Hope is Brewing: CSU Alumni Serve Coffee to Benefit Others

Hope is Brewing: CSU Alumni Serve Coffee to Benefit Others

by Jessica Abbiati (’19)

The smell of freshly ground arabica beans, the nondescript indie band delicately playing in the background, the Edison-style string lights and that perfectly worn-in leather chair all combine to create the ambiance of everyone’s favorite coffee shop. These variables, combined with one’s order of choice, allows a person to lower one’s guard for relationship-building conversations to happen in an organic way. Clarks Summit University graduates all over the world are harnessing this power to cultivate missional, life-giving relationships with members of their local communities—over coffee.

Internship Brews Opportunity

Adam Regnier (’20) began an internship with Oikos Café and Church in Birmingham, United Kingdom, just a few weeks before COVID-19 changed everyone’s plans. Though his internship was cut short, Regnier built relationships there as he worked as a barista in the organization’s coffee shop ministry. He interacted with their regulars, leading to fruitful conversations about topics like religion, philosophy, politics and world affairs. According to Regnier, many people in the Birmingham community came to know Christ through the church, which they heard about at the coffee shop. “I have definitely seen café ministry work as an effective way to build relationships, because people tend to be willing to have many different conversations in the context of a coffee shop, because of its relaxed environment,” he said.

This experience was pivotal for Regnier as he hopes to pursue this type of work as his career. He said, “Being able to work with other believers for the advancement of the gospel—while at the same time receiving training in the field of ministry that I would love to go into…in the place I would like to do it—was the most rewarding part of the internship.”

While a student at CSU, Regnier worked at the on-campus Underground Café, where he first discovered his passion for barista work and the opportunity the profession offered for ministry. He would like to return to the UK and hopes to be a team leader at the Oikos Café.

Learn more about Oikos Café and Church in Birmingham, United Kingdom. 

 

Hospitality for the Harvest

Alumna Christie Lothamer (’97, ’01) and her husband Jeff created FLTR Coffee Shop in Bicester, Oxfordshire, to serve missionally. Before they moved to England, they spoke with a friend who understood living for Jesus in post-Christian and closed countries. “I will never forget what he said: ‘Find something that that the people need so badly, they are willing to allow you to be yourself (Christian) in order to have it.’ Subconsciously, that always drove us as pioneer ministers to be looking for an open door to partner with Jesus in the restoration He wants to bring to every town.”

So, they crossed the pond and spent four years acclimating to their new home, building relationships, learning the culture and listening to what their community actually needed. “We began to realize that people needed a space to connect, someone to model how to go from stranger to friend, and they really did need to learn how to replace their instant coffee with great tasting coffee,” Lothamer said. They serve as missionaries with Greater Europe Missions.

She continued, “The mission of FLTR as a business is to serve great coffee, create community, display radical generosity. That generosity is seen in our hospitality, going the extra mile to care for our customers like they were family…and to become profitable enough to invest in helping young people see their dreams fulfilled.”

“Behind the scenes and on our tongues frequently is the mission of Christ—to show and share good news with our neighbors. We never shy away from praying with and for people, inviting them to engage with the church and offering practical help where we can. Everyone knows that FLTR is owned by a church and that some, not all, but some of the employees are Christian. Whilst most love the kingdom, not so much the King…we have had the opportunity to be an authentic witness, and the church has a place and a voice at the center of our secular community. That is a win for the gospel in a post-Christian world and one we are still praying to the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers and to call in the renewal, in His time,” Lothamer further explained.

Learn more about FLTR Coffee Shop in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

Serving Hope Globally

Becki Scouten (’02) is the director of Team Hope Engagement at Mission of Hope. Mission of Hope is a nonprofit that serves in Haiti, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic with the goal of seeing every man, woman and child reached with the life-changing reality of Jesus Christ. Due to devastating natural disasters, political unrest and economic instability, over 40 percent of the Haitian population is in a dire food crisis. As part of their nutrition program, MOH feeds 100,000 kids a day in Haiti. Team Hope is working to move 73,000 more kids off the waiting list to begin receiving a daily meal at school. Coffee by Team Hope was launched in 2020 to provide financial support for that goal.

Coffee by Team Hope uses coffee to generate real change for real people. Scouten said, “These kids matter to God, and Coffee by Team Hope is a tool God has given us to impact some of the ‘least of these’ that are mentioned in Scripture.” She continued, “another impact is the way that local churches are getting involved. We have churches across the country who are serving Coffee by Team Hope on Sunday mornings. They are ecstatic about the opportunity to even make something as simple as their Sunday morning coffee service have a genuine purpose. They have decided that they are serving coffee anyways, why not feed hungry kids at the same time.”

The work of Coffee by Team Hope uses a simple beverage to bring global change. “By purchasing Coffee by Team Hope, you are not only providing children with meals, but providing coffee farmers in Guatemala, Haiti and the Dominican Republic a sustainable living,” noted Scouten.

Learn more about Mission of Hope and Coffee by Team Hope.

Coffee for Camps

Jared Park (’00), his wife Naldy and their Chilean teammates started Tierra Alta Camp and Church Planting Center in 2017 in Chile. Since they started the camp five summers ago, it has grown from 45 campers to more than 400.

“Our camp is only the first part of our ministry, albeit our biggest part. It is our way of identifying the lost and the church leaders, so we can…train them and their churches in all things church planting,” said Park, who serves as director. The ministry connects church leaders to teammates and gives them strategies while walking along side them. From the beginning, the churches are led by a Chilean believer. 

They have partnered with CoffeeHelpingCamps.com to raise money for camp scholarships. Park said, “the testimonies we hear from those who have received the scholarships have been tear-jerking.” A teen who does not know Jesus is invited by a teen who professes to know Christ, and they both receive a scholarship. At the surface, it seems the teen simply receives the gift of attending camp, but Park said, “In reality, many have received so much more than just a week at camp; they have received the gift of life. And it is because their believing friends have lived out the Great Commission by inviting them to hear about Jesus.”

Park was a member of the CSU class who founded the Underground Café, so it is fitting that it was the first café to partner and sell the scholarship-granting coffee. On campus, the Underground Café serves up coffee to benefit the Park’s ministry. 100 percent of the coffee sales through Coffee Helping Camps goes to camp funds; plus many of the coffees are Fair Trade or Direct Trade sourced. “Because of the monthly coffee purchases, we are able to collect at least one scholarship per month for a Chilean child or teen to attend camp and hear about Jesus, sometimes more, just because of the Underground Café. It’s amazing that a coffee purchase can help one obey the Great Commission,” said Park.

Learn more about Tierra Alta Camp and Church Planting Center and how to support their mission through CoffeeHelpingCamps.com.

 

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