Around 2 years ago God spoke to me while I was on a cruise ship headed towards Jamaica. I was in the ship's library sitting in a little pod-like chair reading a book when I felt like Jesus Himself placed an idea in my head. The idea was to start a coffeehouse on the west side of Cincinnati.

This coffeehouse would be different than other coffeehouses, but I wasn't quite sure how. I simply knew that it's main objective would be something other than the almighty dollar.

When I returned home I began sharing the story of what God had pressed into my brain and heart. It seemed I was not alone in my far-fetching dream. Over the next year several other people felt it pressed upon them that we as a church, Vineyard Westside, should start some sort of coffeehouse on the west side. People who would never know each other's stories were being united by a single strange idea.

Several months back a woman named Fran came to our leadership team with an interesting proposition. She told us that she owned a bar on Glenway Ave. that was up for lease again. She had been coming to Vineyard Westside for a while and for some strange reason, God spoke to her about not letting her bar be used for destroying families anymore. She told us that if we were willing to provide the labor, she would provide the funds to transform that bar into whatever we thought would be better. It was clear that the coffeehouse was going to happen.

And it is happening. This will be Refuge Coffeebar:



While this old bar was in horrible shape, we've come together as a community and began the transformation process to turn it into something beautiful. It sits on the corner of Glenway and Ferguson. It was blue and the foundation was damaged. There were cracks running all over the outside of the building, but we have since repaired those and given it a paint job. Soon, the name Club Octane will fade away into the land of the lost with so many other pubs and dives.



Inside we've got big plans. We have created a business plan that is different to say the least. Refuge will be what we are calling a "Biznistry", that is, a business-ministry. There are lots of details involved, but the main point is that Refuge will not take a profit. The money we make in this place will go back out into the community of Cincinnati's west side.



There has been a lot of work that's taken place. We have gutted the entire venue. The sub-flooring even had to be ripped up as it was beginning to rot. Concrete also had to be poured to level everything out. We've started to frame lots of things out at this point. This will be an internet bar with free wi-fi for all the lap-top peeps. We are also looking to have free computers to use set up for the people of this community.



This will be the stage area. We are looking to have lots of live music in this place. We are also toying with the idea of holding a saturday night church service here...something...unchurchy.



Our goal is to offer something different to the community. There are all kinds of ways to get into trouble in this particular area, but there aren't very many safe places to go and just be. This will be a place to just be. We're also looking to offer community classes such as; cooking, reading, life skills, computers, karate, bible studies, etc..



Here's the new wall behind the bar being framed in where there will be lots of menu items. We are interested in offering the best coffee in town and we'll be accomplishing that through a local roaster called La Terza. We're also going to serve snacks, sandwiches, and whatever else we feel like serving...it's a different game when you're not just looking for profits.



This is a little room toward the back of the building that will be used as a library / bookstore.



She's still a little rough looking, but you should have seen it at the beginning. Here's one of the several downstairs rooms. Food storage, office space, classes, etc.. could be held here.



We are so excited about this project that it's hard to express. We have been entrusted with something and we're expecting God to do something amazing with it. This coffeehouse is located in what society is calling a "declining area of Price Hill". We'll see about that.