Adrián González

“It’s a business with a very, very strong social conscience. It’s the basis of the business, beyond any religion or community of faith. More than anything, it’s social justice.”

Adrián González has a quick smile and a throaty, rippling chuckle. Never missing an accessory, the Agua Prieta, Sonora, native wears a white ring with the word “JESUS” in red and a Nike watch. His hair is spiked upward from the sides, forming a ridge on his head.

A member of El Lirio de los Valles Presbyterian Church in Agua Prieta, co-founder Mark Adams approached Adrián about the job. The interview soon came. His hands sweating, “they asked me the question, ‘How many types of coffee are there?’ I said, ‘Oh yeah,’ very sure of myself, ‘regular and decaf.'” He laughs. “I’ve always drunk coffee, but I was never a big drinker. Little by little I’ve discovered the great world of coffee.” While at the beginning he drank it with milk and sugar, now he prefers it plain to distinguish different varieties.

But Café Justo’s impact has gone far deeper than just coffee drinking. “It has truly changed my perspective on life. Before Café Justo I was still wondering what I was going to do in the future, what God was preparing for me in the future. Through Café Justo, I feel I have a professional future and at the same time one related to the spiritual because of the people that surround me, because of what I share with them.”

What exactly do they share? “We have a certain passion for our work. . . . Because it’s different day to day and there are different situations every day, it helps you not to fall in a routine. It always motivates you to keep on working because it’s something you feel a part of. You know that what you do will help to do good.”

Not only is Adrián keen on giving a hand, he enjoys meeting the people on the receiving end. “I have the blessing of traveling, of sharing, of meeting people and learning from them. It’s something essential to me that fills me up.”
He visited Chiapas for the first time in October 2005. “Seeing the faces of the people we’re working with impacted me. In their faces you see a really deep appreciation. We had the experience of a hurricane passing through the area. Living in those times of anguish, knowing that their family was in need and also in danger. Having that experience with them was something that bound us, united us more. It was a great blessing to see how in the area people from different religions and different political beliefs coexist…”

“I’ve had the chance to know other cultures, but at the end I think that we’re not so different. Most people I’ve met from other countries – I think we all have the same idea: to be happy, to be the best with yourself and the people around you. Despite any religion or culture you may offer, at the end we’re all on the same path.”

Adrián is open – not only to changing the world outside, but also to changing within. Because of his experience at Café Justo, he’s going back to school – after almost a decade – to study international commerce. He plans on spreading the Café Justo gospel. “It has a really deep impact in people’s lives, and in such a simple way.”

In Adrián’s own life, a little girl turned his family’s lives upside down – for good. His four-year-old sister, Michelle, was born. “[She’s] the light of the home. [She] came to inject new energy into the family and in many ways to unite us.”

Adrián’s reason is simple – it’s for justice that he’s in this. “You don’t have to be familiar with being Christian or not Christian. It’s simply about helping your neighbor.”