Giving Tuesday Starts at 12:01am CST TONIGHT!

The day has come! Tonight starting at 12:01am Central Time the General Board of Global Ministries through the United Methodist Church will begin matching donations dollar for dollar for the first $1 million in donations.

Because of folks like you, Strong Missions has been able to raise a around $20,000 on Giving Tuesday each of the past two years and we can't say thank you enough!

Large or small every gift from a generous heart has the ability to make double the impact on Giving Tuesday. To make sure and spread the love, GBGM has put in place individual matching limits of $2,500 per individual donation and $25,000 per project. We know that it is late, but because of the $1 million total matching limit only the early donations were matched the past two years.

So brew some extra coffee, or set your alarm for 11:50 central time and go to THIS LINK and submit your donation starting at 12:01 am Central Time.

If you have any questions feel free to email darryl@strongmissions.com

In addition, once your donation has been submitted to GBGM, please email darryl@strongmissions.com and let us know the amount of you sent in. We ask for this in an effort to track donations and make sure they get attributed correctly.

They are just simple words but your prayers and support continue to grow and we are eternally grateful for your generosity. So Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!

Wishing all God's blessings on your and your family as we enter the Advent Season.

Happy Thanksgiving

As folks gather to enjoy family, fellowship, and give thanks for all God's blessings, the Strong Missions family has so many reasons to be thankful.  God continues to bless us with your prayers and support and we know that we could not do any of our work without you.

As we sit around the table, bow our heads, give thanks, and pass the gravy we will also remember those across that world who may not know where their next meal is coming from or may feel isolated without the ability to gather with friends and family.

We are so thankful that God has blessed us with so much and we pray for love and blessings to your families on this day and for the future.

God bless and Happy Thanksgiving!

Internship Application

Across the country the temperatures are dropping and folks are settling in for the winter. But here at Strong Missions we are already thinking about June, July, and August of 2016. Teams continue to sign up and we are looking at having a great year as groups across the country come to share of themselves and serve here in Costa Rica.

During these times we always need some additional hands and we are happy to announce that Strong Missions is now accepting applications for our 2016 Summer Interns.

If you are at least one year out of high school, have a working knowledge of Spanish and available for the months of June, July, and August we would love the opportunity to serve alongside you!

For more information or if you are interested in applying, please contact Darryl Teske at darryl@strongmissions.com

Applications will be due January 15th, 2016 and applicants will be notified no later than February 15th, 2016. We have limited positions, so make sure to get your applications in early.

How to Turn $1 into $2 (SPOILER: It isn't magic)

Two short weeks from tomorrow, United Methodists around the world will once again join together to Activate Love, Transform Lives and Change the World by taking part in Giving Tuesday.

Last year on UMC #GivingTuesday, United Methodists collectively raised $2.5 million online through The Advance. As always, when you give through The Advance, 100 percent of your gift directly supports the ministry you designate; overhead costs are covered through other channels.

This year on Dec. 1, United Methodists once again are invited to extend the spirit of giving thanks into the Advent season by participating in UMC #GivingTuesday. Starting on Dec. 1, 2015 at 12:00am CST every gift made online through The Advance to Strong Missions Loaves and Fishes on will be matched up to a maximum of $2,500 per individual gift and a maximum of $25,000 per project.  The Advance will be matching a total of $1 million worldwide. 

Last year through your prayerful and generous support, we raised over $17,000 which goes a long way in supporting all the programming that we offer. Many of you stayed up until the middle of the night to support us and we saw that faithfulness pay off as many of those early donations were doubled! Again this year we expect a lot of traffic and encourage you to donate as close to 12:00am CST as possible.  

As you prayerfully consider a donation, we also wanted to remind you exactly what you are supporting:

Strong Missions has served the people of Costa Rica since 2003 by providing resources and assistance to children and families in at-risk areas.  Now we are beginning the construction of our permanent home in the mountains outside the Central Valley and expanding the program into Nicaragua as well.

Strong Missions began feeding children in Los Guido, Costa Rica, in 2006, and since that time the program has grown into Loaves and Fishes, consisting of construction, feeding, education, and extracurricular activities designed to provide basic needs and raise self-esteem, build character, and enhance the level of academic work of program participants.  In addition, Loaves and Fishes financially supports local pastors serving churches that cannot afford to pay a full salary.

Costa Rica and Nicaragua are also facing the same challenges with drugs, poverty, and gangs as much of Central America. For this reason we continue to implement feeding, education, and extracurricular activities aimed at nurturing Central American youth. We are seeing great benefits, including rising grades and changes in behavior. Some participants even turn from gangs and drug use to participate in such programs. We are blessed to have had students finish university studies and good jobs just after and even been able to move out of the slums. We also have sports and arts students winning local and national events, and even have students being accepted onto national teams.  We suspect that we will see many more success stories in the lives of program recipients as the programs have more time to grow, and as we open additional programs throughout the two countries.

In addition to construction of churches, homes, parks, schools, etc., Strong Missions’ currently provides the following programs.

Feeding – We provide 1 nutritious meal 5 days per week for children in poverty.  We expect to feed 200 children per day in 2016., and 700 per day by the end of 2018.

Education – GED programs are available for teenagers and adults.  Tutoring programs are available for children to supplement public education.  And although public education is free in Costa Rica, there are many costs associated with attending school. These include transportation, uniforms, supplies, etc. Strong Missions therefore provides scholarships to students with little or no resources to help keep these kids in school, rather than follow a trend to drop out at an early age to assist with the household economy.

Sports and Performance/Fine Arts – Various sports and arts programs are in place and many more are being opened to teach children and adolescents self-confidence, discipline, concentration, and provide them positive role modeling through he instructors and parental boards for each program. These programs also help to involve parents in the lives of their children.

We truly cannot thank you enough for your prayers and support! As we enter into Thanksgiving, Strong Missions has so much to be thankful for, without YOU these programs and the lives they are changing would be drastically different. 

May God continue to bless you and your families!