In early November we took our students to a city about 3 hours outside of base town. There we met Magdi, who was our tour guide and gracious host. He's an upper caste Hindu, with strong family affiliation. Our first night with Magdi and his family, one of our students was able to share his personal testimony. Unexpectedly Magdi began sharing about dreams he has personally had about JESUS.

Here’s a question society loves to answer for us. Just google it. There are pages of ways to not be forgotten and advice on forming your personal brand. It’s at the heart of most marketing. Buy this product and you will be known for this or work at this company and people will think you are that. As humans, we are created with an innate desire for purpose, for an identity. Throughout life we find it in different places: as a professional, parent, student, athlete.

When I was in Asia, I got hit by two buses. The details are mostly irrelevant, though everyone wants to hear them. A careless bus driver and a poorly timed left-hand turn catapulted my motorbike into the front of an oncoming bus. For a terrifying moment, I ricocheted between two forces strong enough to crush me. Neither of them stopped.

For the longest time my faith was all about me:

What can God provide for me?

How can I grow in my relationship with Him?

What does He say that will make me feel better in this moment?

At Cafe 1040, a major goal in our mentorship is to equip this generation with the confidence to go wherever God leads them to go and make disciples among every people group.

Remember the really famous 'Hilltop' Coca-Cola ad from the '70s about buying the world a Coke? It was a little before my time, but it's one of the most famous ads of all time. It was also the closing scene of the series Mad Men, if that's more your style. The song in the ad also talks about wanting to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. Definitely from the '70s!

In this line of work, you usually have more questions than answers. How does culture affect Christianity? How does where you were born impact your faith? Is it even possible for every people group to know Christ?

I had always assumed that going to North Africa was for heroes and newscasts covering political unrest and religious restrictions in the area just heightened my assumptions. I did not consider myself a hero, but I was willing to go to an unreached people group. How could that actually happen? Who was going to teach me how to go? Who was going to prepare me to live life in such hard places?

Sometimes words only get in the way. Check out this month's views from our overseas missions mentorship. 

“How did I miss this?,”a recent grad asked himself in response to his time living in Southeast Asia with Cafe 1040. The question wasn’t a matter of missing a “call” to missions but missing the reality that God’s prevailing purpose from Genesis to Revelation is to bring people to Himself.

Do you ever wonder how to share your faith? Have you ever wondered how you may share your faith in a place where you maybe aren’t supposed to or it’s frowned upon if you do? Here’s a real life story from one of our staff members of what living among the unreached looks like and the opportunities that come to share the story of Jesus where it’s never been heard.

It was 5:30 am and still very dark outside when the 6-passenger taxi arrived outside of our house. I wiped the sleepiness out of my eyes as we tossed our strategically packed bags into the back of our ride and thus began our trip.

The team and I just got back from exploring a Berber village. Here’s a quick background on the Berber people. Before the Arabs came over to North Africa, the Berbers were already here as the original inhabitants and their history goes back over six thousand years. 

I’d never been inside the 10/40 Window before. While I could imagine the things that I would face during my 12 weeks overseas, I never thought homesickness would be the one thing that shook me to the core. But, it did.

An inside look at why Cafe 1040 exists. Written and told by the Founder and Executive Director of Cafe 1040. 

At Cafe 1040, we spend a lot of time telling stories. We believe that storytelling is one of the best ways to communicate to ourselves and to others what God is doing in our midst. The following is a recent story and update from a graduate of our Overseas Missions Mentorship.