Changing the world with smoothie mix? You betcha!
Another summer at the Kern Cafe and I feel a bit older and wiser...but also increasingly more hopeful about the future of our world and my role in it.
At the beginning of the summer I learned that some things don't work out and that's okay. Sure, it's not great, but there must be a reason somewhere down the road and as my mother informed me--"I can only be really disappointed in myself if I didn't do everything in my power to respectfully and positively explain my views." Well, folks, I did and things didn't change...and yes, I did cry, but then I got over it because I believe things happen for a reason. Do I understand? No...of course not...but I'm trusting in God to do great things. Blaming others, feeling angry or crying about it all doesn't change the situation...and honestly, I'm really happy making smoothies for beautiful youth just looking to have some fun playing air hockey or checking their MySpace accounts.
I also learned to not shut up about things I care about. Since it was my second summer managing the Kern Cafe, I thought maybe the fair-trade coffee spiel was getting a little worn out, but apparently my views kept falling on fresh ears. And ladies and gentlemen, I genuinely believe the Ministries with Young People staff is in the work of world-changing and Sarah Beth, Jessica, Keri and Beth were my accomplices this summer on my world-changing mission. Someone, or perhaps many someones, who came into the cafe, learned about fair-trade coffee and took that information home with them are now serving fair-trade coffee in their local churches, workplaces and maybe even lobbying their local coffee shop to serve only certified fair-trade coffee like we do at the Kern Cafe. What does all this result in? More people being exposed to this important issue and hopefully a child somewhere who has shoes to wear to school because his or her parents finally earned a living wage on their coffee farm.
In a way it only makes sense to expect the world to change because of this summer. You can't bring together a summer staff from around the world so varied in their skills and passions, yet united in their love of Jesus Christ and a commitment to worshipping Him through their work without expecting very BIG, WORLD-CHANGING results...
At the beginning of the summer I learned that some things don't work out and that's okay. Sure, it's not great, but there must be a reason somewhere down the road and as my mother informed me--"I can only be really disappointed in myself if I didn't do everything in my power to respectfully and positively explain my views." Well, folks, I did and things didn't change...and yes, I did cry, but then I got over it because I believe things happen for a reason. Do I understand? No...of course not...but I'm trusting in God to do great things. Blaming others, feeling angry or crying about it all doesn't change the situation...and honestly, I'm really happy making smoothies for beautiful youth just looking to have some fun playing air hockey or checking their MySpace accounts.
I also learned to not shut up about things I care about. Since it was my second summer managing the Kern Cafe, I thought maybe the fair-trade coffee spiel was getting a little worn out, but apparently my views kept falling on fresh ears. And ladies and gentlemen, I genuinely believe the Ministries with Young People staff is in the work of world-changing and Sarah Beth, Jessica, Keri and Beth were my accomplices this summer on my world-changing mission. Someone, or perhaps many someones, who came into the cafe, learned about fair-trade coffee and took that information home with them are now serving fair-trade coffee in their local churches, workplaces and maybe even lobbying their local coffee shop to serve only certified fair-trade coffee like we do at the Kern Cafe. What does all this result in? More people being exposed to this important issue and hopefully a child somewhere who has shoes to wear to school because his or her parents finally earned a living wage on their coffee farm.
In a way it only makes sense to expect the world to change because of this summer. You can't bring together a summer staff from around the world so varied in their skills and passions, yet united in their love of Jesus Christ and a commitment to worshipping Him through their work without expecting very BIG, WORLD-CHANGING results...
posted by Nathan and Rachel Ann @ 4:52 PM
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