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.