I recently returned from my 4th trip to Ethiopia in support of the Letta Micro-Finance Institution. It was another very productive and blessed trip of which I will blog about in the coming days, as I am able to meet with the team that accompanied me and debrief. While on the ground in southern Ethiopia the thought once again crossed my mind, if people would only come and see poverty first-hand this world would change. Immediately after thinking this I was deflated because the reality is the need of Africa is so great and the rest of the world is so consumed or busy with life to make significant commitment.

Forgive my cynicism.

After returning stateside and having opportunity to digest my experience I was reminded that we live in a global economy and we don’t have to look far to have an encounter with other nations and their influence. Even this keyboard that I am typing on was made in China. Robert Wuthnow in his book Boundless Faith takes a look at American Christianity in relation to globalization. He writes that over the last few decades America’s exposure to the world has increased exponentially and as a result the American church has stepped up its work abroad. An online review states, “This fresh and revealing book encourages Americans to pay attention to the grass-roots mechanisms by which global ties are created and sustained”. My take away is, that we have an amazing international network at our fingertips interwoven into our daily lives – whether it be from passed duty stations, family vacations, relatives living abroad, a friend who has adopted a couple African children or the simple cup of coffee that you just purchased at your favorite latte stand. All these have international scope. Are we going to take these opportunities for granted or embrace them as catalysts for thought, discussion and action?

I mean, how much more grass-roots can you get than a cup of coffee. But it is not just a cup of coffee; it is a cup of coffee brewed from beans roasted by a local roaster, who himself has a family and an international network. That roaster purchased those very beans from a trade agent at the Port of Djibouti in West Africa. That trade agent received those beans from a commodity exchange in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. That exchange accepted those beans from a Yirgacheffe coffee union in southern Ethiopia. That coffee union is comprised of 22 cooperatives which are operated by 43,000 coffee farmers in the hills and outlying areas of the small towns and villages of Dilla, Kercha, Chelchele and Yirgacheffe. This area is home to millions of people that wake up daily to a life of extreme poverty, but your cup of fair-trade coffee has provided one coffee farmer the money required to feed at least one of his children this morning.

I am going to leave you here for now with that thought marinating your mind. Let that thought bring joy to you as sip your coffee. But may it also haunt you as you finish your cup, because it is only in the next cup that the other children will have opportunity to be fed.