Partners for Nazarene Missions in Poland: June 2011

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Poland Update #11

Prayer/Vision: Discerning God’s Leadership into the Future

One of the wonderful gifts God has given to the work of the Church of the Nazarene in Poland is its dedicated corps of volunteers who have given their time and talent. Volunteers have served with distinction. They have been supported by a whole host of people who believed in them and gave the necessary resources to enable the volunteers to spend time living and working in ministry in the Sweet Surrender Coffee Houses. They have lived a life of Christian commitment in community together with our growing number of Polish nationals who love the Lord and His work in their homeland. Our work in Poland owes a huge debt of gratitude to this talented group of volunteers.

As we look to the future, we are anxious for potential volunteers to know that we need them to keep answering God’s call to raise their support and join us in this unique adventure in coffee house ministry. As you are praying for our work in Poland, let me help us focus on some future volunteer needs that we see will be needed in the not-too-distant future:

1. Coffee House Volunteers.

We continue to need a “flow” of qualified and committed people to come and live with us for periods of time from several months to a year or two. These volunteers are our frontline missionaries who share not only their work, but the love of Christ with people who are drawn to the coffee houses. Most often it is through their friendship and care that people are finding a new and exciting personal relationship with Christ to be possible in their lives. We will continue to need a series of these crucial volunteers for years to come. We cannot achieve our long range goals without them.

Prayer Focus: Pray for raising the consciousness of people, especially young people, that the Kingdom of God could use them in this ministry.

2. Ministry Mentoring Couples.

We have been so grateful for the six month commitment made by Dr. Dennis and Jamie Johnson, former pastors and District Superintendent, to come and live with our developing ministers in Krakow this year. Our Polish national leaders in Krakow have experienced rapid growth in their understanding of the Nazarene Church and of holiness ministry through the faithful mentoring that Dennis and Jamie have given. We believe that God will call other experienced ministry couples who would be willing to raise their support, as the Johnsons have done, and come to live with those whom God calls into vocational ministry service in Poland. Our prayer is that other couples who may have recently retired from full time active ministry will heed God’s call to give several months of their time to mentor our new Christians and new Nazarenes.

Prayer Focus: Pray for God’s call to potential mentor couples.

3. Administrative Volunteers

God has been blessing our work in Poland with growing numbers of Christians, growing coffee shops, and a growing need for more professional help in some specific administrative areas. We know that as God blesses His work in Poland, the need for those with special skills will continue to increase. We need to keep our missionaries and our missionary volunteers on the “front lines” with our people rather than to burden them more and more with administrative work that puts them in “back rooms” where accounting and reporting, etc., must be cared for. Our prayer is that God will call and once again volunteers will answer the call to help with this need.

Prayer Focus: Pray that God will call someone who has bookkeeping skills.

4. Social Service Volunteers

An area of developing need among those reached is to create the beginnings of social service ministry among people with a variety of needs. These specialized skills would help us develop another outreach arm for our ministry among those who come into our sphere of ministry who are in need social service ministry. This would be a new area of ministry that God would open up, we believe, if we had the human resources and expertise to do it.

Prayer Focus: Pray that God will raise up volunteers for this ministry.

Thank you for joining us in prayer. More than anything, we want to discover what God is already doing in the hearts of the people of Poland and join Him in bringing the joy of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to everyone He leads to our ministry.

Prayer Needs

Please join us in focused prayer for the Poland ministry!

*Continue to pray for the continued effectiveness of ministry outreach events and worship services.

*Continue to pray that God will make funds and locations available for outreach events.

*Pray for our Volunteers. They are a key to what God is doing through the coffee shops.

*Pray for our new Christians in Poland that they will be faithful and follow God's plan for their lives.

*Pray for future financial resources for outreach events and Krakow building payments.

*Pray for Work & Witness teams.

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 about $700.00 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.

5. Visit Poland by organizing or joining a Prayer/Vision or Work & Witness trip to see what's happening for yourself

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

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Poland Update #10

Dear Partners:

Here is a brief account of the worship service at our recent outreach event in Poznan.

On Saturday, May 28, at the Mercure Hotel, Sweet Surrender Poznan hosted its fourth worship service. There was a great deal of anticipation of this service and we spent a lot of time praying for the outcome.

As the room began to fill before worship, we noticed there was a sense of warm fellowship. Hugs were given freely and the chatter of happy voices filled the space. This is something of a new phenomenon, and we are happy that our attendees are beginning to come together for worship with a sense of belonging.

As the choir led us in worship, there was a sense of connection.

Ev began to speak about the grace of God, and how forgiveness is available. Hearts began to respond; the video shows that response. A clip from the movie "the Passion" stirred our hearts as we sang "Amazing Grace."

As the offering plates were passed, people were given a chance to respond. The prayer cards we got ranged from prayers for family to a need for faith. We were excited that anyone actually dared to turn in their slips at all, and so we have been praying fervently over these requests.

After the service I was asked to meet with a young lady. After our discussion she asked for another meeting. So on Wednesday night following the service one of our American volunteers, Paige Stines, and I met in the office at the coffee shop to talk with our friend Karolina. We prayed with her that evening, and she is now a new creation in Christ! Isn't that just so great?

Please continue to pray for all of us here in Poland. While amazing things are happening, we are also experiencing a time of great warfare. The enemy is trying to discourage what God has begun, and we desperately need your prayers as we move forward. We like to focus on the power of God. We know He will help us overcome.

Thanks for your love and prayerful support and partnership of Poland. We cannot do this without you!

--Rhonda Tustin

As a follow up her new faith, here is how this young lady described it to all of her friends on Facebook the next day:

“Oh, my God, I’M BACK!! I GOT MY SOUL BACK!! I pray for people in the street again, I’m nice to people again! I feel overwhelmed but amazing at the same time, this is just incredible. You can’t imagine the relief I’m feeling right now…:))) THANK YOU!!!! I love you, guys! See you soon!”

Do our prayers and investments in our work in Poland pay off? Just that one testimony to new life in Christ is worth it all! Thank you again, Medford First Church, for sponsoring this outreach event. We hope to do many more of these in the coming months. There are so many more people we need to meet who would be this excited to find a personal relationship with Christ like this young woman.

Please continue to pray for our new Christians in Poland for the Spirit to strengthen them in their faith and for them to have the courage it takes to live a faithful life in Christ.

Here are some pictures to give you a little idea of our joy-filled evening.

Check out a short video of the service at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxRL0J-Ckd8

Thank you for praying! Keep on praying but take some time to rejoice and give thanks for God’s goodness in the lives of our people!