{rice, beans & love}

It’s finished, you guys.

The expansion. It’s complete.

The foundation is poured. The walls lay high. The rafters crisscross and the roof provides all the shade. There’s the outdoor patio and the office with so much space. There’s the extra storage room and a huge island in the middle of the kitchen where salsa magic happens.

It’s a dream that I get to walk into each day.

I can remember the day I launched this crazy idea of salsa & greeting cards & more space into the world. I had no idea how to raise $100k. I had no idea what I was really getting myself into at all.

But, I took the leap and I dreamt big and prayed bigger.

These magical, honestly kind folks rallied in my corner. On a summer’s eve last June, so many people walked into the Rosie’s in Rock Rapids, Iowa. They looked at floor plans and budgets and tasted our mango salsa. It was then that I knew God was going to do it A L L. The money started coming in and more people came rallying into our corner. Friends raised money over Facebook, another friend wrote a blog, others cheered us on from afar and others traveled all the way to Haiti to see this project through.

In Haiti, things take years. Literally. No project is ever done efficiently, effectively, or economically. It’s the opposite of our very efficient American mindsets. But, this expansion project could not have happened any more quickly. From the day the stakes for the foundation were set, there was no turning back. And I have to believe Satan was too afraid to even come close and try to disrupt the insanity of it all. Everything went so well. Sure, there were frustrations, miscommunications and hiccups, but nothing that ever truly set us back.

T O D A Y.

Today, Rosie’s is employing four Salsa Sisters. Now that we have a real kitchen and space to work out of, we hope to see this business grow quickly and employ more. Rosie’s greeting cards is providing jobs to eight other mamas. We have two boutique employees, a cleaning lady and a boutique manager, who helps me oversee salsa and card production.

Gertrude. Genese. Anise. Rosie.

Malette. Marie Maude. Juliette. Marie Marthe. Marilene. Mamoune. Guerline. Lenise.

Daphne. Christella. Elyse. Hermanie.

These women gathered together on opening day and we worshiped and prayed together on our front patio. They all signed contracts – not a single one of them have ever done so in their lives. And, they all have the opportunity to care for their families with dignity because of their jobs.

I hope this list of employees only continues to grow. I hope we can continue investing into other companies by consistently purchasing their goods. Just in the last two months, we added three more companies to our boutique. I hope we can continue this conversation of orphan prevention and be brave enough to stand up for the injustices all around us.

I hope this place…this expansion…is a light in our community, a safe place for long-term missionaries, a highlight for visitors on their trips, and a business that changes the course of people’s future.

May people find their way through our doors and leave hopeful. Hopeful for a brighter future. Hopeful for a better Haiti. Hopeful for a better world.

Our purchases, our lifestyles, our choices are what will change the world. Choose wisely, friends.

Love from a grateful and humbled dreamer,

Kayla