Starbucks, It's about more than just good coffee!

I am always teased here by my Polish friends about my love for Starbucks.  The truth is, that I could very easily live without it (I have for 6 years) and that there are other places that are just as good with coffee, well almost.  What I have been able to do though at my Starbucks here in Katowice is establish relationships with most of the employees and the manager.  They all know me as "Alicja"and all want to practice their English with me since that is a requirement to work at this store.

I normally have at least 3 meetings with students a week there and so it really has become my second office.  While there, I get to interact with the Baristas and they constantly see what I do: read and study my Bible and meeting with young people.

One of the Baristas, Łukasz, is very friendly.  He sometimes comes to work early to see if I am there so that we can talk about everything and nothing.  He even introduced me to his parents one day! Yesterday, he had a big coffee test.  He is trying to become a "Coffee Master" and it is a pretty big deal here at Starbucks.  It means more money and there is a pride thing too.  Right before his "test" I went to him and put my hand on his shoulder and said, "Okay, Łukasz, I know you are nervous, but I also know that you know your coffee!  You will do just fine."  Later, he told me that my words really encouraged and calmed him.  He had no idea that I was also praying for him.  :)  We have not been able to talk about spiritual matters yet, but I am trying to lay the ground work for this.

The whole crew here are very nice and I would love to see them all smiling because of what Jesus did for them rather than it just being "company policy"!  Oh, to have a shop where Jesus was lived out amongst the public!  Please pray for me as I balance my relationships and my speaking about Jesus.  I don't want to weird them out (the LDS missionaries do that very well here), but I also want them to here the truth of Jesus!