Poland Update #4

Historic Day for Nazarene Missions in Poland!

Sunday, March 6, 2011, was an historic “first” in Nazarene Missions in Poland. The first families to become members of the Church or the Nazarene live in Krakow, Poland, the location of the newest Sweet Surrender Coffee House ministry center. Here is the report as given by Dr. Dennis Johnson, volunteer serving in Krakow:

“Sunday was an historic day as we received the First Members into the birthing Polish Church of the Nazarene--thirteen new members!  As is the practice in other parts of Europe, children were received with their parents. Over our first few weeks here, I had taught the membership material, anticipating this day of celebration. Ev and Rhonda Tustin were with us for the week-end, joined in the worship/celebration.”

For our Poland Partners, these are sweet words that mark what God has been doing in Poland as our work grows. Here is a picture of the three families along with missionaries Ev and Rhonda Tustin and Volunteers Dennis and Jamie Johnson.

With all our hearts, welcome to the Church of the Nazarene: Maciej, Barbara, Kacper, and Emilia; Izabela, Slawomir, Kamila, and Sebastian; Jaroslaw, Agnieszka, Eliza, Jonatan, and Luiza! May you know the grace and peace of the One who loves us all!

March 19, 2011.

Krakow Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop Grand Opening! 

As of this writing, the opening date for the Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop ministry center will be March 19, 2011. This has been made possible by the generous responses of our Partners, both in their prayers and in their giving of the funds necessary to complete the project. We now turn our attention in prayer to all that God wants to do through this creative ministry. Let us join in prayer for the worship services and the outreach efforts of this ministry. Here are some pictures of the finishing work and the fixtures your gifts have made possible.

Kitchen area

Serving bar

Dishwasher in progress

We are all excited about the Grand Opening of Sweet Surrender Coffee House on March 19, 2011. We hope to have pictures and descriptions and a report of this grand event. This week our challenges are:

     completion of the complex official paperwork necessary
     completion of the shop itself
     the Grand Opening event.

Poznan Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop Faces Problems!
(Good Ones!)

One of the challenging aspects of serving God is that when you pray for His help and blessings on a ministry, He gives you what you ask. And that generates new kinds of problems. They are good problems, but they are challenging and we need to join with the Tustins and Volunteers in Poznan that they will be able to cope with what is happening. Here is a communication from Rhonda Tustin to Field Strategy Coordinator Rev. Philip McAlister on March 3:

 “Good morning,

It is very early here in Poznan, Poland. I wanted to write and tell you about last night’s happenings. The Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop sponsored last night the third worship service off campus and away from the shop. It was held at the Sheraton Hotel here in town.

We are honestly SHOCKED that OVER 160 people attended this worship service. The room was packed and people were standing because we ran out of chairs. The Holy Spirit came on that room and people were moved by the word of God.

After the service, we held an after-party at the coffee shop. Over one hundred people came to be part of that time as well. I was approached by a young woman who asked if I would pray with her. After twice attempting suicide and an addiction to drugs, she was looking for the answer. She prayed to accept Christ, and she is a new creation!*

Something BIG is happening in Poland. After praying about this, we feel that if we had the ability to rent a bigger facility we would have the makings of a large congregation here. We KNOW that this is a time when finances are low for the Nazarene Church, and yet we see that God is pouring out his spirit on Poland just now and reaching into the lives of young people, calling them. So, we are calling on God and asking him to send the way to do this. His storehouse is full and we know He has a way to do this! We need a way to meet together regularly. Will you pray with us?

Today we drive to Krakow, where the church also has had a promising start. God is moving in Poland. We could never have predicted that this could happen in such a short time in Poland. We wanted to share the good news with you.

Rhonda”


*In the next Poland Update we will publish this young woman's testimony!

Here is a short video of the third Outreach Event in Poznan:

Don't you wish you could have been there?

Prayer Needs

Please join us in focused prayer for the Poland ministry!
God will help solve the practical problems of His ministry, but we need to join together of one mind and trust Him for solutions! Let’s pray in a focused way in the following ways:

*Pray for the continued effectiveness of ministry outreach events and worship services.

*Pray for a suitable location for outreach and worship that will house this growing ministry.

*Pray for the necessary funds to meet this need.
*Pray for official paperwork approvals for Krakow Shop--they are necessary for opening.
*Pray for the Grand Opening of the Shop in Krakow on March 19.

Practical Suggestions to Support Poland Ministry

1. Pray that God will continue to pour out His Spirit on the ministry.

2. Sponsor an outreach event. (The cost is several hundred dollars for each event.)

3. Join with others who have decided to give a specific amount to this ministry monthly. This would help the ministry know how to plan as they search for a more adequate worship location.

4. Reach out to prospective “Poland Partners” or others who would be interested in supporting this ministry. 

Instructions for sending funds are found below, at the bottom of this blog page.