Another Incredible Week in Sweden

This past week is a blur of blessings.  We attended an International Church where 14 different languages are represented.  We felt right at home!
The music was fabulous and songs sets alternated between English and Swedish.  After opening services, which was shared in the common language of Swedish,  all English speakers attended an International Fellowship.  The sermon was taken from Matthew 13, the proper soil for sowing the seed, the Word of Christ.  The take away was never focus on the tiny seed and see only that seed, but envision the orchard that can result from planting one tiny seed.  There, we met people from all over the world who are purposefully studying God's word - not to keep it to themselves -  but to plant the Word in family and members within their community.  It was inspirational.


We are most impressed with the world who drops by our house almost daily.  Our cook is from Kosovo and a new believer.   When she saw the apron that she will wear, she cried.  These aprons are speaking.
When our Swedish barista instructor saw the aprons, she said, "How fine." She is not a believer.

Seth is from Ghana and attends the International church with us on Sunday. He stops by twice a week to work for hours without pay or complaint.  His deep faith is an inspiration to us.  There is Mira who lives behind us and who is from Slovenia.  She and her family are not believers.  They are troubled, and it's so easy to see that Jesus can heal them all.  She stops by several times a week and in broken English tells the stories of her children and their children.  Sometimes, she brings her apple strudel.

Kent is a very proper retiree who lives in the next village and comes faithfully to visit for 2-3 hours every Wednesday night. He likes the big house here where there is a piano.  He and the cafe owner play piano jazz and Christian hymns.  He is not a believer, but generously has supplied multiple sets of fine china for use in the coffee cafe.
These are just a few ways that this cafe is already serving as an outreach.  Farmers on their tractors and parents at the bus stop outside the cafe stop to inquire when they can get their coffee.  We have had some setbacks, but we believe God is using time for His purpose.

Do we work alllll the time?  No, we have bus and train passes now and travel to small villages near Arrie where we live.  We walk the parks, visit the cathedrals and stroll by the sea.  It's the right balance for now.

 We pinch ourselves a lot to see if we are dreaming.  Just like all our other Mission Corps assignments, this is perfect timing.  We love internationals and feel most comfortable in any setting with them.  It is a privilege to be the first Mission Corps couple at this assignment.  What a perfect match:  coffee with seekers.  Who but God!

When you drink your first cup of coffee each morning,  please pray for the seekers who bring their cakes and their china and sit to visit.  Pray that we would see and hear that tiny crack of opportunity to say, "I know Someone who can help you with that!"

Keep Looking Up! and thank you for reading our blog.
  J:m and L:nda

Bread Basket of Sweden

On Saturday, August 15, we loaded up the van in Sweden and headed toward Denmark for the weekend.  We had worked hard all week and set out to discover what the Danes like about Copenhagen.  Plus, we wanted to visit a Nazarene church where a new friend of ours would be the speaker Sunday morning.

Painting the pantry

Window seats

But, first what had we done all week besides looking stylish with a paint brush, hammer, saw, and ladder?  Jim and Seth have been busy making window seats and a marble ledge for drip coffee makers.   They still have to design and make a vent-a-hood for the stove.  The handicap lift is in place and the stone paving around the front and side of the cafe for outside seating is almost  finished.  A table in the main room has yet to be built around a structural post, offering more seating.  Oh, and please, someone, remove layers of paint from two beautiful doors so they can be used in the main coffee room.

We have not a problem with their work hours here:  start at 9 and stay with it until the project is finished.   We are partnering with some great help here and praying to see the cafe open by the first of September.

Sweet Surrender Cafe

Back to the first paragraph...we visited the Sweet Surrender coffee house/cafe in Copenhagen on Saturday.  It was cool to see the "sister coffee house" to the one we are helping to open in Southern Sweden and to meet the staff who work there.   This coffee house is located in a residential area with a lot of foot traffic.

Wheat fields

Whereas, Arrie Kulturhus in So. Sweden is located in the "bread basket" of Sweden.    Here, they grow wheat and barley.  The fields are golden right now, but harvesting is beginning.  In fact, Arrie Kulturhus coffee cafe is located in an old grain mill established in 1903.

All around us we see fields that are literally ready for harvest.  Daily, huge combines and tractors and giant grain trucks lumber past our intersection.  This coffee house sits right in the center of a harvest field.  It will become a channel of the harvest, casting a gentle message that those who drop by for a coffee are sitting in a different type of field; they are resting with the Lord of the harvest.  (Luke 10:2)  The harvest is truly great here as people are unattached to the church and the promises found there.   As you eat your breads and grains, please remember to pray for the harvest in Southern Sweden and the Lord's work at Arrie Kulturhus.

Keep Looking Up...and thank you for reading our blog.
J:m and L:nda

Revolving Door of Ministry

A house of hospitality.  There is just no other way to aptly describe this beautiful home where we will call our place for three months.   First of all, it's more than a home; it's a small estate that goes on and on forever.  Attached to the huge house is a breezeway that leads into a 3 story barn where there is a complete work/maintenance area on the ground floor, bedrooms on the second floor and plans for a conference center on the third floor.  And, we are not describing house-sized floors.  This area is HUGE!

In addition, there is an art gallery on one side of the country court yard and entrances into the breezeway and the barn on the other side.  Also, there are entrances into the main house as well as into a complete basement area. It is easy to get lost!   But the reason we are here is to support in the launch of their coffee house/cafe ministry, which will open by the end of August.  By the way, the coffee house is also attached to the main house.   Because the ages of the buildings, some of which date back 150 years, the couple carefully renovates to keep the original character of the home...and the coffee house.  They have the buildings, the dreams, and the volunteers to help them with preparation, but they already had the inherent gift of hospitality.  This house and grounds, though located in a quiet rural village of Arrie, is never without busyness and people traffic.
  Their table is set like this three times a day, in addition to tea time (fika) in the late afternoon.  Friends and neighbors always drops by.  For instance, we have been here for 4 days and this is the world we have seen: 2 from Finland, 2 from Ghana, 1 + baby from Kosovo, and 1 from Slovenia, and one original Swede.  They all drop by to sit and visit.  It doesn't matter if you have your painting or carpentry clothes on, all sit at the table... using cloth napkins. Many of these guests share their testimonies at the table or want to discuss if a Bible is necessary in order to believe in God.  They are interested in comparative religion or sharing how they left their faith to become Christians.  We digest more than food at every meal.

It's a small international setting in this area, and a perfect setting for a coffee house ministry.  Farmers, bus drivers, and cyclists all stop to inquire when they can get their first cup of coffee.  That impresses us, but not as much as the openness and genuine hospitality of this couple who live on this property.  We can't remember being with people who have had such gigantic dreams and creative minds. God has given them everything, and they are not sacrificing one antique brick on the altar of "I don't think we can do it."  We see the reality of "when God calls, He equips."  It's thrilling and galvanizing to have been invited to be a part of this ministry.  Everyone sits at their table, and they are welcome - paint and sawdust and all.  Believing is easy when people feel like they belong.  

Life is an adventure here...and we love the dynamics of it all.  Truly, this is an honor to be enrolled in the blueprints of God's fingerprints.

Keep Looking Up!  And, thank you for reading our blog.
   J:m and L:nda

The Process of Arriving: Denmark and Sweden

 

We've had a few new experiences since leaving the states Sunday night for Denmark and Sweden.   In 24 hours, we stood in  5 countries, had two layovers, lost 2 pieces of luggage and had a coffee can explode in one piece of luggage that did arrive.  Linda's clothes were sprinkled with coffee grounds, which was very appropriate since we will be working in coffee house ministries.

We got settled into our apartment and finally stumbled into bed on Tuesday morning at 2 am.  Seven hours later, we shared breakfast with our host family and a couple from Finland who stayed at the B&B.   Arrie Kulturhus is bigger than life.  It's huge and its owners have a big vision of how they are asking God to use this property:  Coffee house/cafe, B&B,  hostel, conference center, art gallery and more.  And, there is work going on in every square inch of these buildings, some of which were constructed 150 years ago.



Our first day, we worked with people from Ghana and Finland and Idaho to move the coffee house closer to its opening date.












While Arrie is a small rural farming community about 10 miles from Malmo, the third largest city in Sweden, population 32,00, the people still like their coffee, and we will soon offer that with a dash of quaintness and quiet.
 A neighbor dropped by today to meet some of the new faces on the block.  She represents the curiosity that encourages all of us to paint another wall, hammer another nail, and pull another weed.

As you begin to think globally, please think of the creative power that God can infuse into this property.  Pray for a miraculous exchange rate of time and energy that goes into paving His business that will be a tremendous outreach to all who drop in.

We are under the influence of jet lag, but can reason clearly enough to know that we are here for a purpose.

Keep Looking Up and thank you for reading our blog.
J:m and L:nda