Indy NMI Blog

            The past weeks have been very busy ones as we change seasons with the rest of the world! Time has slipped by, and there are so many things to tell you about what God is doing in Poland. Most of what we share with you in the Update is about our work and how God is blessing and challenging us with His grand purpose for the Sweet Surrender Coffee Shop ministry in Poland. Outreach events, days with happy people visiting the shop, worship experiences with those who become a part of our fellowship are just a few of the things that keep us all very busy and fulfilled with what God is doing in Poland.

Team in Poznan Old Town

            For our first Update of the fall we thought it would be a good idea to say “THANKS!” to many people by featuring a Work & Witness team from Spokane, Washington, this past July. And we also thought it would be interesting to you to hear directly from the team members themselves. Jeff Shea, Team Leader, sent us wonderful photos of them on the job.




Here are some of the team members’ thoughts about their experience and about what God is doing:

Doug Jones

“I went to the community outreach to observe how people from another culture worship.  Instead God touched me at the core of who I am to help me come to a point of forgiving the most painful moment in my life.” – Doug Jones

Kathy Jones

“I am so excited that the Lord is working among the young adults in Poland.  The worship service at the Mercury Hotel was so incredible.  The reGeneration choir and Ev’s preaching really touched so many people, including Doug and me.”

“My highlight was being able to use my skills to reach out and help our family in Christ, also the different opportunities to share Christ with others in many ways.”

Vic in Kitchen before renovation.

Kitchen after renovation

Barry and Debbie

“After the Saturday evening service at Sweet Surrender Poznan, visiting with the young people in our broken/non-existent Polish, and laughing and learning a bit about their lives, is a very vivid/fond memory. “

Jeannie

“The church service at the hotel was inspiring.  It was also inspiring that the girl in the seat next to me flying home wanted to talk about her feelings/rejection of God and her catholic religion.  I’m not good with words but the Lord was there to give me words and thoughts for her.”

Jana, Jeff & Tyler

“It was an honor and privilege to see firsthand how the Lord is working in people’s hearts in Poland.  We were blessed to make wonderful new friends, and to be an encouragement to our missionaries and volunteers.”
– Jana Shea

Tyler and Garrett

           God blessed the Sweet Surrender ministry in Poznan in very special ways through this dedicated team from Spokane First Nazarene Church. We are so grateful to them. 


One of the creative things they did, in addition to the work on the Poznan shop, was to sponsor one of our Outreach Events. They fully funded the cost for the hotel venue where the event was held and also covered the expenses for other necessary arrangements for special music, PA equipment, etc. How wonderful for them to have caught the vision of how our work can be made more effective through these outreach events. We are happy to add them to the growing list of people and churches that have helped in the past and for those who will take up the challenge to help us in the future.

            In the meantime, continue to pray for these fledgling works in Poznan and Krakow. We will be bringing you additional information and inspiration about the work in Poland. 

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

As the Gdansk facility prepares to be re-opened in the fall with new ministry team personnel, we still have a few more touches, but we’re 75% of the way there.

Ev Tustin

Next up: the Spokane First WW team arrives Wednesday in Poznan.  They will remodel the kitchen in the volunteer apartment as well as serve a meal to the homeless at Bread of Life and give the shop there a fresh coat of paint. Join us in prayer for their safe travel and effective ministry while in Poznan.

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:

                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.

                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.

                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.

                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.

                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.

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