God@Work

When you notice anything that’s happening in God’s Kingdom, you can always be sure that what you’re seeing on the surface is only a small part of the story. Wherever God is at work, there are always lives being transformed behind the scenes. That is certainly the case in the story of the birth of our new Kingdom Café!

If you’ve been around for a while, you know that Pastor Marty has been dreaming of having a café at FAC for years! He explained in a sermon not too long ago that the idea of table fellowship is actually a very Biblical idea. He’s excited about having a place like that where fellowship can take place for our church family, as well as for all the people from our community that God wants to draw to Himself.

But this isn’t a story about the Kingdom Café. It’s a story about two of the people whose lives God has been transforming as He was preparing to give us this new gathering place. Paul and Peggy Ferraro have been a part of the FAC family for 23 years. Paul has been a successful businessman, and Peg raised her boys and worked for her family’s business. Recently they found themselves in the season of life where they were dreaming about retirement and making plans for that.

During a previous season of his life, Paul completed a Walk Across America to benefit the Navy Seal Foundation. He and Peggy created a corporation and website called The Road I Chose, LLC, to raise awareness and money for the Navy Seal Foundation. After five months spent walking, Paul decided to write a book about his adventures. He hoped that speaking engagements would follow, and he would spend his retirement speaking and traveling. But God had other plans!

During that same timeframe, the new building at FAC was under construction. When Paul heard that there were plans to include a working kitchen and a café, his interest was piqued. That had to be God because after having several jobs in the food industry at the beginning of his career, he learned one thing ― he never wanted to work in the food business again! So he went into technology and spent the rest of his career in that field.

Why, then, was he interested at all in the café?! He said, “It’s really pretty simple. I asked God what He wanted me to do to help!” God drew him to help with the kitchen. So he began researching, visiting other church cafés and restaurants, and learning all he could about everything from roasting coffee to making gelato.

Meanwhile, Peggy was kind of hoping that this dream would fizzle out and her life would get back to normal! She said, “God has had to pull me along. I am not a cook. I eat out. I buy Wegmans prepared foods. I stress over preparing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Do I want to be in the food business? No!” But again, God had other plans. The more Paul researched and discovered, the more he felt drawn to be part of this project.

Peggy finally got to the place where she decided to just hand it over to God. She said, “I prayed that if He wanted us to do this that He would conform me to His will. I can’t do it in my strength. Since then, I feel like the scales have dropped from my eyes, and I see the big picture. It’s not about me. It’s about His Kingdom, His people ― the people who will come to Christ because they have a comfortable environment to gather, to fellowship, to share, to read their Bible with a friend, and to experience church maybe for the first time. This can be the gateway to God for some who would never enter a church door.”

In the beginning, there was talk of making this a non-profit business, but Paul said, “After a lot of research and prayer, we realized that would just not work. The idea is to make this a separate service and insulate the church from potential harm from lawsuits and liabilities. Peggy and I wanted the church to have the money now that we were planning to give at our deaths for Kingdom Cafe, Kingdom Kitchen, Kingdom Catering, etc. We are blessed to be able to see how this equipment will play a part in loving people to the knowledge of Christ.”

FASA has always been on Paul’s heart and mind so helping to fund it is an exciting thought to him.

Though the Kingdom Café will be a for-profit business, a portion of the proceeds will be given to FAC. Paul shared that when he was on a flight going to a training class for making ice cream, he was praying about the impact of a business within a church, and God gave him one thought: give the profits to FASA. FASA has always been on Paul’s heart and mind so helping to fund it is an exciting thought to him. He added, “This is not to say that FASA is the only ministry that we will share money with. I am working on a program where we feature events for groups like SAGE and ALPHA, and others. I have also been praying about using outside catering events to help pay off FAC’s mortgage.”

Paul also sees the Kingdom Café as a place that offers more than food and fellowship. It also offers employment opportunities. He says that he sees a huge need for people to have work that allows them to grow and serve each other. Someday down the road, he is praying that we can offer childcare so we can provide jobs to single mothers and second chances to people who may have come out of the penal system.

When asked how he has seen God work in his life since deciding to follow God’s call to start the café, Paul said, “I have always thought that I dream big and that I serve a big God. As this whole project has moved along, I have seen God in so many new ways. I realize I know almost nothing about running a café and a full-service kitchen. The more I study, the more I know that if I rely on me, this is going to fail. When I just wait and ask God for wisdom and help, it comes in the coolest ways.

“Here is just one example of God’s perfect solution to an impossible situation. We ordered the wrong voltage on the most important item in our kitchen, the oven. It should have sunk us and cost a ton of money. God granted me so much peace and allowed the strangest solution that ended up costing almost nothing.

“Finally, God has shown me that I am the least knowledgeable person for this task and that I am exactly where he wants me to be right now. I awake every morning excited to see how He is going to fix my mistakes and make perfect His plan for Kingdom Café. All I know is that I have spent a lifetime trying to do things my way and I know that God is all over this café. I am trying to wait and listen to what God wants me to do and not where I want it to go. I love that FAC and the leadership are in subjection to the callings of God. This has been the hardest and most difficult year I have ever had. Without the love of Christ through Marty and Brian, this would have died on the planning table. I am so fortunate to have great mentors all around me.

“God has already used the Kingdom Café to transform lives in our FAC family so it will be exciting to see how He continues to work! Because of His clear leading in starting the café, there is no doubt that there will be more exciting stories to tell in the future of how He is transforming lives for His glory because of this wonderful new gathering place.”