'Drinking coffee together is the time when we share our good news and solve our problems.' 

It was total delight to welcome Elsa, Yohannes and others Ethiopian friends and followers to our Mothering Sunday service, where we have a tradition of celebrating the broad range of people who are part of the church family. This year we were taking a global perspective, recognising our links with brothers and sisters in Christ in Ethiopia.

As part of our celebration Elsa & Yohannes, with the help of friends, shared with us a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, filling the church with the scent of coffee and incense and sharing with us stories and memories from the land that brought the world coffee.

Coffee is served up to three times and each serving, named abol, tona and baraka, will be weaker than the previous. Tradition says that the first is for pleasure (and it is strong!), the second is to provoke contemplation, and the third one serves as a blessing to the drinkers. 

Incredible aromas filled the church from both the roasting and the incense. A few days on the smell incense still lingers in the church. For some it evoked memories of home, for others it opened doors to experiences. For everyone  connections were made. 

 Yohannes, who spoke about the importance of the coffee ceremonies in Ethiopia, shared this insight: 'Time taken. Good news shared. Problems solved.'

Phil W shared something of what he had learned through conversations 'In terms of awareness of problems, I discovered Ethiopia is the third largest refugee hosting country in Africa, home to more than 930,000 refugees and asylum seekers- mainly from South Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea.'

In our fast-paced, consumer-based lives, we can feel there's no time or space for the deeper connections that we need to be fully alive, and to be people who honour the image of God held in every life. Maybe coffee can help us.