The Eternal Buzz Story
Every dream begins with a story, and every story with a moment.
Vito opened the door, and my eyes scanned the room. Above the music system were empty liquor bottles of every description, placed like trophies in a display cabinet. Leaning against the empty bottles, a displaced bumper sticker read, “In search of the Eternal Buzz.”
Vito and I were raised in traditions of hospitality. Vito’s parents were born and raised in Sicily; his mother spoke no English when she first came to the United States, so Italian was his first language. Family, pasta, espresso, biscotti, and Italian plastic color his childhood imagination. I was raised in a small market-town in the English rural county of Lincolnshire. I grew up where people walk to the local butcher, neighbors drop in unannounced, and the tea-pot is always full!
Vito and I met on the campus of the University of Illinois. He was living in a small house on campus, which was always full. It was a social hub, where all kinds of people would go to hang out, get high, drink espresso and eat pasta with garlic and oil.
The moment I saw that bumper sticker, I knew that this “Eternal Buzz” must be Jesus Christ. I had not fully experienced Him, but wanted to. Vito, struggling to escape the trauma of a broken life, was searching for a sense of dignity and purpose within the emptiness of a party lifestyle. We were both searching for the eternal buzz.
At the end of that year, we decided to take a road trip around the United States. With a white rental car, minimal camping equipment, a Rand McNally road map, Bible, and an acoustic guitar in the backseat; we set off on a self-proclaimed epic journey “to find God”, figure out if we loved each other enough to stay together long distance, and see the states.
We committed to pray, read the Bible every day, and visit churches along the way. By the end of that 30 day road trip, we had driven 8,636 miles, visited 19 states and crossed into Mexico and Canada.
Throughout this journey and beyond, God showed himself: in the roadside chapels where we would stop and sense his presence, in a powerful service in a small church in Arkansas where Vito wept as we met the holiness of God, in the wonder of the natural beauty we encountered in the Pacific Northwest, and in His unrelenting desire to rescue us from dehumanizing behavior and help us discover our God-given identity.
We continue to experience the eternal buzz of his transformative presence and generous hospitality in our lives.
The Eternal Buzz dream was born out of a desire to engage our culture through creativity, hospitality, and hope; serving refreshing reconciliation to our local communities. Depending on your taste, we’d love to share God’s goodness over an espresso or a proper cup of English tea. EBC provides a place to tell His story in our lives—just a short chapter in this ongoing drama; a place where our community is served, a place where people can be refreshed, and a place where the creativity, wisdom, and beauty of God’s vision for humanity is celebrated.
As we think back over the decades, these are moments when God was getting our attention. He pursued us through the mistakes and misfires. He knew, even when we did not, that we were looking for Him, the Eternal Buzz. He invited us into an ancient story to rediscover our identity and purpose, and make this old story new in our own lives. These were the first moments that shaped the EBC dream.
We invite you to step in and discover your role in the story.
Rachel and Vito LoCascio, Co-founders of EBC
