Author: Malia McKinney

Thank you for your enduring friendship and for being with us on this journey. As Spring begins, we are all sensing the unmistakable and deeply encouraging power and presence of God on the move in our midst! 

A fresh release of the Holy Spirit is evident: 

• New passion and freedom in prayer, expressed in our first 24-hour prayer and worship event in February, inspired by the 24-7 Prayer USA movement and the one-year anniversary of our Tuesday morning prayer in the Reality SF Chapel
• A re-ignited hunger for the Word of God, to edify and encourage not only in private devotion, but shared aloud in our gatherings,
• Spontaneous praise and worship events, for birthdays, on beaches, in church spaces, and homes.

Think for a moment of your own personal awakening underway, a quickening in the Spirit!

The past two years of COVID brought some challenges, including a major disruption of how community looks and operates. Nearly all of our beloved North Beach community group moved to new neighborhoods and cities across the country. As sad as we sometimes felt, we’ve seen how the Lord has orchestrated new beginnings for these precious folks, including bringing forth the next generation, born or on the way!  These shifts have helped us recognize the importance of investing in the precious connections that remain, and the new ones forming. 

Dave and I got a Siamese cat, and made the most of our tiny 600 sq’ apartment in North Beach. We were extremely busy online! In response to the disorientation and isolation folks were experiencing, we facilitated over 1,000 individual Immanuel Prayer sessions over Zoom, helping others connect with the person of Jesus, who is our Solution. 

We also honed our coaching skills. As part of an international practicum for Immanuel Prayer coaches, we’ve each completed 100 hours of intensive training to gain advanced coaching certification. As a result, we are coming into a new season refreshed and energized to help others experience this life-giving practice, and even what is called the “Immanuel lifestyle,” an intimate, daily connection with Jesus. 

When Reality/SF acquired its new building on the corner of 24th and Valencia one year ago, we both felt strongly called to help extend day-to-day ministry into the surrounding community. We longed to establish a home-base nearby to facilitate more prayer!  

And now for the exciting update: 

September 1st of 2022, Dave and I saw our dream realized to move to the Mission! After 10 years of serving the Lord in San Francisco, we’ve been given the opportunity to establish the Immanuel SF Ministry House in SF’s vibrant Mission District – a four-bedroom flat with ample space to host small groups, times of prayer and worship, accommodate overnight guests, and for in-person Immanuel Prayer sessions.  

The flat, which is owned by the Church of the Sojourners, is only a 15-minute walk to Reality/SF. The rent we pay actually goes to fund this discipleship community right here in the Mission. The surrounding neighborhood is home to a growing community of people desiring more of the things of God, as well as those who have not yet heard the good news.  

Our new space in the Mission is a dedicated gathering place to Experience Jesus through Prayer, Equipping & Hospitality. We want to help folks know Jesus, that He is alive, that He loves us, that He speaks, and wants to be experienced, not just corporately at church, but through personal encounter. He wants all people to experience the freedom that He came to give us. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. 

In this new season, we are focused on activation of the community of believers, through Immanuel Prayer and deliverance prayer specifically, as well as fellowship/hospitality. From our new home base, Malia has been facilitating a new series of international practice labs for Immanuel Prayer trainees, and is co-leading a Beginning Immanuel Seminar in April. And we’ve already hosted more people for meals and overnight accommodations in our first month here than the last 8 years combined!  

This next season of expansion is also one of greater vulnerability and dependence on others.

Our hope is that a few members of our faith community who partner with us help financially help us establish this home as a house of prayer and hospitality. We have a handful of faithful monthly supporters who partner with us financially to establish this home as a house of prayer and hospitality. Our hope is that a few more members of our faith community will also come along side us especially as our ministry becomes robust and impactful. 

For more information on sponsorship opportunities, you can visit Malia’s Modern Day Missions link, the 501(c)3 that handles the charitable donations. Or, reach out directly with questions, ideas, and to schedule a time to connect.

We’d consider it an honor to share Immanuel Prayer with you!

Love, 

Malia & David McKinney

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven,” Ecclesiastes 3

Happy Fall!  It’s a new season for sure. No matter how much we love a particular season and wish it would remain forever, God alone knows the time for seasons to change.

I’d love to update you about a change in my journey, as one season ends and a new chapter begins. Here are my reflections and a personal invitation to continue to pray and partner with me.

Starting this month, I’ll be stepping into full-time leadership for the Immanuel Prayer ministry in San Francisco. As part of this transition, it’s time for me to step away from being a BJM staff member.

Gratitude for BJM and its Culture

For the past four and a half years, the Lord has blessed me at BJM, giving me the opportunity to demonstrate the unconditional love of God to women who felt unseen, and unvalued. As the Lord guided me through my own personal struggles with shame and unworthiness, and I began to discover my identity in Christ, I have been able to share this victory with hundreds of women, both at BJM and within my community. 

My life has been forever shaped by the amazing prophetic prayer culture of Because Justice Matters, which encouraged me to find my voice. Being part of BJM has given me the confidence to follow the Spirit’s promptings to co-labor with Him for restoration and healing.

Your generous support of my work with Because Justice Matters has helped make this transformation possible. 

Continue reading “A New Season Begins”

For Nail Day Christmas 2018, we asked for a Christmas Feast. Not our typical Nail Day fare: crackers, cheese, and birthday cake. But a feast. To celebrate the birth of Hope, the birth of our Savior and our King.

Volunteers signed up to help serve. The Ellis room was adorned with cheerful lights and pretty decorations brought by a thoughtful volunteer. The atmosphere was charged with joyful expectation. But the feast. Who would answer the call we put out to a few of our faithful ministry partners?

The feast as delivered that day by the Women of Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church. Ham, turkey, soft rolls. Apple cider. And the dessert? Home-made pies. Not one type, not two, but five flavors. Pumpkin, Apple, two types of Berry, Pecan. Real whipped cream. Candy canes to stir mochas made to order. 

Ladies were delighted by our annual gift bazaar, which featured winter clothing, socks, gloves, and hats gathered throughout the winter by kind-hearted BJM friends who know how hard it is for our ladies to stay warm. Gifts for every guest, because at this the darkest time of the year, every woman needs to experience what it feels like to be seen, cared for, and remembered.

That morning, I wrote a mini-sermon. Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year, also brings up feelings of loss, loneliness, and disappointment. Due to difficult life circumstances, many of our ladies are separated from the families, their kids. And her am I, someone who has everything by comparison, and yet I too was struggling with feelings of despair. The darkest time of the year.

I shared my talk with Lynae and Julia and Ruthie. Is it too painful? Is it too bleak? Do we need to put a bow on Christmas and smile like everything is okay, or do we acknowledge the pain and invite Jesus in?

They encouraged me to bring the message to our guests. And of course, I tried to get out of it – it’s too noisy, no-one wants to listen.

And then a hush fell over the room as I started speaking. Heads nodded. Together, we were real about our feelings, and real about our need for the Light of the World to come into our stories. And then, we had pie. And gifts, and laughed. And were all the more merry and bright. Immanuel, God with Us.

Februray 2018 marks the 2-year anniversary since joining Because Justice Matters. What began as a 2-month volunteer commitment has blossomed into a fulfilling and challenging staff position, and a life-changing journey of the soul.

Continue reading “Year 3 Begins”

BJM Recruiting with Ruthie in Montana

In October, Ruthie and I traveled to the YWAM Montana base to recruit staff and interns for BJM.  Indescribable color was ablaze everywhere – red, yellow, amber, emerald and forest green. Nestled in a valley literally across from Flathead Lake, the beauty was overwhelming.

The possibility was almost unimaginable. Out of this pristine place, so close to God’s original plan for His creation, young women could be called to serve in the radically fallen urban heart of San Francisco’s Tenderloin.

Continue reading “Surrounded by God’s Majestic Beauty”

yay

exclamation, informal

expressing triumph, approval, or encouragement

Last season, I went through a painful crisis of faith. Our women’s Nail Day outreach was moving from weekly to monthly. This BJM ministry had become central to my life. Caring for women who experience poverty, isolation and rejection, I had seen God’s faithfulness each and every week!  In the face of desolation and lack, He had proven to be the God of More Than Enough. Not only was I concerned for our Nail Day guests, I was secretly terrified that distance could set in and He and I would somehow lose each other.

Continue reading “Nail Day Yay!”

This Monday was a very special Nail Day. It was a reunion with dear friends; a chance to meet new friends; an opportunity to serve with beloved sisters. And it was a lasting testimony of God’s faithfulness. 

Continue reading “September Nail Day, my Happy Place!”

Thank you for your support this year. I can’t adequately express how much it means to have you on my team. I think of each of you constantly, when I have a win, when I am discouraged and when I am pressing forward. Your faith has definitely helped cheer me on!

Here a few updates I’d like to share with you:

Continue reading “Midyear Missionary Musing – Summer 2017”

During intercession prior to serving, we reviewed the Easter morning accounts, starting with the road to Emmaus from Luke. We moved on to Mary at the tomb, mistaking Jesus for the gardener.  She mustered up all of her fortitude to ask “Where did you take him? Tell me so I can go get him.”

She planned to tend to his body. Not unlike the woman who washed his feet with her tears, she was overwhelmed. “Mary.” “Teacher.” With her, it was personal. Unlike the disciples who had been disappointed because Jesus did not come through for them as the liberator/Messiah, Mary, had lost the lover of her soul.

We shared Mary’s story at Nail Day today with this question: Jesus seeks to reveal himself in your deep places of disappointment. Where can he meet you?

Continue reading “Today was a different kind of Nail Day. It did not end at 4 PM.”

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28: 19-20

Some respond to this call by serving unreached people groups in China, India, Thailand, Africa and the Philippines, as part of the world-wide movement to translate the Word of God into native languages.  When no Bible translation is available for certain dialects, such as in the remote jungles of Thailand, missionaries improvise, devising puppet shows, dance and plays to act out the Gospel in ways that transcended language barriers. Continue reading “The Great Commission”