We asked Worth Helms, one of the founding members of Ugandan Gold Coffee, to write about his involvement in Ugandan Gold Coffee and his takeaways from the journey of founding to retiring. Here is his story:
“I’ve been involved with the coffee farm of Ugandan Gold since its planting in 2000. By 2002 we had 37.5 acres planted, but in May 2002, the board of directors was distraught because we did not have money to buy mulch in preparation for the dry season to retain moisture for the young trees. We prayed for money but none came. We were beating ourselves up pretty badly, until one day we received a call from our farm manager that a miracle had taken place. ‘What’s the miracle?’, we asked.
‘Well, in Uganda, as in most third world countries, they burn land off before plowing. It’s a quick way to clear the land, and tilling the burned residue underground enriches it with carbon.’ He continued, ‘A farmer two miles from the coffee farm needed to plow 2 acres, so he started a fire to burn it off before plowing. A fifty mile an hour wind sprang up and blew the fire all the way to the coffee farm. But because there was no mulch for the fire to feed on, we did not lose one of our 15,000 coffee trees.’
We were stunned and joyful at the same time. This was one of the biggest lessons of my life. When you don’t get what you want, even if you pray for it , maybe it’s a blessing. Just keep doing the best you can.”
The team members of Ugandan Gold Coffee have many miraculous stories like Worth’s. If you have some of your own, please tell us about them in the comment sections!
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27
Worth has written his own book you can check out here.
