End of a Busy Season

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple months.  As the title indicates, things have been a little hectic around here.  Honestly, I'm only finding the time to write because it has been pouring rain almost non-stop for the last 24 hours.  Although May and June have been hectic, there have been some great victories.  I'll try to give a little bit of a recap:

One of the biggest things here at Underground Coffee is the addition of a new family that will be working with us in South East Asia.  They are from the Philippines and have been lifelong friends of Luv-Luv.  Since we're in an area where we can't talk openly about names, we'll call them BA and his family.  BA and his family have spent several years working as missionaries in another country.  He came to visit on a scouting trip last year, felt God calling them here, and then moved here to work with us in January.  Because his youngest daughter was born overseas and some of the documents weren't filed correctly, his family couldn't come with him.  He went home for April and the first half of May to help them prepare for the move, and in the middle of the month, they were all able to come here and join the team.  It has been great having them, but there is a lot of adjustment involved with living in a new country and joining a new team.

We've also had several visitors out during the last two months.  We've had three small groups of people come on vision trips.  Some to see the coffee, some to see the school we work with, and all of them to see how God is working here in our area.  It is great to get to see friends, and I enjoy playing tour guide, so it is a good time when they come out to visit.  Thankfully all of the groups were just a couple of people, so logistics were easy and I was able to focus on spending time with them instead of trying to figure out how to get one place or another.

The other big thing we've been working on, for the last three weeks, is planting coffee.  This year we decided to plant two hectares (5 acres).  Since this was our first time to do this, we thought it'd be a good amount to start on.  It ended up being WAY more work than we anticipated.  Luv-Luv came back out for three weeks to help oversee planting and train BA, and he was a life-saver on helping with the work.  The two of them camped out on the farm several days each week and had to manage 30+ workers each day.  I was there most days too, and it was amazing to see so many people from our village come and help work on our small test farm.  We were able to meet lots of new people, and now every time I drive through the village I see familiar faces and people wave.

With the last of the coffee planted just over a week ago and the final group on a plane two days ago, now is a perfect time for the rains to come.  It is also a perfect time for our school to end for the summer and for us to be able to take a much needed vacation.  Over the next two weeks we're traveling to the Philippines to be a part of Luv's wedding.  It'll be great to share in his big day (as well as spend a little time afterward on a nice beach).  Now that things are slowing down, I promise to be a little better about keeping the blog updated.

Christmas

One of the things I enjoy most about Christmas is seeing how it is observed around the world.  And although we have different traditions, the celebration is always for the same reason.  In our country in South East Asia, we have a tradition that I wish we could carry over to America (although, honestly, we are too busy as Americans to pull it off).  All of the small churches in a community get together and plan out a schedule for Christmas parties.  One village church will take one day, another the day after, and so on. Then all of the churches go and visit the others' parties.  The parties involve the usual things of singing, reading the Christmas story and sharing a meal together.  In the village (where life can be pretty slow) this is a big thing and many times the entire village will come out.  Also, because there are so many small house churches, this means that the Christmas season goes on for about a month and parties can sometimes happen after Christmas.

Last year we were able to partner with the house church in the village where our coffee farm is.  They provided the food, work and planning and we helped them rent a tent so that people sat underneath it and out of the sunshine.  The party was a huge hit and everyone from the village came, including the village leader.  The village leader, who is not a Christian, saw what was going on and enjoyed himself so much that he said that the church could operate under his protection in the village, and if they wanted to pursue becoming legalized he would try to help.  It was a huge moment for the Christians in that village.

Fast forward to this year and the church is in the process of that legalization.  Hopefully all of the paperwork will be finished by the time we return and we will be able to help our friends in the village build a church building where a new church is planted.  Please be in prayer for this year's Christmas party in our village.  It will happen on January 1st (I told you they sometimes happen after Christmas).  Please pray that it will be another time where people can hear the Gospel and that it will open doors in that village.

Resources

One of our desires as an organization is to use our funds well.  We believe that budgets are, at their core, a theological document and therefore should be a working reflection of the beliefs of those who put them in place.  With that being said, Underground Coffee International strives to use the resources that it is given and raises to further the Kingdom in a financially responsible way. One of the ways that we try to be good stewards of our resources is focusing our funds on missionaries.  Currently there is no one on staff at Underground Coffee (as in everyone is a volunteer) and our first staffed positions will be missionaries that can go on the field and spread the Gospel to those who have never heard.  All of us, from the president, to the board, to everyone who helps, does it because they want to see the Gospel go forth and believes that coffee is a great vehicle to open doors and make that happen.