Soup On Saturday - SoS!

Soup On Saturday

“It’s corn chowder, not clam chowder,” Tim reminded me once again as I incorrectly answered the question of what kind of soup we had today.  It may not have been clam chowder, but all were in agreement that it was delicious!

The conversation on the 5^th floor of Karolek was varied, and the afternoon went by quickly as we had a chance to meet and talk with Tim, Andrew, Natasha, Theresa, Daniel, Vincent, Michael and Karen.  

Enough soup to go around!

Along with the soup, a discussion was led in finding out what would have been useful to know upon arriving in Poland.  Almost all agreed that it would be nice to have known Polish, but also knowledge of the bus and tram lines, how to acquire things in the dorms (like a blanket), how to meet the requirements of administration, how to pay bills at the post office, how not to have a package shipped to Poznan with a value over 60USD and finally one person added that maybe it would have been better not to come.....then added that he meant it would have been better to take a break from studies before jumping right into medical studies.   Whew!

 An enjoyable time was had by all.  Join us for the next………SoS!!!!

Progressive Dinner

This week, FoF got to see several peoples living conditions and eat food. What is better than to hang out, exercise and get free food??

We started with starters at Lauries place. She served raw veggies with dip and delicious small hot dogs in bbq sauce. People remembered to stack up on meat, bc they knew that the next house, where entrées was going to be served was Coralanne's, so meaning.. vegetarian food.

To get to Coralanne's, we had to try the new, tram for bus thing. That the city of Poznan has been so nice to set up, since they decided to just dig up one of the major tram lines. The bus worked fine, still had to walk twice the distance from the bus, but we got to Coralanne and Eirik's right on time.
On the menu was coconut curry vegetables + rice, which Tymo can recommend on the highest now after eating it. He didn't even miss the meat.

Our final stop for the evening was Karoline's, so we had to walk down the stairs, out the gate and over to the building next door. Where Karoline and her flat mate Sunniva had made a tasty spicecake(directly translated from Norwegian). We all were a tad sceptical about the topping... but Karloline assured us that it was what we suspected it to be.. Chocolate:) We also got our hopes up that Jason will play baby Jesus in this year Christmas-play.

Thank you everyone who participated, especiallly you people that opened your houses and made awesome food!!

4 W’s (Welcome, Worship, Word, Witness) Tuesday, November 15th

Even though Tuesday passed by in a dark, cloudy atmosphere announcing the winter’s approach, the evening at ‘Sweet Surrender’ made us forget the sad weather outside as we experienced once again the homey charm of the place.

Kriszti, our Hungarian friend, did the welcome part by showing us the best ice-breaker. She formed a ribbon circle on the floor and made everybody step on it with both their feet. First difficulty – as the circle was very small, we had to hug tightly so that everybody could fit in. Next step – we were to change our position in the circle to stand in alphabetical order of our first name. Tricky, especially when you have to keep at least one of your feet on the ribbon! There’s no better chance to make some new close friends.

For the worship part, Eirik suggested that each take a couple of minutes to write down on a small sheet of paper some ideas about how we can contribute to our daily walk with God. Among all the problems and challenges that we’re facing in our lives, it’s just too easy to get muddleheaded in spiritual matters. It’s worthwhile to consider our priorities and find new spiritual goals.

Next, we had an appointment with Micah, one of the lesser prophets – true, he’s not as famous as some other Old Testament stars like Isaiah, but his message is of equal importance. In chapter 3, he speaks to Israel and Judah of the impending judgment. What are the visions in the next chapter? Together with Laurie (from Kansas), who introduced us to the extract discussed, Micah painted us a mountain of the house of the LORD established as the highest of the mountains and the nation of God reassembling under His blessed rule that will last forever and ever. Wow. That really makes us a minute part of HIS bigger (to say the least) picture. And yet, it really lifts your spirits when you think that He has everything under control and makes everything according to His plan.

And He’s ‘the one that’s safe to love’, as Laurie shared in the witness part. We can be sure that He won’t let us down, and that His message makes sense in a world where all the values are being questioned. Today, people look for a reliable bearing to head, and we as Christians should be the compass that shows it. That’s something to think of throughout the week.

Zacchaeus' Purpose, seeking God through your profession

Bruno preparing to speak about "Z-man"

Ukulele led Worship

Today we welcomed back old-time member, Bruno, who had been in Malta for the last couple months. Because this is his last year of studies, we had a special welcome for him -- we asked him to speak on Zacchaeus. Drawing from Luke 19:1-10, Bruno showed how Zacchaeus, a tax collector, responded to Christ by giving up half his belongings and compensating those he cheated. Tax collecting was a profession riddled with corruption, yet when Jesus confronted Zacchaeus, a dishonest, despised tax collector, he was willing to change his life to glorify God.

Hm... In summary...!

Gathering Together

We were reminded to always seek to bring glory to God, especially in our professional lives. Sometimes this means we need to give everything up like Matthew, the tax-collector-turned-disciple. Other times, we need to redefine our work ethics, being more honest like Zacchaeus. Whatever we choose to do, we need to remember to keep chasing after God instead of the world.

All Saints Social Night!

So this year All Saints Day happened to be on a Tuesday.
So the social FoF of the month became a FoF "lets go and look at the graves and dig into the fall with american food" social.
We met up at Most Teatralny with a goal of going to look at the cemetery by Cytadela, but since there's most military monuments/graves, we decided last minute to jump on tram 17 instead and check out the cemetery at Ogrody. The group was Coralanne, Karoline, Sam, Laurie, Christie, Piotrek, Natasha, Emily and Eirik. For most of the people this tradition was new, and for people that doesn't know what it is, it was described almost as a American Christmas lights, but on graves, with candles and flowers.
After walking around in awe for about an hour, we went back to Coralanne and Eirik's place to hang out. Coralanne had baked a cake for Kristina(from Hungary), bc of her birthday that was on Sunday. Unfortunately she didn't come, but we still enjoyed the cake :) The amazing Coralanne had also prepared warm apple cider and thin mint's. And Laurie brought a grill so we could eat leftover S'mores from the retreat. So basically it was an American fallfood party, which all of the Americans present looked like they enjoyed very much.. Sometimes food makes it feel like home...

Kristina's birthdaycake :)

Jason happened to arrive when everyone left, but he was lucky enough to be able to watch football with Eirik :)