Hey friends and family! I hope you are doing well. For this update I will cover my return to the United States, training and education plans, and my involvement with YWAM GCI.
I am currently back in the United States! I arrived in late August and plan to be here for the foreseeable future. I flew into Dallas Texas and was met by my mother, father, two cousins, and my niece. A very long reunion waiting to happen. We stayed in Dallas for 3 days seeing other family members and then we drove to Louisiana where I am currently living. Our area was hit by Hurricane Ida pretty bad, but we were blessed to have minimal damage compared to neighbors and towns nearby. We are thankful for the people who helped us out with our damage, it allowed us to help others who were in need.
Once we were able to sort out the major damages, YWAM GCI conducted 2 coffee roasting courses that I attended to refresh my memory, but also to lend a hand to my father who facilitates it. It was very fun to meet the individuals who came to learn and use coffee as a way to reach their communities. It is exciting to see people learn these skills because they develop them and use them to serve their communities. I will be involved with more schools in the future, helping out where I can during the courses but also learning more each time. I am also doing some part time work with Luma Coffee Roasters in Hammond, Louisiana. I plan on sharpening my coffee knowledge and gaining experience with the Luma team. Lilly is also working with coffee at the moment! She is serving at the YWAM Brisbane cafe and working part time at a wonderful coffee shop in Brisbane.
Lilly and I are exploring the different options on how we can utilize these skills to use as ministry opportunities. We believe this education and experience will help us hone in our passion on how we can use it to serve people. Personally, I want to further my education in this field because I want to be able to train other coffee lovers. I would like to be able to give them the knowledge and skills to fuel their passion. I would like to do that anywhere the Lord asks me to do it, and I believe this field has great opportunities for it.
There are some courses coming up that I will be attending. In January, I will be taking a course in Brew Science. It’s a 3 day intensive course of science and tasting lots of coffee. I plan on taking another course mid 2022, which is definitely the highest caliber course I have even considered taking. There is some pre-training involved and experience needed to pass so I will have to focus on sensory analysis for the few months leading up to it.
Growing up in a missionary family, I have made a lot of big moves in my life. Different countries multiple times, but this move has by far been the most intense. Leaving Australia was not the most desired option for me, but we (Lilly and I) believed it was the best for the future. Both of us have been trusting in God and leaning into the process we believe he led us into. We are praying and expecting that Lilly will be able to come to the United states in early 2022. Please pray for us as we navigate preparation for marriage and life together.
Thank you guys for checking in and praying for the journey. I would love to partner with you in prayer so please let me know if there is anything I can be praying for. Love you all.
– Will
