Life brings us unexpected adventures. Its funny how we can be plowing through our every day life and then boom, you hit a brick wall of change. That is exactly what happened to me in August of 2012. I have been roofing homes in the Puget Sound for over 20 years. Our small company has done very well for itself serving the Puyallup-Sumner-Bonney Lake areas. I figured I would continue coasting through life....I though wrong.
I accompanied my Pastor (Dwain Wolfe) on a trip to Uganda last August. I was assisting him with a 12 step program he was introducing to the community leadership in Kampala, Uganda. During the conference I received an email from a Rabbi Enosh, the leader of a small Jewish community in Uganda called Putti Village. I had heard a little bit about the village and tried contacting them before I left but was not able to reach anyone. I was surprised to receive a personal invitation to meet Rabbi Enosh and meet the Putti Village community.
I traveled 6 hours to reach the village. The drive there was full of expectation and a bit of wondering as to what I would find. Truth-be-told I also thought I must be a little crazy considering this was my first time in Africa and here I am riding off into the sunset in the middle of nowhere. I arrived safely and was greeted by the brightest group of people. I was overwhelmed with the reception of love that I received. Over the next few days I spent time with Enosh touring the village and learning about the possibilities of creating a sustainable economy for the village by helping them complete projects such as digging more wells, irrigation, building a grinding mill and furnishing their poultry home with chickens and feeders. It was a bit tough taking it all in. When you see the little faces of the children, the purposefulness of the elders and then realize they just dont have the resources to move forward with their plans, it creates a burden. The question is, what do we do with that burden. Do we ignore it, or do we allow it to fuel our inner passion to make a change!
Being a coffee lover I requested to take a trip to a prominent mountain not too far from the village. Mt. Elgon is home to some of the world famous Ugandan and Kenyan coffee that we enjoy in Starbucks, Blackbear Yogurt and many other coffee shops globally. What happened next is where this story turns, and my life changes.
We traveled to the top of Mt. Elgon and met the overseers of one of the coffee co-ops. They were a delightful group of hardworking people enthralled in their prized trade. Image the pride of knowing that their product is sought after throughout the entire earth by some of the most powerful brands in the coffee industry. There was an immediate synergy with the leaders as I shared my passion for coffee and my desire to help Putti Village develop into a self-sustaining community. Right there in the midst of our fellowship a golden idea came forth. The revelation hit me like a wave from the ocean. We could partner together and get this highly sought after coffee to the states, sell it and reinvest a portion of the proceeds back into villages like Putti.
As far as I was concerned, it was finished. By the time I left the mountain I had already set the compass of my heart to see the vision through. Over the next year we got our self in order, made the right connections, had a website designed by Carr Knowledge and began having our coffee roasted by an anonymous local coffee roaster. Since then we have taken our second trip to Faith Village Orphanage in Thailand and are making plans to travel the world to reach out with practical humanitarian aid.
Everybody has their story, a passion, a reason for living. Chase Coffee is a means to an end. People love coffee and drink it every day. By supplying a high quality and great tasting coffee we can meet that need and raise money for missions at the same time. We appreciate any help you can give us in getting the word out via social media and by telling your friends. You can visit our website at www.chasecoffee.com
We are also currently working on getting our coffee onto the shelves of a few local stores in order to keep up with the local demand. If you have any questions feel free to give us a call at 253-750-0636.
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