new grounds!

pictured: roasters Jesse, Chris, and Zach

So right now there are 3,000 pounds of green coffee beans in our basement. They're in massive burlap sacks that say "Honduras" on them, and "TIERRA NUEVA" in bold stencil. This is referring less to our ministry in Washington and more to our Tierra Nueva cooperative of organic coffee growers who have benefited from the ministry's sustainable agricultural promotion. They grew these beans.

This is a dream come true.

And it smells wonderful.

Because there is also a big shiny coffee roaster in this basement. We've been using it to roast all kinds of interesting varieties. We're learning. But after two days of experimenting, it's already tasting pretty awesome.

When I say "we," I'm talking about Zach Joy and Jesse Garcia. Over the years, if you've been getting newsletters from our ministry, you've probably heard a number of stories about these two men. Healings, reconciliations, Biblical insights. But their stories are now becoming bigger than isolated anecdotes. This coffee project is about people like them.

And Salvio Hernandez, a Mixteco migrant among us who's feeling a call to become a pastoral worker, a lover or God's, to his own context, to the handful of migrant camps in the valley and the hundreds of Oaxacan families that fill them.

Zach and Jesse have been sought out, defended, loved, accompanied through years of struggle, setback, letdowns, and spiritual growth. They are more and more radiant now as we give them responsibility.

Jesse is a natural in our Family Support Center. He grew up bi-lingual, navigating the streets, court systems, jails, state structures, migrant apartments, and substance abuse recovery. Families coming into the office are now asking, "Esta Jesse?"

Way up in Whatcom County, Zach can't help but be ministering to many men he comes into contact with after years of connections in the underground drug scene. He's ready to do this full time. And it's already becoming obvious he will be our Master Roaster with his passion and instant knack for this business and art.

Hidden underground beneath our ministry building, God is moving. Young guys I know from the gangs I work with and even new kids doing their court-appointed community service hours at Tierra Nueva, are beginning to weigh and bag the glossy espresso beans, cleaning and organizing the space, taking ownership of the operation. Which is what we want.

As churches begin to supply their coffee needs with these extremely unique and top-quality Tierra Nueva "UNDER GROUNDS," more and more lives from the streets will be blending together in our basement. Love might be happening. Community. A project and craft to be proud of. A legitimate check one day in the hands of intelligent young men who have only used their business skills to deal drugs to pay the bills for years. More people like Zach, Jesse, Salvio and Eugenio Benitez will be able to live out their callings to serve and love their people--and be supported as real staff, real mission workers.

This is just a taste of the new earth God is creating in low places among us.

-Chris Hoke

what I have, I give you!

Amy Muia
Volunteer Jail Chaplain

Did you know that Tierra Nueva also has a women's jail ministry? As part of the Skagit County Jail Ministry (a ministry of TN), volunteers visit the women inmates each week for prayer and Bible study. Lately God has been growing some beautiful fruit. I thought you might be encouraged by a recent story of God's presence touching the women in the jail.

A few weeks ago, Virginia (my ministry partner) asked the women if they felt that the Bible study and prayer were making any difference.

"Totally!" one woman responded. "When you pray for us, we can feel it for days."

"Really?" I asked. "What do you mean? What does it feel like?"

"When you lay hands on me, I can feel my whole head tingling."

"Yup," added another. "And you know what it really feels like—" She stopped, looking a bit sheepish. "It feels like getting high! Last week when you prayed for me, I was totally high. And it lasted for two days!" The women laugh. "It feels like love—you can feel the love."

I laugh with them. I guess this is the real meaning of 'do not get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.' The women are feeling the love and presence of God, who is coming to visit them right where they are. They are discovering a superior kind of high—that lasts longer and is without cost.

"You can also pray for each other when we're not here," I tell them. "Just lay hands on each other and pray."

"Yeah, I guess we can," one woman says. "But you're the 'head-tingler!'"

I often feel like I don't have any resources to offer these women—I'm not the most gifted Bible teacher, and I can't fully understand the world they are coming from. But I'm reminded of Peter's words from Acts 3:6—"Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have, I give you!" It's an amazing thing to have the love of God, and be able to transfer it to another. The women continue telling stories of recent answers to prayer—a brief release to visit a dying parent, a quick and miraculous resolution in court, a feeling of unexplained peace.

Maybe today you find yourself in a place where you need a love that really satisfies—love that doesn't wear off or have negative ramifications. I just wanted to tell you that it's available right now. Lord, please bless each person reading this blog. Satisfy the deepest longings of their hearts. Show them how real you are, and fill them with your presence!