Spring 2014 Update

                The Church of the Nazarene in Poland has been busy these past few weeks! Let me tell you about this and also share some prayer requests that have grown out of what is happening.

                Our workers in Poznan continue to distinguish themselves both in the work of the Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop ministry and in sharing the love of Christ in the community. The shop continues to grow both in its effective outreach and in its financial stability. 

                We owe a great debt of gratitude to our Volunteers and our local Poznan people. God continues to bless their fellowship together and give them fruit for their labors.

                Many of you are aware that we have had several years of working with some complexities in connection with our past work in Gdansk. God has worked a number of great miracles as we have cleared titles to property and dealt with complicated tax issues. Thank God! 

The papers have been signed transferring the Gdansk property to the Foundation!

        There are stirrings from Gdansk from those who would like to see this work come back to life. Please join us in praying about what our next steps might be to use our resources in Gdansk for God’s glory.

                These exciting things are underway:

1.            We have had wonderful meetings in Krakow with the EurAsia Regional Director and the Field Strategy Coordinators from the Region.

2.            May 7 - July 30:  we look forward to two “immersion” team girls from Trevecca Nazarene University who will be working with our ministries in Poznan and Krakow.

3.            May 21 – 31:  the Northwesterners singing group (which includes Autumn Tustin, younger daughter of Ev and Rhonda Tustin) from Northwest Nazarene University will tour our work in Copenhagen, Denmark, Malmø, Sweden, and in Poznan and Krakow, and help in outreach at the Sweet Surrender Shop ministries in each city.

4.            June 20 - July 3:  the John Day, Oregon, Work and Witness team will be working in Poznan doing critical work on our building, replacing windows in the first floor shop and the third floor apartment. This work is critical to the soundness of these properties.

5.            July 26 - August 7:  the Plymouth, Michigan, Work and Witness team will be in Poznan to continue the work on the windows in the shop and apartment.

6.            September 12 – 26:  the South Texas Work and Witness team led by Duane Srader will be in Poznan the complete the work on the windows in the shop and apartment.

                We ask you to join us in prayer for the safe travel and effective ministry of all of these groups in our work in Poznan and Krakow. Join us in praying that God will continue to put our ministry in Poland on the hearts of churches and Districts to help us with other needed Work and Witness projects.

                Thank God for our Volunteers who continue to be willing to come work in our coffee shop ministries.  If you think of people who might be willing and able to do effective work in our coffee shops, please have them get in touch with me to see if spending several months to a year or more as a Volunteer might be a great way for them to serve God. We are always on the lookout for those who may have experience at working in coffee shops, who can come and help us feed the love of coffee that many Polish people have, and who would also share God’s love with them.

On a related note, one of our very effective volunteers over the past several years in Poland is Katie Fitch. Katie was instrumental in the opening of the shops both in Poznan and Krakow, and now is helping start a new shop started in Copenhagen, Denmark by the Greve Church of the Nazarene there. Pray for Katie, check out her blog at http://katieraesadventures.blogspot.com , and perhaps invite her to share her ministry in your church (she is currently home in the States to raise support for her ministry).

 

Heads up!

* We hope to schedule several Partners Meetings this fall in the United States. Watch for announcements!

* In just a few days you will receive another Poland Partners’ Update about our work in Krakow! Some exciting things are happening, but we are also facing some faith-stretching challenges!

Poznan Report

Dear Partners:

                It is always interesting to be abroad during typically American holiday times to see how much we miss our own traditions. It is not uncommon around the world to find our missionaries putting on a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner and inviting those we love to join us in the celebration. It is fun for us and both fun and interesting for our local guests.

                I thought you would enjoy the following report by Marybeth Giles, Mission Corps volunteer with her husband Dave, about their Thanksgiving celebration in Poznan a couple of weeks ago:

 The shop was abuzz with sounds of conversations mingling with the background music and the hum of activity. No, it wasn’t a typical day at Sweet Surrender.  It was our annual Thanksgiving dinner.

We hosted 36 people from our church and the coffee shop. What a wonderful time of giving thanks and of fabulous fellowship…did I mention the amazing food?

  It was not a completely traditional spread, as we had a plethora of food from not only the US, but Russia, Poland, and Kazakhstan as well. We had a delicious turkey, ham, Borscht (beet soup), mashed potatoes, a yam casserole complete with marshmallows on top, homemade stuffing, rolls, and broccoli and carrots, and stuffed mushrooms. That’s not even including dessert!   

We had pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, chocolate cake, and scrumptious honey cake from Kazakhstan …and that is only what I can remember! Everyone had their fill and then some.

We began the evening chatting, and then Dave shared the history of Thanksgiving. He also shared how Christ demonstrated the greatest act of love ever by sending his son to die for us. How thankful we should be that God loved us so much that he sent his son to die for us. This led us to sharing communion together. Now, after a prayer for God to bless the food and a hearty “SMACZNEGO,” we went to get our share of delicious food. 

Each room had a long table lined with people, and we all went around and shared what we were thankful for.  

Several hours later after much conversation, laughter, and excellent food, we left Sweet Surrender.

We had much to be thankful for!

--Marybeth Giles

                We are very thankful for the strong leadership of our two volunteer families: Dave, Marybeth and daughter Makayla and Rick, Denice, Callie and Carson Tracy. Your faithful prayer and financial support help keep them in Poznan as they work with the growing numbers in their fellowship. We are also thankful for our local Staff. 

Poznan Sweet Surrender Shop needs:

                Our work in Poznan is proving to be a productive coffee shop ministry, and the growing numbers of patrons at the shop are a welcome sign that God is working through the people there. Many of the furnishings and shop appliances were purchased carefully and frugally under the capable leadership of Ev and Rhonda Tustin. Over the past few years we are becoming aware that the shop is getting literally “shopworn.” It’s time to do some refurbishing. Let me share a few ways in which you might want to participate in the financial support of this shop. Here are some pictures to show you what we are thinking about:

Food preparation appliances:

 

 Coffee shop furnishings:

Digital Projector for worship and teaching:

 If you would like to help with this refurbishing by sponsoring one or more of these kinds of needs, you can email me at polandnaz@gmail.com and let me know of your interest. We’ll let you know how to give. In the meantime our Volunteers and Staff will continue their skillful refurbishing and fixing and work-around techniques

I’ve mentioned this need in a previous blog as a possible Christmas project. However, the need will go on until we can get things carefully replaced. Some of our “home style” appliances need to be replaced with “commercial” grade appliances so that they can stand up to the heavy use every day we are open.

                God bless you all and again I thank you for your prayers and generous support. I hope soon to introduce our Mission Corps Volunteers who are in the Krakow shop. We wish each of you a Christ-filled Christmas. I pray that God will bless you and keep you safe in His love.

Bob

Your prayers and support…

                In pioneer missionary work the space between survival and failure can be so very, very small. In recent months we have found it prudent to put the work of our first efforts, Gdansk, on hold. We reported that to you in our last blog, along with asking for your prayers that we can reopen our work there in God’s timing.

                More recently we have come near the brink of needing to put our work in Krakow on hold. However, this time, God had other plans. He has made necessary financial resources available and, with the prospects improving all the time, we will be able to meet the substantial financial obligations necessary to keeping our work open there. God spoke to some of you about giving substantial gifts to the work, and New Mission Corps volunteers are on the job (we will introduce them to you all soon). So we have stepped back from the brink, thank the Lord.

                Please know our gratitude for your prayers, many of you letting us know that you pray for us daily. Prayer is, without a doubt, what underpins our confidence that God is guiding us as we learn how to bring the message of God’s love and holiness to the wonderful people in Poland.

                As we look ahead, we do so with great joy and confidence. Please continue to pray for us, even when you may not be aware that there is an urgent need of some kind. Your prayers give us confidence as we follow God’s call to do this work.

What’s Next?

                As you pray for us, you may feel the prompting of God to do something more as one of our Poland Partners or Partner Churches. The need for special gifts for the expenses of our building in Krakow is ongoing. We would welcome any special efforts on your part to help us raise the necessary funds for this continuing need. The end of the year may be a good time for you to give.

                Our work in Poznan continues with the strong leadership of our Mission Corps Volunteers, the Giles and Tracey families, as well as the growing number of very competent Poland nationals. 

Poznan:  Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop

The Sweet Surrender Shop is prospering, and people are being introduced to the love of God.  If you are inspired to do something special for the Poznan ministry, there is an increasing need to replace furnishings and equipment that are wearing out. 

This is a good problem since it arises out of the success of this shop—stuff wears out more quickly when you use it a great deal.

We need to replace tables, chairs, and sofas. We have taken some of the furnishings that can no longer be repaired out of service, leaving us with some holes in our seating and serving needs. 

We must replace kitchen equipment as well: our coffee production equipment, our food preparation items, and even our refrigeration units.

If an individual or family or church group would like to take on one or more of these needs, we’d love to hear from you. The cost of these items ranges from $50.00 to several thousand dollars for refrigeration units. Those may seem mundane to you, but I assure you that our Sweet Surrender staff will rejoice should you be inspired to help out. Perhaps this Christmas season would be a good time for this to happen.

And in the future…

                As you can see, there is never a dull moment in our work. In addition to the challenges mentioned above, we also greatly rejoice in how God is directing and redirecting our work in Poland. We look forward to sharing with you more of the great stories of what God is doing in the lives of those who are being transformed by the love of God in their hearts.

                As we look to the future, we hope to develop additional ministry centers and congregations. We are on a very exciting journey and are overjoyed that our Poland Partners are sharing the journey with us.

                We thank God for each of you and pray God’s rich joy to be with you in this glorious Advent season. We are also grateful for the strong support and encouragement from our new Regional Director, Rev. Arthur Snijders, and Rev. Verne Ward III, our Global Missions Director. Thank you for praying for them as well as for us as we go forward in our work in Poland.

Poland Update October 2013

Poland Update

It has been a long transition for all of us working in Poland. I can assure you, though, that the Holy Spirit has not been sitting around, waiting for something to happen! Let me bring you all up to date on several items that I know you are interested in:

Poznan.

                Our work is going forward, and the Sweet Surrender shop is doing well. It is a spiritual oasis for many people who have become our “regulars.” We have excellent Volunteers on hand; they are providing innovative and Spirit-led leadership. The Giles and Traceys are a wonderful gift for our work in Poznan. We continue to have the strong support of our local Sweet Surrender team, who have become skilled both in serving our coffee and dessert specialties, and in sharing what God is doing in their lives. Our primary needs in Poznan continue to be future volunteers coming over the next years as they are needed. Help us find these people and guide them into service with us! And pray with us that people will volunteer in the future, and that people will step up with the financial support they need to come. The Sweet Surrender shop and property is in need of updating and upgrading of equipment and furnishings. We’d love for you to join the Work & Witness Team that will be coming in the near future. See the information below.

Krakow.

               Our work in Krakow continues to develop:  the traffic to the shop continues to increase as people discover this delightful place to come and share a cup of coffee, a sweet, and some conversation that can lead them to trust in the Lord, developing a personal relationship with Him. We are so thankful for our Polish leadership in this Sweet Surrender ministry. They are faithful and capable and love God in generous measure. We have also had great volunteers in Krakow over the years, leading to the opening of the shop. We are praying for additional volunteers to come to this ministry. Pray the Lord of the harvest to send workers! God has graciously been helped this ministry meet its financial objectives, but the costs of this beautiful building still face us. We are praying that those who are able to give will support this growing work.

Gdansk.

                The oldest of our Sweet Surrender shops is in Gdansk. Good people have supported this work through leadership, volunteers, and generous gifts. Although we prayed that the work would flourish and a strong shop and ministry would be established, it has not happened as we had hoped. We have not given up on this beautiful city and its wonderful people, but for the time being we have shifted our limited resources. We still own the Sweet Surrender shop and missionary apartment located nearby. While we are assessing our future ministry possibilities, we have relocated some of the coffee shop equipment to nearby Maalmo, Sweden, where a new shop is in its infancy. Our prayer is that the generous people who gave the finances for this equipment will know that it is not sitting idly. Look for news in the future about this new venture in Sweden. We are happy that the equipment is being used in this positive way. Pray with us as we make plans for the future for Gdansk and the grand re-opening some day of this Sweet Surrender shop. Thank God for those who have labored there over the years and, although we have not seen the fruit of our gifts and labor yet, we believe that our prayers may yet be answered in the years to come, God willing.

Work & Witness Team Invitation I would like to invite you to be a part of a Work and Witness project, "Sweet Surrender Coffee House-Poznan." Currently, we have a team coming from Plymouth, Michigan, and one from the Houston, Texas, area. If you would like to join one of these teams or organize another team, please email me for information! Rev. Robert W Skinner rwsloveitorbcrazy@gmail.com The Work &Witness Team at the Nazarene Global Ministry Center in Lenexa, Kansas, is always available to answer general questions. Feel free to contact them. (816) 931-1900 --Rev. Robert W. Skinner

Sweet Surrender Shop opens in Denmark!

On a related note, you will be interested to know that there is a great article about the new Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop that has opened in Denmark. Go to:  www.eurasiaregion.org and click on  "Fields" and you will find a hot link to the article from their publication Eurasia Snapshots. The shop is beautiful, doing well, and along with the great people from the Greve Nazarene Church in Copenhagen, our own Katie Fitch has been instrumental in bring about this new outreach coffee shop. Katie was on the "ground floor" at both Poznan and Krakow Sweet Surrender shops. Congratulations to all who have worked and prayed and given and helped bring about the newest Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop. Let's join them in praying for God to help them make good use of this great outreach opportunity.

Coming Soon!

Our great team of volunteers and the local staff of the Poznan Sweet Surrender Shop are very busy these days updating and upgrading equipment and facilities in the Poznan shop. I have asked them for a list of the most urgently needed things so that I can share them with you, our Poland Partners. We will have this list to send to you in the next two or three weeks. Our prayer is that you and/or others you may inspire in your local churches or circles of friends to help us finance these needs. We also hope you will take us up on the invitation to develop a Work & Witness team to come and work with us!

Thanks to you all for your prayers for Colleen and me and our boys during this transition from the CIS Field to Poland. It's been great seeing many of you in our travels in recent months. We hope to see many more of you in the future, either here in Poland or when we once again have a Home Assignment. We couldn't do the work we do without your prayers and your support for the fledgling work of the Church here in Poland. We are so excited to see what God will do in this great nation and with the resilient and faithful people here. God bless you all!

--Bob and Colleen Skinner

Meet Bob and Colleen Skinner and Family

Biography

Bob and Colleen Skinner are global missionaries for the Church of the Nazarene in the former Soviet Union.  They are living in Budapest with their son Joshua (15). Their middle son, Michael (19) is a sophomore at Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, IL. Their eldest son, Robby (22) is a 2013 graduate of Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. 

Prior to their current missionary assignment, they served in the Philippines from 1990 to 1994.  They were reassigned to the Ukraine District on the Eurasia Region in June 1994.  As of Oct 2009 they were appointed as partnership coordinator and advisor to national workers in Moldova and Armenia. In 2013 they were appointed to serve the Nazarene work in Hungary and Poland. They currently live in Budapest, Hungary, where Joshua is attending high school.

Bob was born and raised in Oregon.  He played college football while earning a degree in psychology at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, in 1982.  Prior to his senior year in the university, he came to understand Romans 10, and answered “yes” to God about being willing to be “sent”!  He attended Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho, and Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary (APNTS) in the Philippines.  In 1990, he received an M.Div. in Missiology degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary.

Colleen grew up in the Philippines.  She is the daughter of long-time-missionaries-to-the-Philippines, Ronald and Neva Beech.  Her call to missions came in the third grade at a girls’ camp where her mother was the speaker, and she understood for the first time why they lived as missionaries in the Philippines.  She answered “yes” to God about being willing to go anywhere and do anything for Him.  She received two degrees from Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho, in 1982.  She also attended APNTS in the Philippines.  In 1990 she earned an M.A. in Christian Education degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary.

The Skinners’ current vision is to see the work advanced in these Eastern European countries of Hungary and Poland. The work in Poland features the unique outreach through Sweet Surrender Coffee House ministries in the cities of Poznan and Krakow.

Skinner

Poland & Hungary

·         Bob

·         Born in United States

·         Ordained: 1990 by Kansas City district

·         Colleen

·         Born in United States

·         Ordained: 1995 by Intermountain district

·         Children

·         Joshua Ivan

·         Michael Paul

·         Robert William

·         General Information

·         Home District: Kansas City

·         Home Church: Overland Park

·         Summary of Service Record

·         2011 to Present – Hungary and Poland

·         1994 to 2011 – Ukraine

·         1990 to 1994 – Philippines

·         Home Assignment Dates

·         Jun 1, 2013 to Aug 31, 2013

It's been a year, but...

Wow! Look what God has done!

Dear Poland Partners,

It’s has been a year since we have communicated with you, and we miss you!  

As many know, a year ago God led us to a new ministry in Kent, Washington, where we now pastor the Nazarene church. When we left Poland, we left part of our hearts with the people we love and a work we believe in. So much was accomplished in the four and a half years we worked there, with God’s direction and enabling and with your prayers and support. During this year of transition we prayed for new leadership for Poland, and miraculously, the right couple…the best couple…has been chosen to oversee Poland ministries. We love them and have complete confidence in them. If your heart still beats for God’s work in Poland, we hope you will stand with them, as you did with us (see note at bottom).  With us, please pray for and support our friends and your new missionaries in Poland – Rev. Bob and Colleen Skinner!  

By the way, both of us had children that graduated from NNU this week, so we had the privilege of meeting with the Skinners to talk, dream, and pray about what God is going to do in the future.  It is exciting stuff!

With our love,

Ev and Rhonda Tustin

Pastor, Kent Church of the Nazarene

Missionaries Bob and Colleen Skinner are continuing the Tustins' list serve from which they will be sending brief updates to all those who are willing to pray and support the work of the Church of the Nazarene in Poland. The email address continues to be polandnaz@gmail.com.

Will you continue to help us by receiving information about the Nazarene work in Poland (brief emails with reference to the blog)?
     1. Please reply if we need to correct an email address.
     2. Please reply with corrections or additions to the name we have on your email.
     3. Please reply with unsubscribe in the subject line if you do not wish to receive this.
     4. If you know of other people who might be interested in the Nazarene work in Poland, please forward this email to them, asking that they send us an email with subscribe in the subject line.

Breakfast planning meeting May 10

Reaching Poland with the love of Jesus is vital. We hope you enjoy reading about the people and churches developing there. Ralph and Lynn Neil (Poland Ministry volunteers and retired NNU faculty) will continue as editors.

We are dependent upon your prayers. Thank you.

Update #16

Mission Corps Volunteers in Poznan

Meet Dave, Marybeth, and Makayla Giles

We are grateful for the wonderful volunteers who come to Poland to make possible the Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop ministry centers. The Giles family is one of our most recent families to volunteer. I asked Dave to tell us the story of how God led them to this ministry. I think you will enjoy reading their story and will feel better informed as you lift our volunteers to the Lord in prayer. Here is their story:

For many years Marybeth and I have each felt God calling us to work in full-time missions.  For twelve years Marybeth had taught overseas, where she met missionaries and was able to become involved in some missions work.  While I was a pastor in Maine, I continued to feel a pull overseas. After Marybeth and I got married, we both continued to sense God directing our steps into missions. Two years ago, while living and working in Tbilisi, Georgia, in the CIS, we met with Bob Skinner and spoke with him about our desire to work with the Nazarene church and of our interest in coffee shop ministries.  He told us about Rhonda and Ev Tustin, who had started a Coffee Shop ministry in Poland. After traveling to Poland to meet with Tustins, we prayed about coming to partner with them in Poland.  The rest, as they say, is history. We are very excited to be here in Poznan now, fulfilling God’s call to missions! The coffee shop provides the perfect opportunity to meet people socially and get involved in the local community in order to share our faith. 

We have been in Poland now for a short time and are thrilled to be a part of this growing ministry here. We work in the shop and have loved getting to know our team.  We love to think of and discuss various events to host in the shop in order to draw in more people from the community.

In December I helped collect and take donations to a needy family that lives in a village near Poznan.  Marybeth helped organize a visit to an orphanage. We took the orphans Christmas gifts and played games.

We are taking Polish language lessons and using some basic sentences while working in the shop. Dave divides preaching responsibilities at the church with another volunteer. Marybeth does some English conversation with English Club.

In addition to our continuing language lessons, our goal is to begin a conversational English class and Bible study as well as to make a monthly visit to the local orphanage. Please continue to pray for us and our ministries here. It is an exciting place to be, and we certainly feel God’s hand at work. Our prayer is that He will continue to guide and direct our steps as we find ways to minister, build relationships, and share the Gospel here in Poland.

                Thank you Dave, Marybeth, and Makayla, for answering God’s call in your lives to this very special ministry. We welcome you to our ministry team and look forward to all that God will do through you to touch the lives of many people.         –Ev Tustin

Work & Witness Copenhagen

                One of our Poland Partners wrote to me and proposed that if the Partners could come up with the $12,000 needed for materials for a Work and Witness team, he would do his best to field a team to go to Copenhagen as soon as is feasible. The team members would pay their own way for transportation, food, and housing but would need the additional funds for the project as required by Work and Witness. So if any of you could assist with funding some or all of the materials needed, let me know soon and we will help move the Copenhagen Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop forward.

                If you are in a church that would like to field a team, including the materials cost, let me know. I will put you in touch with those who will be scheduling teams for Copenhagen. Katie Fitch, who was instrumental in the development of our shops in Poznan and Krakow, will be facilitating this work. We are praying that the Lord will help raise up many people to participate in this project and push it to completion. Thank you all for your faithful support of the Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop ministry as it continues to expand.

Katie Fitch with a Danish Palace Guard in Copenhagen