Mountains and Valleys

Hello dear friends and family,

Another long week with no updates from us. We commit to you to write in the middle of this next week. If not, remind us!

Sunday night's movie discussion went well. The crowd was very small, but the Truman Show really sparked conversation that was meaningful. It allowed those of us who were involved to grow closer together by learning what some of our core values and beliefs are.

Monday we were feeling a little under the weather and decided it would be better to not fight the cold, wind and rain to get to the preschool. We made it to the shop though and discussed TAG (Trevecca Around the Globe) team preparations and events. This year with TAG is going to be awesome! It is really special because Jordan is an alumni and came to Poland with them last year. 

Jordan spent most of her time at the shop throughout the week working on window signs of an ice cream cup, coffee cup, hours of operation, and wi-fi. The signs look amazing and really stand out. The shop now pops out from 50 yards away. It has attracted a great number of guest so far. Praise the Lord!

Tuesday we opened the shop. We worked more on TAG strategy. No students came for tutoring. But we did have two students come in to have coffee and ice cream. They attend Kolbudy and are in the second level of gymnasium. We invited them, but they didn't come on Thursday.

Wednesday we planned to go to the preschool in Kowale but we awakened to a blizzard! At least 6 inches of snow if not 8. So much for burning lady winter : ) By the time the snow calmed down we would not have had much time there so we decided to go Thursday morning. We opened the shop for Dawid. He invited Russ to go to the gym tomorrow morning. That made Russ very happy.

Thursday we were out the door by 7 am. Russ to the gym, Jordan to the preschool. We met up at the shop to open. Worked TAG details. Arranged a meeting with Adam, our local contact for work at the music school for TAG, and the directors of the school for Friday. The same two girls came again for English tutoring. They are so sweet. This week they bought tea and hot chocolate. The lesson seemed to go much better now that we know what we're doing (more or less). : ) Jordan went to a free aerobics class at the community center. It was intense!

Friday we left early in the morning to meet with the music school. The meeting went better than any of our expectations. The projects are going to be great: landscaping, benefit concert, and cultural integration. God has big plans for this years TAG team in Poland and for this school. It's exciting!

We had a mini date: lunch and a movie. Then we hit the ground running. We stopped at Tesco (a walmart type store) for supplies for the family hour and game night. Then home to the shop for a team meeting to update Thea who was on vacation this week. After the meeting we made play dough for the family hour.

Saturday, today (wow), we got up, made last minute preparations for the family hour and came to the shop. The same child, Igor, came back but this time his whole family came: Mom, Dad, and younger sister. We played duck, duck, goose and pretended we were rapidly growing trees and chickens (that flew of course!). This week's Veggie Tales hero was David because of his fight against Goliath. Our craft was five smooth stones of varying colors representing lessons from the story. It was great! They even asked for the recipe to make their homemade play dough. The Dad also confirmed how wonderful a program this is and they will see us next time! : )

Then it was back to the house for some chores and lunch, meeting with Thea about the Easter service, to Auchan (another walmart type store) for more supplies for game night, back to the shop to work, and here we sit. Sunday's game night is Bunko. It is going to be a terrific mixer, allowing people to meet each other in a more relaxed setting.

I know most of what we've written is positive, but we really felt we were in some deep valleys this week. It helps to write and focus on all the good that is happening around us. Please pray that we would stay encouraged and keep persevering in doing good (as Galations 6:9 reminds us). Pray for God's wisdom and guidance in our next steps. And pray that God would make his presence known to us in a very real, fresh way everyday.

We love you!

The Donalds

PS. Today was the first day it really felt like spring, thank God, we needed it for our souls. We were blessed with sun and warmth, no winter coats necessary.

One Long Week

Hello all, 

Thank you for your patience as this has been a long week for us. Tuesday Dawid taught us how to open the shop. He let us run the place for awhile. We had one guest who ordered a Latte and Cheese Brule. He was so pleasant. He had been to the shop previously and we recognized him. He even spoke English! That afternoon we had our first Tutoring session. The weather was terrible, snow, hail, wind, rain. No one came, but we think that is why. 

Wednesday was a day of rest for us. We were supposed to visit another local kindergarten but the director was uncomfortable with us coming. We found this out Tuesday night after no one came for tutoring so it was kind of a sad few days. However, Simona let me (Jordan) go with her to pick up Daniel and we also got some window decals for the shop. That night we spent at the shop creating a new drink menu. 

Milky Way: white hot chocolate, chocolate ice cream, espresso, whip cream, and chocolate sauce.

Berry Blast: white hot chocolate, strawberry and blackberry ice cream, whip cream, and cherry sauce.

Lodopresso: espresso with vanilla ice cream.

Amaretto lodopresso: espresso with vanilla ice cream and amaretto syrup.

Caramel Mocha: chocolate sauce, caramel syrup, espresso, steamed milk.

We planned to preview the drinks at Friday nights poetry reading and guitar solo. It was so much fun letting our creative juices flow!

Thursday we opened the shop completely on our own and ran it until 3:30. No guests, but we did have 2 students come to tutoring! They even ordered hot chocolate. We just went through their textbook and helped them with grammar. We weren't sure we were actually being any help, but they were so thankful and asked if they could come back next week. They were also shocked and the room wasn't full. We asked them to tell their friends and they assured us they would bring people with them next week. Their names are Alex and Agatka, both girls about 15 years old.

Friday we went to the local preschool. It was officially the first day of spring and the poles have quite a tradition! All the children were dressed in bright colors and hats decorated for spring. We walked around outside, with noise makers and load voices to wake up spring. We also carried around lady winter (a scarecrow) and burned her in the creek. What a tradition! It was fun though to be with the kids. 

That night we prepared the new menu board for our premiere. Several people came to the event. One ordered the Berry Blast and one an Amaretto lodopresso. The Berry Blast widened quite a few eyes and two more people got them! What a success! 

Saturday was a slower day for us, but at 3:00 we made our way downtown to join Thea for her birthday celebration. We got on a train to Oliwa, a suburb of Gdansk. There is a beautiful park that we walked through and a Cathedral. We were going to a Jazz CLub for dinner but we made it a surprise party with reservations for 6pm. We stalled and went wandering way down the main street. We found a little grocery store to meander through and there was a really good salesman who sold Thea some nice perfume. We made it all the way back to the restaurant and Thea was surprised. Dawid, Simona, and Daniel were there and Ela and Marta from Thea's bible study group. The food was excellent and Thea got to sing up on stage. We were there for two and a half hours. She was so happy.

Today has been a more quiet day as well, but in a half hour we are heading to the shop for the Movie Discussion forum lead by the intern of the Methodist Church. Tonight's movie is The Truman Show with Polish dubbing and English subtitles. At least we'll know what's going on. The last Movie Discussion went very well so tonight should be good.

The Weekend

Friday was a good day. We were at the first pre-school again and it was wonderful. The kids remembered us and the directors seemed very pleased to see us again. The English teacher, Magda was also excited. She told us that she was good friends with Ola, the teacher we spent Monday with. This really opened up a new comfort level. She invited us back next Friday so go with the children and look for signs of spring outside.

Saturday we got up early and went to the shop to open for the Family Hour. It was creeping closer to 10 am with no one in the shop and we were a little discouraged. But, at 10 am one family, a mother and her son Igor came! Igor slowly warmed up to us and it was so exciting to see him relax and have fun. Daniel, Dawid and Simona's son who is 10, translated for us. He was a tremendous help. The Bible story was Daniel and the Lions den. We watched Veggie Tales. Our craft was lion mask. Igor's mother was very pleased with the program, said she would return next time with several friends, and even recommended more preschool's for us to advertise at. Thank the Lord for such a good morning!

That night we had an art opening for a local photographer. We helped make and serve coffee and ice cream. Dawid even left us alone with Thea for 2 hours and we had 5 guests who ordered drinks and ice cream. No complaints! It was a great night.

Sunday was our day of rest. We went on a date to the movies. Their theater's here are very nice. You even get to preselect your seat so no one else can sit there. Yeah, it was awesome!

This morning we went to the preschool in the neighboring community. They were thankful to have us again. We helped the children with their English colors by playing several games. We also did an art project and took them to the playground. 

Our team meeting today was productive. So much is going on. It is really just wonderful and amazing. Time seems to be going by so quickly. Thank the Lord for his work in our lives and here in our ministry. Pray that he would continue to guide and direct our paths and that we would be obedient to his voice. 

Momentum

This last week has flown by.

Monday we had a wonderful day at a neighboring kindergarten. The women were so thrilled to have us there helping. They feel understaffed and are in real need of men to help with the children. We asked if we could continue coming once a week and relief and joy spread across their face. They allowed us to put our family hour advertisement in each of the child's boxes for the parents to pick up. Hopefully some families will come.

That afternoon we met with Dorota, a wonderful school teacher and the local public school. She is a real advocate for her students. We explained to her our ideas of English tutoring and she took it upon herself to get permission from the headmistress to hand out flyers and display posters. She is a wonderful sweet soul.

Tuesday the General Superintendent of the Nazarene Church was here with the regional and field directors. We had the opportunity to share with them about our ministries here. That evening we invited all the people we know to meet them. We had a wonderful time with music and sharing. Dawid feels that we really entered into a whole new chapter at the coffee shop spiritually. It was a positive experience for all involved. God is doing great things!

Wednesday we got our final check-ups to officially work at the shop. We began our training that evening learning how to get the best espresso, milk, and foam. We made our first cappuccino's.

Today I (Jordan) got up and went to Kolbudy where the local public high school is. Dorota met me and we spent three class periods going around to all the English classes telling them about the tutoring events, inviting them, and handing out flyers. It was a really positive experience and many students expressed high interest in attending.

This afternoon we were back in the shop training and I saw several girls who I spoke with at the school outside looking in. I went out and asked them to come in and have a look around. They said they would definitely be coming next week. We could have a full house! Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow we return to the first preschool and spend the morning with the children. The afternoon is filled with more training and a team meeting. We also will be preparing for the family hour on Saturday. Tomorrow night we have our first youth event at the shop which is a computer gaming event. Hopefully it will go well and the kids will have fun.

Pray for God's wisdom and guidance in our lives. He is working and we want to be moving with him, not against him. And give thanks, for the Lord is Good and His Mercy Endures!

Little Kids

Thursday was fabulous! We got up, went to the shop at 7am to make coffees and then off to the local kindergarten. We set up a place to offer coffee to the parents along with our flyers about the family hour. It was really encouraging. Many of the fathers spoke English and were surprised to hear that such a coffee shop existed in Kowale. Many said the family hour was a great idea for the community and would definitely be coming. 

We spent all morning with the kids ages 5-6 mostly. They had English classes which we sat in on. We played games and told them a little about where we came from. They were adorable. Many times the teacher would remind them that we didn't speak Polish but they prattled on all the same. We bonded really well with this one little boy named Kuba. He would always smile and wave at us and practice counting in English. 

At the end of the day we asked if we could come back again next week and the director said that would be great! 

Friday was a day of rest for us which we were thankful for. I think we are finally over our colds. Praise the Lord! We had a team meeting and wonderful things are happening with Thea and Simona. God is at work! It is so very exciting. 

Tonight there is a special concert for Women's Day (tomorrow). It is a national holiday in Poland. Pray that people would come tonight and be blessed by the performance. 

Monday we have the opportunity to visit another local kindergarten. The director is very open and looking forward to having us there. Pray that we again would make the right connections and that God's love would be made known.

Tuesday a General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene, Dr. Deihl, is coming. Pray for his safe travel and that he would have an opportunity to really see all that the Lord is doing here in Kowale. 

God Moments

Hi all! What a fabulous few days we have had in the Lord!

Yesterday morning we met with the director from a local kindergarten and talked with her about advertising for our Family Hour. She was excited and invited us to go tomorrow morning and have an informational booth for the parents in the morning and then help at the school until 1 p.m.

That afternoon in the coffee shop we met a man and his son who live in the area. His son goes to the school that Daniel attends. He is 15 and we talked to him about the Tutoring hours for English that we are starting on March 17th. He and his Dad seemed interested and gave us their contact information for more details.

Then that night we stopped in and another local kindergarten teacher was gettting coffee to go. She gave us her number to call and meet with her about advertising there as well. What a day filled with God moments!

Today we got our computer back. Praise the Lord! All our files were recovered. And tonight we meet with yet another local kindergarten teacher about our program. Pray that all goes well and that tomorrow is a success; that we would represent God and meet the people he would have us meet.

Concert, Church, Bowling

Hello dearest friends and family,

It has been a while so we have a lot to share with you.

Friday we had a concert here at Sweet Surrender. A harper, Barbara, came and played. It was wonderful. Several people came to hear her and we made many connections for further ministry.

Saturday our computer stopped working. We, I should say Russ, spent hours trying to fix it with no luck. Thankfully we do have access to another computer, but we do not have access to our files. It seems silly, but please pray for us. It has been especially hard not being able to talk with people back home.

Sunday we visited a Methodist church. It was entirely in Polish, but I recognized the tunes to some songs. 16 people in all, but it was homey. Afterward we shared some cake with tea and coffee. It was nice. The pastor and his wife help lead the movie discussion nights that we have at Sweet Surrender.

Sunday night we went bowling, American style. It was fun! Iza and Slawek came. We met them on Thursday. They are in their early 20s. Iza has been to several Nazarene events and may help us with our activities here. Also, Thea (a yearly volunteer who is awesome!) came with the girls from her home Bible study. We connected with them and I am certain we will see them again soon.

God is bringng wonderful ideas together for outreach. This week we begin advertising for Family Hour held on Saturday mornings. Parents visit with local neighbors while we put on a vbs style program for the chidren. The first will take place March 14.

Continue to pray for our health. We are getting better, but our colds still hang on tight. Also pray that we would be encouraged and not lose heart. We want to be fully alive for God to use.

Grace and Peace,

Jordan