Kafe TID

I (Jenny) have been volunteering at a cafe since September, right in the heart of Ål. It’s a special place, with special people. It’s a place to belong.

I work with kids who don’t get on well with others at school, are bored, are from other parts of the world and feel out of place: they get to come on Wednesday mornings to make lunches and chat about life. On Thursdays and Fridays, I work with refugees from Syria and Ukraine who come to practice language while cleaning, making coffees, preparing foods or helping in the small food store at the cafe.

When it comes to those who have escaped the horror of war, I get to learn the work and Norwegian language along with them as most do not know much English. We do our best to understand one another - we often laugh through the mispronounced words. I try to do my best to understand their stories of life, pain, escape and sorrow over what they have left behind - sometimes google translate is necessary to really understand. The hugs we all give one another feel so precious. The effort we all put into making the cafe work, while dealing with our own discomforts and desires to be known creates a special bond. I’m grateful for the space and time that the cafe affords to care for these people.

With the kids…

I also get to learn along side these dear middle-schoolers. They are, as you might expect: funny, stubborn, and stuck somewhere between children and adults. Most of them just need a hug and to be made to feel like they matter. They also need the opportunity to laugh at my terrible Norwegian accent, even if many of them don’t have much better. One young man in particular has spoken to me at length about truly traumatic events in his life and his uncertainty of how to deal with who he is as someone who has endured so much. Chopping vegetables, packing boxes and straightening shelves affords us the time to talk about both brokenness and hope. The whole family has had a chance to hang out with him on occasion. We all care for him greatly.

Volunteering here wasn’t easy to begin with: What am I doing here?? And what am I supposed to be doing here?? I thank God I was using DuoLingo for some time before I started at the cafe, so at least I had some basic knowledge of the language. I felt as though I was in the way, because I hardly understood what was going on, even if it was explained to me in English. But just like these people going through hard times, who need a place to land, I found some footing and then found that maybe I could walk or maybe even run with what I was good at.

These revelations often take time; I know without doubt they take immense amounts of grace. But most importantly, in order to be realized, they take a willingness to be uncomfortable. I have found that discomfort transforms and molds us into much more humble, wise and loving human beings. So I will continue to trust the Lord, as I show up with a ‘yes’ in my heart, believing this is enough for today and for all He wants to do to shape me for the future.

“I pray that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened in order that I may know the hope to which He has called me, the riches of his glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.”

- Ephesians 1:18-19