On October 9th, I visited Café Refrescante along with two fellow world racers (Lexi & Annika) who also happen to be sisters on different routes. (They were coincidentally in the same city across the world from their home at the same time. Please take a moment to reflect on how crazy that is.) Lexi asked Annika & me if we would want to meet her ministry team, who was spending the morning at Café Refrescante. Anni & I searched for the café but had never been there and couldn’t hunt it down, so Lexi met us in a central location & led the way.
Annika, Lexi, and I zig zag through small tiendas & sporadic street vendors on the hunt for Café Refrescante. We find ourselves on the 4th Calle (pronounced Kai-Yay), a smaller back street where many of Antigua’s homeless create makeshift homes. The sidewalk is scattered with what appears to be random piles of junk, covered in tattered tarps. Aromas of Guatemalan street food & urine singe my nose, and I quickly realize that these piles of junk are home sweet home to many of the homeless I’ve encountered since arriving in Guate. Underneath those tarps lie the sole belongings of Guatemala’s most destitute. Underneath those tarps lie the fragile bodies of Guatemala’s most destitute.
Lexi continues to lead the way down the 4th Calle & through a few more nooks and crannies between tiendas, and I now know why Annika & I weren’t able to find Café Refrescante without a navigator; it is a café unlike the usual here. It is tucked into a small, two room building in a low-income block of Antigua. We are greeted at the door with welcoming smiles, hugs, and standard cheek kisses from three elderly homeless men of Antigua. At Café Refrescante, you won’t find the usual $2.50 iced latte or overpriced slice of pumpkin pie, which is a common sight across Antigua. Café Refrescante offers no specialty drink & certainly no wifi. Lastly, the cafe lacks a standard “no loitering” sign typically plastered over most coffee houses. This café functions as a safe haven for the Guatemalan homeless; a place around the corner from their tattered tarps, rich in free coffee, cozy couches, Christian music, and good conversation.
I spent the afternoon chatting with a couple sweet homeless men, Jose (mid-30’s) & Kai (16), as we doodled at the café’s craft table & faced off in a game of foosball. Jose asked me where I lived, to which I responded & reciprocated his inquiry. He smiled, pointed towards the door, and replied with a humble “la calle!” I felt abashed as soon I had let the question slip out of my mouth, but Jose didn’t seem to mind a bit. That was his home. I was able to pray with Jose for work opportunities, for his family, & for a home with four walls that he could call his own some day.
I love that Cafe Refrescante replaced a boldfaced “no loitering” sign with a joyful greeting committee, welcoming ALL. This is the Kingdom of God Here & Now. Café Refrescante welcomes the unwelcomed with open arms. This sounds like the Jesus I know. He doesn’t close doors on faces of those with empty pockets looking for refuge, a comfy couch, and prayer. He swings the door open wide, greets us with kisses, and welcomes us to stay as long as we’d like, even when we have nothing to offer but our empty hands.
