A business-minded mission down under

LILYDALE, Australia — Two Christian families in this eastern suburb of Melbourne are serving lattes and sticky date puddings to their community.
They’re also serving street children in Africa.
Tabalujan
Lilydale Pantry is a café and a social enterprise, explained Benny Tabalujan, a member of the Belmore Road Church of Christ in Melbourne.

“The social goals of the café include generating employment opportunities, especially for Christians, and undertaking community-oriented projects,” Tabalujan said.

The first project is fundraising for Made In The Streets, a Kenya-based ministry associated with Churches of Christ and overseen by Charles and Darlene Coulston.

Sandy Bass, another Belmore Road member, serves as the café’s full-time manager. Bass and his wife, Michelle, along with Tabalujan and his wife, Pauline, have invested “time, money and effort as part of an attempt to live out Jesus’ commands to be salt and light to the world,” Benny Tabalujan said. “It’s been wonderful to receive the prayers and support of a wide group of friends and family in this interesting journey — one not entirely devoid of fun.
Australian church members Michelle and Sandy Bass oversee the Lilydale Cafe. (PHOTO PROVIDED BY INTERSECTIONS MAGAZINE)
RELATED:
• Around the World, August 2017

• ‘The little movement that makes a radical difference’