A truly ‘heavenly’ cup of coffee

Posted: 7/20/07

A truly ‘heavenly’ cup of coffee

By Whitney Farr

Communications Intern

Try to imagine coffee with a higher calling than jolting people awake.

Sam Say, a Baptist layman from Hong Kong, hopes coffee-lovers throughout the United States and Canada will bless struggling people in Southeast Asia by indulging in a gourmet cup of coffee, beginning next summer.

Say is teaching farming methods that will multiply crop production, provide food security and dignified income, and create sustainable access to poor farmers’ processed coffee.

The plan begins with meeting physical needs of the poor and moves to sharing spiritual blessings God wants everyone to hear, Say reported.

“It’s not just about conversion, it’s about transformation,” he said.

The plan offers farmers two options: A resident program allows landless families to work at a demonstration farm full-time for two years and eventually move to develop their own government-granted land. A nonresident program offers short-term training for farmers who already work on their own farms but need additional skills for maximum production.

“The overall goal is to provide practical training … to all subsistence farmers, help the landless farmers establish their own family farms and fund the good work with the income generated through the full supply-chain coffee business,” Say said. “The ultimate focus is to share the love of God and bring hope … and peace.”

On a trip to Texas, Say sought support for his ministry and information for improving the demonstration farm.

Say met with George Chapman, a cattle breeder from Amarillo; staff of the Baptist General Convention of Texas; pastors from the Dallas area; Amie Sarker, Wayne Russell and Randy Byers from Dallas Baptist University; and Dick Talley, Ron Mathis and Steve Paris of Texas Baptist Men.

Texas Baptist Men provided 16 water filters, which Say is taking back to the demonstration farm. They will provide pure drinking water on the farm for about a year. Say also discussed drilling wells and using surface water with his Texas hosts.

“We believe water is our entry—that we can go in and help people by providing water, so others can tell them of the Living Water,” Mathis explained.

Because Christians are persecuted in parts of Southeast Asia, he is careful about how he evangelizes. Besides aiming to show God’s love through his attitude and service to the people, Say offers to pray with hurting people. He also hopes farmers will see the love of Christ in Christian volunteers who come to serve.

“Short- and long-term volunteers who have experience in farming, medical skills, coffee processing and construction skills are needed,” Say said. “But mostly, I ask for prayers and future coffee subscriptions.”

A subscriber would pay $200 and receive two bags of coffee every two weeks for a year, directly from the farms in Southeast Asia. “If you are buying coffee from elsewhere, we can meet that need better,” Say said.

The money would go directly to the farm and its workers, he said. It will provide for needs of people who live on less than a dollar a day.

“This allows people to help the greater goal of reaching this closed country,” Say said. “We would like to see coffee-drinking being used for a bigger purpose.”

For more information, contact LaVern Plett at (972) 822-3380 or lplett@msn.com, or contact Say at samsay@netvigator.com.