I woke up semi-early on May 5 to work at Café Jabes (Café Jabez in English) – owned and run by the Salvation Army as a place for the people of the community to get a super cup of coffee and have a safe place to chat, interact, listen to multicultural music, and experience the love of Jesus from its workers. (Today, a man said he loves to come to Jabes because the pubs are so much more crowded and not as peaceful or cozy). May 5 was the first day of the reopening, and I loved every minute because Café Jabes has been closed down for the past month or so for remodeling. During the remodeling stage many people would just stop by to pitch in anyway they could from painting, cutting wood, laying down the flooring, to cleaning. Over this last month our prayer has been that people would not see Jabes as it once was, a rundown religious place that even Christians would avoid; also back in the day when it was known for illegal gambling and drugs, but they would give it another chance.
So on May 5 the doors were open 12pm to 2am and the first time to have it open in the daytime. With so much left to do, we somehow overlooked the advertising of the reopening date, so most was by word of mouth and not to mention the big sign painted on the window that read, “free coffee and lattes all day.” This incentive was by far the best idea as people started coming in for the free drinks regardless of the old reputation Café Jabes had. A steady flow of people came in all day and by 9pm the place was packed with 93 plus people compared to 10 to 20 people in the past. One man had told me he would never go to Café Jabes because it was just not the kind of place he wants to hang out and he came back the next week too.
We closed down Jabes for 5 weeks out of faith not really knowing what would become of it or if anyone would even come and God was so faithful to bring the people. Many told me that night, “I was walking by and the music drew me in to see what was going on.” This is exactly what we had been praying for!”
Café Jabes is growing rapidly and God’s hand is in it 100% so thank you so much for all your prayers, God is answering them.
