Latte for the Lord Barista Paul Johnson, 30, does more than serve a morning fix. His patrons in St. Paul, Minn., also get a smile, some warm conversation and his “latte art,”which is what he calls espresso-and-milk beverages topped with an attractive pattern. He enjoys getting to know a lot of people and being able to craft something they will savor. In an interview printed in FaithInTheWorkplace.com the lattemeister explains how his job is part of his Christian witness. “You’d be surprised how much of a relationship you can have with someone in one‑minute conversations spread out over several years.... All of my co‑workers know that I’m a Christian, and often I might be the only Christian that they have any kind of relationship with. I’ll freely talk about my faith if and when they want to hear, but I think that my role more frequently is one of dissolving stereotypes of what Christians are like. People see that I’m a Christian and not a hater, bigot, judging, stupid, ultraconservative, gun‑toting, sheltered, jerk. Those preconceptions ... can be real barriers to those looking at Christ’s body from the outside.” He also thinks it’s important to be good at his craft. “So often people think of the Christian version of something as synonymous with the lame version of whatever it is, whether that’s Christian pop music or burned percolated church coffee.... The gifts we have and the gifts given to us in creation (like the coffee plant for instance) most glorify God when their potential is appreciated and creatively and passionately explored.”
The Marketplace July August 2011
A tool to plant seeds Former MEDA intern Tom Affleck (above) sent us a report on the impact of his work with MEDA and the ripple effect of serving-with-soul. He is now head of SchoolBOX, which promotes education in Nicaragua by providing education packages, building classrooms and organizing sporting events for children. I was fortunate enough to work with MEDA for a couple of years in both Peru and Nicaragua. I am a believer in MEDA’s work. I thought you might be interested in a MEDA success story. Ronald Chavarria Arauz worked with MEDA (particularly COFAM) in Nicaragua. When he started working for MEDA I believe he was living in a church, sleeping on the pews. MEDA staff saw promise in Ronald, however, and eventually gave him a good position and paid for a significant part of his university education. When MEDA’s involvement in COFAM came to an end Ronald continued to run the program. He and his partner eventually were able to turn COFAM into a profitable organization. Ronald is now a silent partner but does receive an annual share of profits. Ronald now devotes his time and energy to SchoolBOX (schoolbox.ca). We are a Canadian charity that helps to Make Education Possible. I founded SchoolBOX in 2006 and Ronald joined in 2007. We had met while I was working with MEDA on the PRODUMER project. At that time I was working with Agromonitor, the software system which we worked to develop in PERU. While you are tallying up the successes of MEDA in Nicaragua I think that in some small way you should include SchoolBOX as one of them. I would never have been in Nicaragua if it was not for MEDA. God has wonderful ways and I am very glad that he used MEDA as a tool to plant the seeds which would later become SchoolBOX. I would like to add, Nicaragua is the country where I truly became a Christian. Steve Rannekleiv, PRODUMER’s former director, played a significant role in my coming to Christ.
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