A Pioneer moved to Spain two years ago with a love for coffee and conversation. Lauren quickly developed a vision to use those loves on the mission field. Over the last few years, she has stewarded her love for coffee along with her native language of English to welcome and serve people at a café some colleagues run in the city.
“Brilla (the cafe) has been a place that ‘feels like home’ for many. It’s where I’ve met my closest friends and it has given us the opportunity to invite people in the community to encounter the presence of Jesus that ‘brilla’ (shines)” – Lauren, Pioneer in Spain.
Each week, people from different regions of Spain and neighboring countries venture through the café. During the day, they serve specialty coffee, and when the café is closed, they open the doors for English conversation classes. The café serves as a place of peace for people to meet, whether they come for the coffee or the English.
Before Lauren moved to Madrid, God gave her a vision for expanding her coffee knowledge and ministry experience. She attended a training school focused on specialty coffee and its use in ministry. She developed this skillset with a specific vision for how God may utilize it for church-planting in Spain.
Lauren was born in the USA and grew up speaking English. She was exposed to other cultures and languages but was schooled, raised, and discipled in her native language. She never pictured speaking English as the tool that may open doors for disciple-making in Spain.
English fluency is a tool that many American & British-born missionaries get to steward amongst the nations in a unique way.
“I have now lived in two different unreached areas of the world where people begged me to spend time with their children and just converse in my native language because I grew up in an English-speaking home in the USA. It’s certainly a privilege I never thought about being paid for. I’m not a trained teacher but they just want me to speak comfortably and have conversations about various funny topics. It’s been an added joy to my life on the field” – Hannah, Pioneer in Europe.
Teaching isn’t the best ministry pathway for everyone as not everyone is a trained or gifted teacher. Global Christians have all been given specific abilities to steward for the growth of the kingdom. For some, that includes teaching or utilizing your native language. Pioneers in Europe are praying for ways to “use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). Lauren and her colleagues’ willingness to steward what they’ve been given, English fluency and after hours at the café, has opened doors for great discussions and friendship.
Each week, the conversation classes have a different theme ranging from “Family and Work” to “Religion and Spirituality.” As the classes progress each week, the topics get a bit deeper and more difficult in vocabulary. The students are exposed to a variety of topics and words, allowing room for conversations about life, values, and spiritual things.
“It’s a super natural way to get to know people from the community, and as the Spirit opens doors, we get to share our faith and the good news of Jesus with them, all over a good cup of cafe con leche” – Lauren, Pioneer in Spain.
What gifts have you been given or have you developed in your own preparation for the mission field? Do you have a love for coffee? Spain may be a great place for you to consider joining a church-planting team.