PACIFICA, THE MISSIONS CAFÉ GOOD COFFEE, GREAT PEOPLE Thirteen years ago, Pacifica: The Missions Café was a classroom. Today it’s the first thing you see when you arrive at the Pacific Hills Dural campus, and likely one of the reasons you’ll stay. Situated directly next to Reception, it’s hard to believe there is a fully operational Café on school grounds. But it’s there, and it makes all the difference. A typical day at Pacifica starts at 7:30 AM, though Stefi Pratt – the Café supervisor and my mum – is there well before then. And it’s important that she is because at the same time, the rush begins. From students and parents to teachers, staff and visitors, by 8:00 AM nearly every table is full and the line snakes out the door. Behind the counter is usually frantic. A student volunteer usually takes orders while one of us paid staff is behind the coffee machine churning out orders. But there’s a cadence to the chaos. As customers ebb and flow you get into the rhythm of grabbing coffee lids, fitting them to their cups, calling out orders, and then returning to the coffee machine. It’s almost like a dance, one with sharp movements and a quick tempo. You learn to pirouette around co-workers as you each steam milk and prepare shots. You learn how to twist a group handle off the machine with one hand and trigger the grinder with the other. While you tamp you can measure the next set of grounds. It becomes a process: grinder, group handle, tamp, lock, cups. These are my favourite mornings though. There is an energy to everything, the grinder’s whirring, the milk tearing, the chatter by the machine, the laughter, the creak of the sandwich press, the pop of the toaster, the scratch of chair legs on concrete. Everything feels alive and awake and full of warmth. Even after six years, I love it. Truly though, the best part is the people. Having regulars come by and knowing their orders, chatting with people behind the machine while I make their coffee, watching a little kid’s face light up when I hand them their first ever babyccino — it’s what keeps me going through the valleys of the day. When I asked our staff group back in April what their favourite part about working at Pacifica was, all of them said it was the people. Seeing them enjoy the space, connecting with customers or student and parent volunteers, working with each other, that was on all of their lists. Most of our paid staff, Lynda Freeman, Christie Kang, and Rennatta Wan, all began as parent volunteers before joining the team permanently. All of them felt a pull towards serving the school community and embodying the notion that faith is walked daily, whether it’s reading the bible or making a tired teacher their first coffee of the morning. This was the exact vision Byrt Mallanyk had in mind when he first proposed the idea to Dr Boyce and Chris Baldry. “I wanted an environment where people could come and not feel like they’re in a ‘formal’ educational institution.” Byrt explained when we discussed the Café’s development in 2011. “It was designed so that parents, and visitors could come and still feel at home.” This is why Stefi joined Pacifica in the first place. In 2013, she was approached by Chris Baldry because the Café needed baristas, and she had experience in mission work. But what made her stay was the vision of community, of home, that Pacifica offered. “I love coffee, and I love serving people.” She told me. “When I had my interview [for the job] it felt like a gift from God.” 21
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