I just finished the most amazing book and can’t wait to tell you about it. Dave Eggers wrote The Monk Of Mokha to tell the story of Mohktar Alkhanshali and his unlikely and perilous quest to restart the Yemeni coffee industry.
Mohktar, a Yemeni-American, grew up in San Fransisco where he muddled his way through school and several dead-end jobs. Then an epiphany, which he attributes to God, focused his life on coffee, particularly to “resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee.”
His rollicking journey from no money and no experience to selling coffee for $200 a pound is Hollywood worthy and deeply inspiring.
I love this book for a many reasons, including:
• Muslims are treated like normal people. Mohktar is a hero, but starts off a bratty kid. The Yemeni farmers seem backward in some ways, but are really just trying to make it. The political powers that be, playing out their dramas on Yemeni soil, are like powers often are: evil.
• I appreciated the insights into life in a country suffering as Yemen has. The effects of the war are felt by all, but in different ways: In loss of life, loss of freedom or an increased insecurity of livelihood. In the midst of what we’d might be inclined to label tribulation, Yemenis continue to live as best they can.
• I am deeply challenged to consider how badly I want to see the Gospel go everywhere. Mokhtar was jailed, relentlessly sick and financially leveraged to nearly everyone he knew, but he remained determined to make Yemeni coffee happen. What discomfort am I willing to endure to see the great commission completed and to hear, “Well done, son,” from my Father?
Oh, yeah, and there’s the coffee! Along with Yemen, coffee serves as one of the key characters in the book! Brew a nice cup and if you have any money left, buy The Monk of Mokha.