Time Flies.......

Time flies when you are....... having fun? doing ministry? extra busy?
Whatever the reason, time flies by. Today I actually opened up my blog and found that it has been 6 months since I have written, six months!!!! Where in the world did fall and winter in Denmark go? It seems to have zoomed by like that summer vacation does for a child. Today is spring in Copenhagen, the air is fresh, the sun is nice and the long over due blue sky is showing. In the midst of winter I was not seeing this time fly, but everyone knows my strong dislike for cold, snow, and ice. Luckily we did not have too much of that this year. But, now it is spring and the sun and warmth is returning (if only for a day). So, what has been happening in my life here in Denmark?? So much can happen in 6 months.

I spent this weekend in Oslo, Norway at our Portuguese speaking church there. We had our Scandinavian District Assembly. I was privileged to be the representative from Sweet Surrender. With this privilege comes the task of reporting to the district what has happened this year. And when I stood in front of all the important people all the facts of the business and events flew out the window and the stories of the people came out. The different people that we have met through the last year, the stories of how their lives have been changed by walking through the doors of Sweet Surrender and how our lives are changed because we have been able to minister to them. Because isn't that the point?? I could write or talk for a long time about all the hours we work, all our food, drinks, and how much money we make. I can list the different project groups we have started, the different places our income has supported, but in the long run none of that matters, the people matter. And so what have I been doing the past  months (besides obviously not updating my blog). I have been standing behind a bar making coffee, in a kitchen helping make food, cleaning, helping plan/throw parties/vents, helping organize a church, teaching, preaching, counseling, but most importantly- getting to know people and trying to affect their lives. So, when I reported to the district I shared about the neighbors who I have talked to about Christ and the church. I talked about the people who walk in off the street and become volunteers because of the community they feel in the cafe. And that is why we have built Sweet Surrender in Copenhagen, not to be another non-profit cafe, not just to be a place where mother groups can relax and be free (which are all wonderful things). But, we built it to be a place where people meet Christ, where people come face to face with real love and acceptance. The team has worked really hard to create that place in the last year. I think we finally have arrived, our customers, neighbors, and volunteers come back because they know we are different and they want that. Soon, they will realize it is really Christ they want and we are here to give them that!

Where Did My Summer Go???

Wow! It has been a really long time since I have updated my blog or even communicated what has been happening here in Denmark. I can't believe it is already September and I keep thinking, what happened to my summer? When did it become September?!? There is so much that has happened, that I am not even sure where to begin. So, lets go through the highlights of the past two months.

I have been working a lot of hours in the cafe. It is hard when we first open and are still trying to figure out our patterns and business. July was a really slow month for us. We had a lot of days with not very much business at all. That was frustrating, but I think it was also a blessing because all of the cafe team members were on vacation. It made it a little easier to work extra hours for them when we were not crazy busy. August was also slow in the beginning, but the past couple weeks business has been growing and we are having busier and busier days. This is great, we are beginning to bring in the amount we need to stay afloat. I have enjoyed my work hours in the cafe behind the bar and in the kitchen. We have some great volunteers from the Greve church, that are a lot of fun to work with. Also, we have met a lot of new people and have regular customers now. Daily we have to opportunity to talk about what we are doing and why. We have a number of people interested in us and that is great.

We had a Work and Witness team come and help us out in July. They were a wonderful group to have. They started the work in our activity room, cleaned out 2 storage rooms, and did an evening childrens activity. It was such a blessing to be with them and to share Copenhagen and the cafe ministry with them. We were not able to finish the activity room, but that is what happens when you have certain things that have to be dealt with by professionals and paperwork. However, they made a huge dent in the work. As always it is an encouragement for me to have others with the heart for mission work around. I really connected with some on the team and they were a true blessing to have here.

We have started weekly church services. We meet every Saturday evening after closing. This has ben a great time to worship, pray, and encourage each other as a small group. This last Saturday we got to pray over one woman who is coming and struggling with alcoholism and she shared with us that we were the only family she. She also, visits Julia and I every day in the cafe.

Last week, I had visitors from Poland. They are the current volunteers there. It was exciting to share what is happening in Copenhagen and hear about the cafes I worked in before. They were a great encouragement for me as well. It is nice to be able to share openly and discuss the struggles we face as volunteers and the ministry. It is nice to have others to share with. I also, enjoyed showing them my beautiful Copenhagen.

There are a lot of things happening this fall. Now that we have a balance in our work hours we can focus on starting more activities and groups in the cafe. I will be starting a women's group and a young adult group. Also, I will continue with working with the youth at the Greve church. I am excited to see where God is going to lead us this fall.

I had a wonderful experience last Monday. I performed a baptism service in Sweden. I baptized 2 women who are meeting with the couple starting a ministry in the Malmo area. We drove out to a lake and braved the very cold water! It was a very simple and relaxed time. It was a gathering of friends and family. Both women shared their hearts and how they are wanting to work with the ministry we are starting there. I was blessed to be a part of their great act of faith. Exciting things are happening in Sweden!

It has been a crazy summer and I can not believe it is already September! But, this fall has so much in store for the cafe and ministry! I am excited to see where God leads me and the work in the cafe!

photos of all the adeventures

Keeping Busy

The shop is now running in full swing. I think I have gotten into a good pattern of life and the shop. That is if you can ever be in a full pattern working in a cafe ministry. We have our days of up and downs. There still does not seem to be a steady pattern of customers, but we have a good mix of busy days and slow days. This weekend was a big exciting weekend for us.

Friday, we were featured in one of the top newspapers in Denmark. A tough food critic gave our show 5 out of 6 stars. The article talks about our concept of being volunteers, how great our brunch was, and how well we fit our target group. It compliments that we think about our clients and really do have items that are great for kids. The next day we had 3 different families come in and congratulate us on our review and order brunches. Already business was boosted by a positive review. However, a local politician did not feel so positive about us and wrote some provoking messages on our facebook page and his facebook page questioning our true agenda. He is against Christianity and tried to attack what we were doing, though he has never come into the shop or spoken with any of us. But, this is what we can expect face in Denmark, or in any post-Christian society. You can see the online part of the article here (but it is all in Danish)- Sweet Surrender Review

Saturday, we started our first church service in the cafe. For now it was cafe team members and our D.S. and his wife. It was a great time of sharing and worshiping together. For now we are keeping our services simple, but will build on them later. It is important for us to take time in prayer for the cafe, the team, and the ministry we are doing.

 

Sunday, was also another big day for us. Part of our non-profit, volunteer work is that we have chose to help a community group called Mother Help. This group supports single mothers who are having a hard time providing for their children. We have committed to throwing 1 birthday party a month for a child in these families. Yesterday was our first party to support this group. It was a mother, her 11 year old daughter (the birthday girl) and 18 of her friends. We decorated the cafe, served hot-dogs and cake, and played some games with the kids. We also gave her a gift. Both, the mother and daughter felt very appreciative of what we did for her. But, for me the biggest high-light was working with our friend. She is an older woman who lives above us, she use to get drunk everyday in the bar we took over. She has some problems in her life and is very lonely. We have spent many hours talking with her and trying to encourage her. We invited her to come and help us with the party. She showed up Sunday all excited and ready to do whatever she could. She was smiling and laughing the entire time while she helped with dishes and decorating and serving the kids. I loved how seeing how just giving her the opportunity to help someone else made such a difference in her attitude.

It was a very busy weekend for me. I am tired and struggling with finding the energy to head into another stressful week. But, it was a good weekend. Things are getting better and better in the cafe and God is working through all the challenges!

Contentment

I am happy.... :)

In two days it will be our 1 month anniversary for the cafe. So far we have 50 volunteers giving some time in the cafe. We have started collecting coffee and snacks for Cafe Night Light (a state church ministry dedicated to helping woman leave prostitution). We are also in the process of getting Bibles, and the Jesus film for this ministry. Next month we have scheduled our first Mother Help birthday party (we are throwing birthday parties for children in poor single mother homes). We have another of visitors to the shop each day. Most of our visitors are mother groups and parents who are impressed with our play area. And in 2 months a Work and Witness team will be here to help us build the children's room. Things are going very well for us.

I have been thinking a lot about my future and ministry and what I am doing. And I truly love working in Denmark. I enjoy the ministry, the team I work with, the church I am connected to, and the friends I have made. I think God is about to do something big here and I am excited to be here and be apart of it.

Ministry Opportunities

Sweet Surrender Copenhagen in not only trying to start a church and be a blessing to our community, we are also working as a non-profit cafe trying to support foundations in our area. One of these foundations we have chosen to support is called Night Life Cafe. This ministry is connected to a State Church in our neighborhood. They work with bringing women off of the street and out of a life of prostitution. Our cafe has committed to support them in 2 ways. First, we will do a food drive in our shop, asking people to donate coffee and cookies that will be served to the women when they come into Night Life Cafe. Also, we are trying to raise funds for Bibles for them to hand-out. Because most of the women are not from Denmark, we need Bibles written in English, or Eastern European languages. We are really excited to help with this ministry. We have learned that there are a couple brothels on the street next to us, so this is a ministry that directly affects the area we are working in. If you are interested in helping us raise money, or have Bibles you can donate, please contact me at katie_rae27@yahoo.com.

Opening and Adjusting

We are open!!!! A week and a half ago we opened Sweet Surrender Copenhagen with a party and 3 days of specials. The following week we tried to get into the swing of things, trying to figure out how much we needed to buy and produce and train volunteers. It has been some busy times. And even though right now there is not a lot of sleep, and a lot of busy work, things are good. It is exciting to be working in a shop again and talking with people. Planning our activities and groups that will be done in the shop. Also, planning to have a work and witness team this summer to build our children's room is busy work, but exciting. There are so many things ahead and so many things to do to keep going right now, it can all be overwhelming and so adjusting needs to take place.

Through all of the hours I am spending just trying to make the daily business happen in the shop, I am finding I don't have time to get my other work done. My sleeping pattern has been completely rocked and it is hard to find time to do the computer work. So, I am adjusting my schedule and figuring out where everything needs to fit. How, I can get enough sleep and still accomplish everything I need to do in a day.

In the shop things are going well. We are attracting a number of customers and everyone loves the look and feel of our place. Also, we have a number of volunteers signing up to help work some hours in the shop. It is a lot of fun to have people come in and look around and enjoy our place. Now we are moving forward and meeting people and blessing the community one coffee cup at a time!

Here are some pictures of our opening night.

the opening is almost here!

It has been a long time since I have updated my blog. And when I think of all that has happened this month, I don't even know where to begin. We have been extremely busy building and rebuilding and planning. The countdown to opening is almost done. We are now at opening week, 2 days left! I could go into a long explanation of all that we had to do to get the shop ready, but that description would take forever. Instead here is a photo album of all the work we have done in the shop-

progress photos

This week is opening week. We have Monday and Tuesday to finish up everything and then we open Wednesday evening with an event for kids. We continue the party all week long, including a concert on Friday and ending with yummy Brunch on Saturday.

There has been a lot of stress and pressure lately. Exhaustion has almost taken over. I really feel like I have been running on empty for a couple weeks now. But, in the midst of the exhaustion there is some excitement that we will soon be open!