Fall Blessings of Growth

It is Fall here in Copenhagen and this week is the Fall Break in all the schools. The breeze has been crisp and leaves are slowly changing. Pumpkins are showing up and new recipes are being thought about.

Nyhavn Harbor Copenhagen

Things in the cafe are going full swing. Our business has picked up dramatically and our weeknight are becoming busier and busier. The team has also added some new activities to help with this. One couple has added a children's song time to their evening shift. And another has added a Disney movie night to theirs. Both have shown great response from the families in the area. This past Friday we had a whole room of tables reserved for the movie night.

Our other ministries have been flowing as well. A few weeks ago at Girls Night In we had a record number of woman who came to learn how to decorate mini-tower cakes. It was a great night. We even had some girls who came because I handed them a flier in the shop. The men have also started a 5 week study group where they are going through material on how to be a better husband/man. It is a mixed group of Christian and non-Christian, some are married, dating, and single. They claim everything shared there is too secret, but all express it has been a great time of learning and fellowship.

Girls Night In 

Girls Night In

Last night we had a volunteer hang-out night. It was a great time of fellowship and getting to know each other. Our group is so diverse. We had at least 6 different nationalities represented there. As well as volunteers from the church and volunteers that have joined us from our website add. We enjoyed cakes from different places, and food from our international roots. It was a great time of fellowship and sharing with each other.

Taking Espresso Shots as a Team

God is working in Sweet Surrender Copenhagen and it has been inspiring to share with so many different people and to be able to make a difference in this city, in our neighbors, and in our volunteers through one cup of coffee at a time.

Back in Rhythm and Facing Unknowns

We are back and running like normal again. All of a sudden everything has changed. People are back from holiday, kids are back in school and we are up and running again. It has been nice to be busy again. I have missed the action in the cafe. We have also been gaining more and more new volunteers. Most of them are non-Christians that have responded to our ad online. It is great getting to know each story and working with each of them. We often get to have conversations about why we started the cafe and our faith. It is also nice to have the extra hands when the workload increases.

September is bringing the start of everything again. Our cafe calendar is becoming full with all kinds of plans.  We are starting Girls Night In and will even be adding a Men's Night. We recently had a concert. A small choir from the Methodist church came and sang some songs. It was a nice evening and a great way to connect with new people. I am excited to once again be busy with monthly ministries again.

I am still almost homeless. We have some leads on an apartment this winter. But things are still up on the air until then. I am daily writing many people about places to live. I am not sure what will happen at this point. I don't like this feeling of not knowing where I will live and being without a place for me to unpack.

So, as the cafe is going back to normal, I am living in uncertainty in my own life. But, I continue on in this rhythm of work and see where I will land.

Summertime, Livin' Easy.....

I am back...
I have been back in Copenhagen for almost a month now. It has been a great joy to be back in the cafe again. As much as I enjoy visiting family and friends, I love my work.

July is vacation month in Denmark. I think most of the city's inhabitants clear out and the city becomes full of tourist. The sun is actually out and we have warm temps. As much as I love the warmth and the month of sunshine, this travel month is not so great for the cafe. We have had a lot of slow, hot days. I would take the crazy days of the fall over this anytime. But, soon we will be back to regular and things will explode in the cafe again. I did get to sport a little bit of U. S. pride on the 4th of July. We were able to wear our stars & stripes and have a little "American" style dinner. But, like every other year- I really miss the fireworks!

We have been contacted by a number of new volunteers lately. We have posted our need for help on a community website. This has resulted in many new volunteers. Each week we are meeting new people and scheduling them for their first shifts. This has been a great experience because most of them are not Christians, but neighbors from the community. Now our ministry filled has really grown in the area of the volunteers we are working next to. It seems each time we have a new volunteer we get an opportunity to share Christ with them, when we explain why we do what we do. I am excited to see how this opportunity develops into more and ministries.

Things are going great and I am excited to be back in Copenhagen and Cafe Sweet Surrender!

Traveling Update!!

I just spent the past week at NTS going through the missionary assessment. I have no answers yet.... Except, of course I will be continuing to volunteer in Denmark! :)

And now I am on my way to Nampa, Idaho. I will be speaking at Bethel Church of the Nazarene on Sunday night. They will be the first to hear my stories!!  So, if you are in the Nampa area, stop by and see me! :D

Tillykke et års fødselsdag :D

Sweet Surrender Copenhagen made it, 1 year! YEA!!! Congratulations to all of us who have left our blood, sweat, and tears in the cafe. It has been a great week of remembering for me. I was going through old pictures from the past year and sending them on to be made into posters. It is amazing to see how much we have done in a year. Now I understand why I feel like I am busy all the time!! :)

God has really blessed us and all the work we have done for Him. When we first started the work on Mexico bar we thought that we would never be able to change it into such a beautiful cafe. The more we built, the more problems we found. But, we kept building. And then we opened and had such a slow summer and wondered if business would pick up or if we even made great contacts. Now we are always looking for more volunteers because we can be too busy. We have by far exceeded our daily income goal for the year.  Plus we have added our volunteers to our ministry list. We are getting more and more international volunteers, many who have no connection to the church. Now our witnessing field has expanded from not only customers, but volunteers as well. We have had so many events and connections with people. Our church has been set and we are meeting weekly and growing closer and closer as a team.

Yesterday we celebrated all day- handing out cake and frozen bananas to guests. We also had a concert in the evening with 2 young christian artists. It was a wonderful night. All of the team was together to help and celebrate. The cafe was filled with constant joy and laughter. It is such a blessing for us to gather all together. God has really been answering our prayers this year.

Congratulations to us! We made it!!!

Check out photos from the event here- Sweet Surrender 1 year Celebration

Moving, Packing, Running, and Fundraising

2 1/2 weeks, that is all I have left in the white house. 2 1/2 weeks before the extreme panic kicks in. Changes are always a challenge for me.

I am moving soon, finally. I have not been living in a healthy environment and I have wanted to break free since October. Now I finally have a place to go to, for 3 months this summer. I will be living in central Copenhagen. No more train rides and commuting and late night trains! i will be a 15 minute bike ride away from everything! am so thankful for the volunteer who is giving us her apartment to stay in, while she is away. So, that means before I leave for the States, I have to be moved out of my room in the white house.  And when I return to Denmark, I will be living in beautiful central Copenhagen!

I am running again, always running. It really is my excitement and life force. I an training for a 10k this time around. I will be racing on May 31st. I am excited because I will be getting to run with almost my whole family and some women from my sisters small group. Also, they will be asking for people to sponsor them as a fundraiser for me. I am so excited to get to run this race with them. If you are interested in running with us or sponsoring one of us, send me a message.

So, why am I going to the States for 6 weeks??? I really don't want to leave my work in Denmark... But the bank account says I must. I will be in California and the Chicago area.  So, far I am only speaking in 3 churches in the Chicago area. I am really in need of churches to share in the NorCal area. It has become a matter of great stress for me. I need to raise $8,000 to continue my work in Copenhagen for another year. If you are interested in helping me,  and hearing what God has been doing in Copenhagen, send me a message.

Stay tune for the next blog, in the near future.... We will be celebrating Sweet Surrender Copenhagen's 1 year birthday! :D

Spring has Sprung...

Spring has arrived!!! At least I hope it has. Last night was our time change. This is always a little bummer for me, and not for the reason you may think. I have never understood those who struggle with only an hour difference with the time change. It's only an hour... but I guess only those who understand my sleeping patterns (or my lack of sleeping) would understand why 1 hour doesn't throw me off. The reason I don't like time change is that the US time and European time changes do not fall on the same night. So, that means for a week or two I am one hour closer to my family, which seems to make a huge difference in the ability to catch my nieces and nephews on skype, before I am passing out for the night. But, time change has sprung us forward and I am enjoying the last few rays of sunlight at 7:30pm. It's amazing how a little more sun can change the perspective and energy level. I have also started to train for the 10k I will be running while I am home. This week was a challenge getting back to a running plan, but it's the good kind of challenge when you feel a relief and freedom in running again.

What does spring mean for the cafe?? It means we pull out all of the outside furniture and sneak outside for breaks in the sunshine. So far this month has proven that each week is inconsistent. It seems that whenever we think that we have figured out a pattern with our customers, it changes. We must accept the inconsistency. But, we have had more people in the evenings, there is something about having sun that keeps people out in the evenings. This is a good thing for us! :) We have been making a lot of contacts with families in the evenings. We have also been bonding with our volunteers and as a team. The atmosphere in the cafe has lightened and even when we are really busy their is still an attitude of joy and fun and friendship. And this attitude, I think, has spread to our customers as well. The mother groups have become so comfortable with us and the cafe that they almost treat it as their own living room. They lounge on the couches and babies are crawling everywhere. Obviously this is both good and bad. But, I think it proves the need for a place like ours, a place where people can feel at home, welcomed, and comfortable. We also have a number of our volunteers who find this like home as well. It has often become a place where we hang-out and enjoy being together in fellowship in the evenings. Ahhh Spring... everyone happy and feeling the freedom from the dark winter.