How a Thai Coffee Shop Became a Place of Faith and Community
In the mountain community of Doi Chang, Thailand, stands a small coffee shop that is unlike any other.
The owners, Go and Oil, were both Christians who had met in seminary and felt called to return to their childhood home to open a coffee shop and help on Go’s family farm. Through a friendship with an IMB (International Mission Board) missionary, a church had started to grow out of the coffee business.
But their journey to becoming Christians was not an easy one. When Go’s younger brother was about two years old, he had fallen very ill. They took him to doctors and even to a witch doctor, but nothing helped him. Even Go’s grandfather, who was a witch doctor at the time, was unable to help.
Finally, they called on Oil’s dad, who was a missionary in the nearby villages. He came and prayed for Go’s brother, and he was healed. Through this miraculous healing, Go’s whole family came to know Christ.
This is the second generation of Go’s family who planted coffee, and Go and Oil believed that they were called to use their coffee business as a ministry to share the Gospel with others.
Their coffee shop became a gathering place for the community, and they often shared their faith with those who came in for a cup of coffee. “Our mission and vision is to expand the Kingdom of God with what we have,” Oil said. “When you start a business like this, you just trust in God.”
Go and Oil remind us that faith could be integrated into every aspect of life, even something as simple as brewing a cup of coffee.
SCBaptist partners with the IMB to reach the Asia Pacific Rim with the hope of the Gospel.