Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:42:37 PDT http://www.coffeeambassadors.com/index.rss en-us Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:25:13 PDT Thanks to those of you who were able to be at the event. I was very encouraged with the feedback and interest of people who are new to the CA concept. We only had 10 RSVP. However, we set up chairs and made preparations for 25. I didn't count, but we had close to 25 in attendance. Five people gave expressions of interest in investing in CA. Two of those five said that they would also be interested in lending toward immediate needs. So, the next step is attaining the immediate needs cash to pay off our coffee and to hire a lawyer to look over our investment documents. Thanks so much for all your prayers, advice, help and support. Tue, 25 Sep 2007 09:11:08 PDT Greetings Friends, Sunday, September 30th, at noon Coffee Ambassadors is hosting a luncheon to gather support for our vision. We are seeking both prayer support and financial backers. Anyone is welcome to attend. Please see the Invitation at the following link to RSVP: http://www.coffeeambassadors.com/event Invite anybody and everybody. Thanks so much! Addtionally, I wanted to share with you all the opportunity to attend a historical coffee event. It's historical because the event is celebrating the most ever paid for a pound of coffee. You'll see a summary of the details by visiting the following link: http://intelligentsiacoffee.com/store/wares/logo/esmeralda-event My wife and I will be attending this event. It is an excellent opportunity to learn first-hand how a direct and transparent relationship with a coffee grower can create wonderful potential for both the roaster and the grower. At this time I cannot afford to purchase tickets for all of you to attend. However, I wanted to bring this event to your attention to enlighten you as to the future of the specialty coffee industry and give you a better understanding of the opportunities that await us at Coffee Ambassadors in our endeavor to work directly with coffee farmers. As an incentive for you to attend this event I will be offering a free pound of the 2007 crop of Guatemalan coffee in addition to the free 1/4 pound of coffee you will be receiving from Intelligentsia at the event. Please email me with any questions. And, be sure to notify me once you order tickets to the event so I can have your coffee ready for you. Please forward this email to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks so much. Tim Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:56:49 PDT The phone call with Dave Day at Growers First went well. I'm sure we'll be working alongside them a good bit in the future. Our endeavors complement each other. Visit their website to learn more: www.growersfirst.org I filed the LLC paperwork today. So, we are officially known as Coffee Ambassadors, LLC. I just added a coffee subscription program to the website. We're calling it OverFlow. The next two Sunday's we were given the opportunity to serve coffee after the service at luncheons. We'll be setting up a table/booth for people to stop by and learn more about us. We also will get to announce a presentation we will be giving on Friday, September 21st, 7:30pm-8:30pm, at Winnetka Bible Church. If you can make it, it would be great to have your support. I'll share more details about that presentation soon. Just be sure to mark your calendars. Please pray for God to provide for our needs: 1. A place to put the roaster (other than our basement) 2. Our third of six $2,000 payments is due at the end of September. Praise Him for providing for the first two. 3. It's been difficult trying to land appointments with churches to share our vision. Pray for good connections and opportunities to present themselves. Thanks to you all. Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:20:48 PDT Hello CA Development Forum. My name is Mandi Taylor and I happen to be married to the director. I am excited to be apart of this Forum and part of this business. It may come as a surprise, but it's often very hard for me to include myself in this business due to taking care of the boys and doing all the wifely things that I need to do. I hope that through this I can be a bit more intentional about being involved in CA. This is an exciting adventure and I am thankful that all of you are supporting us in this. -Mandi Taylor Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:14:47 PDT Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:42:01 PDT i look forward to working with all of you. i live in kansas, please don't hold that aginst me. i love what tim is doing and i want to be apart of it. As i was talking with him and mandy this week i was reminded of the verse; what ever you do unto the lest of these brothers, you have done unto me. my prayer is that in viewing them as christ we will show them christ and his mighty love for them. oh, i also love coffee! Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:56:17 PDT This is my fourth attempt to introduce myself and frankly, I'm getting tired of saying the same thing over and over again...so, I am Tim's dad. If you know him, you know the best of me...CA is a fantastic idea and ministry. Been watching and praying...will contribute when I feel I have something of significance. Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:34:05 PDT Thanks for introducing yourselves. Please continue to do so. At this point we are leaning away from a retail venue for starters. Thanks for the thoughts. I have been in touch with the president and founder of a non-profit ministry to coffee farmers called Growers First ( www.growersfirst.org ). I will be on a phone call this week with him and a fellow staff member to examine the possibilities of working in collaboration with one another (Coffee Ambassadors & Growers First). Keep this phone call in your prayers. This organization does the mission side of everything I hoped CA would do in mission. Keep this staggering figure in mind as we go forward: 73% of the unreached people groups in the world lie within coffee growing regions! The coffee world is certainly ripe for harvest! Blessings! Fri, 03 Aug 2007 06:02:05 PDT My name is Rob, and I don't like bad coffee. Tim sells and roasts good coffee. I like Tim. He's nice. I am torn in two living and working over here in Bosnia while Tim tries to launch CA. What can I do from this side of the Atlantic? Pray. Suggest. Support. Whatever I can. Keep a place open for me at the table is all I ask. I'll be back in the US sooner or later. I should mention also that though I don't think economic development works everywhere, I believe it is a worthwhile endeavor in many parts of Latin America. Being in Bosnia has opened my eyes to corruption of all kinds at all levels of society, so maybe I will be able to contribute advice accordingly. In the meantime, I'm drinking excellent coffee while the rest of Europe drinks in ignorance. Sat, 28 Jul 2007 05:05:47 PDT Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:37:13 PDT Greetings CA family; I am Laurie Schmidt, momma of Mandi, mother-in-law of Timothy, and grammy of Levi and Isaac. I have a vested interest in CA because of being family, loving coffee and wanting to see people be ministered to in poor countries and to see the love of Jesus shown to them. I don't have alot of strengths in the business area, but my strengths lie in the area of loving and influencing people. I love the vision of CA and pray that God will bring it to pass. I am praying for God's direction and plan for CA and how our family can be involved. Laurie Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:12:24 PDT Hi! I'm Tim's mom. Aside from that fact, I've enjoyed being involved in the CA vision for a number of reasons: - I have a heart for business as mission, and am anxious to see the body of Christ cast vision and take the initiative, rather than the back seat in giving the economically oppressed opportunities that can also open doors to build the kingdom - I have spent a number of years as administrative support staff for a major restaurant corporation, and like the food service industry. - I'm an idea person. I like designing models, setting them in place, and then handing them off to someone else when they are fully functional - I'm old enough to have seen a lot that can provide useful insight to my son's younger generation There are probably more reasons I'm involved, but they don't come to mind right now... And Joe H.... When I get off the train each morning, I pass a Caribou Coffee, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks - all within 50 (or less) paces of each other - and they each have lines about 15-or-more-people long. So I guess saturation depends of where you are and what time of day. I've been trying to convince Tim that Jefferson Park needs a comfortable spot with free wi-fi, right near the CTA station... Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:20:22 PDT Tim, I think you need to explore the whole idea with Steve Almberg. The two times we have all met, and the numerous times we have talked on the phone or via email, he has expressed interest in getting involved. He is a Christian who has the same desire to see Christ glorified through coffee this coffee idea. He knows about business, he knows the coffee industry, and he has expressed the desire to get involved. Right now, he has a place where you could put your roaster and set up an initial operation. I think it would be a bad idea to open up another coffee shop right now. Coffee shops are a dime a dozen. There are so many coffee shops out there that tout their uniqueness. It would be a money pit to open up a shop in Chicago. I think the unique idea is in the roasting operation, supplying churches & coffee shops with quality coffee while helping the people who drink the coffee connect with the global Church. It seems like Steve has the facility, ability, and resources to help get things going. I think it would be wise to explore a possible relationship / partnership with him. Sun, 15 Jul 2007 14:47:09 PDT I'd like to ask each of the forum members to introduce yourselves. Tell us a little bit about yourself and why you care to be involved in the Coffee Ambassadors project. That way we can get an idea of who is a part of this forum and hopefully build on one another's strengths. Thank you much. Sat, 14 Jul 2007 12:47:56 PDT I believe that getting individuals passionate enough about the project to connect with their churches in such a way as to open a presentation window for CA is the best way to go forward with church partnerships. However, so far, this method doesn't appear too successful. Because of that, I think we need to design a process for connecting with individual church, regional and national missions conferences. We can develop an exhibit presentation for their "trade show" areas and connect with people that are interested in the possibilities. Other youth-targeted events such as Youth Specialties conferences for youth pastors, teaching conferences and summer camps (such as Passion conferences, OneDay, Student Life camps and conferences). http://www.studentlifecamp.com Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:46:24 PDT The purpose of this forum is to encourage regular communication amongst those involved in the Coffee Ambassadors Development Project. This is a private forum that is password protected in order to protect and preserve the ideas, plans and goals with regard to the future of Coffee Ambassadors. Thanks so much for your part in this project. Please "check-in" daily if at all possible. Be sure to provide input, feedback, encouragement, criticism and ideas of your own. This forum exists for the very purpose of keeping communication going. Interaction is essential. Thanks again for being a part of the team. Add the link below to your bookmarks to be taken directly to the "log-in" page where you will have direct access to this forum. http://www.coffeeambassadors.com/suv_project