The beginning The story of our store and café starts with a widow and a primitive roadside stand. Not long after moving into our home, I noticed a small roadside stand selling little packets of soaps, seasonings, and cheap general goods. It was not attractive, and I wondered how anyone could attract customers with such a setup. So, we met the owner, and asked if we could spruce up her little stand and maybe sell some of our peanut butter or other homemade goods from her stand, and maybe have the kids join her so they could learn about selling and customer service. It wasn’t long when we were told that she would have to move her stand, so we looked for a small place to rent and set up. But we were informed that we needed to build something stronger than I had planned, because thieves were known to break into such stores as I had planned to build. A project that once may have cost $500 not turned into a project that cost around $4000. Success We built a beautiful store complete with a bathroom and shower. It was build like a fortress, as I didn’t want any thieves to have an easy time of breaking in. We soon made recipes that were well received by the community although we only served vegetarian food. We had cakes and ice creams, fried rice and noodles, curries, sandwiches, and a host of other delicious, but maybe not so healthful, foods. A need for change We were open from 7 AM-9 PM. It was too much. Every day, at least one of us was missing family worship. People were stressed, as none had had experience in food service. Finally, it became too much to handle, and we had to hand over operations to the widow we had opened with at the start. What had started small and grown big, had to go back to its original status. The future Once we have qualified help, we want to open as before. This store has so much potential and impact on the community. With some dedicated experienced help, we can open back up. Please pray for us as we look to open sometime after our Seven Stars Academy is functioning smoothly in its new location.
