So, God has provided both Beth and I the opportunity to take jobs to provide for ourselves.  Working at Ruby Tuesday simply didn’t provide us with the necessary income to pay the bills.  And while we wrestle with the fact that the coffee house isn’t going to “fall from Heaven” and be an instant success.  It will take hard work.  It will take time.  It will take patience.  But, all of that is Biblical.

Paul, God’s “chosen instrument” to deliver the Gospel, the message of Jesus Christ, to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15) who a chapter earlier in Acts “approved of [Stephen's] execution” (Acts 8:1).  But it took work.  Paul was a tentmaker by trade and stayed with fellow Christians in Corinth, Aquila and Priscilla, making tents to help fund his missionary journies (Acts 18:1-3).  Paul was also funded through donations, like today’s funding of missionaries because on numerous occasions Paul thanks the churches he is writing to thank them for their gifts or to bring their gift to Jerusalem (1 Cor 16:3-4; Phil 4-16-18).

God has provided with me the opportunity to sell insurance on behalf of Aflac (“quack”) and for Beth to work as a Nurse Practioner at a walk-in clinic in Murfreesboro.  Both of these opportunities will provide us the experience to eventually run the coffee house.  I, selling insurance, will be self-employed and having to learn all the paperwork that corresponds, plus marketing, managing, the list goes on-and-on of all the skills I will pick up.  Plus, the ability to influence all those around me for Christ!  Cool!!  Beth will be working for a person who started his own business, is a Christian, and is EXCITED for Proclamation Church!!

God is certainly good.  He ALWAYS makes sure that we have what we need and are “thouroughly prepared for every good work!” (2 Tim 3:16).

A few weeks after sending out the 410 letters we recieved a call one morning from a person who had heard about us from five different people and all five of them said that he needed to meet us and see how he could help us!  We were excited!!  We didn’t know if this was the break/intervention/provision that God was giving us for the funding or partnership or whatnot.  So, we agreed to meet him the next morning at Christ Church.

Upon meeting him, he told us about the mission that God had given him.

Two years ago he begun the process of adopting a girl from Africa whose mother died because she had AIDS; she was an orphan.  He was so touched from a month-long trip there last year that he wanted a way to fund the orphanages and the adoption process and other ministries in Africa.  He settled on selling coffee.  Figuring that people buy coffee, are used to buying coffee, and would recieve a “benefit” in exchange for their donation, he founded Abba Java.

Abba Java (found at www.abbajava.org) is a non-profit organization designed to sell coffee, T-shirts, mugs, and other products to make awareness known about Africa and also use the proceeds from the purchases to send directly to Africa and help the missions over there.  As we explained why we were in the area and how God wanted to use us in His ministry, he agreed to partner with us and let us sell/market Abba Java coffee in PC Coffee coffeehouses, and, he admitted, eventually he wants to open a coffee house in the Nashville area.  He also agreed to let us sell Abba Java coffee in a fundraiser to raise the necessary capital to buy the house, as well as, being an Abba Java agent and making a percentage off the sale, and fund the start-up of the business.

How excited we are!!  God is certainly moving!!

Once Beth and I knew that a for-profit coffee venture was the way that we needed to proceed we decided on the name “PC Coffee Company”; came up with a logo; began researching coffee supplies; began looking for a coffee distributor; and numerous other tasks.

We decided what we wanted to offer the students of MTSU and how we would be different, settling on:

• old, historic home
• inside and outside lounge, couch, and table seating
• group and individual study rooms
• live, Christian music on the weekends
• free Wi-fi
• streaming Christian radio

We relized our number one need was funding (it still is).  So, we crafted a business plan, profit/loss projections, startup costs, operating costs, and evaluated our competition.  From all the research we did on the internet and our projections of pricing and minimum revenues, for our business plan to suceed, we needed to see if the students at MTSU would support it.  So, we crafted a survey of nine questions, printed up the surveys, and set out.

Asking a total of 220 students, 200 chose to respond and we came up with roughly 67% of the students we surveyed were favorably disposed to our coffee house.  We included this information into our business plan and printed them up–410!  It took a week, but Beth and I printed, stamped, sealed, and stuck 410 support packages in the mail.

So, far we’ve recieved $700 from the letters, with a recurring monthly committment of $50, and a donation (when needed) of network resources for the free wi-fi.

God rocks!!!

Beth and I moved to Nashville, TN to begin Proclamation Church.  God had called both of us into the ministry and showed us, clearly, where to go (Nashville, TN) and that He would provide for us there.  And God did.  He provided both Beth and I jobs at Ruby Tuesday where we served and we both knew that 1) God had a purpose for us at the only Ruby Tuesday hiring in February when we moved down and 2) God would provide us people through Ruby Tuesday to begin His ministry through us.

We initially started with the church concept and organized our first bible study topic: doctrines.  Now we just needed the people for the bible study.  When Lee became sick and Beth and I had to return to PA, in a moment of weakness, we worried about money and tried to get “real” jobs, but knew that God wasn’t finished with us at Ruby Tuesday yet.  Through working on the church, Beth had her vision of a coffee shop, again.  So, in about a two-week timeframe we had the following thoughts (about the same order):

• “Let’s make it a ministry of Proclamation Church!”
• “Let’s make it the college ministry of Proclamation Church…”
• “It can be a non-profit coffee house to minister and stay Christian…”
• “Well, can we do a non-profit coffee house?  Will it survive without funding?”

Beth, being Beth and my lovely, amazing, “got-to-get-it-all-done-now” wife began looking for old houses within walking distance to the Middle Tennessee State University campus.  We were driving around the area one day and saw this old, run-down house for sale by owner.  We called the owner and met him the next day at the house.  It would be a great house just needed about as much work in upgrades as it would cost to buy it.  Not for us.  Historic district’d home.  No commercial zoning.

We were undeterred.  Driving around some more we found another house, two-blocks from campus that was gorgeous.  We looked at it and it would be PERFECT!  It had the perfect amount of rooms downstairs and upstairs and would just be a great location for a coffee house.  Only one question remained: to profit or not?

God’s ALWAYS perfect timing solved that problem.  While researching the ups and downs up coffee shops, some for-profit and others not, we didn’t know which way to go.  But we had a meeting with the preaching pastor at Christ Church Nashville.  We told him of our plans, starting the church, moving the wedding, moving to Nashville, etc. and Beth’s vision to start a coffee house, yet not knowing whether to make it for-profit or not.  He said, “I think it needs to be for-profit, and here’s why….”  The wisdom of the Holy Spirit poured forth and leaving the meeting Beth and I knew that we would be starting a for-profit coffee house!

Its been quite awhile since I’ve posted on here, so over the next week or so, I wanted to re-cap all that God has done since Beth and I moved down here.  I wanted to do this to keep a record of all the people that we’ve met and, specifically, how those connections were made.

Beth and I were extremely privileged to be interviewed by a former professor of mine at Lipscomb, Dr. David Lawrence, on his radio program through Engedi Ministries last Monday evening.  He had recieved our letter that we sent out and knew that interviewing Beth and I to broadcast to the listeners would be of benefit, not only to our ministry, but to Engedi’s audience as well, given all that God is doing in our lives.  The interview was basic, it shared my conversion experience and the freedom from sin that God has granted me through His grace and focused on why I returned to Nashville–to start Proclamation Church and found PC Coffee Co.

However, before and after the interview, Beth and I had great conversation with a man whom I consider a dear friend.  He confirmed God’s call on our lives and it was such a joy to meet with him, share time and the Bible with him, and experience his joy, of seeing Beth and I go out into the world, unafraid, knowing that God is with us.

Beth summed up the experience when we left the best: “That home is full of the Holy Spirit.  It was so warm and welcoming.”

The interview will be aired locally, in Nashville, on WENO AM 760 at 11:00am and 6:30pm this Saturday and 9:00am and 4:30pm this Sunday, June 6 & 7, 2009.

The interview is also available online at Engedi’s website at:

http://www.engedi.org/index.php/audio/2-living-water/271-interview-with-kevin-and-beth-robinson