Coffee as a Tool to Share the Gospel

The Latin American region continues to advance in spreading the Kingdom of God through Business as Mission. In Colombia, one student says he “was able to understand that being a barista is a useful way to start conversations about the gospel naturally and effectively.”

Business as Mission is a tool that seeks to serve, bless and reach the unreached with the love of God. It also allows cross-cultural workers to remain for a long time in creative access countries. The A.B. Simpson Intercultural Training Center (ITC), in the coffee-growing region of Salento, Colombia, is an example of starting a new venture with a missionary vision to glorify Christ.

The ITC, a ministry of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) of Colombia, focuses on the training for specialized skills, so that students have better tools to share the gospel. For this reason, the filtered coffee preparation course has recently been implemented. Together with a group of cross-cultural workers, 21 students participated in this activity, April 17-21, 2023, with the instructor Verónica Ríos from the National Coffee School of the National Learning Service (SENA) in Colombia.

The goal of this course is to provide a specialized barista skill that will enable students to communicate the good news of salvation in different social settings, especially in creative access countries. The directors of the CCI are convinced that this skill will be a valuable tool for sending workers to cross-cultural fields.

During these five days, the students learned 12 different methods of preparing coffee, including Hibrik, Melita, V60, Staresso, French Press and Vacuum Siphon. This was the first of four courses that are planned and will be carried out in collaboration with SENA, which will certify the training.

The students were impressed by the variety of methods to prepare coffee and how this can be an opportunity for evangelism and livelihood in other countries. Eliseo Cevallos, a first-year student, shared his experience: “At first, I didn’t see the relationship between my theology studies and the barista course, but after the first chat with the instructor, I was able to understand that being a barista is a useful way to start conversations about the gospel naturally and effectively.”

As a prelude to and part of a project that involves the coffee culture, the first seeds were planted in February. They will form part of the CCI’s first coffee harvest.

The coffee industry is one of the main ones in Colombia, the third largest producer in the world, behind Brazil and Vietnam. Colombian coffee is exported to many European countries, Japan and the United States.

Pray for our students and workers, whom God has allowed to train and do missions through the preparation of coffee. Pray also for future students, because this will allow us to continue building our legacy wherever we go announcing the gospel.