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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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.