From an adoption to mission trips to a coffee business, the country and people of Uganda have become near and dear to the heart of one rural Mifflinburg family.
Justin and Katie Troup’s first introduction to the Eastern African country was in 2009, when Katie’s sister, who was volunteering at an orphanage about a few hours east of the capitol, told them about a sweet, beloved 5-year-old boy who had been waiting a long three and a half years for a family.
Though they had been talking about adopting some day, Justin and Katie began to take that dream more seriously when they heard about Arnold and viewed a video of him saying hello to them.
Though they had two young children at the time, and they questioned the timing of adopting at such a busy season of life, they sensed God calling them to be Arnold’s family. About halfway through the quick, six-month adoption process, they discovered that Katie was pregnant — which meant she wouldn’t be able to get the necessary vaccinations to travel to Uganda to bring Arnold home. So Justin went on his own and arrived back in the U.S. with their new little boy — now the oldest child of the family — in October. The Troup’s youngest child, Libby, was born that December.
“We went from two to four (children) in two months,” Justin laughed.
Arnold adjusted extremely well to his new home, and the Troups see him now as an American teen through and through. He succeeds academically, and just as he did at the orphanage, he continues to spread joy to everyone he meets.
“He’s just so fun and makes people laugh and smile,” Katie said. “He makes friends really easily, and he makes people feel comfortable.”
Missions to Africa
Though their hearts remained connected to Uganda because of Arnold, they did not become more directly tied to the country until 2016, when Justin traveled to another village, about an hour and a half north of the capitol, this time with a group from his church — Harvest Union County, of Lewisburg, where he serves as executive pastor.
“It was just really cool that God opened up a door to go back there,” Justin said.
Since then, they have helped to strengthen an already existing church there and planted another church in the region. Justin has returned about twice a year.
“We provide financial support and training for them, and really feel passionate about the ministry there in Uganda,” he said. The church founded a school and also a rehab center to support children rescued from the region’s horrid practice of child sacrifice, which is led by local witch doctors.
“The churches are transforming a community where there’s a lot of darkness,” Justin said. “People’s lives are being changed.” He said there are now fewer witch doctors, and the number of child sacrifice cases are being greatly diminished as the church continues to grow and reach out.
Seeing the great work being done there, Justin and Katie felt compelled to do more, but as Justin says, “We only had so much of our own personal money. We wanted to create something that was sustainable, so that we would be able to give over and above what we are able to do.”
Making a connection
While hosting a friend from Uganda in their home a few years ago, they began discussing with him their desire to do something more to help. He suggested a simple business model.
“Americans love coffee,” Justin said their friend told them, “and Uganda has great coffee. Import coffee.”
Aside from visiting coffee shops in the region when they traveled to Uganda, Justin and Katie said they knew nothing about the coffee business. But with the help of a central Pennsylvania company, Bason Coffee Roasting, of Danville, they began East Africa Coffee Co. in 2017. Justin said he and Katie worked well together to get it started — Katie on the more creative side by developing the logo and graphics, and he — a former bank vice president — on the business side. They now import about 5,000 pounds of coffee per year.
Though they operate it as a for-profit company, they have remained committed to donating a dollar per pound to the churches in Uganda to continue their work — several thousands of dollars per year. Sometimes it’s used to meet general ongoing needs, and sometimes it’s a specific need — like buying a guitar for the worship team or sending a child to school.
Changing lives
It’s this kind of giving back that got the attention of Kaitlin Schuck, owner of Threading Love in downtown Lewisburg, and a friend of the Troup family. Her shop partners with a variety of fair trade companies and brands that “give back,” and Schuck said she enjoys “connecting customers to the story behind the items … and buying things that have so much more of a purpose behind it.”
She said her shop always has East Africa Coffee Co. coffee on its shelves, and customers regularly return to get stocked up.
“It’s one of our best repeat sale items,” she said.
Schuck said she especially appreciates how the business not only gives a dollar back with every sale, it also employs Ugandan people.
“We believe a lot in empowerment, not just handouts,” she said, adding that the company provides jobs and “empowers farmers to grow the coffee.”
“They’re really doing something that’s changing lives — generations,” Schuck said. “They’re incredible people with amazing hearts that truly want to help. Not only is the coffee amazing, but you are supporting a story that is impacting so many.”
Though it is a business, the Troups said the purpose of the company is not necessarily to make money. They are clear about wanting God to get the glory — not them — for all that they’re doing.
“It’s not so much that we don’t want people to see us as we want people to see God in us in what we’re doing,” Katie said. “We’re coming alongside of the work that He’s doing.”
“This is the bigger picture for us,” she added. “It’s not just our little thing that we want to do. We really feel this is where God wants us and what He’s asked us to do.”
That’s a responsibility they don’t take lightly.
“We’re going to be accountable for how we’ve used the resources and gifts God has given us,” Justin said. “Our works don’t save us, but our works should be a reflection of the grace that God has given us. We want to take that seriously and use the gifts God’s given us to help others. We could choose to have a bigger house and a nicer car and be focused on ourselves. But we’re trying to choose to live in a way that reflects the blessings we’ve gotten.”
Even when they do make a little extra money on the business, Katie said it’s often used for those return trips to Uganda. Justin and their son Kyler, 13, were able to visit this past May. They will also be able to afford to take another planned trip to Uganda in January — this time with Arnold, who will be able to return to the country of his birth for the first time since his adoption.
East Africa Coffee Co. has a mostly online presence, but its products are also sold locally at stores such as Gable House Bakery in Mifflinburg, Threading Love in Lewisburg, and Trutt’s Pharmacy in Mifflinburg. They also partner with several non-profits in the United States who work directly to help the people of Uganda.
More information is available at eastafricacoffeeco.com or by visiting East Africa Coffee Co. on Facebook.
