Giving Tuesday - Double Your Impact!

It is that time of year again, Giving Tuesday is only a month away!

Last year through your generous support we raised almost $20,000 on Giving Tuesday.  This allowed us to continue and expand our feeding, education, and extra curricular activities throughout 2015.

This year, on December 1, United Methodists will join hands to support the work of Advance projects and missionaries to transform lives on UMC #GivingTuesday. Every gift made online through The Advance at on Dec. 1, 2015 will be matched up to $1 million.

To give directly to Strong Missions follow this link - Strong Missions Loaves and Fishes Advance

There is also a big change this year UMC #GivingTuesday will be on Dec. 1, 2015, between 12:00 am and 11:59 pm CENTRAL TIME. This is 1am Eastern Time and will be 11pm Monday night Mountain Time and 10pm Pacfiic Time. Matching will not start until then, but also the matched donations usually go very quickly so please plan accordingly. 

If you are unsure what time 12am central time is where you live, you can follow this link to find out here.

A couple of notes about the restrictions:

• Global Ministries will allocate matching funds dollar for dollar up to the first $1 million in gifts to Advance projects received online on Dec. 1, 2015, between 12:00 am and 11:59 pm Central Time.
• A maximum of $2,500 per individual gift to a project will be dispersed as matching funds. A project may receive a maximum of $25,000 in matching funds.

As always, we want to thank you for your generous support. If you or your church are considering a donation to Strong Missions this year, Giving Tuesday is a great way to double your impact.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

We Got the Land!

Hello all,

It is official we have been approved, the papers are signed, and Strong Missions finally has a place to build our permanent home.

Here is a note from Charlie:

Howdy folks.  Amen and hallelujah!  The land has come through so we’ll begin building our permanent home in just a few short weeks.  We’ve already begun clearing coffee plants for the entryway and the dining hall. 

We do need more teams to help us, however, especially this Fall/Winter/Spring, as there are just a few signed up for the first part of the year.  If you find a good deal on airfare (usually cheaper now during low season), we can usually set something up for you with just a few days notice.

Please join us in this endeavor.  We accept individuals, couples and groups, and we of course accept donations to pay for materials and local labor to work in your absence.  

It will cost us approximately 80K for the new building and the entryway, of which we already have 25K.  In addition we’d like to raise 20K more for a large school bus to bring more kids to our after school programming.  

Donation can be made to the 501(c)(3) Public Charity office in Texas, and are tax exempt.  Please contact us directly if you wish to donate and we will be happy to help!

Thanks so much in advance, and God bless you for your continued prayers and support.

Paz, Charlie

In addition, we want to make sure you see this video that was put together for us by Mark Shevy. The video - God Shows Up - can be used as an informational and promotional video to help you build teams. Thank you again to Mark for all the hard work.

God is good and we hope to see you all in 2016!

Last Week to Take Advantage of the Great Coffee Deal

Hello All,

Just a quick reminder that the great deal on Sircof Coffee expires one week from today! That is right, on October 1st the prices go back to normal and you will have missed this fantastic opportunity! 

As a reminder the deals are as follows:

If you order $50 or more and use coupon code "StrongBulk", we'll cut your price in HALF and give you FREE shipping (in the US) too.

Sadly, we can't offer 50% off on our subscriptions at this time. But we can give you FREE shipping anywhere in the US for any subscription $20 or more. Simply enter the coupon code "StrongDeals" at checkout.

Don't want to spend more than $50 or order a subscription? We totally understand and want to give you FREE shipping regardless. Enter "1StrongDeal" at checkout to let us pay for shipping.

Combine "StrongDeals" and "1StrongDeal" if you like!

To recap:

"StrongBulk" gives 50% off AND free shipping to anyone spending $50 or more BUT it doesn't apply to subscriptions.

"StrongDeals" gives you FREE shipping to anywhere in the US for your subscription of $20 or more.

"1StrongDeal" gives you FREE shipping on non-subscription items for any size order.

More information about Charitable Grounds click here

Take advantage of these deals while you can!

50% Off & FREE shipping on Sircof Coffee

Hello All!

Some concerns were expressed over the pricing of the Sircof Coffee the first time around. We at Strong Missions sat down with the Charitable Grounds folks to talk about opportunities we may have to address those concerns.

Here is a note from Chris about some special offers. These officers expire on October 1st, so we encourage you to take advantage now!

No more sign-up fees. No more added shipping costs. Just delicious coffee deals...

We heard you loud and clear: the prices are just too high! Well we don't want that to stop you from enjoying Marcos Oviedo's delicious coffee so we cooked up this deal:

If you order $50 or more and use coupon code "StrongBulk", we'll cut your price in HALF and give you FREE shipping (in the US) too.

Sadly, we can't offer 50% off on our subscriptions at this time. But we can give you FREE shipping anywhere in the US for any subscription $20 or more. Simply enter the coupon code "StrongDeals" at checkout.

Don't want to spend more than $50 or order a subscription? We totally understand and want to give you FREE shipping regardless. Enter "1StrongDeal" at checkout to let us pay for shipping.

Combine "StrongDeals" and "1StrongDeal" if you like!

To recap:

"StrongBulk" gives 50% off AND free shipping to anyone spending $50 or more BUT it doesn't apply to subscriptions.

"StrongDeals" gives you FREE shipping to anywhere in the US for your subscription of $20 or more.

"1StrongDeal" gives you FREE shipping on non-subscription items for any size order.

Again, I want you to be able to share and enjoy Sircof coffee BUT we also need to do so sustainably. We truly appreciate anyone who decides to purchase from us. Thank you for supporting a small business that wants to do well and do good. With your help and God's providence, it's definitely possible.

www.CharitableGrounds.com

Registration now open for Nicaragua!

Hello Strong Missions Friends and Family!

Registration to work with us in Nicaragua is OPEN!

We are very excited to announce the opening of a brand new branch of Strong Missions in Nicaragua! Starting this January, 2016, we will be very happy to welcome teams and/or individuals to partner with us in our new work there. Nicaragua is going to be a great opportunity to do some familiar, Strong Missions style work, but in a very different atmosphere than most of our volunteers have ever experienced in Costa Rica.

To start with, we will primarily be working on some projects to help improve public health in a community called Ochomogo, in the southwest part of the country. Ochomogo falls on the dividing line between two government districts and is therefore often ignored and lacks infrastructure. We plan to drill and install a large well in the community to provide the people with free and convenient access to clean drinking water for the first time. We will also be working on some home improvements for local families, like installation of concrete floors so that those families don't have to live on muddy, dirt floors, as many of them now do.

If you are interested in joining us in our work In Nicaragua anytime in 2016, please contact us at info@strongmissions.com to reserve your space on our calendar.

Dance Program Updates!

In the summer of 2013 a team from Holly Springs School of Dance served with Strong Missions and ran a dance clinic with local children. At the end of the week there was a recital where the kids showed friends and family the results of all the hard work they had put in during the week. To say the least, this dance clinic was a success and almost immediately parents and students started asking when we would host the next clinic.

Although Holly Springs didn’t know exactly when they were going to be back, they too had an amazing experience and wanted to find a way to continue reaching children through the art of dance. By the time Holly Springs had left for the US they had come up with a plan to fundraise in order to hire a full time teacher and start a dance class with kids here in the local school.

Fast forward to 2015 and not only does Strong Missions support a dance program with a great teacher, the kids have entered into a competition!

Early August 2015 at the school in Carrillos the Dance Teams that are supported by Strong Missions competed at the local level in the “Festival Estudiantil de las Artes” which means The Student Art Festival. This competition starts at the local level, and then moves on to the Canton, the Province, and finally the National Level.

Lots of great competitors turned out for the event and the kids had a great time. Check out the pictures HERE and some videos HERE

We are proud to announce that two of the teams have advanced from the local competition to the next level. These teams will be competing again on September 24 with groups from all over the Canton of Poas!

Obviously, this program isn’t just about winning competitions and as you can see from the pictures, the kids had a great time. Regardless of the result, we are proud to support such a great group of kids coming together and to share something positive to touch the lives of children.

Thank you again to the Holly Springs School of Dance and everyone who continues to support our programming. Without your blessings this program, as well as so many others, would not be possible.

God bless!

Sircof Coffee Now Available Direct to your Door!

Over the last two years, over 1000 group participants have enjoyed Sircof Coffee while they were visiting Costa Rica with Strong Missions. Many of you have personally met Marcos and taken a tour of his farm. After a lot of work, red tape, meetings, design, planning, praying, and preparation we are elated to finally announce that Sircof Coffee is now available in the United States! 

As an added bonus 10% of all sales come back to Strong Missions to support our feeding, education, and extra-curricular activity programs.

We want to personally thank Marcos and Chris for all their hard work!

Here is a note from Chris:

The Inaugural shipment is in and we are pleased to bring you charitablegrounds.com, our brand new online store. Read the story and check out the shop. Try out a bag or two with a one-time purchase or sign up for a monthly subscription for convenience and best pricing.

Heads up! We're currently working to resolve an issue that limits you to one coffee subscription per checkout. Our vendor says our site will be upgraded within a few weeks to allow for multiple subscription purchases in a single checkout. In the mean time, simply make multiple purchases if you'd like more coffee from us delivered monthly for our best price. It's worth the extra minute or two, in our humble opinion!

Join us on our coffee adventure with a subscription and take 20% off any subscription product with this coupon code: "AUGSM20". Your monthly shipment will help support our mission partner and our startup business. We should taste the good together.  Offer valid through Friday, August 20st, 2015. Cannot be combined with any other coupon.

Bendiciones,

Chris