Greetings from Venilla, Anbalagan and Sridhar
This month God has been showing me something very simple
through one of our Employees. His Name is Epi Thang a young guy about 21 years
old. Loves football, very hard worker and the best thing that I love about him
is how he always has a big smile on his face and enjoys life each day at its
own speed. God really spoke to me when we had so much going on, setting up our
new store and I just got married and my wife lost her job, the one she was in
for the last 4 and half years. In short, everything seemed to be upside down
for me and I found it hard to see life and God’s hand in both of our lives.
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| Epi Thang our employee |
He
spoke to me and encouraged me through this young guy Epi, who approaches life
boldly, enjoying whatever life brings his way, teaching me that worrying about
it is not going to give us peace or get us to the place we want to be in.
Instead, it's choosing not to let worry or fear overpower today’s joy that we
get to enjoy freedom in Jesus. It’s hard to be in that place but when we
deliberately choose to fix our eyes on Him in the midst of chaos and
uncertainty, all of a sudden I feel that overwhelming sense of peace that
surpasses all understanding, realising that this is how we are called to live
our lives.
Luke12:25 – Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to
your life, since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about
the rest?
God was so faithful in providing my wife with a new job, one
that she likes even more than the last. God really showed me what it’s like to
be still and know that He is God, trusting that He is and will always be in
control.
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| Before and After photo of the store |
For Venilla, this month God's been teaching her how to
endure difficult times. Here’s a quote from a book she’s reading now. It says,
“ the sanctuary of His embrace is where God reveals purpose, which in turn
empowers us to endure hardship with joy, for we know He is working it all
together for good.” This was a huge encouragement for her.
Most of the time we
focus on the hard times when God urges us to trust in his unfailing love for
us, which is always going to be bigger than any storm we will ever face. It’s
amazing how that simple truth changed my perspective from trembling at the
sight of my storm to riding its waves with peace knowing that my God is with me
through it all. He has not failed me yet and I choose to believe that he’s not
about to start now.
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| Anbalagan explaining the process of coffee roasting |
For Anbalagan, It’s definitely been a season where God is
teaching him about submitting to authorities as well as walking through these
difficult moments with God’s grace which He promised will be sufficient. We
haven't seen the fruit of our hardships and the sacrifice that we’ve made
towards the cafe yet, but God is asking us to believe and trust him. Galatians 6:9, “let us not be weary in doing well,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest. It's been a hard month and we
clearly don't know how to process it all, but I believe that those who wait on
the Lord will be renew their strength. I am holding on to that promise because I
know He will never change.
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| View of our cafe |
Even though we’ve had
a rough patch, we’ve also seen how much daily bean has grown. We are so thankful
to Jesus for trusting and blessings us with a much bigger place. We want to thank
all our family members who have been a huge support to us. The last few weeks
have been so busy, definitely not something we were expecting; we’re always
packed on the weekends which are really good for our business. We do a live”
coffee roasting session” now and have been educating our customers about roasting
coffee beans.
Overall it’s been a crazy month and we’re still figuring our way
through. We are so thankful to be blessed with a much bigger place. Our only
prayer is that we continue being faithful stewards, honouring God in everything
we do.
Prayer points:
1.
Please pray for the three of us as we continue to be faithful in this new season.
2.
Please pray for strength and wisdom for us as we
process and look into new seasons.
3.
Please pray for our business and that God would
continue being the centre of everything.
4.
Please pray for God to guard our hearts against
lies of the enemy.
5.
Please pray for the Holy Spirit to bring peace, love
as we hold each other up.
