THE DOVE STORY

The beginning of the year brings us back to our beginnings. A simple but profound idea from God. Fund Foreign Missions by Drinking Good Coffee. So let's tell you the story behind the first coffee blend, bag, and trip we took as Gospel Coffee. And wow, God moved in unbelievably believable ways.

In February 2023, Gospel Coffee was born. Fresh and formable, we planned a trip to the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico. We were going to connect with and buy coffee from a pastor's mom and the small village church she was connected with. Before the trip, Brett designed the concept of our coffee bags with a dove on the bag. We discussed it in detail. What is the meaning of the dove? Does it mean anything to us or this trip or Mexico? Why a dove? We came to the conclusion that other than symbolizing the Holy Spirit, it doesn't have a specific meaning to our team or to Mexico. But still, we went with it.

Fast forward to our trip. We were preparing to go to San Pedro Yaneri, the little mountain town of 800 people in Oaxaca, Mexico. Our trip was a quick one. The plan was to fly into Oaxaca City and stay for the night before going up the mountain the next day, spending one full day on the mountain, and driving back the following morning.

And so we went. We arrived at the airport and were met by Ciro, our connection, and a friend of his, who was going to drive us up the mountain. We stayed with the friend and his family that night. They were extremely welcoming and made us a fantastic, delicious dinner (at 10pm). Such generous and hospitable people! They gave up their beds and their rooms to us for the night. Britnee, Eden and I slept in the same room downstairs, while the boys slept upstairs.

The next morning, I awoke and glanced at the headboard. Carved onto it were THREE DOVES. I pointed it out to Britnee, "look, doves!" We were encouraged by God's hand on the situation. We didn't know this family or the driver or really the situation we had got ourselves into. The day we left, we didn't know if we would stay with the family or at hotel for the night. But in the dove, we saw how God had directed us to this moment. To this family. This trip. And He was going to be with us as we traveled to San Pedro Yaneri.

But wait, there's more.

Later that day, we drove up the mountain. We had limited time on the mountain. Our two main goals were 1. Coffee and 2. the Bible.

Before we left, a couple at one of the local churches in our area desired to give money towards the village and church getting Bibles in their heart language. We learned that an estimation of only 30% of the people can read Spanish and that there are only a couple Bibles in Zapotec, their heart language. This language has over 50 different dialects. San Pedro Yaneri only had one Bible in their dialect. Our prayer was that the owner of the Bible would give it to us, to let us take it back to the United States, try to get it duplicated and return it to the people.

So our adventure led us to a woman who told us the story of the Bible and how it was translated. This woman's name was Enes. Enes told us that in the late 1960s or early 1970s an American missionary, named Elvira, felt called and walked up the mountain to deliver the gospel and translate the Bible. She was not welcomed in some villages. So on she walked. And on and on and on. Finally she made it to the same village as Enes and was welcomed. Elvira and Enes spent the next two years teaching and learning the specific dialect of Zapotec and translating the Bible. We were enthralled. Sitting on a mountain, in the house of the woman who helped translate Bible, we couldn't help but be thankful.

She sang hymns to us and shared her stories. It was getting later into the night so Britnee walked around with Eden because she was getting antsy. As she was walking, she saw a bird cage up on a mantle and peered inside. Perched in the cage was... a live DOVE!

But wait, there's more!

We spent the next day exploring the village with Ciro and his mom, Angelina, along with his younger sister. We went to a beautiful waterfall and a sugar cane field where we saw the process of making it into sugar, which was simply amazing. That evening we went to the small, local church to share a message and worship with song. When there are missionaries in the town, the church body likes to get together. There are about 20 people who come to this church, including children. After music and the Word, Brett felt led to encourage the gathering of believers.

He told them about the doves. He told them about how we came. He reminded them God sees them. And He loves them. He is with them.

It was an encouraging message. After Brett was finished speaking, the temporary pastor stood up, thanked Brett, then said, "This is my granddaughter. Her name is Paloma - which means DOVE".

To say we were blown away is an understatement. If you have experienced God move in your life you know it is overwhelming in the best way. To see and feel and know that the God of the universe is watching over you and is the details of your life. That He loves you and cares for you and sees you. It fills your heart and mind with peace and extreme gratefulness and just inexpressible feelings. If you haven't experienced it, I pray you do, that God reveals Himself to you in a mighty way.

Three times there were doves. Once every day. God blew our minds and blessed us so much with this. It seemed like He was saying "I am leading you. I am directing your path. You are supposed to be here. And I am with you." So the Dove Blend is pretty special to us and we feel like it's just a huge miracle, or a compilation of little miracles from start to finish. And God continues to bless us and to blow us away. We revel in His goodness and His grace. His forgiveness and faithfulness. His steadfastness and His sweetness. He continued to move in our lives and in Gospel Coffee all throughout 2023. We are confident that He is still with us and that He will continue to reveal Himself. We desire to follow in His footsteps and hand-in-hand, go where He leads. And we are ready for wherever or whatever that means for 2024.

Shalom from the Gospel Coffee Crew

To read more about San Pedro and our trip or to buy The Dove Blend click here or visit our Missions page!