CAFE: Prayer Request for the Newly Persecuted

Café is the Spanish word both for “coffee” and the places that serve it. When I think of a café, I think of a nice, relaxing atmosphere with comfortable seats, saxophone music, and great conversation with friends.

Yet CAFE, is also the name of a team of missionaries working to reach the overlooked people groups within Colombia. One way they do that is through student ministry. And becoming a Christian for those students can lead to a whole host of uncomfortable situations not befitting a café environment.

I sometimes wonder why I don’t suffer more for my faith, and more and more I’m beginning to believe it is because I’m not as actively sharing that faith with the world around me as I should be. The gospel is offensive to our sinful nature, and if people’s eyes aren’t opened to its beauty and truth, rejection, and even persecution, results.

May the boldness of our brothers and sisters in Christ inspire us to be bold in our faith, holding on to the promise from 1 Peter 5:10, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

CAFE (ColombiA’s Forgotten Ethnos) PEOPLES (cah-FAY) - "I am suffering because I am changing the way I live. I believe that God wants to use me. My old friends are not happy that I no longer live the way I lived before. They tell me that Christians are weak because they have to depend on others. They can't think for themselves or do what they want. I told them that God is the Creator. He created me. As Creator, He has control over what He created. I am simply giving control of my life back to the One who had it in the first place. It was never mine to have!" This was the conversation recently with J, who is the newest indigenous believer at the student center. God is definitely changing her worldview! Pray for J as she continues to grow in her identity as a Christian and as God continues to reveal Himself to her through the study of His Word.