Where do you like your coffee?

One of the small pleasures I indulge when serving on board any number of ministry ships is a good cup of coffee. As I am a bit of a coffee snob I like to bring my own coffee grounds or at least go to a local store wherever I may be in the world and search for a good blend. One of my all time favorite coffees came from Vanuatu!

Most days I sit down in the crew galley during morning and afternoon break. Some days coffee goes with me to the deck, bridge or the cargo hold depending on what is on for the day.

On board, coffee is as needed as sleep, especially when you're sailing to your next outreach or you've been loading supplies day and night getting ready for the first outreach destination. Most vessels have at a french press or cafetière. Some will have a basic espresso machine which makes coffee drinking a little more enjoyable.

Coffee, like many other things, is a trivial part of our lives compared to the need of the human heart. I recently read about the passing of an actor who found that filling for his heart was met by Jesus. As he put it, "I don't know anyone who doesn't have an empty spot at the center of him, which must be filled in order to be really happy. That spot, like it or not, is 'reserved for God' and only He can make you lastingly happy."

There are so many who have not found that filling yet for the God shaped hole in their heart. They may be down the street or next door or across the ocean in a small village on an island thousands of miles from anyone.

So when you sit down tonight, or whatever time it is as you read this with your coffee in hand, give thought to those who are isolated around the world. Think of those who need Jesus in a way they never knew they needed or may have never known.

How you can be a part of meeting that need in their lives?

- Matthew