The Mocha Club Blog

Amanda Houston is the Campus Representative for Seattle Pacific University, one of the 30 campuses around the country that are joining together their gifts and passions to bring real change to our projects in Africa.
Learn more about the Campus Rep program here.

COFFEE! Seattle loves their coffee, especially on the campus of Seattle Pacific University.  With the first ever Starbucks only a few miles away and plenty of coffee shops in arms reach of students, the amount of coffee bought in a day, let alone a week or month is, well… I dare not ask. But to Seattle, coffee seems to be more than just a drink in your hand.  Coffee brings people together.   With Africa on my heart and Mocha Club fueling my passion, I couldn’t help but jump on the chance to share my passion with Seattle.  I knew it was a passion that could bring people together, just like coffee.  Being a Campus Rep has enabled me to do this to the fullest as MC provides guidance to help point me the right direction, bounce ideas off of, and continue to be a huge encouragement as I set off to fulfill the calling of SPU’s mission statement: “Engage the culture, and change the world”.

It’s been awesome to see how a passion for Africa brings people together, as students have united to share the hope of Africa and how we can be a part of it.   Not only have I met a lot of people who have the same passion as I do for Africa, but I’ve also seen the excitement of giving up the cost of 2 mochas in a city where drinking coffee is like breathing oxygen.

Emily Crane is the Campus Representative for Auburn University, one of the 30 campuses around the country that are joining together their gifts and passions to bring real change to our projects in Africa.  Learn more about the Campus Rep program here.

Gigantic brown button eyes with tears streaming out, flawless skin the color of night with dirt caked on top, a swollen belly and tattered clothes with flies swarming all around, and amidst all of this: the biggest smile I’d ever seen; this will forever be the face of Africa to me. I was able to meet this young boy about two years ago when I traveled to Nairobi, Kenya with African Leadership. (Mocha Club’s parent organization) The whole trip, our trip leader asked us to focus not only on what we were seeing and experiencing but on what our response would be. Little did I know that one of my main “responses” to the trip would come over a year later. While in Nairobi, Africa captured a piece of my heart and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same. I wanted to be back there so desperately, but knew God’s calling was for me to be right here. I needed to do something in my time at Auburn to help this nation my heart longed for. Initially, I was nervous because I don’t love talking in front of people or asking favors of others. However, in seeking obedience, I took on the role of Campus Rep for Mocha Club and it has transformed my year. There are few things in my life that demand I live by faith; this is one. Although I can make agendas, plan events, and organize the details, stirring people’s hearts is out of my realm. God has shown favor to Mocha Club here at Auburn and we have had over 200 people sign up in the past 6 months! This fact blows me away. As God worked in my heart, I couldn’t imagine that a few months later we would have raised that much support for Africa. The Campus Rep program is incredible because in enables average people to have eternal significance by connecting their school with people in Africa. Even from thousands of miles away, I feel I am having an actual influence in the lives of Africans.

Mocha Club Campus Reps Caroline Eddleman (UGA), Emily Crane (Auburn), and Sarah Crane (Furman), can’t help but be passionate about Africa.  Their moms are part of the 5 founding women who hold an annual Valentine’s Dance in Nashville (Fabulous Friends for Africa) that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for African Leadership projects.  The Tennessean wrote up an article on these families, and how the passion and love for serving Africa runs in their blood….

FRANKLIN — Three years ago, five friends turned a passion for helping people into an annual party that has raised thousands for development projects in Africa.  Now, as the Fabulous Friends for Africa get ready for the third Valentine’s Day dance party on Saturday at The Factory at Franklin, they note with joy that their daughters also have taken up the cause through mission trips, fundraising, supporting African refugees in Nashville and even getting a village enterprise project off the ground.

It all started in 2008, when Terrie Hill, Jane Carroll, Susan Davis, Betty Cope and Julie Hawley neared their 50th birthdays.

They decided to have a joint birthday party and direct well-wishers to donate to a Brentwood-based nonprofit called African Leadership…continue reading…

Campus Rep Sean Waldron (University of Colorado – Colorado Springs) set up a table at his University’s Activities Fair this week to get people excited about Mocha Club.  Here are a few pictures from the day…