Katie Jickling, Project Manager of the Community Cafe, shared the background to the new Community Cafe at Holy Trinity Brussels, and the experience of the first day:

"We're trying to create a space that welcomes the kind of diverse communities that Jesus welcomed — rich and poor, Christian and those of other faiths, people of all ages and backgrounds and cultures. It's a pay-as-you-can model with a warm meal, good coffee and cake, and various groups and services. While the Community Kitchen has been making thousands of meals for refugees and those in need for several years now, we've realised in the process that the need in Brussels goes beyond mere physical food — it's also about feeling a sense of belonging and community. 

To start, the cafe will be open Wednesday and Thursday, 10am-2pm. The church will also use the cafe for their coffee hour after a Sunday service. We hope to expand to other days in the coming months! 

For now, we have the English group and the mums and tots group. We will offer food aid to those in need, and have a space for church members to gather after the mid-week eucharist. We're also offering various other groups and gatherings — next week, for instance, a Quaker is facilitating a "loss cafe" on grief and mourning. 

We had about four dozen people our first day — quite a good turnout. But even more importantly, people are really enthusiastic about the model. People in Brussels are longing to get out of their bubble and make connections with other types of people — for students to be around babies, to speak in a new language, to have Muslims and Christians and atheists mingling together. In one shift, I heard people speaking English, French, Dutch, Arabic, and Farsi. That makes for a rich experience."