There are three great passions in my life: Jesus Christ, my wife & family, and coffee. My coffee consumption: some people call it an “addiction”, I call it fuel for life! I was recently introduced to Leiva’s Coffee from Guatemala and the way I view how I purchase coffee changed tremendously. Leiva’s coffee is a company that is dedicated to transform people’s lives in practical ways in Guatemala while introducing them to Jesus Christ at the same time. I was introduced to the coffee by some friends who traveled to Guatemala recently and purchased the coffee after visiting the farm where it was grown. Since then I have been able to speak with Geovanni Leiva and gain some insight into both their vision and mission to the farmers and families in Guatemala. Here is their story as told on their website:
The Green Book:
When Pedro Leiva was a boy, he had a vision: Two women dressed in white would give him a gift that would change his life. A green bible that would show him the way to God.
22 years later, during a time of personal tragedy, Pedro made his way to the local village to discover two women dressed in white standing on a wagon, speaking to small crowd. Pedro approached the two women and asked in a quiet voice, “Do you have a green book for me?” The women exchanged glances. What a curious thing to ask! But just has it had in Pedro’s vision, one of the women reached into a cardboard box and removed from it a Bible bound in a green cover. “Is this what you are looking for?”
In that moment, these truths were confirmed. God existed, He had a plan, and Pedro Leiva would devote his life to it.
Coffee and Purpose:
Pedro Leiva lived a quiet life of virtue. It was from him that his nephew, Ezequiel Leiva, learned the values of a humble Christian life. But it was with his own hands that Ezequiel learned the skill of cultivating coffee.
For years, Ezequiel labored on Guatemalan coffee farms, hoping to provide a better life for his family, just as his own father, Pedro, the generation before. He was a good a pious man, traits he had gained from his father. Ezequiel knew that his purpose would be shown to him if he only stayed the path.
In the meantime, he saved his money. Life as a coffee laborer was difficult, but the Leiva’s understood that reward was rarely revealed before personal cost. They were a happy family. The Leiva’s had patience.
One day, Ezequiel’s purpose arrived in the form of a man seeking to buy a transistor radio.
The Radio:
In Guatemala in 1969, land was plentiful. One day, a man with an abundance of land put his coffee farm up for collateral in order to purchase a transistor radio. The deal went bad, an Ezequiel graciously helped the man pay his debts. Soon, Ezequiel was the owner of 10 acres of land located in the Eastern Mountains of Guatemala, 3300 feet above sea level. It was purchased for the price of a transistor radio.
The fate of the radio is lost to history. But the land became both a family legacy and an instrument of God’s grace.
A New Way to Work:
For decades, the Leiva’s land was cultivated into a producer of some of world’s finest coffee. It featured four crystal clear streams to aid in a “wet process” that Ezequiel preferred.
The land bore more than coffee – oranges, oak trees, bananas and papayas flourished in the fertile soil, and today you can taste the flavorful influences in every cup of Leiva grown coffee.
For decades, the Leiva’s sold their coffee to middlemen called “coyotes,” who then sold the coffee to distributors and vendors – just like most coffee growers worldwide. This process leaves farmers performing the bulk of the work while others receive a lion’s share of profits.
The coffee farmers remained poor despite producing the world’s second-most traded commodity. Seeing the need for a new way to do business, The Leiva’s made a bold decision.
The Mission:
In 2008, Armando Leiva and his two sons, Geovanni and Mynor, broadened the vision of their modest coffee farm and founded Leiva’s Coffee.
Instead of selling coffee to middlemen, Leiva’s Coffee now sells its single-source coffees direct to the public. The proceeds are then invested back into the tiny Guatemalan communities whose hard working laborers fuel the world’s coffee consumption.
Leiva’s Coffee has become fresh water wells for villages, churches for the faithful and schools for youngsters. Every bit of profit earned by Leiva’s Coffee helps Guatemalan families afford medicine for the elders and education for their young.
Your purchase of Leiva’s Coffee enriches lives in need of a graceful guiding hand. Enjoy the coffee because it is good. Buy it because it does good. And feel good know that you had a part in helping others.
What I’m Looking Forward To:
I am excited about some opportunities to partner with Leiva’s Coffee in the near future. These opportunities will be presented to Calvary Baptist’s youth group and congregation, and prayerfully, will become a reality where we not only drink the coffee but invest heavily in others’ lives with the goal of the gospel of Jesus Christ – allowing His love to transform their heart, as we seek to transform their life here on earth.
To order Leiva’s Coffee, click here to be taken to their website store. I encourage you to pray about how you might be used of God to reach others, locally and globally.
Drink Leiva’s Coffee, transform a village. Coffee with a purpose!
Filed under: Calvary Baptist Church, coffee, Culture, Gospel, prayer, Worship | Tagged: Gospel, Guatemala, Jesus Christ, Leivas Coffee, missions, transformation | Leave a Comment »
