On my squad of 45ish people there are 10 men.. We are the phalanx.. (Yes inspired by the movie 300)
Davis and myself are the only men on my team. We love the women we are working with this month dearly but our recent man trip to coffee country Nicaragua was greatly appreciated. We rode in the back of a pickup truck with our contact, driver, and a translator and headed north to the city of Metagalpa to pick up 80 pounds of coffee.
Just a rise of 2,000 or so feet in elevation makes for fertile coffee grounds here in Nicaragua. In route we drove past vast mountain ranges, a handful of volcanoes and the only thing keeping the refreshing wind out of my face was the occasional cow on the road.
As far as I’m concerned coffee is a “drug”. Come on now, if you miss your morning brew many of you end up with a menacing headache or are at least rather unpleasant. You’d agree with me too if you saw the harvesting compound. An armed guard greeted us as we made our way to the tasting room decked out with scales, varieties and just next door was a lady sitting along at a desk watching over the stock of unroasted beans.
I’m by no means a coffee buff but the chance to see the countryside was something I couldn’t pass up!
I tend to relate my surroundings to the unseen processes that God is manifesting in my life. The life of a coffee bean intrigued me.
Did you know that the higher the elevation the higher quality coffee bean produced?
Or how about that on any given farm there can be as many as 3 different variety of beans?
Our coffee salesman gave us samples of a particular bean roasted at 3 different intensities resulting in shades from a light brown to a rich black.
The process involved shuffling around the beans in the kiln like pot. The first round of “cracking” noises signaled a medium roast and the second indicated a dark roast.
Disclaimer: please forgive me if my coffee terminology isn’t up to snuff
The raw coffee bean has a greenish gold like color prior to being roasted. The roasting process evaporates the water from within the bean while simultaneously reactivating the oils within. One must be careful not to overheat the beans as the superheated oils can cause a fire if not carefully monitored..
If you can’t see where this is going yet just bare with me.
The roasting process is what following Christ is all about. At times he turns up the heat as a means to break us of our ways and allow what he’s instilled in us to come to fruition. Without the mindful cultivation from a caring community we as Christians can be overheated to the point of burnout.
How many people do you know in your life that hyperactive religious activity and legalism robbed them of the joy of kinship with Jesus Christ?
As we are broken we need a community to gather the pieces as we figure out just what the end work will look like. We need people to poke us and make sure we are being pushed and refined into something that is of value and pleasing to God.
On the world race my community is my fellow racers. They give me daily feedback on how I am walking in my strengths and how to better my weaknesses. They discuss the processes of abandoning the familiar, embracing brokenness, and walking in our sanctified name in Christ. And last but not least, they are there to laugh, play, get dirty with, and praise the one true redeemer of the universe with.
The fact of the matter is all I’ve seen and done so far would not have been as sweet without these amazing people.
I also need your continued financial and spiritual support to see this race through. Gods not through with me yet and I don’t want to be pulled out of the roast before my time. I am submitted to seeing out the great work God has begun in my life.
Loving on orphans and people in rural villages, learning cultural and regional issues of Central American families, preparing land for school expansions would have not been possible if it wasn’t for your support.
As a team leader I have been asked to serve my teammates as best I possibly can and to do that I must remain in the field. I love them with my whole heart and in the 6ish weeks I’ve been with them I am only beginning to understand Gods attitude towards servant leadership.
I must have $11,000 by December 1st or this all comes to an end.
If you are in a position to help it would be greatly appreciated. $1, $5, $10, ANYTHING helps! If every person (400) who read my most popular blog “God likes blue balls” donated just $5 I would be well on my way to my next deadline. If you aren’t in a position to help but know a friend who may feel called to support Gods call in my life by all means share my blog!
