I have my post race plans!! My plane lands in NYC on July 30th. After spending a day or two in the big city, I will be going home for about three weeks to rest, visit people, and all that. After that, I will be going to Gainesville at the end of August for “Project Searchlight” which is a chance for squads to come together after 3 weeks at home to be poured into, worship together, help people find jobs/mission opportunities, etc. It’s also a good chance to see everyone again! That will be like closing the final chapter for me on this crazy experience I’ve had!
In September I will be moving to Knoxville, TN to help start a coffee shop with a few other squad mates. Those who don’t know, God told me in Malaysia (month 6) He wanted me to run/own a coffee shop, but there was so much unknown at the time that I just put it aside and refocused on the race. Fast forward a few months, and turns out another girl on my squad had a vision in Malaysia to start a coffee shop also. Only difference is that God has shown up in a big way last few months and provided so many things to get hers going.
The coffee shop will be a nonprofit business. It will partner with a ministry in Kenya that will also be opening a coffee shop branch there too. The ministry will help women in prostitution get rehab and have another way to earn money through working at the shop instead of their old lifestyle. The ministry also reaches out the “Johns” that are buying these women and also reaches out to a local orphanage and refugee camp. We (the team) will be visiting Kenya in February to figure out more details and begin the process over there. (Details on that later.)
So back to the actual job. At first the job will need to be support raised (eek!) until the shop gets up and running (projected opening date – January 2014). When it begins to make a profit, the main team members will get some kind of salary, but we would still be responsible for our own insurance and misc. things. Rent would be free as the team would be living in a loft upstairs of the shop. She wants the $400,000 building to be paid for instead of taking out a loan, so she is planning events to raise money. She is a dreamer that has all these ideas, but needs someone who is organized and detail- oriented to get everything done, especially having to oversee everything else. That’s where I come in! My job title is “Fundraising Director”, which means when an event comes up, I plan what needs to be done and make sure everything runs smoothly during the event, and things like that. (Events coming up are a 5K run, golf tournament, and a benefit that includes a guest speaker and silent auction.) During any down time between events I will be helping to set up the shop, involved in ministry within the shop, and just whatever needs to be done. It’s so flexible and I love that! We also want the business to be a type of local ministry for the city, so we have plans set in place for a ministry to reach out to homeless people in the city and create discipleship opportunities between the staff and other employees/volunteers. The building can also accommodate a room for worship nights open to the public that’s kind of like IHOP (International House of Prayer), but not exactly. More like nights of worship/prayer, open mike nights, etc.
I am really excited about this next season of my life. The way it all came together was almost too easy. A part of me is like God, really? Me? Is this for real? Unless there is some huge red flag between now and then, I will keep walking in this direction. Maybe this is preparing me to open my own branch of Sweet Aroma Coffee in the future since I will be learning everything from the beginning first-hand. Who knows. We will see what God has planned. He is too good to me! =)
