My time in Danmark is coming very quickly to a close. Soon I will be packing up and boarding that forever long flight to home. Like the end of every trip I have been busy taking care of final things and reflecting on my time here. I have really loved being in Denmark. I did not think I would ever love another country like I loved Poland, but Denmark has won my heart. I think the biggest lesson I have learned since I have been here is to be still and wait for God to move. So much of the work with the cafe has been waiting. We have not gotten answers quickly or in the time frame that I would want. But, God does not always work in the way we want. We have to wait and for His response. Now we have a found a location that we love. The owners group is very supportive of our cafe plan, including our desire to help people. So, now we once again wait through the negotiation process. Our hope is to have the place by January and open around March. We are communicating with different Work and Witness teams interested in coming and helping this summer. Things are beginning to happen!

And I am in a position where I have to go home. The main reason is once again, I need to fundraise. Right now, it's hard for me to see how it will all work out. I am still $6,000 short of what I need to work for a year here. If you are interested in helping out you can donate online-  http://web.nazarene.org/goto/kfitch. Or email me at katie_rae27@yahoo.com. I would love to come and share what we are doing at your Church, Sunday school, or Small Group meetings. God is moving here in Denmark. I am so excited to return and open the shop and start the church. There is a need, we want to fill it, and God is moving us to do it as we glorify Him.  

Fundraising

All too soon, but not soon enough I will be returning to the States for a break. Well, not really a break but for a time of fundraising. I am looking for different churches, small groups, sunday schools, to share in. God has done a lot in my life and the life of the church while I have been in Denmark. I have been asked to return to Denmark and continue working with the youth and coffee shop ministry here. I still need to raise $8,000 more to be able to work in Denmark another year. If you are interested in hearing about the work here please email me at katie_rae27@yahoo.com. Also, I can now receive donations online at katie fitch mission corp. Thank You for all the support!

Permission to Move Forward

We finally have an answer! The cafe team is now able to put a bid on the property that we would like to purchase. I am really excited!! Please continue to pray for us as we go through the paperwork process. Hopefully it will all pass smoothly.

Watching, Waiting, Hoping, Waiting, Waiting... and did I mention Waiting?

Every time I try to start and write this blog, I get one sentence done and then never finish it. I guess it is because I feel like I keep writing the same thing over and over again. We are still waiting.........

Last week the cafe team met with the church board. We had a very long meeting discussing the building we found, how we all felt about the cafe work, and our understanding of the commitment of the ministry. It was a good conversation.  And we walked away with the church boards full support.

But, it is the district that has to find a way for us to have extra money. Since the down payment for this property is much higher then we originally planned. So, we are waiting. The District will give us an answer about the funds in 2 weeks.  It is a difficult situation because the churches on the District will take a big cut if they purchase this shop. So, they are discussing different options on how we can get the money needed.

And so we continue waiting and praying. Everyone is ready to go and ready to move forward. It is great to know that the church is behind us. But it is hard to have so many plans and to continue waiting.

Fundraising Time

Time has been ticking away and soon I will have to leave Denmark. My year contract might be up, but my work in Danmark is not finished yet! I know God has called me to see this cafe project through and so I will be returning for at least another year. So, that means I need to come up with some more funds! It cost me $1,400 a month to live in Danmark. That means I need to raise $16,800 for the entire year. There are a few different fundraisers and ideas I have to help me raise the funds-

My Running- It keeps me sane! No really, I love running and if I ever gave it up I would loose my ability to de-stress and process. So, I have 2 races coming up, both half marathons. I am going to run a back to back race over New Years with my brother and sister-in-law. That means I'm running a half on the 29th of Dec. and then another on the 1st of Jan. If you are interested in sponsoring me in these runs, all of it will go towards my work in Danmark and the benefit of me keeping my sanity.

Golf- In October there will be a golf tournament in Pittsburg, Ca. The tournament will go to helping raise funds for my work here. More details for this will follow. If you are interested in playing in the tournament, email me and I will put you in contact with the organizer for this event.

 Speaking- I will be home in the end of November until February. I would love to share in any type of services, small groups, Sunday school classes, any thing like that. Please email me and we can arrange a time.

I will be returning to California at the end of November and staying in the States until mid-February. Then it's back to Danmark to open a shop! If you are interested in more details or helping me in anyway, please email me at thrower_chic@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook. Thank You so much! Please Pray with me about my next year commitment to Danmark!

Movin Forward

We have found another property for the cafe. It has been checked out by the team. Yesterday some of the team members and church members went a prayed over the property. We are now on the next step of negotiating price and contract with the owner. I really like the property location and size. We will have to do some remodeling, but it won't be too bad. I'm excited for this new place.

I was unable to attend the prayer walk yesterday because I had another commitment. I ran a half marathon yesterday in a forest in Danmark. It was a great, painful, exciting, hard, learning time. I ran it alone. I was not trained to run such a hilly trail race, so it was a battle against my body the entire time. But, I'm glad I did it. There is something about being out in the forest running alone, at the end of your energy that gets you to the point of nothing left but to keep taking one step forward. At about mile 7 the trail was turning into another steep narrow hill and I heard footsteps approaching behind me. I slowed ad moved over to let this man pass me and he told me to keep going. We started up the steep part with him right behind me and he cried out "oh God" and started to walk it. And in my mind I thought, the exact same thing! There is a point where you push your body to exhaustion and you can do nothing but keep stumbling forward in hopes that someone will be there to catch you in the end. And in the end as I saw 4 friends standing there cheering me through the finish line, I knew I survived and conquered and wasn't so alone.

Through most of my time in Danmark I have felt very alone. At through these struggles with loosing a shop and group conflict I have felt like I am just stumbling forward trying to figure out if we will ever see this through. At this point I don't have an answer to that. But I know that if I keep pressing forward with this call from God there will be someone to catch me at the end. And hopefully the church here in Danmark will be better because of it. Just keep moving forward.

A Call To Prayer

It has felt like a really, really, really, slow summer in the ministry area. I am use to churches where summertime is ramped up event crazy time. But, in Denmark it is the opposite. It's holiday time and everyone disappears. The trouble with that is we have lost our momentum with the cafe. The past two weeks have been a struggle to bring it back. The pastor and church board have called for a time of prayer revival for the church. They want to add more prayer life as a church. I have taken that call both to the youth group and to the cafe team. We are wanting to grow deeper together and move forward together. The cafe teams really needs this time. We hit a low and a struggle when we loss the shop and we have not grown out of it. We have not moved forward. We have been stuck. I have challenged the team to rebuild. We viewed a property last week that we really liked. It is one we are going to make an offer on. But, this time we want to bathe this place and this decision in prayer. Sunday the church will be doing a prayer walk around the property. A few from the group will be fasting and praying from Monday until the regular cafe meeting Thursday. A time to pray. A time to seek out if this is really what we should be doing. A time to shake off the slump of the summer and move forward. Please join us in this time of prayer.

Golf Tournament Fundraiser

Fundraising Time

I have committed to working in Denmark another year. So, that means I need to come up with some more funds! It cost me $1,400 a month to live in Denmark. That means I need to raise $16,800 for the entire year. There are few different fundraisers and ideas I have to help me raise the funds-

My Running- It keeps me sane! No really, I love running and if I ever gave it up I would loose my ability to de-stress and process. So, I have 3 races coming up, all half marathons. I am running my first trail half marathon in Danmark on Sept. 2nd. Then I am going to run a back to back race over New Years with my brother and sister-in-law. That means I'm running a half on the 29th of Dec. and then another on the 1st of Jan. If you are interested in sponsoring me in these runs, all of it will go towards my work in Danmark and the benefit of me keeping my sanity.

Others Running- This Saturday (August 4th) a Women's small group from my home church  (and some of their kids) are running, jogging, or walking a 5k to support me. They are asking people to sponsor them and all the proceeds will go towards my work in Danmark. If you are interested in sponsoring one of them email me. The line up of runners include-
Andie Fitch (yes, my mom has signed up to do it!!)
Sara Allen (my big sister!)
Joshua Allen (my nephew!!!! he's only 7)
Diane Kennedy
Laurel Jacobs
Kristin Calidine
Lillian Caulderon
Katelyn & Caleb (more kids that want to join their Moms in helping support me)
I am feeling so blessed that they are doing this for me! I wish I could join the run with them!

Golf- In October there will be a golf tournament in Pittsburg, Ca. The tournament will go to helping raise funds for my work here. More details for this will follow. If you are interested in playing in the tournament, email me and I will put you in contact with the organizer for this event.

 Speaking- I will be home in the end of November until February. I would love to share in any type of services, small groups, Sunday school classes, any thing like that. Please email me and we can arrange a time.

Thank You so much! Please Pray with me about my next year commitment to Danmark!

Fast Forward Through July

I looked at the date and realized that July is almost over. And I realized that I have spent the past 3 days feeling like I am on vacation. It has been a good reminder why I love living in Danmark. It has been a crazy month, so I really needed these few days of vacation.

The month started out with a week of camp. It was church camp, most similar to a family camp. I was really stressed heading into camp, over all the cafe stuff that I knew was going on while I was gone and as soon as I got back. I was feeling overwhelmed and feeling like I was just hanging on to make it. Camp was fun and the speaker was really good. The focus was on Encountering God in Everything. And during one of the evening services, I finally felt God speaking again. And God said wait, it will come, not exactly the answer I wanted, but an answer. And so during the services I felt encouraged that God knows what our cafe team is dealing with and we will find another place. The other side of camp was sports and hanging out. I got to play volleyball, not sure how long it has been since the last time I played, but a lot of my training came back to me. I also got to learn how to play handball! Finally! I have been watching this sport and hearing about this sport since I moved here and finally I was taught how to play. Of course I spent the whole game trying to figure out what was going on, but still I played! Camp was good, but very tiring. As camp came to a close I had to leave early to make it home before the next adventure arrived.

3 hours after I arrived home from camp (those hours were spent cleaning the church and making lunch) a work team from West Virgina arrived. They came to work on the shop, but since we didn't have a shop they did work around the church and the white house. Also, that night my parents arrived to work with the team and see what I was up to. It was a great 10 days. We did different projects such as painting and yard work. And the most exciting one for me was that we finished the bonus room in the white house!!!! It was great to have the team around. They were an encouragement to the cafe team and a big help to the church.

It was nice to have my parents here. It was an interesting set up because they stayed with me in the house and they got to see how things go in the house. As always when I have them in the country I am serving in, it's just weird. It is weird to combine both worlds. But, a joy to try and share my life with them. We got to do a lot of touring and there were a lot of places I have not seen that I got to see with them. It was also nice to be spoiled. But, Tuesday I had to drop them off at the airport and go home to an empty house and try to figure out what to do next.

When I got home, I crashed. Too many weeks of craziness and not enough sleep. I spent the next 3 days enjoying the sun and enjoying being here. I went to the beach and actually swam in the water! It finally got warm enough to do that. We also took a really long bike ride where we enjoyed seeing the beach and harbors. I also took a trip to Tivoli and then enjoyed being shown different types of architecture around Copenhagen. And all this got me to a point where I fell back in love with Denmark and I feel refreshed and ready to go back to work.

Today we had a cafe meeting where we discussed our next steps. We are still looking for a place. We will try to go a visit shops this week. Hopefully we will find a place soon. We had to readjust our start date goals. That was disappointing. We also discussed my contract ending and when I will return for another year. So, we are picking up the pieces and moving forward, which is all we can do.

trying to move forward

Things are not so great right now. Life has been really stressful. We lost the shop we signed the contract for in May. The owner backed out of the deal and so this shop is no more. It is back to the beginning for us. We have been looking at realtor listings again and have viewed a few places that would not really work for us. So, we are still looking around. The whole team is feeling very down about this.

I had visitors! A coupe of volunteers from Poland came to give some coffee training. It was great to be with them again. We spent the days touring different coffee shops around Copenhagen and the evenings learning about coffee. It was nice to have friends visit. And we went to a roastery here and we were served coffee by the first World Champion Barista. That was an exciting experience! I forgot how much fun it was to visit shop after shop. It was a good time.

I have a crazy few weeks coming up. In a week I leave for summer camp. I think it will be a lot of fun. And the day I get back from camp the work team from West Virgina arrives. Also that night my parents arrive. I am getting really excited for that. It will be a good time. The work team will be doing different projects around the church and the house since we do not have property. But, I think it will turn out ok.

I am still studying my Danish for my immigration test. I am feeling very positive about the language part. I am getting nervous about the culture part.

Hopefully we find a new shop soon. This trial has really been weighing on our spirits.

Our shop has been featured in a mission magazine.
Check it out-
Article on the Shop

shop owners aka craziness begins

It is official, we now own a coffee shop in Copenhagen!! This one-

It is really close to the center of the city, on Nanensgade. I am so excited that it is all official now! But... this means the craziness shall begin! Life is getting busier and busier for me. When I stop and think about all that needs to be done and all that will be happening soon I feel overwhelmed. I am EXCITED about the shop!!! And all of the preparations ahead. We have some volunteers from Poland coming at the end of June to help us with some coffee training. Then in mid-July we have a small work team coming to help us get things prepared. And then we open around August first!! Yea! :)

past the halfway point...

Time is flying by and I realized I have now been here for 7 months! That is crazy! In a lot of ways I feel like I have just got here, like I am just getting started.

I have started my "official" Danish lessons. In July I will have to take a simple immigration test. I will have to be able to answer cultural/government questions as well as language questions. All of them will be done in Danish. I am feeling more confident about the language questions then the others. Classes this week went well, I am behind because they started me in the middle of a book, but I think I will catch up.

Things in the white house are going well. We are getting ready for summer vacation and planning or final activities before summer break. We have had some ups and downs with attendance, but that's the way it goes with youth. You can read about the ministry in this article- white house ministry

And with the future coffee shop church in Denmark we have BIG news!!!!! WE HAVE A LOCATION!!!! Everything is approved and the contract is waiting for our John Hancock, and then we will own a coffee shop in the center of Copenhagen. The shop we have bought has been in operation for a little while. The owners are selling EVERYTHING along with the shop. Basically we are just taking it over from them. In July we will close the shop for a couple weeks to do some simple remolding and touch-ups to make it our own. We will officially open the first of August. There is a lot we need to do before then. We still need a lot of help with fundraising, the good news is that we will not have a huge project, just a big one. We also, need to be trained and prepared for when we do open. There is not only a lot of building paperwork, but personal as well, such as a taking a hygiene course. Yeah, I have to take a hygiene course in Danish to be approved to work in a kitchen. That will be an interesting experience. We have a menu that needs to be planned. Also, we are having a very small work team for a week in July. They come at the perfect time to help us get the work started in the shop. So, A LOT is going on and soon I will busily be working daily in a coffee shop again. I kind of miss that.

Things are no longer slowly moving, but flying forward and I am excited to see where God is taking us!

Article about the Sweden Shop

http://engagemagazine.com/content/tentmakers-plan-new-ministry-sweden

Our Fundraiseing Video

Once again, almost a month flies by and I realize I have not updated my blog in awhile... I can not believe it is May. Since, I have returned from Sweden, the time has flown by with a lot of practical work. I have gotten busier, which is nice, I like being busy. So... how have I been keeping myself busy??? I don't know! :) A lot of my focus has been on getting Danish lessons and figuring out how I am going to be able to pass a test this summer on the language and the culture. Right now, it seems I will not be able to get into the official classes in enough time before work in the cafe and the test happens. But, I think I will be able to study to pass the test. That is the not so exciting project that has been keeping me busy.

Cafe Shopping... We have been looking at different possibilities for the cafe. We have also been pushing forward with figuring out paperwork, foundation legal stuff, and budget things. But, the most exciting thing is we are pretty set on a property! We have visited a shop for sell that we REALLY like! It is a little small, but it is a great deal and will not have a lot of work to get it reopened. We all feel like this could be the place and we are now in the middle of the paperwork for taking it over. We are also continuing our need for fundraising! Right now a couple from the team is in the US speaking at different churches. And I am slightly jealous that they get to be Stateside....

This past Friday was National Prayer day here. A few of us went to an international service held in a state church in the center of the city. It was international! I think there were a lot more immigrants there, then Danish people. It was a great experience to worship with so many different nationalities. And to hear and see them pray for the leaders of this country even though it is not their "home land". It was amazing to be a part of.

Things have been busy with Danish lesson, meetings, and such. But, we are really moving forward and I am excited to see where we are heading with the shop.

Some work in Sweden

I spent my Easter holiday in Sweden. I took the two hour train ride over to Arrie (a very small country village outside of Malmo) and stayed with the American family living there. They have a large home, cafe, gallery, and barn on the property. Their goal is to start a coffee shop ministry and plant a church. However, the only buildings complete are the home, 2 galleries, and 1 room seating area for the cafe. Their is no bar or kitchen, all of that has to be built. During Easter time Malmo host a huge art round. Different artist rented the galleries on the property during this time. So, they decided to have a small trial cafe during this time. I went over to help. We served drip coffee, tea, hot chocolate, juice, and various cakes. We kept our prices low and took plenty of time to visit with those who came in. It was a pretty successful 4 days. Many people from Malmo were excited to here the plans of a future country cafe and we received a lot of encouragement. However, this time also opened eyes to how much work needs to be done. Not, just with the fact there is no kitchen, no bar, and no water source to the cafe area (although getting those things done is a massive job in itself), but they were hit with the realization of the time commitment it takes to just run a cafe day to day. You are not working only when the doors are open. You are prepping and cleaning as well. It was and eye opening weekend. We were left thinking, we have an amazing opportunity here, but it is going to take A LOT of work to get the building to operational. And after that, they really need some missionaries to help support them in working and doing ministry. But, dreams are big and we got to pray with one girl and have lots of conversations with others. All the hard work will pay off!

on the steps of the cafe

the view out of the window

our simple set up

the cafe side of the property

running on the beach in Malmo

castle in Malmo

castle ruins near Arrie

All work and no play makes Katie grumpy...... so we had our good times too. Even though I have traveled to this area a few times (even the week before with my visitor) I had never been able to see any of the sites around. And since I am slightly stir crazy (especially when I don't have my running time) I got to take some good running trips. I ran around the small farm roads of Arrie. But, I was also taken to Malmo and ran down the coast towards the bridge from Danmark to Sweden. It was a gorgeous view to see Kobenhavn in the back ground. Then we drove around the city and I got to see a few of the landmarks of Malmo. It was nice to see some more of the country. Overall it was a good, but tiring trip.

Visitor From Home

When I was contacted that a future missionary was interested in coming to visit me I wasn't sure what that meant. But, I am always excited to have visitors and to share with others who are interested in missionary work, so I said "yeah come on over." I got to spend about 10 days showing her what it was like to be a volunteer missionary in Northern Europe. It was very different from the places she had been before. I really enjoyed the time. It was like a gift from home for me. To have someone around that understood where I was coming from and someone to take places. It was fun to play tourist in the midst of all of the work. And yes we did get some work done in Sweden and in Greve. :)  We went over the the Sweden shop and painted and prepped the cafe room. We also got a chance to wander around Malmo and explore the down town area. It was a great break and joy for me to have someone from home. Sometimes we need that reminder and encouragement to keep going. And this visit was that for me!

Fundraising for Copenhagen

We are starting a new fundraiser for the Copenhagen shop. Here are the details-

Fundraiser: Cup of Coffee for Copenhagen-

Coffee is a way of life in Denmark! There is a huge coffee culture in Copenhagen.  Churches are really struggling in Denmark and we need to find creative ways to reach people. So, we are combining the familiarity of coffee with outreach. The Church of the Nazarene in Denmark is going to be opening a coffee shop / ministry center in Copenhagen to go out and reach people where their interests are. Through the coffee shop we will find unique ways to share the gospel, start Bible studies, and support non-profit organizations (such as donations to NCM). This project in Copenhagen is the dream of members in the Greve Church of the Nazarene. It will be their new start ministry and they need some help to get things going. We still need to raise $50,000 to be able to purchase the building and keep it in operation for 1 year. We are looking for some help with fundraising, so we set up this project- A Cup of Coffee for Copenhagen.

How it works-

            The leader can choose a time period to raise the funds (such as 1-2 months that works with the church calendar). During that time challenge each person to give up one of their favorite coffee drinks a week, and donate the cost of that to the Copenhagen Shop. At the end of the time period collect the funds and send them in to help support us!

I am really excited to start this new ministry in Denmark. There is a real need for a creative way to reach people. There is a strong team here, who has been praying about this new ministry for 3 years. It is time to put this call into action! Our plan is to have property purchased by July 1^st and then open the shop by September 1st. We would love any kind of support. If you, your church, small group, or whatever are interested in participating with this fundraiser, please email me at katie_rae27@yahoo.com. Thank you for all of your prayer and support! 

Scandinavian District Assembly

I spent this past week trying to help prepare for the assembly. I am not sure how much of a help I was, but I think I had a pretty interesting job. There are 3 churches, and 2 new starts on the district. Each group speaks a different language. There is the Greve church, Copenhagen Cafe (new start) that are from Denmark, the Sweden Cafe (new start) that are Americans in Sweden, a Portuguese speaking church in Oslo, Norway, and a Korean church in Helsinki, Finland. It makes for a pretty interesting gathering. All of the pastoral and district reports were written in original languages and needed to be submitted into English. I was given the task of making sure they were in "correct" English. Thank God for Google translate and 4 Danish housemates. It was a pretty entertaining job, after all Google translate does not translate into proper sentences and does not account for cultural phrases. It got some pretty interesting sentences to figure out. :) But, I think I succeeded with expressing everyone's thoughts in understandable English.

The assembly was held in Helsinki, Finland. I was excited to add another country to my list. When we got there, we spent the first day walking around the city. It is a beautiful city on the water, it is actually a bunch of islands bridge together. We got to see the harbor and experience seeing some traditional Finish food in the market. We also saw a really huge Lutheran church. It reminded me of a lot of the catholic churches I have seen. 

I spent the weekend sitting in different meetings, NMI, District Advisory Board, discussions about the new work in Sweden. I think my mind has hit discussion overload. I don't see how all these church leaders can do this weekend after weekend. It's not my favorite activity. However, I think we have come to a great place with everything. I did really enjoy my conversations with our Field Strategy Coordinator, Regional Director and his wife, and the GS's wife. I felt very encouraged listening to them and what they had to share. I did walk away feeling inspired and supported and ready to move forward with both of the cafe teams (Copenhagen and Sweden).

We also had an ordination service for the pastor in Finland. It was another exciting experience to be a part of. I don't know how to describe what it feels like to pray over another Elder and the power of the Spirit in that moment. I hope it is a feeling and memory I never loose. 

It was a great weekend! I am so glad I get to be a part of the Scandinavian District! There are a lot of wonderful people on this district!!! 

Danish Crew in front of the Lutheran church

Danish Crew touring Helsinki

Lutheran church

Harbor in Helsinki

walkin around Helsinki

walkin around Helsinki

Ordination Service

the beach by the house

the botanical gardens in Copenhagen

newspaper war during youth group

newspaper war during youth group

newspaper war during youth group

a much needed update

I know, I know, it has been over a month since I have written. I keep thinking I need to update and then I become distracted and forget and all of a sudden a month goes by without an update. I have been finding ways to keep myself busy.

I have been having a lot of fun in the white house. Things with the youth group have been going well. We have been meeting regularly on Monday nights for youth group. We have been doing bigger activities once a month and sometimes having impromptu movie and game nights.

Things are going well with the cafe group. We have now established a set operating budget for the first year of business. We are ready! We have begun to look into different properties. We have 2 right now that we are looking for more information on. The goal is to start renting in July and open in September. We are busy making summer plans and trying to figure out how to get everything we need. We really need some help with fundraising and work teams. At this point we need $50,000 more to be able to operate through the first year.

There is a new ministry start in Sweden. A couple there are looking into opening a coffee shop and planting a church. I have been spending time consulting with them over the steps we need to take to open that shop, this fall as well. They have a huge project in front of them. They also need a lot of fundraising support and work teams as well.

I have been connected with a school in Greve. I have shared in 4 different English classes. I have talked mainly about American culture, but in one class I was able to share about religion as well. I had a great conversation about faith with the students. It was so neat to be able to openly share Christ in a classroom, something that would never happen at home.

My energies are really pulled in 3 directions right now. 1st is the white house/youth ministry, 2nd is the cafe group in Copenhagen, and 3rd is the cafe in Sweden. It makes for some interesting days spent writing emails or meetings. I am getting anxious to open a shop, I really beginning to miss getting to hang out in a coffee shop to work.

I LOVE living in Denmark, it has brought joy back to ministry for me. I am trying (and not very successfully) to learn Danish. I am enjoying the fellowship with the different teams I am working with. Things are good! :)

beginning to see some funds

On a positive note, I thought I would post how the fundraising has gone so far.

Our goal is to raise $80,000
1 Time Pledges-
* $10,000 from the Pittsburg, Ca. Church

Monthly Pledges-
* $25 a month from Bob & Jo Green

Thank You so much to those who have committed to help us so far! We are greatly blessed by your help!

Sunshine and Rain

Once again I am being forced to adapt to a climate I would not choose to live in.... Well, it is not that bad. I should feel pretty lucky because there has not been snow, just rain and coldness. The hardest thing for me is the lack of sunshine. I really miss that. At least we do get a couple days where we see the sun each week and I make sure I spend some time outside when I see it.

With ministry things are good and things are hard. We are really stuck with the Copenhagen cafe group. We have been trying to find partners to come along side us and help us financially. We also need work teams this summer. So, far we have not had much interest in finding support. We are at a point where we can not move forward without having some commitment of support.

Things are going really well with the youth group. We have had some really great meetings the past couple of Mondays. I can see God working among the group. This past weekend we had a movie marathon night. We set up the house like the CIA headquarters and had a secret agent night. We watched all 3 Bourne movies. There were 9 of us that survived the night. It was a good time. And finally I have a picture with all of my housemates.... well the secret agents that run the white house...

Typical Day??

Yesterday I was asked a very interesting question. I was at the church helping with some of the remolding and one of the guys asked me "What does a typical day look like for you?" My response "Uuuhhhh...... I don't know... I don't really have a typical day." And that got me thinking. How do I express what I am doing here when I can't express a daily schedule. But, that is what I love about working in the ministry, nothing ever follows a schedule and nothing is ever the same. There is always room for change, distractions, and detours. Of course there are things that happen at the same time every week- youth group, cafe meetings, white house meetings, church, danish lessons. Between those meetings my week is filled with people and tasks for the next meeting. Every day is different, some are crazy and some are mellow. But, that's what happens when you work with people. You never know when you are going to get that message that you are need to help, teach, or just listen. And that is when all your plans just change, but the biggest blessings come in the detours.

We have a shop blog!!! Here is the blog for the coffee shop ministry in Copenhagen. Check it out! Sweet Surrender Copenhagen