My dream these days can be summed up in a photograph. Or, a contrary image of a particular kind of photograph.

You’ve all seen the photo. Maybe you’ve even been in one yourself. It’s the young, white humanitarian missionary who’s gone abroad to build a house, surrounded by kids from Honduras or Botswana or Nepal.

Those poor people… Shouldn’t we help them? Educate them? Get them heading in the right direction so they can live their lives more freely?

…I mean the missionaries.

There are loads of problems with the international aid industry. I won’t get into all of it here… I just want to say that my dream is to have a photograph of a group of American or Europeans surrounding a young man from Haiti who’s visiting them to discuss a business venture which he’s leading back home that they’ve decided to invest in. That’s the dream.

And I’m happy to say I’m working on it.

I had a great conversation this morning with a provincial of a large religious order about their operations in Africa, who’s known me now for some 7 years. I hope there are tea and coffee snobs among my readers, because we are going to be doing some of that. We will be employing local, Catholic farmers – people who make 40 cents after very long days full of hard manual labor, half of that going to food for their family, half of that going to rent for the little hut they live in with 5 other people. Single-source, even single-farm premium coffee and tea.

You can find out more about it at my fundraiser website, here. Sorry-not-sorry, I am going to be talking your ear off about it for the next few months. And yes, I AM asking you for money. Not for me, but for our partners – both donations for locally proposed projects which are actually needed, well thought-out projects sponsored and overseen by clergy which have a personal connection to yours truly, and investments. The donation goal (around $15 million) sounds enormous and unattainable such that you might think, “Well, that sounds nice…” – but there is more going on than meets the eye. You will be part of something real by giving.

This IS happening. Right now. Don’t miss the boat!

Do you want to be the right kind of missionary? Be a donor for something that has been locally identified as a need, or be an investor in a viable commercial enterprise. That way you tell people they know what they need, and that they are able to do things for themselves.

THAT matters. And it makes a real difference.