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Los Angeles, Calif., Mar 23, 2017 \/ 03:39 am (CNA<\/a>).- Any Yelp-savvy person looking for a coffee shop in the midst of the University of Southern California\u2019s surrounding urban streets may be lured by extensive positive reviews and a four-and-a-half star-rating to a little caf\u00e9 dozens of reviewers call \u201can oasis.\u201d<\/p>\n Located behind St. Agnes Korean Catholic Church, the Ignatius Caf\u00e9 is very easy to miss. Near the bustling intersection of Adams Blvd. and Vermont Ave., the caf\u00e9 is gated discreetly behind hedges, making it easy to understand why countless reviewers have described it as \u201ca hidden gem.\u201d<\/p>\n The Ignatius Caf\u00e9 is housed in a beautifully preserved turn-of-the-century home, which stands before blossoming rose bushes, with tables and umbrellas situated under vine arches. Fresh flowers sit on every table of the warmly-decorated house. The overwhelming aroma of the caf\u00e9\u2019s fair trade Ethiopian coffee beans envelope customers in warmth, as cheery volunteers bustle around tables with the most painstakingly-created foamed barista achievements. This is not your average coffee shop. To quote one USC student, \u201cIt\u2019s like pressing the pause button on life. Over coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n But the real reason this isn\u2019t your average coffee shop is the patent missionary focus of the caf\u00e9: the statue of Mary standing in gardens as overseer of the caf\u00e9, the church bells ringing on the hour in the background and the visibility of its white-collared founder busily managing the caf\u00e9 and greeting every visitor with a luminous smile: Father Robert Choi.<\/p>\n When Father Choi\u2019s superior sent him from Korea to work as a pastor in Los Angeles in 2010, he brought with him an extensive background in coffee brewing. Pour-over coffee had recently been introduced by Japan to Korea and was quickly gaining in popularity. Father Choi received certification and training from the elite Coffee Quality Institute, getting technical training on producing sustainable, high quality coffee while enhancing the livelihoods of the growers. This training equipped Father Choi with a passion for the craftsmanship, social consciousness and esteemed quality for which his caf\u00e9 is now known.<\/p>\n As a Korean-speaking pastor with a new parish in a foreign country, Father Choi needed a way to engage his new community in a language he could speak. That\u2019s where his old passion for coffee came in. Coffee would be his simple, humble manner of communicating a grand mystical love that a language barrier impinged him from telling. \u00a0<\/p>\n LOS ANGELES I Finding God in all things \u2014 even coffee: https:\/\/t.co\/lxg1l1N86w<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/AREacgSJC4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Angelus News (@AngelusNews) March 17, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe Church should be a place open for all and a method for connecting to the less fortunate. I created the Ignatius Caf\u00e9 to fulfill this,\u201d explained Father Choi, \u201cI want it to be a place where anyone, regardless of their beliefs, can come and rest. I want it to be a physical manifestation of the act of practicing love.\u201d<\/p>\n Communicating this message of love was something St. Agnes Parish was more than eager to do. With his parish supporting him, Father Choi said setting up the caf\u00e9 was not difficult. They set it up to rely solely on volunteers and accept payment in the form of donations. All proceeds are given to charities that support disadvantaged groups, including Catholic Relief Services, St. Jude Children\u2019s Hospital, Sudan Relief Fund and many others. Interested parishioners go through a rigorous coffee education program and board exam. And then they go to work under the guiding mission of the caf\u00e9, inspired by its namesake, St. Ignatius of Loyola: \u201cFind God in all things.\u201d<\/p>\n It is this prayerful spirit that emanates from the caf\u00e9. You feel it in the deliberate and quiet contemplation of the elderly man hand-sorting coffee beans on the front porch of the caf\u00e9. It\u2019s in the wee hours of every morning when Father Choi operates the caf\u00e9\u2019s roaster. It\u2019s in the sweat of the St. Agnes parishioner who painstakingly weeds the gardens. And it\u2019s in the knowing compassion of a volunteer when a customer forgets their money.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can find faith within life and life within faith,\u201d Father Choi said. \u201cChristian life is not defined by finding God through exquisite works, but rather through ordinary instances.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cordinary instances\u201d that Father Choi created the caf\u00e9 for have had an extraordinary impact. There have been caf\u00e9 frequenters who became interested in Catholicism and were eventually baptized. There were lapsed Catholics who said the caf\u00e9 played an integral role in restoring their faith. And the parish\u2019s young adult community has steadily been growing inspired by the welcoming spot to meet. Most customers who come to the caf\u00e9, however, may not recognize the grand evangelizing mission, but may just remember it as a place where they felt at home, where they were loved.<\/p>\n \u201cI love this place. The little ladies who work here are awesome!\u201d one customer said. \u201cYou just feel so welcomed here! It feels like going to grandma\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n USC students, professionals, coffee connoisseurs and parishioners alike are given a moment of love in a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n \u201cCoffee is just a means. It\u2019s a way for Father Choi to give people love,\u201d one of the caf\u00e9\u2019s volunteers, Jonathon Ko, said. \u201cLove is what holds this place together. It\u2019s the love the priest shows to the volunteers. And in turn the volunteers show love to the customers. And the customers\u2019 donations impart love to the charity recipients.\u201d<\/p>\n Father Choi has created a philosophy for the coffee creation process that he imparts to each one of his volunteers.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a scientific aspect that cannot be ignored. But, ideally, we will integrate faith with science, prayer with skill and mind with theory,\u201d said Father Choi. \u201cOne should approach life as they would for the extraction of a cup of coffee, unifying faith and life in one synonymous relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time I brew a cup of coffee,\u201d he added, \u201cI am able to thank God, bless the farmers who reaped the crops and provide peace to the individual who drinks it. With this sentiment I am able to see God in all things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This story originally appeared at AngelusNews.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n