We started the coffee bar in Kilkenny about three
years ago, and in between there was a break of about 18 months for different
reasons. We open our Church office every
Tuesday morning, where we make fresh coffee, tea, squash, etc. plus home made
scones, brownies, muffins and biscuits.
Those in the Church, who cannot be there, bake or pray for us.
We had small leaflets printed, and a few people are on
the High Street giving them out to everyone inviting people up for a FREE
coffee etc. Most people are amazed at
being offered something free in the present climate. For those who do not know where our office
is, we escort them up the lane, chatting to them and finding out where they are
from and their names. We then introduce
them to one of our helpers who make them whatever they want.
We have seen so many people blessed through our Coffee
Bar each week, many of them are now coming back regularly and some are even
there waiting for the door to be opened at 10.00 a.m. We always start with committing the time to the
Lord, and having a time of worship, and asking Him to bring who He would like
us to minister to that morning.
We do not try to be `heavy` with the visitors, just love
them, and if anyone has a need, we gently ask them if we can pray with
them. We feel that we just need to show
the love of Jesus to everyone who comes in.
A number of people have given their lives to the Lord just recently, and
have started coming to Church.
One week just recently, one of our regular ladies was
telling us how she could not forgive her father for physically abusing her
mother when she was young. (She is now retired) We gently explained that she
needed to forgive her father otherwise how could Jesus forgive her! She was adamant that she couldn`t forgive
him, but it was explained that forgiveness was a decision that we make and that
we choose to forgive; Jesus will do the rest.
So we asked Jesus to help us and she decided to pray that she would
forgive her father. At the very same
time, another of our helpers was down on the High Street speaking to another
lady, saying “Come on up for a coffee, why not let me take your bags and we
will walk up together”. On the way up
she recognized her from when she was a little girl, (the lady had been a nun), and
she also said to her “I think your sister is in with us this morning as
well!” She brought her into the office
and said “Edith (the names have been changed) look who I have got here, it is
your sister Ethel!.” Edith said to me
“Do you believe in miracles? That is my
sister Ethel, and I haven`t spoken to her for seven years!” (They only lived
about 25 minutes from one another). After a few minutes they were both
reconciled and were sitting together crying their eyes out! The following week Edith was there waiting
for us to open, telling us that she had been on `cloud nine` all week, and was
so elated! As a result of all of this, the rest of the family was reconciled!
