ORPHANAGE EMMANUEL COFFEE PROJECT!!!

On June 2, 2014 at 4:33PM, our lives were altered for always…

Our [then] “Slade, Party of 3” was on a medical missions trip to Orphanage Emmanuel in Guaimaca, Honduras.  As we waited in the make-shift medical clinic for our next patient, this tiny, malnourished, 12-year-old boy with twinkling eyes, a contagious smile, and wearing mismatched clothes 2 sizes too big walked into the clinic.  We were NEVER the same.  We began the adoption process before we even knew his last name, if he had 47 siblings, or how much “baggage” was in his past.

After 16 trips and a FIERCE 3-year battle with the corruption and dishevelment of the Honduran government, our Henson Edward Slade (named after my Hero daddy) FINALLY came home to America at 15 1/2 years old!! We are now HAPPILY the “Slade, Party of 4!!!”

OUR JOSEPH…

We have always known “The Journey of Henson” held layers of significance much deeper than “just an adoption.” Faithful & True is beginning to peel back those beautiful layers & read us the continuation of HIS story. The “saving of one” is becoming “the saving of many…”

Joseph said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of MANY LIVES.” Genesis 50:20

HENSON. IS. OUR. JOSEPH… 

The tender miracles of God are sometimes in the details, so the words that follow are the exclamation points that MUST be highlighted!  I’m trusting The Illustrator to paint HIS STORY through these nimble fingers…

GINORMOUS DREAMS!!!

Although our personal family is now sweetly complete, our dream & vision has infinite miles to travel. OHHHHHH, wouldn’t we LOVE to give EVERY orphan a home, a promise, & a future – to teach them how to have hope, to have purpose, & to dream. But… How???

HIS INVITATION…

For about 10 years, Lance & I have dreamed of owning a coffeehouse. We have always desired to invite people into our “HOME” & create a warm, aesthetically pleasing environment in which community can GATHER!!  We have a heart to provide a refuge for people to come together over a quality cup of coffee, have conversations, host meetings or birthday parties or graduation events, be inspired by a concert or a motivational speaker, meet for Bible study, and simply foster “community!!”  IT IS T-I-M-E to put those dreams in motion!!!! God has invited us into a MUCH DEEPER PURPOSE, and WE HAVE ACCEPTED. HIS INVITATION!!!!

“WOODLANDS COFFEE ROASTERS & CAFE!!!”

Our family has purchased 4.42 acres of gorgeous property on Lake Joy Road & HWY 96 in Warner Robins, GA!!  This will be the home of “Woodlands Coffee Roasters & Cafe!!!” (We will roast our beans in-house!)  Woodlands will be chopped-packed-full of rich, rustic aesthetics, old-style brick with “sacked stucco,” stained concrete floors, a dual-sided fireplace for interior and exterior enjoyment, a concert stage, plenty of outdoor seating, & a rooftop venue for every day use or exclusive “Rent The Roof” catered events!!  Our food will be casual with a bit of upper-scale flare as we will be serving a fresh, farm-to-table menu incorporating local farmers!!

Lance and I were born right here in “Wonderful Robins,” so we have a deep affection for our community!!  We are blooming where we have been planted…

THE MEETING that CHANGED EVERYTHING…

Our “Slade, Party of 4” returned to Henson’s orphanage over spring break of 2021. It was the FIRST TIME we’ve been back since he came home 4 1/2 years ago!! We were all feeling a washing machine of emotions as our plane landed on the Tegucigalpa runway!! Beloved Norman (“Mario Cart”) greeted us at the airport and took us directly to our destination. We had a very specific purpose for our return to Guaimaca – a MOST SIGNIFICANT PURPOSE. There were several people involved in a LIFE-CHANGING meeting – where Henson was serving as a translator!! (How awesome is that?!?!) We gathered at a centrally located restaurant to met with the 2 founders of Orphanage Emmanuel (David & Lydia), Pastor Donaldo (“The Pope of Pastors” we who affectionally call, “Mr. Miyagi”), Mario Cart, a youth pastor from Orphanage Emmanuel (Alex), and our Slade, Party of 4. During our 2-hour conversation & prayer time, we witnessed God’s handwriting on the wall, and He asphalted the direction of our journey!! It was undeniable!! Why didn’t we pursue our coffeehouse dream 10 years ago??? We were not supposed to!! WE. HAD. TO. MEET. HENSON. FIRST!!!!!! You see… It’s NOT. ABOUT. BUILDING. A. COFFEEHOUSE!!! It’s about BUILDING. A. FUTURE. for children who do not know how to dream — YET!!!

“Catch a fish, feed children for a day; teach them to fish, feed them for a lifetime…”

“Pour a cup of coffee, they drink for a day; teach them how to grow coffee, secure them for a lifetime…”

GROWN with LOVE @ ORPHANAGE EMMANUEL!!!!!

God has connected the dots & shown us WHY we fell in love with a little boy from Honduras (in Central America, the coffee mecca of the world)!! A large supply of our coffee beans will be grown in the fertile soil of ORPHANAGE EMMANUEL!! The planting of those coffee bean trees on that beautiful, mountainous terrain is the planting of children’s futures!!!  

“IT’S YOUR TURN, MR. MIYAGI!!!”

Mr. Miyagi has owned a large, successful coffee bean plantation for over 30 years & is a local and international supplier!! He has EAGERLY partnered with Orphange Emmanuel & planted a coffee bean farm on the compound!! He has developed a work program with the orphanage and has employed many orphans on his coffee plantation!!  The Orphanage Coffee Project serves as the “training ground” for education in this “field!!”  He is teaching those precious orphans “all the ways of coffee,” which will provide them a lucrative career to support themselves and their families for a lifetime!!  Here’s the part that BLOWS OUR MINDS!!!  Mr. Miyagi has not asked for a single penny – not once – EVER!!  He is one of the most humble, servant-hearted, hard working human beings we have EVER met!! During our visit with him, our family as inquired about “his needs.” Rather than mentioning a personal request, Pope Miyagi drove us to his church. He showed us the land where they need a small, 4-room office building with a copier and a computer to print Jesus-materials to circulate locally & to other countries. It will cost about $15,000-$20,000. Precious “Pope Miaygi,” it is YOUR TURN!! We will raise that money & take builders on a missions trip to help construct it!!

“BEANING with MEANING…”

We will purchase our coffee beans from Orphanage Emmanuel and Mr. Miyagi!! Each bean is being grown with LOVE!! We are speaking Ephesians 3:20 all over our big dreams to market “Woodlands Coffee” around the world to other coffeehouses, businesses, churches, etc. EVERY COFFEE BEAN from Woodlands Coffee is providing these future world-changers a gateway of promise.  The meaning of life is not what you can GET; it’s what you can GIVE…

HANDS IN POCKETS…

I’m attempting to harness words, but they escape me. Perhaps a picture can help define what I cannot. During our spring break visit, I was gazing IN AWE at the soil where dreams will be planted & grown, I caught site of Henson out of the corner of my eye. He was standing near the broken barbed-wire fence, still & quiet, his eyes fixed on the The Promised Land, & his hands in his pockets. I stared at him for the longest time & thought, “What must you be thinking, Joseph? WHAT. MUST. YOU. BE. THINKING???”

MAN CHILD…

After the visit to the medical clinic on June 2, 2014, we were walking Henson to school in the rain.  Spencer (“Man Child”) felt a “nudge” from God and was filled with compassion for this tiny boy with mismatched clothes 2 sizes too big & holes in his shoes. Man Child put his hand on Henson’s shoulder and said, “Do you know how MUCH God loves you?” On that day, Henson’s eternal address changed, and our lives have never looked the same…

Who would E-V-E-R have thought that small, 66 lb. hungry little boy would become “The Hope of Honduras???”

The “saving of one” has become “the saving of many…”