"Follow your heart, any other way will only lead to sorrow" - Triumph
"Follow the bean, who knows where it will lead you" - Greg Martin
My friend Greg likes to tell me to “follow the bean." Looking back over the last five years, following the bean, really the adventure of integrating life, work and faith, has led us to a marvelous work in Rwanda.
Together you and I have built a coffee washing station in Bukonya, one of the worst areas ravaged by genocide. Today, people are working side by side for a common purpose, and in return, experiencing the beauty of reconciliation and grace. We have built a soccer field for playful children and homes for displaced orphans. Together, we have planted lots of coffee trees, provided bikes for weary farmers, cultivated a sustainable farm, and begun work at Ruli Mountain Coffee Washing Station to reach another 2,000 farmers and their 8,000 family members.
This work with coffee began by following an inkling. You followed the inkling too. We worked, and God blessed.
A little over a year ago I sensed another inkling, and the bean has lead you and I to yet another adventure. After the earthquake in Haiti, I found myself wondering if God might be inviting us to work in Haiti, as we have done in Rwanda. I discovered a few interesting facts about Rwanda, Haiti, and Coffee.
Rwanda and Haiti:
- Are home to 10-12 million people.
- Are densely populated with very little land.
- Are French-speaking countries.
- Have both experienced a horrible tragedy.
- Have a history of being Coffee Growing Countries
When I shared a vision of venturing into Haiti with my Rwandan friends, Pastor Ildephonse and Manny, both said they would pray for their brothers in Haiti, and testified that God has used coffee to help them heal and make their land prosper.
I’m glad to share that I have had five coffee-hunting expeditions to Haiti. Last week I shared with coffee growers in Marmelade, Chadirack, Gouivar and Café Nan that the very bean that enslaved their ancestors 150 years ago could now be used by God as a means of their freedom.
Today, we have 14,000 pounds of Haitian coffee from Marmalade and 200 pounds from our washing station in Chadirack, ready to be roasted. We are ready to engage redemption.
You, my coffee-drinking friends, get to once again be a partner in this.
Will you help us be good stewards of this adventure by helping us to once again Drink Coffee and Do Good?
J
Drink Coffee Do Good
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