A short-term missionary who had served in Africa came to Saint Vincent ministering at a church for a year. Being American, he struggled with something I also experienced, coffee is too expensive!
The reason coffee is expensive here is because few Vincentians drink it. So smaller containers of coffee that wouldn’t last us very long go for a pretty high price. Also, the quality of coffee in Saint Vincent isn’t as good as they would used to.
One day the missionary called and reminded me I’d promised to give him some coffee (I was happy he called because I had forgot)!
The next morning, I brought him a big container of coffee from my Christmas, barrel, and he was very happy!
This experience reminded me that generosity is an incredibly powerful thing. But you must give generously something that is meaningful to them. I could have given him a smaller container of the coffee, or a lower quality blend, but that wouldn’t have meant so much to him.
What made the gift so special was that I gave him a large amount of my most precious coffee.
I had a good relationship with that missionary before, but after giving him that coffee we had a great one! He told me later that they (he and his wife) had been expecting a small amount of coffee, and was blown away by what they received.
It was interesting that generosity led them to become more generous towards myself and others.
The world is filled with selfishness and greed. So, when we give something special in a generous way, it makes a massive impact.
Johnhwilburn.com 
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