A Message from Luv-Luv

Many of us have connected and followed Luv-Luv's story over the past several months (or for some of us, years).  I've been working with him the past few days to get his plane tickets taken care of and working out some of the final details to get him to East Asia.  His date to fly to East Asia is March 19th.  In the midst of leaving home and going to foreign country, there are a lot of emotions, joys and struggles.  In order to be able to pray for Luv-Luv, I asked him if he could write out some things that we could pray for or just to let us know how he is doing.  This is what he sent me:

About moving to East Asia to serve our Father, it has been two years that my heart has been waiting.  It was very clear when I heard Him say, “Wait, I want you to do something for me; so listen and wait.”  Then temptation, obstacles, and barriers came.  The enemy tried to take my calling and convince me to not go and stay where it is comfortable and I enjoy life.  But the voice of truth very clearly said, “Wait and see how good I am.  Do not give up.  I have something for you.”  For me, WAIT is only four letters but it is tough to do.

Father has taught me a lot of things while I have waited.  I’ve had to have patience and have had tons of words that have checked and prepared myself.  This week and last week I have been thinking over and over again and asked Him, “Father, do you think I can make it by myself?”  I am only a Filipino in the small city and isolated area.  He answered in his Word:

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

He reminded me three times over and over again from Joshua 1:6,7,9.  There is always a word from these verses to be STRONG and COURAGEOUS.

Now it is time to go.  I have my visa ready and I don’t know what is ahead.  I know I am not strong, but because of Him, now I can say I am strong and I do believe that He is there for me.  I am just an ordinary person who grew up in a small village.  I was saved by his mercy and grace, and because he saved me and he loves me, I need to OBEY his command.

“If you come to a crossroad and there is an easy road and a hard road before you, always choose the hard road because that is what Jesus did.”  (By Elisabeth Elliot)

Please pray for me

Luv-Luv

Please take some time over the next couple of weeks to pray for Luv-Luv and the start of a new journey for him and all of us at Underground Coffee International.

Going to East Asia

Over the past several months, the biggest thing that we have been working on is sending out our first missionary.  It has been a big undertaking.  Along the way, we have been able to partner with many churches and individuals, and because of those partnerships we will finally be able to send Luv-Luv to East Asia.  Our Board of Directors met this past week and squared away many of the details so that Luv-Luv will be on the field soon.  Our target date for him to be there is sometime in the middle of March.  More details will come soon, and once we figure out exact dates we will be sure and post it on the website.  We can all look forward to reading more updates and stories of the people that he will meet and hopefully be able to share the Gospel with.  Please join with us and praying for Luv-Luv as he goes.

The New Year

Over the past month I’ve been able to sit down and reflect some on how much God has blessed Underground Coffee International.  If you would have told me a year ago that we would be positioned to send a full-time missionary, I wouldn’t have believed you.  Quite literally, just a year ago Underground Coffee International wasn’t much more than an idea.  To be able to look back and see how this has come together and the way that we’ve been blessed with things like church partnerships, individuals that have helped carry the banner of sustainable missions, finances, and having the funding to have Luv Luv come over (much less his visa approval and all the other variables that came together for that); there is no way for me to look at all this and not see God’s hand working in it.  It is truly a blessing to be a part of. I’m excited to see where God is going to take us this next year.   Ever since the idea of starting up Underground Coffee International it has been a journey, and I don’t expect 2013 to be any different.  I’ve never been a part of a non-profit start-up before, so this is all new to me (and all of us on our board).  There are a lot of times where I think "I wonder if other people started out like this?", which usually means there are a lot more hiccups than I expected.  As with a journey, we’ve set out with an idea of where we’re going but over the past year there were lots of twists and turns.  God definitely has been showing us step-by-step where to go, but not much further than that.  It is amazing to look back and see where he has taken us.  Even if I had the journey planned out myself, I wouldn't have expected to be this far along.

The thing that I’m the most excited about is being positioned to send a missionary to unreached peoples in the next few months.  We still have a lot of details to work out on this, which I’m sure I’ll post about over the next few months.  To think that a few months from now someone will be going out to villages to meet people, talk to them about growing coffee and also being able to share the Gospel is exciting.  It is why we do what we’re doing.

Over this next year, please continue to pray for us and God’s guidance.  All of us on the Underground Coffee board of directors are volunteers that have jobs, families, and other commitments.  We are all passionate about seeing the lost reached and those who have never heard the Gospel before encountering the One True God, and excited to see that happen in 2013.