversations, Tim had male bonding time in the garage and even got prayed for! It was a very encouraging day and helped us process our time at Source.

On Saturday we spend the day together as a family. Hard to believe this was the first time we had a whole day just as a family! We played, went on a hike in the beautiful Colorado high country, took naps and packed up our things. Our souls were refreshed and encouraged greatly in Woodland Park. We headed down to Albuquerque Sunday morning. We will be in Albuquerque for a month. Look for an update in that time about our time in Albquerque. Thanks for your prayers!

kramertribe happenins

2010-03-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

Well, hard to believe but it is almost April already. Equally hard to believe is that we have had Spring like weather for weeks in Minneapolis!

We are just one week away from the beginning of our two month road trip. Unfortunately, the trip has changed significantly. Fortunately, we have learned to be flexible and trust that God is orchestrating all things.
The churchthink retreat has been canceled but we are still going to spend a few days in Colorado with Ben and Robin. We will then head to Albuquerque to be with Tim's parents. Tim's dad has been looking for work for months and recently acquired two jobs. This is wonderful but unfortunately means he will have much less time to teach Tim pottery. The 24-7 prayer gathering will not be in Tulsa so we will not be attending that either! God certainly has something different in mind for this trip.
We recently celebrated the marriage of our friends Levi and Becky in Kansas City. We got to see lots of friends and had a wonderful time. Tim was able to give away some of his first pieces of pottery as wedding gifts!

Shiloh is growing and doing great. He weighed in at 15 pounds 1 ounce at his four month check up. He has been slobbering all over and gnawing on his hands for weeks-teething! Every week he seems to be even more alert, vocal and expressive. He recently started rolling over from his tummy to his back! Here are some pictures of the little one and a video of him rolling over fresh from today!

Kramertribe News

2010-02-20T19:08:00.000-08:00

Hello there everyone. It has been a while since we have posted anything on here. As you know, from the previous post, we are no longer on staff with Source.

"So, what are you doing then?"

Here is a bit of what we have been up to lately. We spent 2 1/2 weeks on the road for Christmas and returned home New Year's Day. It was lovely to spend time with both of our families and to introduce Shiloh to family and friends. The picture is Shiloh with his three uncles on Dana's side. We had safe travels and Shiloh did really well for a one-month old baby in the car!

Upon returning to Minneapolis we have been settling in as new parents, adjusting to three (now four-Andrew and Sara had their second son, Leif Justice Howard on Feb. 17) new housemates at our house, resting, spending lots of time together as a family, learning pottery, creating things, connecting with friends, shoveling lots of snow and waiting on God. We have been able to do a lot of things that we just did not have time for before. It has been such a rich time of bonding with Shiloh, who is three months old already!

Though we are still not certain of long-term plans we do have some idea of more 'immediate' things. As of right now we are planning on a wee pilgrimage in April and May. The first 'stop' will hopefully be a retreat in Colorado called 'Churchthink.' You can read more at churchthink.com. The retreat will be a weekend of exploring the kingdom of God and church as the family of God in the Colorado Rockies. From here we hope to go to Albuquerque to spend a month with Tim's parents. Tim is doing a pottery 'internship' right now (some of his first bowls are in the picture to the right) and hopes to continue this with his dad who is a potter. Read more about Tim's pottery endeavors on his blog. We then hope to venture on to Oklahoma to see Dana's family as well as attend the national 24-7 prayer gathering in Tulsa mid-May. From there we would head home to Minneapolis and see what adventures await us there. Most likely the adventures will consist of part-time work, gardening, parenting, pottery, prayer and life!

So, there you have it folks, the latest Krametribe news. Please keep us in prayer as well as our future plans. We are still processing a lot of the last two years with Source as well as waiting on God in regards to the 'next step.' We love you all and hope you are well. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, prayers, things you are hearing from God, etc. Peace be with you.

Kramertribe

Closing of Chapter.

2010-01-19T12:42:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family,

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father through his Son.

We hope you are blessed this New Year. We are writing to give you an update about the life of Kramertribe. First of all, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude for all of your loving support through prayer and finances! As you all know we have been living in Minneapolis for the last two years and working at Source Ministries. Over the past two years we have grown in many ways and have seen God at work in many ways. We have developed as leaders, friends and now parents. We have had many hardships as well as many joys.

Over the course of the past year and especially the last few months we have been in conversation with Peter and Jessica about where Source is and is heading. Through these conversations and much prayer we have made a decision to transition out of Source. There are many reasons but mainly it is us being well differentiated from Source. It has been a heart-wrenching decision but we are confident and at peace with our decision. We know that God called us to Source and Minneapolis. We fulfilled our two year commitment in October and have been asking God what the next step ought to be.

We are not entirely sure what our next step will be. For now we will remain in Minneapolis. We are hoping to spend the next season resting, focusing on our new family, being restored and receiving inner healing. We are very blessed to have deep friendships with several folks in Minneapolis who are a source of great strength and encouragement. No matter what our hearts will always be for intimacy with the Father and his Son, for 24/7 prayer, for mercy, for justice, for the kingdom of God to come here now, for the growth and health of the Church, and for friendship with the poor and downcast. These are the things we will be pursuing in the next step and for the rest of our lives.

We cannot state enough our appreciation for each one of you who has prayed, given finances, spoken encouragement and in other ways have journeyed with us over these last 2 years. Thank you! It has been such a joy to partner with you in the work of his kingdom in Minneapolis. Logistically, we will be handing things over in January as we transition out of Source. We will be able to receive support through March 15th as we pursue what God has for us next. If you have any questions about support please contact us.

We would love to hear from any of you with any questions concerning this letter. We would also love to talk with you about supporting us in the future in whatever God leads us to next. We will continue to post on our blog so please check that out periodically. We would ask you to pray for our family in this next season as we wait on God. We would also ask you to pray for Peter and Jessica as well as the Source community in this next season. Thank you all once again for being such amazing friends and family. May you grow daily in a knowledge of the Father’s unending love for you and for all of creation. Peace be with you in Christ.

Love,
Tim, Dana and Shiloh Kramer
kramertribe@gmail.com
kramertribe.blogspot.com
3756 5^th Ave S. Minneapolis, MN 55409

Special Kramertribe update

2009-11-24T11:38:00.000-08:00

He’s here!!!

Introducing Shiloh Isaac Kramer! Shiloh arrived Friday November 20, 2009 at 4:13pm. He was 7lbs. 4oz. and 20 inches long. He is absolutely wonderful and adjusting very well to life outside the womb. Dana is a champ! She endured 36 hours of intense labor with only 2 ½ hours of sleep in 2 days. She is recovering well.

Shiloh means long awaited one and God’s gift. Shiloh is also the first place that was set aside as a dwelling place for God’s name. It was at Shiloh that Hannah dedicated her promised child Samuel to the Lord.

Isaac means laughter. Isaac was the promised child of Abraham and Sarah who believed in God’s promise though they had to wait so long to receive it. Together Shiloh Isaac means the long awaited gift of God’s laughter. Hallelu Yah!

As most of you know we have been on quite the journey the last 2 years. Being parents has been such a desire of our hearts but it was delayed in being fulfilled. Through all the trials we have held on to God’s promises. One passage of encouragement has been Psalm 126. Verses 5 and 6 say, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”

Here are some pictures of the little fella for you all to enjoy. Please continue to pray for us as we adjust to life together. We love you and all and rejoice with you in this great gift.

Kramertribe

October 2009 kramertribe update

2009-11-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

Here is what happened in this last month of Tim and Dana

2 year Anniversary
On October 7th we celebrated our 2 year anniversary of living in Minneapolis and working at Source. In some ways it is hard to believe it has been 2 years already but it also seems like we have been here a decade. We are very thankful for the last 2 years and excited for what God has in our future. Thank you all so much for your consistent prayers and support over the last 2 years. We are grateful for God's provision through you to be able to live and work in Minneapolis.
There have been many ups and downs in the last 2 years as well as many surprises. One of the main lessons we have learned, and are still learning, is that God is good. There have been times in the last 2 years that we have questioned and wrestled with this but we can confidently say that God is good. We really do not know what the future holds for us but we are sure it is good!
Here are some random pictures from our last 2 years...

Mohamoud
Tim got to spend some time with Mohamoud on a Saturday morning in October. It had been a few months since we had seen Mohamoud so it was great to be with him again. Tim got to experience his first ever Somali breakfast which was delicious! Mohamoud served a crepe like thing called 'Anjali' with vegetable soup to dip it in as well as Somali Chai. While we ate we talked about the Qu'ran, Sufi teachings, Jesus and the cross. Muslims believe in Jesus, that he is a prophet of Allah and that he is coming back to establish a kingdom of justice and peace. However, they do not believe that Jesus died on the cross. They believe that Judas, or another was transfigured to look like Jesus, was crucified and that Jesus ascended to heaven. Mohamoud and I (Tim) had a great conversation about why Christians believe Jesus died on the cross and the nature of our need for salvation. Thank you for your prayers for Mohamoud.

Wedding
On October 30th we had the privilege of attending our friend Mandi's wedding. It was a surprise wedding that her fiancee planned and it was a costume wedding! Needless to say it was very unique and a lot of fun. Dana went as a 'Bun in the Oven' and Tim went as a monk. It was very joyful to see Mandi get hitched!

Baby Kramer
Baby kramer is doing great and coming soon. We are just 1 1/2 weeks from our 'due' date. Our family and friends here hosted a marvelous baby shower for us here October 4th. We had a really great time and felt very loved. We were blessed to have Tim's family finally meet a lot of our friends that we live and work with. Here are some pictures from the shower!

kramertribe september 2009 update

2009-09-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

hey beloved family and friends! here is our newest update. it is hard to believe another month has flown by in the life of kramertribe. below are some snipets and highlights from September.

24/7 Prayer week

We hosted another week of prayer September 19-26. Each week of prayer we ask God for different themes to pray about. One of the main ones this week of prayer had to do with repentance and regathering. The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah actually started sundown September 18th. This directed our prayers as we asked God to bring revelation and grace for the next year for Source. The week was pretty slim in numbers but provided a lot of time for us to spend alone in prayer.

The heart of these weeks of prayer is to regather as a community and focus on intimacy with God. Each week of prayer we have new people come through to get food, prayer, friendship, etc. We are so grateful to provide a place of rest, safety and prayer for our neighbors and friends.

Fall at Source
This fall is a crucial time for Source. It is a season of transition and rebuilding. It is a very difficult season as some of our favorite people are 'moving on.' It is a stressful season as Source is not doing well financially. As a result we are cutting back on outreach and things a bit. In the midst of all of this we are looking to Jesus for direction, hope and peace. Go here to watch a video about our homeless youth outreach, B4-48.
Some of the transition comes from Peter and Jessica believing it is time to go from a para-church mindset to the mindset of a church. Source has always been a para-church ministry but Peter and Jessica want to build a church community that does homeless youth outreach, creative things with the arts, etc. Also, they are not sure how to share the ownership and vision of Source. Needless to say, Source needs a lot of prayer in this season. Dana and I are still committed to Source and hopeful of the outcome of this season. Pray for the conversations and prayers happening in the next several months.
Another part of this fall is a joint Bible study on Wednesday nights. We are going through the book, Stomping out the Darkness. The book looks a lot at our journey from being apart from God to having our identity in Christ.
Tim has been able to do some teaching as a part of this. Last week Tim taught on our sonship and adoption through Christ. The teaching centered around the good news of the gospel that reveals God plan to adopt us as his children through Christ. Tim taught from Romans 8 and other passages that speak about God's love and grace. It is truly amazing that God provided a way through Jesus for us to become his children. After the teaching Dana facilitated a time to reflect on times we have not felt significant, secure or that we belong. Then we got into small groups to pray for one another.

Kramers
~ 6 more weeks until baby kramer arrives! We are very excited for the arrival of this baby. Obviously everything is going to change and we are feeling mostly prepared. One of the major prayer concerns right now is that this baby would turn as it is still breech. We are joyfully welcoming the beginning of a new season for us. Our role at Source will be different but we don't know exactly what it will look like. We will have mid-November to mid-January off to be new parents, love our newborn and pray about our involvement at Source.

We continue to enjoy living in community and are growing a lot. Andrew and Sara, the other family at the house, are expecting their second child in February, so the house is going to get very crazy! We are preparing to harvest our garden for the second year. This year we got a lot more produce including some from last year's compost! Unfortunately we are down to only 2 chickens after losing 2 chicks and 1 hen in the last month!
Above is a picture of Andrew and Sara's son Ezekiel (Zeke) hanging out with Sybil (dog) and Benedict (cat) who like to cuddle.

We love you all and thank you for your prayers and support!

Tim, Dana and baby aka krametribe

July/August 2009 Kramertribe update

2009-07-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Cornerstone

Every year Source goes to Cornerstone Festival in Illinois. This year Dana and I went because the Cornerstone staff invited 24-7 Prayer to run a prayer tent and do some teaching about 24-7 prayer. We had a small team go, set up a prayer tent, run a booth and do some teaching. Tim got to fill in for one of Peter's teachings which was an honor because Peter has taught for the last 10 years. Tim taught on one of Source's core values which is being accessible. His teaching ended with a call for the Church to wake up, be a place of belonging so youth don't have to go to sub-cultures such as gangs in search of family and home.

It was great to be able to share the story of 24-7 prayer with people at Cornerstone as well as to pray with many new friends. We were also excited to have conversations with a few people about B4-48, our homeless youth outreach. Several peoples' hearts were stirred with the reality of life for youth on the streets. We hope to see this passion spread across the country and world. The picture to the left is Tim trying to get in conversations at our booth at Cornerstone.

Mom's 60th
The weekend before our biggest event of the year we had the joy of joining Tim's family in Missouri to celebrate his mom's 60th birthday. Tim's family (parents, siblings, spouses and kids) all made it which was great because they had not all been together since our wedding 3 years ago. We had a wonderful and restful time.

Tim's mom was honored to have her kids and grandkids there. Tim's brother put together a slide show with lots of pictures and some videos. What a joy to look back over the years and celebrate together! Tim's dad will be turning 60 next year so we hope to be able to gather together again then.

Art Fest

July 20-25 we hosted an Art Intensive week. We had people from Georgia, Chicago and Texas. It was a week of workshops, teachings and outreach. On Friday night we hosted an independent film festival that kicked off our annual Art Fest. On Saturday, July 25th we hosted our 7th Art Fest. We block off a street and a half, have 4 stages, free food, kids activities and lots of interactive art stations. Despite some rain it was a great day and we had a decent turn out. Everyone was really exhausted after a summer of lots of events. We ended the night with worship and prayer out on the streets. Tim was super excited to invite Grupo Raices, a band that plays the traditional music of the Andes, to play at Art Fest (see picture to left).

Dana did a cameo appearance during Art Intensive week. She played Juliet in Josh's performance of the book Blue Like Jazz.

Kramers
Kramertribe is doing well. Baby is growing and moving a lot. We are so grateful for this gift from God. This summer was really busy, stressful and good all at the same time. We grew a lot in the area of leadership through all the event coordination, teaching, leading outreach, etc. We went on a small trip to OK, AR and MO where we got to see several of you. The rest of August was spent in Minneapolis with friends, working in the garden, labor/birth classes and lots of fun.

This fall is going to look different for us as we prepare for the arrival of this baby. We are in need of a season of restoration and healing. We are in need of a season of refreshing through prayer and intimacy with God. This is our hope for the fall for us as well as all the staff at Source. Please join us in prayer for this fall and what God desires at Source. August was a 'make it or break it' month financially for Source. We (Source) were able to get some money but not as much as we need. We are trusting God but uncertain of what will happen in the coming months. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. See below for random pictures of Art Fest and such.

Tim and Dana and baby Kramer

June 2009 Kramertribe update!

2009-07-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

UMT
The last week of June we hosted our annual Urban Ministry Training week. It is a week where we invite people from across the country to spend a week with us in Minneapolis to learn about 24/7 prayer, urban missions, art, etc. This year Dana and I were the coordinators of UMT. We had a small intimate group and had a great time. Some of the highlights were each of us getting to teach, community times of worship, and our friends Seth and Tracy sharing about God's vision of restoration.

Compassion 48
The week after UMT we hosted a week of 24/7 prayer and then hosted a week called Compassion 48. The idea behind Compassion 48 was to raise awareness about homelessness globally as well as our own backyard. We had a group of 10 from the Wesley Foundation at Louisiana Tech join us for the week. They went in groups of 3 to spend 24 hours on the streets with nothing but sleeping bags and water. These 24 hours changed their lives as they got just a glimpse of what being on the streets is like. Tim had the privilege of teaching three times throughout the week on the Kingdom of God, Jesus: a life of Compassion and The Gift of the Poor.

Friday, June 20th we hosted a B4 48 Service which consisted of a meal, spoken word, teaching and worship. We had close to 100 people come with a desire to learn about homeless youth and what they can do to help in their own backyard. God was very present throughout the night and we had a great response. We plan to host weeks like this throughout the year.

"Within 48 hours of a homeless youth hitting the streets they will be propositioned by a member of the sex or drug industry."

What if we could reach them first?

Project Earth
Last year we were invited to be a part of a local festival called Project Earth. It is a jam band, eco-village festival, or at least is advertised as such. In reality it is a weekend party. We were invited back this year and brought a team of a dozen or so. We set up camp, hosted a 24/7 prayer tent and did one of our interactive giant puzzle murals. The atmosphere at the festival seemed a lot darker and more closed this year than last. Nevertheless, we were glad to be light in the midst of darkness.

Baby Kramer
That's right folks, you are looking at baby kramer! We are 4 1/2 months pregnant! Both Dana and baby are doing great. This ultrasound was from a few weeks ago. Baby is holding its hand up by its face. As you can tell by the vague pronouns we are not disclosing the gender of baby or any possible names. You will all just have to wait till mid-November.

Thanks everyone who has been praying for us through these last few years. Please continue to pray for us as we prepare for our lives to be changed forever!

August Travels
We have three busy weeks left of summer and then will get some time off in August. We hope to be sharing at East Cross in Bartlesville the morning of Sunday, August 2nd. We will be sharing at Antioch Chruch in Siloam Springs the morning of Sunday, August 9th. We will be in Siloam August 8th-10th and stopping by Kansas City August 10-11th. We look forward to seeing many of you then.

May 2009 Kramertribe update

2009-06-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

well, the month of may flew by and it is hard to believe it is june already! in the NCAA world they talk about March Madness, but we think in Source it would be more appropriate to talk about 'May Madness.'

Mayday
The first Sunday of May is a big day for Minneapolis. Every year Heart of the Beast Theater hosts the Mayday Parade and Festival. Picture this: 20-30,000 people, around 100 floats made of various materials and no motors allowed, puppets, activist groups, families, punks, homosexuals, trans-gender folks, pagans, Wiccans, art, music, theater, venders, etc. Got it? This is MayDay. We are one of the only Christian groups invited to participate. We are part of the parade and then host an interactive art area with mosaics, face painting, mask making, a puzzle mural and drumming.

This year we went with the theme of Trouble. We build a Trouble board float and collected prayer requests of what is troubling people. It was a really great day and gave us the chance to invite people to the Fallout and to conversation about the kingdom.

Below is a video from MayDay

24/7 prayer gathering
This year we had the privilege of hosting the national 24/7 prayer gathering in Minneapolis. Dana put in a ton of work to help host and feed about 50 people before the gathering. There were around 150 people total who joined us for the actual gathering. It was a really encouraging week as we got to fellowship together with people from England, Tulsa, Grand Rapids, Kansas City and several other places.

The gathering was focused on communion with Jesus and all that means. There was a big focus on being family together and not just working with or managing one another. The worship was powerful and we had the honor of having Ben Pasley from Enter the Worship Circle lead the main worship sessions. Dana and I also had the honor of helping lead the Prayer Track for the weekend. It was a great time of teaching, fellowship and of course prayer. For the Friday night of the gathering we hosted a mini-art fest at the Fallout. This was a great way to share the heart of the Source Boiler Room with other 24-7 prayer communities. There was live music, live drama, a puzzle mural, drum jam, worship and lots of food. We also got to share about our Homeless Youth outreach, B4-48. More on that later...

B4-48 (homeless youth outreach)
There is a shocking statistic about homeless youth in America. That statistic is that within 48 hours of being on the streets a homeless youth will be approached and propositioned by a gang member, drug dealer or pimp. We have taken up the slogan, 'Before 48 (B4-48) in our homeless youth outreach. What if, in those first 48 hours, the homeless youth encountered Christians who cared?

As part of this we have just finished a compilation CD from those who have been homeless youth or are advocates for them. They are available for a $10 donation that will all go towards our homeless youth outreach. If you want one please email us and we can ship one to you. Please be praying for us as we seek to help homeless youth.

One couple that we met during a recent outreach are Joe and Melanie. They spent the night at the Fallout, had a great time with some of the staff and have stopped by several times since. They are at a place in their lives where they want to lay down some roots. They seem very open to learning about the kingdom. Please pray for us as we love them and wait to see what the next step is in our friendship.

Kramers
We are doing well. We celebrated 3 years of marriage May 27th. Woohoo!! These months are crazy busy and go by really fast. We continue to grow in our areas of leadership at Source. One highlight of this month was helping to lead the Prayer Track during the 24/7 prayer gathering. On one hand it is not that big of a deal but on the other it is. We were significantly younger than others who were co-leading and some of those who were part of the track. But regardless God has given us favor and grace to impart to others his heart for prayer. We love sharing stories and hearing stories of others who are part of 24-7 prayer.

Our house is going through transitions as we wait to see what will happen with roommates. We have hosted a lot of people in the last few months but no one has moved in. There are several who are seriously considering moving in and we need a lot of prayer for wisdom. We got to plant our second garden at our house this month too! Yay! Thank you so much for your prayer and support. You are part of all we are doing here. We love you!

Tim and Dana

24-7 prayer

2009-05-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

We thought it would be good to give a little blurb about 24-7 prayer for those who are not familiar with 24-7 prayer. We are also going to put a lot of pictures of our prayer room to give visuals of what we do.

'Welcome home' is a phrase we use around Source a lot. During our last week of prayer a lady wrote that she felt like she was coming home. Here is our prayer room!

24-7 Prayer history

A brief history of 24-7 prayer. You can read much more in the book Red Moon Rising or by going to www.24-7prayer.com
24-7 Prayer started in September 1999 in England, but really it started much before then. The OT hints at 24-7 prayer as early as the priesthood and tabernacle. God wanted a lamp burning in the tabernacle all day and night. Throughout Church history there have been different expressions of 24-7 prayer. Probably the most well known was Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians in Germany who prayed for 100 years! The result of 100 years of prayer was an explosion of missions all across the world. We hope to see the same in our generation. Well, all of this history has influenced the group of friends we find ourselves a part of. The idea of 24-7 prayer is that we set aside time and space to simply be with God.

Source 24-7 prayer Boiler Room

At Source we do a week of non-stop prayer every 3 months. We have an Urban Prayer Room that is open for a whole week, night and day. We have the week broken down by 1 hour time slots, people sign up to come pray-individually and corporately, and we pray for a week. It is a way to practice intimacy with God, to bring our hearts before him, to be still, to learn, to grow in love for God and for people. It is a way of practicing Sabbath together as a community. We do our best to rest from other activities, events, etc. in order to simply focus on God.

Having an Urban Prayer Room also creates space for people to encounter God. We love having people from all faith backgrounds feel welcomed to pray with us. We love pausing as a family to prayer together throughout the days. Most everyone has a sense of sacred space and respect that we have a room set aside for prayer. As we live and love our neighbors we hope for opportunities to pray with them.

Trouble

This summer we believe God has given us a theme for prayer and outreach. The theme is 'Trouble.' As you all know there is trouble all around us-the economy, family, personal. When Jesus came proclaiming the kingdom of God is near it meant trouble. At the same time God is our source of help in time of trouble. As a way of bringing this theme to the people of Minneapolis we have been collecting peoples' prayer requests of what troubles them. It is a great way of connecting and opening peoples' hearts to prayer and God.

Anyway, we hope this gives you a better glimpse of 24-7 prayer and our involvement with 24-7 prayer. Please email us if you have any questions at all concerning 24-7 prayer or Source Boiler Room. Enjoy the pictures!!!

tim's poetry

2009-05-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

just a reminder. Tim has a poetry blog that he updates often with lots of poems.

http://mplspoetree.blogspot.com/

April 2009 Kramertribe update!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!

2009-05-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Disgrace
Every year we do a Good Friday service called Disgrace. This year we had the help of several students from Crown College. Disgrace consists of 17 stations of the cross depicted by visual art in our gallery as well as a performance that goes with each station. We had around 150 people come this year and it is a wonderful night. Dana painted an oil painting for the gallery and Tim performed some spoken word. It was a powerful and stunning night. It was a great way to re-experience the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The picture is of Studio 3 in our Co-op building where we hosted Disgrace.

One of the interactive stations we do every year is a mugshot station. The mugshots represent the station of the cross where Jesus is condemned to die. We have each person get their mugshot but don't tell them what it will be used for. Then, during the performance we flash up every person's mugshot. The connection is made that we are all condemned to die but Jesus took our place. So, here are our mugshots!

April 24/7 week
We did another week of prayer April 18-25. Some of the themes we prayed about included: the kingdom of God, abiding in Christ, God's provision and the tragedy of fatherlessness. It was a good week of prayer. There seemed to be less people around for this week of prayer but it was still a really good time of abiding in Christ. We practiced a day of silence on Monday of the week of prayer. It was challenging for some who have never done anything like it before. It was a great way to practice being still before the Lord as a community.

One highlight was at the community night that wrapped up the week of prayer. We had a time open for people to share what God had been teaching them through the week of prayer. Two people shared who had not been a part of the week of prayer. They both have some social awkwardness and took a long time to say a little bit. It was awkward. It was uncomfortable. It was very raw. And it was good. In order to be a kingdom community we need to be inclusive and welcome people. The fact that people feel safe enough to sit in front of strangers and tell a story is a great thing.

Homeless youth outreach
In January through March we had a group from North Heights Lutheran Church come to the Fallout to participate in Homeless Youth outreach training. In April we picked 6 people to lead teams and they went out for the first time during our week of prayer. They connected with several homeless folk a few of which are youth. There are more travelers and homeless coming back up north for the summer.

It is great to have leaders and teams who can step up for homeless youth outreach. As much as it is our heart and a passion of ours, the reality is that we have a lot of things to do at Source. These leaders are a huge answer to prayer and we are excited to see God at work through them.

Jimmy
One of the guys who has been at the Joshua House for the last few months is Jimmy. He just turned 18 April 30th and we threw what may have been his 1st real birthday party Wednesday night! He was kicked out of his house at age 15. He thought it would be for a few weeks but came back only to find his family had moved without telling him. He was homeless for 2 years before coming to know Christ last August. He is such a great joy and blessing to our community. Psalm 68:5-6 says God is a father to the fatherless and puts the lonely in families. We are honored to be Jimmy's new family.

He is finishing up high school and hopes to go to Crown College afterward. God is doing a lot of deep healing in his life as he is a part of our community. He is being built up, given a new identity as God's child and a new family that loves him. Connie, Peter's mother in law, recently asked Jimmy if he knew his grandparents. He said he did not. Connie asked him if she could be his grandma! That is the kingdom of God! Pray for Jimmy to be encouraged as he finishes school this fall and grows in Christ.

Kramers
Well, it's official, Tim and Dana are 50 years old!!! Ha! We each turned 25 on April 26th. For our birthday we went up north to a cabin for a rest. It was a really refreshing time to get out of the city and spend time together. The cabin was a huge blessing because they usually rent it out for $250 a night, but let us stay 3 nights for free!!! We got to go on a few hikes, enjoy the beautiful spring weather, read a lot and got a lot of sleep.

The crazy Source summer begins this weekend with MayDay parade and festival. We are feeling pretty rested and good about this summer. It will be busy but hopefully not too stressful. We are looking forward to attending a friend's wedding in May and celebrating Tim's mom's 60th Birthday in July. These should be nice breaks in the midst of our busy summer. Pray for God to be present in all we are doing. Pray for God to bring the lost to him in his great love. Pray for us to have a great balance of rest and work in the kingdom.

To the above right is a picture from a recent Friday night. We are enjoying a spring evening and one of our weekly community meals.

To the left is the painting Dana did for this year's disgrace gallery. It was her first oil painting and turned out amazing!

M-A-R-C-H 2009!!!!!!!

2009-04-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

Spring Break Extravaganza
This month we had a group of Northwestern College young ladies spend their Spring Break week with us. 4 RAs and one RD spent the week with us-serving, learning, praying and just being a part of our community. Tim had the privilege of teaching them about prayer and community throughout their week with us. They had a really good time and have been telling lots of other people about their experience.

Two of our friends, Lisa and Lindsey, also decided to spend their Spring Break week with us. They stayed at our house and hung out with us during a normal week at the Source Boiler Room. It was great to host them and be a part of what God is doing in their lives. Tim knows Lisa from FBC Camdenton way back in the day. Lisa and Lindsey at a concert ---------------->

Seder, Passover
Every year Source hosts a traditional Jewish Passover meal called a Seder. It is a great way to gather as a community and reflect on God's faithfulness throughout history. This year we had about 60 people celebrate the Seder together. A Seder involves traditional foods, many of which symbolize the bitterness of slavery and sweetness of redemption. The particular script that we follow points to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb. Dana did an amazing job of organizing all the food and arrangements for this years Seder.

12 Hour Prayer Vigil
Last May God spoke to us about doing more periods of 24 hour prayer at the Source Boiler Room. Though it has been almost a year we have not seen much of a change. While the Northwestern ladies were with us we did a 12-hour prayer vigil to give them a taste of 24/7 prayer. They loved it and so did we. We decided to do another one a few weeks later. Now we are hoping to do at least a 12-hour, if not 24-hour, prayer vigil every month that we aren't already doing a week of prayer. As the prayer coordinators we are really excited to equip and stir the body into more prayer.
St. Stephen's
We finally did an overnight at St. Stephen's shelter Tuesday, March 31st. We had not done an overnight since the Tuesday before Thanksgiving! It was a really good night as we met new friends and caught up with some old friends too. We hope to do an overnight once a month at St. Stephen's and continue to pray for the men in the shelter.
Every time we get to be with friends who are poor or homeless God teaches us about his kingdom. The church needs to realize that proximity to the poor is not an option. We need to realize that the poor are a gift from God to the body of Christ. It is in relationship and proximity to the poor that we realize our true need of God. There is something about seeing unhidden needs that exposes our false sense of self-sufficiency.
Kramertribe
We have survived another rough winter in Minneapolis and are ready for Spring. We got to start our garden by planting seeds inside a few weeks ago. Lots of our seeds are sprouting already and we are anxious for the day we get to plant them in our garden.
Dana discovered oil paints and painted a piece for this year's Disgrace (Good Friday service). Tim will be sharing some of his poetry for Disgrace again this year. We will have pictures in next month's update. Tim has had many opportunities to teach in the last few weeks and is grateful for them.
We are bracing ourselves for the busyness of Source summers. Interns will be arriving mid-May, every week the end of May through the end of July will have many things happening around the Source Boiler Room. Please pray for the staff as we seek God for direction concerning this summer. We hope it is the best summer Source has had yet!

Tim and Dana Kramer

February 2009 Kramertribe update

2009-03-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

Greetings beloved family and friends! We are so grateful for each of you and excited to share with you what has been happening in our lives this last month.

Homeless Youth Benefit
Friday, February 27, 2009, we hosted a Homeless Youth benefit at the Fallout. It was a great collaboration of artists, musicians, ministries and non-profits. We had between 150-200 people show up for the benefit and raised nearly $1000! Local bands played for free, some of our staff did an excellent drama that educated people on the realities of homelessness and we got a lot of socks to give away. It was an encouraging night and a great testimony to Jesus since a bunch of Christians hosted the event. Jesus really loves when his bride does what he does and lets the world know of his great love.
You can see pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/falloutminneapolis

Homeless Youth outreach update
In February we continued to see an increase of people who have a heart to join us in homeless youth outreach. A college group from a church has been coming twice a month and will finish up their training in March. A group from Bethel College has also joined us. They had been cooking food and bringing it to Loring Park and are now going to help us.
A few months ago we started a donation closet with the hopes that it could be a ‘Free Store’ for our homeless friends. In the last 2 months it has not only been filled but is overflowing! However, we know it won’t stay this way for long. Recently one of our homeless brothers stopped by and was excited to find the donation closet full. He said he is going to spread the word. Once spring gets here we have a feeling the closet will be emptying quickly.

Mohamoud update
Thank you all for your continued prayers for our dear friend Mohamoud. I, Tim, was able to visit him this month at his apartment. It had been several months and I knew it was time to see him. When I got to his apartment it was one of the five daily times of prayer for Muslims. I sat in the living room while he went to his room to pray. When he was done he came out and his daughter made us some Somali tea. We chatted about art and I helped him look up some stuff regarding art classes on the Internet.
He saw some calligraphy in Arabic and read it to me, “Allah alone is God and Muhammad is his messenger.” He told me the core beliefs of Islam and I asked him some questions. His daughter interjected comments, quoting the Qu’ran. I was able to share with him the good news of how we are saved by grace not works. I spoke to him about Jesus’ sacrifice and for the first time he said, ‘This is where Muslims and Christians disagree.’ As I left he said he really enjoyed our conversation and wants to continue our conversation. Please pray for Mohamoud and his family to know God and his son Isa. I know I cannot convince him, but our Father can reveal truth.

Kramertribe
This has month has been pretty good for us. There have been some rough days as we continue to grieve the loss of children in the last year and a half. We are also ready for spring to be here! Dana started mentoring Maj, whom we have written of in other updates. See prayer request below for how you can pray.
Tim is getting more opportunities to teach. He recently taught on Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This verse can be translated as saying, “Happy, fortunate, free from daily cares and worries are those who are spiritually poor as a beggar, because theirs is the reign, rule and authority of heaven.” This concept is the complete opposite of what most people strive for. We strive to be spiritually strong and self-sufficient. We think the kingdom will come to those who help themselves and are strong. Jesus teaches the opposite. Many Jewish people believed the kingdom and Messiah would come only by a great war and force of arms. In the Beatitudes Jesus says the kingdom will come to the poor in spirit, the meek and the peacemakers. Rather than seeking to be self-sufficient in our relationship with God we need to seek to be spiritually poor. There will never be a ‘height’ in our Christian walk where we are no longer dependent on Jesus. Those who truly mature in Christ find that the more they walk with him the more aware they are of their desperate need of him.

Prayer Requests
- Summer interns: pray for God to provide for those he wants here for the summer.
- Disgrace, our Good Friday service- April 10th: Pray for the lost to come and experience God.
- Summer in general: Pray for direction, discernment and obedience.
- Peter and Jessica (baby due March 30th): Pray for the Wohlers as they welcome their 4th child and take some much needed time off. Pray for the staff as we will be carrying a lot of their weight in their absence.
- Dana mentoring Maj: Pray for confidence, wisdom and grace as Dana goes through the story of God with Maj. Pray for protection as Maj carries a lot of wounds and spiritual baggage.
- Spring break: We have two groups of college girls coming for their spring breaks. One will be here March 6-14 and the other March 21-28. Pray for them to encounter God and be changed by their time with us.
- Mohamoud: Pray for Tim as he continues to speak with Mohamoud about Jesus (Isa). Pray for Mohamoud and his family to know God and his Son. Pray for more opportunities to visit Mohamoud.
-Joshua House guys: Pray for the Joshua House guys to be encouraged, to find jobs and to seek Jesus as their Life. Pray for protection from any work of the enemy to discourage them.

We are exceedingly thankful for you and your support. There is no way we could do what we do without your prayers, financial support and encouragement. Thank you! We love you and pray you are well. Take time during this Lenten season to really reflect on the cross and sacrifice of Jesus. Peace be with you in Christ.

Tim and Dana Kramer

tim playing drums at our Drum and Easel

Kramertribe January 2009 update

2009-02-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

In this month's edition of kramertribe you will read about the following:

Ocala Homeless Youth trip
24/7 Prayer

and maybe a few other exciting things. Thanks for staying tuned, here's the latest!

Ocala
January 2-12 we made a trip with Source to Florida. The purpose of the trip was to reach out to some folks who live in the Ocala National Forest for a Rainbow Gathering. Rainbow gatherings started in the 70s in the high of the 'hippie' movement. These gatherings consisted of anywhere from 100 to 20,000 people living in the woods, sharing free food, playing music, doing drugs, etc. There greeting to each person who comes is 'Welcome home.'

Every year in the Ocala National Forest several thousand homeless youth, travelers and old hippies gather together. Source has gone to this gathering twice previously-once in 2005 and again in 2007. This year we had a team of 12 who set up a kitchen, cooked and served three meals a day as well as maintaining a 24/7 prayer tent in the woods. We also kept a journal while we were in the woods. You can read about it on Source's website. The link is: http://sourcemn.org/OUTREACH/florida/florida09jrnl.htm.

God really blessed us on the trip, even before we got into the woods. A vineyard church hosted us before and after the gathering. A couple, Tom and Anita (pictured above), that have been involved with Christian community for years hosted us at their home. We were encouraged by their hospitality and felt like family instantly! Once we got into the woods God really gave us grace and favor. We met a lot of people, prayed with a lot of them, cooked and served some great food and saw God move in great ways. Many of the people have been hurt by the church and are turned off by Christians.

By the end of our week in the woods our new friends, who knew we were Christians and had been around while we prayed or even prayed with us, did not want us to leave. We had become family in just a few days. One of the young men even decided to come back with us to Minneapolis! The last day we were in Florida we went to the beach. It was a cold rainy day. Tom, our host, told the young man, 'if you are ready to follow Jesus i'll baptize you today in the ocean.' He thought about it for a while and decided he wanted to do that. We gathered around him, prayed for him and then Peter and Tom baptized him in the ocean. Please pray for this young man as he is trying to follow God and looking for a job. His name is Jacob. He is the shirtless one in the picture. Our friend has posted a lot of pictures on his facebook. If you have facebook Go here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015051&id=1126284533#/album.php?aid=2015051&id=1126284533.

24/7 Prayer
January 24-31 we hosted another week of prayer at the Fallout. We value these weeks of prayer because we see them as a time to refocus on what really matters. And what really matters? Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Loving our neighbor as ourself. The week went really well and as usual God surprised us. The last night of the week of prayer was our community night. We had around 60 people, a great time of worship, a great time of sharing about the week and also had an opportunity to share about our trip to Ocala.
God brought new friends to the Fallout to pray with us, he brought some people in crisis through our doors and overall was very present. The result of the week of prayer for many of us is a renewed hunger to prayer and to study the Word of God. We continue to maintain rhythms of prayer and are encouraging people to use the prayer room more often! Prayer really is the foundation of everything that God does.

Source
2009 is going to be a very good and crucial year for Source. As a non-profit things are challenging but we are trusting God in all things. Peter and Jessica, the directors of Source, are having their 4th child in March. As a result they are going to be stepping back from a lot of their responsibilities. This is good but it also challenging as they are used to being deeply involved with every aspect of Source. So, this month, February, is going to be very important. We need your prayers as all of us on staff try to step up, understand our roles and hear God. We are excited for Peter and Jessica as God has been speaking to them for years about this. We are also anxious as it means even more responsibilities for everyone on staff. Needless to say, things are exciting here! Thanks for your prayers and your support!

Tim and Dana Kramer

2008 Highlights / New Year Update

2009-02-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy 2009!

Thank you all for your prayers and support this last year. You all are definitely one of our 2008 highlights. It is literally impossible for us to do what we do here without you. 2008 has been a crazy year for us. There have been some amazing joys and some deep sorrows. We know that without the strong support of our family and friends we could not have made it through this last year.

There are a lot of highlights from our first year at Source. We cannot share all of them but will share some of them in this letter. We have included picture highlights first then we have written more in detail about the year below that.

Prayer
2008 has been a great year of prayer at Source. We were able to do 3 full weeks of prayer plus two weekends of prayer. Along with this we also kept a rhythm of morning, midday and evening prayers at the Fallout. All of this praying is dangerous though because we soon realize that God wants to use us to answer our prayers to feed the hungry, invite the homeless into our homes and be the voice of truth in our world.As the prayer coordinators we had the privilege of bringing the body together to set up the prayer room, maintain weeks of prayer, as well as the daily prayer rhythms. We also had the privilege of praying with people from other faith backgrounds in our Urban Prayer Room. Hosting a permanent prayer room at the Fallout has given us the opportunity to be available for people in crisis, people seeking to understand God and other believers in need of encouragement. We continue to see prayer as the foundation for everything else we do at Source.

Leadership
One of the surprises of 2008, which is also a highlight, is our crash course in leadership. It has been a somewhat reluctant acceptance of this truth over the last year or so. But whether we do it reluctantly or willingly, God is developing us into leaders at Source. The result has been all sorts of challenges, frustrations, responsibilities and really good stories! We have both had the chance to teach, lead small groups, be in charge of volunteer groups, outreach teams, etc.

We have been humbled as people have expressed their gratitude for our godly leadership as well as their appreciation for what we do around Source. We have also learned that leadership is a lot less about recognition and a lot more about faithful obedience to serve God and people.
Part of this crash course of leadership was leading 11 interns as well as helping host 6 students from Crown College who helped us for 2 weeks. You can read more about it in an article that they wrote afterwards. The link is: http://www.crown.edu/about/bridge/ministering-through-art.html.

Joshua House

In August of 2007 there was only one person living in the Joshua House. Now, a year later, it is full and has stayed full consistently for months. There is a great group of men there who are growing together in Christ through community living, meals, Bible study and lots of fun.

27 years old: never done laundry,
never had a drivers license, and never paid a bill…

Chris has had a very rough life including losing his little brother tragically when he was 4, living a life of drug addiction and crime leading to years spent in treatment and jail. As a result he found himself at age 27, graduating from a drug treatment program and not knowing where to go next. Thankfully he heard about the Joshua House and moved in.

At the Joshua House Chris has been given the opportunity to grow and succeed. Along with learning how to do his laundry and personal financial management, - goal setting, mentors, living with peer role-models, connecting with a cross-generational community (seeing families, moms, dads, and children), Biblical foundations, attending school, working, getting his first drivers license, and cooking his first turkey have all been part of Chris’s experience at the Joshua House.

Pray for Chris along with the current and future young people in the Transitional Homes Program. Pray for opportunities to succeed, growth in their relationship with God, practical life skills, a community / family to be nurtured in, and a future women’s transitional home.

Homeless Youth Outreach
We saw a great response to God’s challenge for Source to step up our involvement with homeless youth in 2008. We began by spending a lot of time praying and then began to make changes such as: starting a ‘free store’ in the Fallout basement, going out on regular outreach in search of homeless youth, letting some travelers crash at the Fallout and personally we let two of our friends, Jeremy and Val stay at our house for a month this fall. We are excited to see God continue to move in this area of Source in 2009. Part of this excitement comes from a local church college group that will be joining us for some training and outreach this winter.

Our excitement increased even more recently as 12 of us got to go on a homeless youth outreach trip to Ocala, Florida. Some of the highlights of this trip were hosting a prayer tent for 5 days, serving 3 meals a day to hungry hippies and getting to pray with many individuals. We will have more about this trip in our January update so definitely check that out.

Kramers
We want to give you a wee update on us as well as everything at Source. 2008, as mentioned previously, was a year of great joys and great sorrows. Some of the joys have been seeing God move in Minneapolis, our house and our lives. Some of the joys have been seeing young people give their lives to the Lord and continue to grow in him. Some of the sorrows have been two miscarriages and the grief, confusion and disappointment of suffering. Some of the sorrows have been beginning great friendships only to see those people move on or fall back into drugs. Overall, the result has been growth in our trust of God and our love for him and one another. We are so grateful for our families, friends and the body of Christ that has stood with us, here and from a distance, throughout this whole year.

In December and January we had a few appointments with doctors regarding our recurring pregnancy loss. They ran some tests which all came back negative. It seems that there is nothing ‘wrong’ with us that is causing the miscarriages to occur. So, for now we are trusting God and trusting his timing for us to have children. The doctor is very optimistic and we are very hopeful. Thank you so much for your prayers and support during this difficult year. Please continue to pray for us as we wait on God for healing, direction and grace in regards to being parents.
We would also love your prayers for our house. We have had 5 roommates move out in the last year and as of right now it is just us and the Howards (Andrew, Sara and Zeke). We are seeking the Lord so we can know his heart and purpose for the house in this season. Living in community has been such a joy and has brought about immense growth in us. We look forward to growing more this way in 2009. The Lord has really knit our hearts together with the Howards and we look forward to more of that great work this coming year. Please pray for our relationships, for direction in this season and for the right roommate(s) in 2009.

Financial Update
Finally, a financial update. We are so grateful for the support that we receive and are humbled by God’s provision through you all. We have been surprised over and over by God’s faithfulness and provision.

We are doing well with monthly support though we are still taking out a little more from our account than we take in each month. Our rent may also have to go up if we don’t find any roommates who can pay rent in the next few months. We know God is providing as we seek his kingdom first. Thanks again everyone for your faithful support financially and through prayer.

We love you all very much! May the Father bless you richly this year!!
Tim and Dana Kramer

November 2008 Kramertribe Update

2008-12-03T14:17:00.001-08:00

Tim chillin' with Tanner and Chris (guys from the Joshua House)

Immigration Art Show

November 7, we had an art opening entitled, “Immigration,” at the Fallout. It featured different pieces of art, clothing, decorations, etc. from about 7 countries. The hope of the show was to celebrate the incredible diversity we have in Minneapolis. We hosted an open mic along with the art opening which had songs from Holland and Thailand. Our friend Mohamoud had four new paintings featured in the show as well.

Baha’i update

A few updates ago we talked about some of our friends who are part of the Baha’i Center. During our last open mic one of our friends told Dana she was reconsidering Christianity again. She had been gone for a few months. During this time she stayed with her dad who is a pastor. She told Dana that she thinks she is coming back to her senses. She longs for fellowship and wants to visit some churches. We are really excited to walk with her through this process. Please continue to pray for our friends and all those of the Baha’i faith.

Fall Benefit

Every November Source hosts a Fall Benefit that gives highlights from the previous year, introduces new people to Source and gives us an excuse to dress up nicely. This year we did things different in hopes that it would be more informative and inspiring. We had lots of yummy food, great music and then gave people the opportunity to choose three areas of Source they wanted to know more about. As staff we divided into 6 different stations that highlighted: transitional housing, prayer, outreach, training, development and our Fallout arts initiative. Dana and I led the one on prayer. The response was great and we are thankful for another opportunity to share Source with folks.

Bethany Group

The Monday before Thanksgiving Dana and I, with the help of some other staff, hosted a group of 9 students from Bethany College of Missions who were experiencing a homeless excursion in Minneapolis. They were given envelopes with assignments and times at which to open them. They had no food, bedding or money. We brought them to two different free meals in order to meet homeless people and hear their stories. We then came back and prayed for individuals we had met by name. They slept on couches at the Fallout and helped us with various work projects Tuesday morning. The students learned a lot from their experience and God revealed more of his heart for the poor.

Holiday Season

We got to go to Missouri to spend Thanksgiving weekend with Tim’s brothers, sister-in-law and nephew. We are in Minneapolis for two weeks before we leave for a much needed trip to Bartlesville and Albuquerque to be with our families. The end of our vacation will be a homeless youth outreach trip in Ocala, Florida, January 2-11. We definitely still need prayers as we continue to grieve and try to figure out why we have had miscarriages. We are hoping that our time off will provide opportunity for God to heal and teach us. We truly could not do this without all of your prayers, encouragement and support. Thank you!!!

Tim and Dana Kramer

Minneapolis

2008-11-12T12:27:00.000-08:00

We love this city a lot.
Fall/Winter or Falter has arrived. Gone are the unusually warm days of late October/early November.
Snow. Ice. Sleet. Freezing Temperatures.

I love Falter. In Arkansas or Missouri you experience a kind of Falter, but not quite the same as Minneapolis. Here the leaves change, Fall is present and beautiful. Then a few days later the temperature drops quickly and it begins to snow. And is stays this way, only getting colder, until March, April or May.

The temptation is to withdraw inside yourself and inside your house. The temptation is to not interact, go outside or do much of anything. But this is not good. We need to be outside. We need to be with people. All the same, I feel this is a season for solitude. I hear God speaking to the depth of my soul to come be with him and only him. I awaken earlier in the mornings naturally because i go to bed earlier. It is dark here by 5:30pm. Rather than being down about this i choose to embrace the natural season changes.

I am reading John 15 a lot lately. Along with it i am reading Andrew Murray's Abide in Christ. If you have not read this book, or any book by Andrew Murray, i strongly recommend it. This particular book is broken up into 31 short chapters. The idea is that you read one a day for a month. This is what i am hoping to do. The chapters are short but profoundly deep. One thing is for sure, Jesus never called us to a one-time 'salvation prayer.' He called us to a life of deepening abiding in him. It has to be constant! If we stop abiding for a second we die because as the True Vine, he is our only life source.

So, this winter, or Falter, as we have right now in Minneapolis, listen for God's voice calling you away from busyness, distractions and lesser loves. Respond by setting aside time each day to be still, to pray, to reflect, to read. He will meet with you. He will strengthen you. He will break you. He will set you free.

Peace be with you.

Did you vote today?

2008-11-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

no, i am not mistaken on what day it is. the question i am asking you is did you vote today? you see, voting is not some right or entitlement that you use once a year and are free of your duties. voting is something you do every day. you vote with your wallet, you vote with your clothes, with your time and resources. you vote by what your allegiance is to. who or what are you voting for today?

me? i'm voting for Jesus. why? because he is the only hope we have for change in this earth. why? because he is both God and man, he is the only Mediator. if he were only a man, no matter how great of a man, he would not be able to be our only hope for change. he would be great, but he would be man, he would fail, he would let us down. But he is both fully God and fully man. Because of this he is our only hope. Because of this he is the only true King.

So, what does it mean to vote for Jesus?
It means our allegiance and obedience is to him. It means we look to him for leadership, peace, joy, hope and freedom. To have him as our president/king is to give all honor, glory, power, tribute to him and him alone. To vote for Jesus means our lives are fully dedicated to him. It means laying down our rights and entitlements for his sake. Voting for Jesus means dignity, equality and compassion for all our fellow humans. It means a cross on which we die rather than by which we kill others. It means eradicating competition with generous compassion. It means 'Election Day' is every day of the year. It means being peacemakers and those who hunger for righteousness. Jesus as our King means the works of evil are being destroyed. So, November 5th is just as important as November 4th. Go to the 'polls' tomorrow, the next day and each day. Go to the throne of grace boldly to receive mercy and grace in your time of need.

Today, tomorrow, each day 'vote' for Jesus as King. He already is so 'voting' really means complete submission to him as your only Lord. The more people who 'vote' for Jesus, the more peace, hope, change and freedom there will be.

I hope this provokes you to thought. if you disagree please let me know, let's talk and pray about these things. Now is the time to arise. Now is the time for the body of Christ to stop hiding behind the governments but actually be the body of Christ. Jesus' plan was never for the state to take care of the poor, sick, homeless and needy. It has always been his plan that his children would do what he did. Wake up, O bride of Christ! Arise, for your light has come!

Peace be with you all.

October 2008 Kramertribe update

2008-10-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

Another month has come and gone! This month has been a lot different than we could imagine both in the sense of joy and of sorrow.

Loss/Grieving

For those of you who have not heard, we had our second miscarriage of the year October 19th. Everything had been going great with our pregnancy until Saturday, October 18. We had heard the heartbeat the week before and everything seemed to be great. Then some bleeding started and didn't stop. A trip to the ER revealed that our baby's heart was no longer beating. The next day Dana passed the baby. We never thought we would experience this once let alone twice in one year. It has been a shock and disappointment to say the least.

We took last week off to grieve, rest and just be together. We were able to go on a lot of walks and a few dates. Last Thursday we made a short trip to Stillwater, MN, which is a beautiful town on the St. Croix River. We had a wonderful day there which included a hike and lunch at a bistro. We are easing back into things at Source this week. Though we are sad, disappointed and confused we are holding on to God's faithfulness and goodness. Please keep us in your prayers during this season.

Homeless Youth

This month we have seen a very encouraging increase in outreact to homeless youth. Every Friday night and two Tuesday nights of the month some of our staff are going out in search of homeless youth. A few weeks ago we cooked a big pot of soup, grabbed some coats and a few pastries and headed to Uptown. Unfortunately, the police had been cracking down on people that week and we didn't run into any homeless youth. Nevertheless, we shared the soup, coats and pastries with some other local homeless men and women.

We have definitely seen in increase of contact with homeless youth, travelers and older homeless people this month. The energy and momentum is growing as college students and others join us on this outreach nights. We have been able to host a few homeless couples and travelers at the Fallout for a night or two this month as well. Please continue to pray for the homeless youth, not only in Minneapolis, but in the world. Please pray for us and the other Source staff as we seek God's direction and creativity in reaching these young people.

Human Trafficking
Some of you may be aware that there are currently an estimated 27 million slaves in the world. This is more slaves than any other time in history! Much of these slaves are bought, sold and trafficked illegal to other countries. This last month God has burdened our hearts to pray and get involved in stopping human trafficking. A few of our staff and volunteers were able to attend a conference this month as well as a showing of the film, 'Call and Response.' The national and international 24/7 prayer family is also beginning to get very involved with stopping human trafficking. We are excited to see how God leads us and the doors he opens up in the coming months. To learn more about Human Trafficking please check out the following websites:
http://www.callandresponse.com/
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
http://www.humantrafficking.org/

This is one of the major 'issues' of our time and the church must respond! If you want to know more about human trafficking please email us and/or check out the websites above.

Our House
This month our house has gone through a lot of transitions. At the end of September our housemate, Kelsey, moved out after living in our house for 1 1/2 years! We were sad to see her go but knew that God had her in another season. After she moved out we felt the Lord leading us to leave her room open as a hospitality/prayer room. Within a few weeks of her moving out we ran into our friend Germ who was at our wedding. He, his girlfriend Val and his puppy, Dream have been staying with us for the last 2 1/2 weeks. They are both homeless travelers. It has been great to practice hospitality, share meals with them and just hangout with them. Though it can be straining at times it is worth it. Please pray for Germ and Val to know the Lord of Jesus. Also prayer for them as they will both be leaving to travel within the next week.

Our house also had the opportunity to go on a camping trip together this month. We headed up north to the Jay Cooke State Park near Duluth. The leaves were still vibrant and it was a beautiful weekend. It felt so good to get out of the city, to be in God's creation and to be together as a house. We continue to be so blessed by the relationships in our house. We are especially grateful in seasons like this when we are going through a lot of hardships. Everyone at the house has been so supportive and helpful. We know it would be nearly impossible to endure what we have without close brothers and sisters. Please pray for our house as we continue to seek to love God and to love our neighbors.

some thoughts for election time

2008-10-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

Christ for President

Let's have Christ our President
Let us have him for our king
Cast your vote for the Carpenter
That they call the Nazarene

The only way
We could ever beat
These crooked politician men

Is to cast the moneychangers
Out of the temple
Put the Carpenter in

Oh it's Jesus Christ our President
God above our king
With a job and pension for young and old
We will make hallelujah ring

Every year we waste enough
To feed the ones who starve
We build our civilization up
And we shoot it down with wars

But with the Carpenter
On the seat
Way up in the capitol town

The USA
Be on the way
Prosperity bound

Song by Woody Guthrie.

Probably one of the best songs i have heard. Hmmm.

Spectacular September update

2008-09-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hello again dear family, friends and fellow bloggers. Another month has come and gone in the life of Tim and Dana Kramer.

We are doing well and enjoyed a month of vacation in August. Upon our return we had a Source Boiler Room retreat. It was a lot of fun and included: our own Olympics (see picture), lots of great worship, fellowship, teaching and of course food. It was a nice way to gather ourselves together as we begin the Fall/Winter season at Source.

This month has been a lot of readjusting to work and praying/planning for the Fall and Winter. We are really excited to be back in the full swing of things and for our relationships to keep growing.

An update on Mohamoud
We have not seen Mohamoud in 2 months due to our travels and because he is an assistant art teacher! You may remember that Tim wrote him a letter of recommendation in the Winter for an art teacher position. While he did not get that position, he was hired as the assistant art teacher. Mohamoud has been very excited and busy with his job. We hope to see him again soon.

24/7 Prayer week
September 20-27 we hosted a week of nonstop prayer at the Fallout. As a community we try to host one of these every 3 months. This week of prayer we focused on praying for homeless youth, human trafficking, Muslims during Ramadan and families/marriages. It was a great week! During the week of prayer we had 4 traveler/homeless youth come through our building, two of which spent the night! What a quick answer to prayer!

Another neat experience during the week of prayer was a trip with friends to a local mosque. We went to prayer walk around the mosque Thursday night. The atmosphere went from peaceful to tense quickly. A security person told us it was private property and that we could not be there. We began walking around the mosque. As we approached two more young Somali men with security guests i wanted to greet them with the Muslim greeting, "Assalamu Alaikum," which means may peace be upon you. Instead they asked us to answer a question. "Are you from the university or mission?" We said we were just on a walk and they said thank you. "Assalamu Alaikum,' said Tim as we walked away. They responsed, "Aleykum As-Salaam...Wait! Are you Muslim?" It opened up a great conversation but then the first security person spotted us and explained why the tension was there. Some people had been assaulted near by that week and they didn't know who we were or what we are doing. They asked us to leave immediately. We came back to the Fallout and prayed for Muslims.

Gretchen
A few weeks ago as we were getting ready for midday prayer two young ladies walked into the Fallout. Peter and Jeff talked with them and told them what we do at the Fallout. They then invited them to stay for midday prayers and they said yes even though one, Gretchen, had stated that she was of the Baha'i faith. She enjoyed the Celtic Daily Prayer and asked if she could say a healing prayer from the Baha'i faith for her sister and others. It was a beautiful prayer. She told Jeff that we were the first Christian place to invite her to pray. She has been back several times, gotten in great conversations and gratefully received a Bible to read. The B'hai faith blends all major religions together and believes they all are from God. Though she spoke of Moses and Jesus, she had never actually read the Bible. Please pray for our relationship with Gretchen and for her as she thinks about who Jesus really is.

Opal
Opal is an 85 year old neighbor of the Fallout who has lived there since 1935. We had the opportunity as a community to patch a hole in her ceiling, paint her kitchen and paint her entire front porch. It was part of a Compassion Service weekend that our house church community is doing once a month. As we worked at her house we were able to hear her story, give her some company and begin a relationship. She said in all the years she has lived her she has had no good neighbors. What a testimony to God's love that we were able to serve her in this way. Please pray for our new relationship with Opal to grow. Also pray for Opal as she feels lonely and we have many people who could simply be a listening ear. Here is a picture of Libbie, one of the staff, with Opal in her newly painted kitchen.

Pilgrimage: a reflection

2008-08-28T13:52:00.001-07:00

My wife and I recently took a pilgrimage in a unique way. A pilgrimage is a journey to a foreign place or a journey to a shrine or holy place as a devotee. The holy place we sought was a more intimate knowledge of God. We had three and a half weeks of vacation, many people to see, a desire for adventure and a desire to save money. So, after much prayer, thought and conversation we decided to hitchhike. Our conviction was that we would: meet God in a deeper way, grow closer together through an adventure, see family and friends, celebrate and boast in the abundant faithfulness of God. All of these things happened along our pilgrimage journey.

“How did we meet God in a deeper way by hitchhiking?” some of you may be asking. There is a principle in the kingdom of God that when we are in need we are close to God. The end of ourselves is the beginning of God’s mercy. Voluntarily putting ourselves in a place of dependency opened up a greater intimacy with God. It was kind of like being a child again. We were dependent on God through others for rides, shelter, food, etc. We experienced the faithfulness and goodness of God through the kindness of strangers. When we were tired, hungry and sore we were given rides, cold water and places to rest.

We had a very restful pilgrimage that strengthened our marriage. Being in a place of need together can be stressful but it can also be a freeing adventure that gives opportunity for strengthened communication. Dana and I spent lots of time together, prayed together more often and grow closer together through this trip. It reminded me of the times Jesus sent us his disciples by twos with nothing so they were dependent on the hospitality of strangers. Our society races towards self-dependency but Jesus taught us to resist this by living in dependency on God and one another. What is really more dangerous-the deception of luxury, comfort and having everything or being dependent on a loving faithful Father who provides everything for our enjoyment?

So, we traveled hundreds of miles through Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri and the total trip costs us nothing. We got rides from 7 strangers, had great conversations and overall a wonderful vacation.Thank you to everyone who gave us rides, gave us food and gave us places to stay. It was wonderful to see many of you and enjoy fellowship together.

We are excited as Source gears up for our fall/winter season. In this season we are excited for some new initiatives with homeless youth. Please pray for us as we try to meet these young people and gain their trust. There are around 1,850 people under 21 on the streets in Minnesota, most of them in the Twin Cities area. The Source staff have a heart to befriend these young people and offer any help we can.Thank you for your prayers and constant support of us.

July Update

2008-07-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

We are wrapping up some things for the summer today and tomorrow we are heading out for 3 weeks of vacation/travel/update. We will be in Nebraska, Oklahoma (August 3-6), Arkansas (August 7-11) and Missouri. We will be sharing an update at East Cross United Methodist Church in Bartlesville, August 3rd at 9:40am in Room 325. We will also hopefully be sharing an update at Antioch Church in Siloam Springs, AR, August 10th. So come on out and hear what we've been up to, see some sweet pictures and give us a hug!

July has been one busy month. Here is a list of just some of the things that have happened:

Dana’s Parents visited
Concerts
Crown College Students on inner city mission trip
Drum & Easel Art Party
Art Intensive Week
Art Fest
3.5 Days of 24 hour prayer

The first week of July Dana’s parents visited. They even helped Dana paint one of the murals we are working on outside the Fallout! It was fun to have them around and to experience our daily life.

We have continued to have a weekly rhythm of morning, noon, and evening prayer 5 days a week as well as having the Fallout open on Friday’s for concerts and outreach.

Twice this month we went to Loaves and Fishes, the largest free meal in the city to throw and interactive art party, playing drums and instruments outside as well as painting inside with those who are eating.

Crown College students joined us for two weeks as we prepared for the Art Fest. Every year we host what’s called a Drum & Easel Art Intensive week. This is comprised of workshops, discussions, and seminars on how to be an artist and a Christian.

The culmination of the Art Intensive week was Source's 6th annual Fallout Art Fest. We block off 2 blocks around the Fallout and Artist Co-op building to host a free Art Fest. Below are pictures and a description of what the Fallout Art Fest consists of.

3 STAGES + INDOOR/OUTDOOR + INTERACTIVE STATIONS + DRUM JAMS + 50 ARTISTS + 50 PERFORMERS + GALLERY/ARTIST BOOTHS + KIDS ACTIVITIES + COMMUNITY MURALS + FREE FOOD + PUPPET SHOW + ARTIST BOOTHS + PUZZLE MURAL + GIANT INFLATABLE TITANIC + SCREENPRINT YOU OWN SHIRT + HIP HOP + DANCE TEAMS + FLAMENCO DANCING + DRUMMING + COMMUNITY MURAL +

AND MUCH MUCH MORE!

Following the Fallout Art Fest we hosted 77 hours of nonstop prayer at the Fallout. This was a great opportunity to reflect on the summer, everyone we had met, talked to, prayed for, etc. It also was a great opportunity to recover from the multiple 10+ hour days we put in in preparation the Art Fest. We also were able to pray for each of the interns before the headed home after our summer wrap up party!

We hope to see many of you during our travels. Thank you for your prayers and encouraging e-mails.

Love,

Tim & Dana

Project Earth

2008-07-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

Here is the scoop on Project Earth, the festival we went to this last weekend in Harmony Park. There is a band from Minnesota who is quite popular in the midwest. There name is Wookie Foot. They have charities that are building schools and orphanages around the world. Project Earth is an experiemental mix between music festival, rainbow gathering and eco-village. There were a little more than 1000 in attendances and we were invited to be a part of it. We hosted an interactive puzzle mural where people come and paint a random puzzle piece. As the day goes by we put the puzzle together until it is complete. No one who is painting knows the design or the piece they have. We have never had such a great response to any puzzle mural before!

We also set up a prayer tent and prayed from Friday at 10pm till Sunday at 10am. We got into a lot of amazing conversations, got to pray blessings over people and share meals with them as well. God was so present and gracious to us. Below is an account of the weekend put together by some of us as well as some pictures. You can see more pictures at http://www.falloutminneapolis.com/pastevents/project%20earth/index.html

below is an account of the weekend some of us put together.
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Project Earth 2008

“I’m not sure what you were doing in that circle, but when you were doing it I felt something real, and it was wonderful, and I began to cry.”

We had just finished having a final prayer circle of the weekend. We had packed everything up and were ready to return. We took time to process, pray and give thanks to all that God had done. A girl that was with a group of young adults that had camped adjacent to us who frequented our camp throughout the weekend came up to me and said the above quote. I told her it was not any “magic” we were doing but that we were simply praying to Jesus, and that it was the Holy Spirit that wanted to tell her that she was wonderful and wanted to touch her.

It was one of a handful incredibly significant prayer times and conversations we experienced through the weekend. We were there less than 48 hours and we got to see God do so much. We really were able to see God move in so many ways. There was quite a few spiritually significant conversations that allowed us to share Biblical understanding of Jesus and/or allowed us to pray with young adults very significant prayers of worth, revelation, and conviction. We even saw some brought to the point of seeing tears as they sensed the Holy Spirit come to be with them.

As some of you know most of our staff and interns traveled the hour and a half concrete trail to Harmony Park to participate in the Project Earth event. Over the course of less than 48 hours we found ourselves with a very busy schedule between the prayer tent, the puzzle mural, several significant conversations, and feeding a few more mouths than we brought with us. We found little time to rest and due to our proximity to the two main stages, we didn't have to move to hear all the great bands. Oh yes, and on the note of our location, we were incredibly blessed to be placed at the crossroads! Yes, to you who are familiar with the Aidan story you know how significant it is not only in our history, but also in our mission. We had our share of drunken masses shouting as they walk by, crazy all night drum jams, and those who used our campsite as a shortcut, all of which we consider a great privilege to be able to bless. It is so encouraging to watch people's faces brighten as they paint a ridiculously huge puzzle piece, and as they eat a hot cup of soup, or just stand round our fire.

It is not always easy to balance the passions of prayer and mission but God has called us to it nonetheless. On Friday we busily set up our camp which included tents to sleep in, a kitchen tent and a prayer tent we had the sense that God was with us. From the beginning of the festival it was evident that God was already at work. As we drove down the gravel road we were greeted by free CDs of two Christian bands. The first band that played started out with a gospel song which declared, “Lord have mercy on me a poor sinner.” Even in the midst of a subculture of wounded, marginalized addict hippies you cannot get away from God’s love.
We ran a prayer tent from Friday night at 10pm until Sunday morning at 10am. This included morning, mid-day and evening prayers together as well as individuals praying throughout the day and night. As the opening quote shows, God was definitely present through our prayers. It was especially significant to prayer night and day as the partying and drum circles also went night and day. We praise God for his grace and nearness as we practiced prayer and mission.

There were conversations in which we have recognized the fact that we are communicating with someone who may never remember this conversation because of their hindered mental state, but in this realization does not give way to hopelessness, no, it merely spurs on the knowledge of the truth of the words in Isaiah 55:10-11 "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." So we trust that God had a plan for the mission on which He has sent us.

may/june update, finally!

2008-07-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

hey everyone, we are finally giving you an update. we know you have been on the edge of your seats waiting to here what we have been up to.

"Hey dread!"

This is what Tim heard last Monday as he was working on the garden on a lovely spring morning. My initial reaction was to ignore the person in hopes of continued solitude while pulling weeds. Instead the man parked his car and walked toward the front gate. "Devon, Devon, Devon," he said with his hand extended. DevonEvans is 64, has survived cancer and a stroke, is an activist, loves gardening, builds drums and traveled with Bob Marley and the Wailers!!!! He was looking for his friend's house but was on the wrong block when he saw a man with dreadlocks working in a garden! We are excited about this new friendship and are once again blown away by how God choses to work. Pray for Devon as he has had a rough life and has many eccentric spiritual beliefs. He is hopefully going to be coming around the fallout, playing music and wants to come cook us a Caribbean feast at our house!

May
Is it July already?! Where did May go or June for that matter! May 4th we were part of the May Day parade and festival. This annual event draws thousands of people, mostly the 'liberals' of liberal minneapolis. We built a giant goose bridge float for the parade and had an interactive art station in the park. The goose is the symbol of the Holy Spirit used by Celtic Christians, perhaps because they thought the dove was too wimpy! The float and crew are shown in the picture to the right.

In May we also attended the first ever USA 24/7 Prayer national gathering in Kansas. There were a couple hundred people who attended from all across the US. it was encouraging to hear and share stories, worship, prayer and fellowship together. We had a group of about 20 from Minneapolis. It was a special weekend as we got to host a theatrical performance of St. Aidan, drumming and worship near a campfire as well as being commissioned as an official 24-7 Prayer Boiler Room!

UMT

May 31st-June 8th we hosted our 10th Urban Ministry Training week. It was a full week of teaching, worship, electives, outreach and fun. There were about 15 students this year and we had a blast. The last Saturday of UMT, June 7th, we were part of Minneapolis' downtown block party called MOSAIC. MOSAIC is a celebration of the diversity of cultures and arts in minneapolis. we were given a great spot right next to main stage and hosted an interactive art station including a drum circle, make your own mosaic and a huge community mural. The mayor of Minneapolis stopped by and helped paint the mural. This was just one of the highlights of UMT. UMT ended with a great time of worship and a baptism of one of the girls who came to UMT from Indianapolis.This is a picture of a neighborhood Somalian girl spray painting at our Gloria Dei graffiti hip-hop event during UMT. Only at the Fallout do you have a Somalian girl with her head covering doing graffiti!!!

June

After recovering from the madness of May we began our June adventures. June has been a lot slower of a pace as we have 6 summer interns, a new weekly schedule and preparations for our 6th annual Fallout Art Fest which happens July 19th. Our weekly rhythm consists of three times of prayer Tuesday-Saturday, weekly drum and easels at Loaves and Fishes (part of St. Stephen's), Boiler Room prayer and share Wednesday evenings, teaching, story collecting, Fallout Fridays and much more. The last weekend of June, 13 of us traveled down to Harmony Park outside Geneva, MN, for a festival called Project Earth. We are going to put a post on Project Earth so you can read more about it there.

We are doing well although we are definitely looking forward to having a few weeks off in August. Tim's parents were in Minneapolis the first week of June for a short visit. Dana's parents are here right now for a few days. It is nice to be able to spend time with family in the midst of the busy Source summer. We know there are just a few short weeks left and then the summer will be over. You can pray for us to have energy for all the work before us. You can pray for us to have grace and patience with one another in the midst of very stressful weeks. You can pray for us to have wisdom in what to do with our 2 1/2 weeks off in August. We love you very much!!!

may and june?

2008-06-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

hey friends,

sorry for our delay in updates. we are planning on doing a may and june update combo in the next few days. things have been very busy and very good. the weather in minneapolis has been great. we have some really exciting stories to share and hopefully pictures to accompany them.

guess which famous person we recently met? no cheating those who have heard the story!

stay tuned beloved family and friends.

2 years of marriage!!!!

2008-06-01T06:43:00.001-07:00

on tuesday dana and i celebrated 2 years of marriage. we had a great day off of work, a wonderful greek lunch, a long bike ride and rest. the past 2 years have been wonderful as we continue to get to know one another and Jesus through each other. we have a little tradition of watching our wedding DVD each anniversary to remind ourselves of our vows. i am so grateful for such a great wife!!!!

for those of you who are awaiting our may update, it will be coming, but not till next week. we are in our second day of our Urban Ministry Training which is really busy and really awesome.

may update coming soon!

may madness

2008-05-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

well, we are only 9 days into may but it has been crazy already. we worked really hard last week building a giant goose bridge float for MayDay parade as well as lots of prep work for the festival. it was our first MayDay experience and was exhausting. it would have been nice to do only the float or the booth.

the last few weeks have been beautiful. we started tilling up our front yard this week to put in a big vegetable garden. we have been biking almost every day instead of driving which has been wonderful. i feel new life within me. i have been getting in a lot of conversations lately with many different people. one of the most encouraging conversations was with two men in a park. they overheard my friend and i talking about paul and his life. they came over and asked if they could listen. we ended up have an amazing conversation about the kingdom of God and losing our lives for Jesus that we can truly find them. these brothers have renounced all things in order to seek the kingdom of God first.

today i did something i don't usually enjoy doing-i went flyering. i went to intermedia arts, the alt bike and board shop and 5th element. it was great to bike and adventure around the city. i look forward to doing it more.

dana and i are way too busy yet we still make time for dates and rest. this summer is going to be great!

and to top things off here is a picture i found of me from 3 years ago when i did my internship at source. yarg!

April Update

2008-04-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

"That's a good feeling"

Last night we had our usual monday night Boiler Room meeting. It was a typical night of gathering for a meal, lots of conversation and laughter followed by a discussion of a chapter of PunkMonk and praying together. One of our friends, Kamp, came in, left, came back, left and came back again. Kamp is a friend and 'regular' at our open mic nights. He is in his 50s, his wife is in a nursing home with alzheimers, he lives in assisted housing and takes classes at U of M. He carries a lot of baggage from bad church experiences and lets everyone know. Last night Kamp told Tim that this place (the Fallout) means a lot to him and has been really good for him. He talked about previous seasons of life where he was alone in his apartment but now he comes here regularly. He said here he feels important, needed, wanted. He said, "You know, i come here and do my open mic thing and feel like if i missed one people would say, 'Hey, where's Kamp?' That's a good feeling." This is what our heart is and a great story of how God is healing a heart through friendship and a place of belonging. Here is a picture of Kamp playing at our Good Friday service called disgrace.

Prayer Prodigal Pilgrimage

This month we had another one of our full weeks of nonstop prayer. Long before we had the dates, April 19-26, set our friend Jeremy planned a Prodigal Party for April 20th. This date is significant because it marks his one year of returning to the Father. Sunday, April 20th, started out cold and grey but ended up warm and sunny. A thin layer of ice covered Lake Calhoun when we arrived but was blown away within an hour. Prodigal Party included a BBQ feast, delivering parables of Jesus through drumming and spoken word, testimonies of some prodigals and two baptisms in very frigid water. It was a joyful celebration of prodigals returning to the Father.

Praying for prodigals was also one of the main themes of our week of prayer. One of the stations was a 'family tree' where people wrote names of family, friends, etc. who are prodigals. People then prayed for them by name to know the Father's love and desire to welcome them home. The week of prayer was great and gave us a great chance to simply rest and pray. It was very timely as we are entering our busiest season at Source. To read the journal, see pictures and read about 24/7 prayer visit our website http:/www.sourcemn.org/247prayer/247april08/index.htm.

Mohamoud
A week ago Thursday we moved Mohamoud into a studio space in our Art Co-op building and are able to give him the space for free. Tim has had some great converstions with him lately. Please continue to pray for him. We are also looking into visiting a local mosque to learn more about Islam and building relationships with more Somalian muslims. Mohamoud came over to our house for a dinner last night and here is a picture of Tim and him!

Our Birthday

For those of you who were unaware. Our birthday is on the same day, Apr. 26th. We turned 24. It was a great day of celebration with friends. We enjoyed a wonderful Indian meal together and great fellowship as the community night and wrap up of 24/7 fell on our birthday.

We are doing well. The weather has been slowly but surely getting better. We have been able to bike a lot. We are putting in a garden at our house and have been able to do some yard work finally.

Tim and Dana Kramer

birthday

2008-04-26T14:14:00.001-07:00

today is dana and i's birthday. that is right, we have the same one! we have enjoyed being together, being with God and being with friends. we had a good chat over indian food today about purpose and hope. every since we began following Jesus we are excited about each new day and new year. we have experienced a lot in the last year and are excited to see what this year holds. it is a gift to enjoy life and look forward to it. there are many who do not feel this way.

who knows what this next year may hold. lots of growth, maturing, learning to love. children. trials. joys. new friends. old friends. art. music. silence. life. death.

one thing that never changes is that God is with us always.

experiment

2008-04-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

we are going to experiment with a blog so that more people can hear what we are doing more often. will it survive? will it work? you only determine the outcome..... er, sorry, i don't know what that was.

just experimenting with pictures.