Incognito- Cafe 420

Ran on Saturday, June 16

Incognito
Cafe 420 workers aim to share the gospel with people they say need spiritual nourishment, hence the illegal drug-related number: 420.

By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-Telegram staff

The menu at Cafe 420 includes espressos, pizza, pancakes - and gospel.
“We’re filling a need no other coffee shop can fulfill in this town,” said Melanie Johannsen, owner of Cafe 420.
The need is food for the soul.
The mustard-colored walls, stacks of books and games and relaxing music provide an atmosphere conducive to a peaceful visit.
The name Cafe 420 has a few meanings. Not only does the name refer to the street address - 420 Washington St. - it also provides insight to the workings and purpose of the cafe.
Playing off the drug-referencing numbers, Johanssen wants to pique the curiosity of people in need of spiritual nourishment and provide an outlet for guidance. In the drug world, the number 420 signifies a time to celebrate by getting high. The term originated from California marijuana smokers in the early 1970s.
“We’re hoping to appeal to those in the drug world searching for something that only God can fill,” Johannsen said.
Additionally, Acts 4:20 provides direction saying: “For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Johannsen said God laid the verse on her heart through prayer and instructed her to open the shop.
When the coffee shop first opened in September 2005, the initial focus was on cafe business. Since then, the focus has shifted to outreach and ministry, said Russ Atter, who has worked at the cafe since it opened.
The transition meant becoming a nonprofit organization.
Johannsen said the cafe does not make enough money on its own to survive. By turning nonprofit, it is able to receive grants and donations from area churches.
“Now we’re spending more time and energy on ministry,” Atter said.
The outreach is multi-faceted.
The grass-roots Bible studies held at the cafe focus on delivering the gospel and providing a basic introduction to Christian principles.
Atter said people new to the gospel may be intimidated by typical fellowship in a traditional setting.
“They may not be comfortable walking into a church, so they’ll come here,” he said. “(For) somewhere between 60 (percent) and 70 percent of the people in here seeking spiritual guidance, this is their only source.”
On Saturday nights when other downtown establishments are serving brews and playing loud music, Cafe 420 is twisting the party theme. Serving brewed coffee and bands playing live praise music, a worship service draws a crowd.
“Each week we see new faces,” Atter said.
Typically there is a gathering of 20 to 40 people of various Christian denominations. “We’ve done a good job of being nondenominational,” he said. “It’s a place (where) we can all come together and be in a worship service.”
Nolan Fortney, who has frequented the cafe for two years, has attended the worship services. He brought a friend in need of physical and spiritual guidance to the service and now that friend is on a path toward righteousness, he said.
His friend was homeless and had no family close to turn to.
After coming to the service, fellow woshippers volunteered to provide him a place to stay, and since then he has placed trust in God and is leading a better lifestyle.
Outreach also includes a biblical substance-abuse counseling program, compared with Alcoholics Anonymous, called Almond Tree.
The 14-week program, which includes daily tasks, offers help to people whose lives are being controlled by substance hindering their relationship with God. Viewing the addiction as a sin rather than a disease - as Alcoholics Anonymous does - the abuser is set free from the sin through the power of Jesus Christ with guidance from the Bible, Atter said.
The outreach is done in a subtle manner.
With no obvious indications of Christianity through religious symbols on the outside of the cafe - an intentional decision - people leery of judgement from the secular world can visit without worry.
“There’s no indication that this is a Christian establishment when you’re driving by it,” said Bruce Strangfeld, a Cafe 420 patron. “Regardless of where people are at in their faith walk, they would be comfortable here.”
Fellow patron Paul Pladsen said the nonthreatening atmosphere makes the place friendly to the community.
Strangfeld and Pladsen were on their lunch breaks from their jobs downtown when they decided to get lunch at the cafe.
Pladsen, attended Valleybrook church in Eau Claire, said he was aware of the cafe and
Johannsen’s personal base in ministry, but he didn’t know the cafe was ministry based.
“We don’t thump people over the head with Bibles as they walk in the door,” Johannsen said. “The questions eventually come up and we are able to witness.”
The tactic seems to be working. Johannsen and Atter both attest to watching about two dozen people convert to Christianity as a result of the ministry.
“Now I feel spiritually responsible for people,” Atter said. “I have a hunger to see more people’s lives changed.”
Chanda Lombard, Eau Claire, began frequenting the shop about two years ago.
As a mother of three girls, it was difficult to make time for herself.
Despite being a Christian, she wasn’t where she would like to be at religiously.
Lombard started coming to the cafe and “it’s been a little miracle,” she said. “I finally had a place I could go to with my kids and feel comfortable.”
Johannsen said she believes if the average person were asked to define a Christian, their answer would be concerned with material or negative actions not one based on love. She wants to change that.
“Jesus said to show love with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind,” Johannsen said. “We love people for who they are - we don’t try to change them.”