A Whole New Challenge
Hey y’all! I’ve not even been back in Guate for a whole month and it’s already been so crazy in all the best ways. The second day I got here I ended up getting sick! Luckily, a great new clinic opened up near by that I went to. I ended up having an infection in my ears, throat, and lymph nodes, but they put me on antibiotics and now I’m right as rain! Other than that, I’m being put right back into the thick of it in ministry. It’s so wonderful being back and getting to see all my old friends and being back in the Harvest (our discipleship groups)
So as some of you may know, the main ministry that I’ll be a part of is starting a coffee shop in our church right here in San Antonio! It’s Going to be called New Hope Cafè or, in Spanish, Cafè Nueva Esperanza. The heart of the cafe is to create a safe place in our community where people can gather, pause, and recharge for the time that they spend there. We want to create a way to reach people with the gospel that we wouldn't normally run into. We want another avenue to share the love of Jesus with people who might not have seen it before.
When I had arrived in Guate, the only steps towards opening it was that the coffee bar was built. This is, of course, because the opening and running of the cafe is going to be my ministry and responsibility. This has been such a growing chapter in my life, because while I already have experience in working in a coffee shop, I have never opened or ran one before. However, I’m not doing this alone. I have so many wonderful and experienced people in my corner helping and advising me every step of the way. I can’t express how grateful I am to have people here in Guate that are constantly cheering me on and assisting me in this new learning curve.
Just some practical information on the coffee shop, we don’t have a date yet for when it’s going to open, but we are working in fazes. Faze one it to get the coffee bar functioning. So that intailes having water filters installed, revamping our electric and getting all the equipment needed to run a coffee shop. We’re currently in the process of looking at the Espresso machine that we would like to purchase for the shop. We believe that we’ve found the one that will fit perfectly with our needs. The machine will easily be one of the most expensive parts of the cafe, costing at about $3,400, which brings me to finances.
Because this is my main ministry I will be responsible for raising the majority of the funds for the cafe. I received so many generous one-time donations which are going towards the shop and I am so incredibly grateful for the people who are joining me in making this vision a reality. It has been, quite literally, years in the making, and I’m so excited to share in this experience with each and every one of you! If there is anyone who like to donate specifically towards the coffee shop or even the espresso machine, feel free contact me directly or click on the Support Me Here button on my website. If you have somewhere that you would like the donation to go specifically, please write that down in the note section of the donation page!
Lastly, I would ask that you would please keep me in your prayers. This is a new challenge that I’ve never faced before, and it's easy for me feel incredibly daunted at the task, but something very comforting that my director Lauree said to me is that the Lord doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called. So with that, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read this, thank you to those who are coming along side of me as ministry partners by supporting me financially, and thank you so much for your constant prayers! If it weren’t for your generosity I wouldn’t be here doing what I’m doing.
