I love Espresso. 

I love pulling shots and making my best latte. But, since I have not had proper training (YET), and until I do, I will have a video of someone who does know how to pull proper shots.

Let me introduce you to Intelligentsia out of California. They know Coffee, and I have much respect for them.

Espresso by Intelligentsia:

A 5 pound bag of Coffee to Hope Faith Ministries. This is just one of many needed each week.

This bag, and others will be the first of many to be given, starting tomorrow!

I found this video by Hope Faith Ministries and wanted to share it. This is why we do what we do. We are donating our Coffee to the shelter to help free up monies that could go towards other essential needs for the homeless. 

When you purchase our Coffee, you are helping someone in need.

Thank you!

www.ACupOfFaithCoffee.com

These past few weeks have been very exciting!

The Lord showed us a Ministry here in the Kansas City, Missouri area. He brought it to our attention during last winter. There was just something about it, and I knew A Cup Of Faith was to be in partnership with them.

If you would recall, I wrote about them in the beginning stages of this Blog. The Ministry is called, Hope Faith Ministries, a homeless shelter which not only feeds 750 to 800 people daily, but also provides assistance, medicine, daily shuttle runs to hospital and shelters, Computer Lab / Job searches, Daily Bible Studies, Clothing, and so much more.

My Family and I visited the Shelter and were in awe of the peace that filled the building! People were truly happy, smiling and comfortable enough to sleep anywhere they could. No one seemed in distress, worried or anxious.

The people working were also very happy and so polite.  It was truly a blessing to go an see.

I found out that they spent about $1,000.00 on Coffee every month for their guests.
When I mentioned that I was the Owner of a Coffee Roasting Company, their eyes lit up!  But I was ahead of them. The Lord had put it on my heart to donate Coffee to them before we visited.

I struggled with this order that the Lord gave me. Our cost would be much greater to provide what they need.

Yes, that could only be from the Lord. Something to make up 'step out of the boat' and onto the waters being tossed by the storm.
Every time He has told me to do something, it looked naturally, impossible.

Many times I would drag my feet, or wonder if I had heard something I thought up. I would sometimes argue with Him, telling Him that I could not do it. (Not real bright. lol)

Over the months, we have talked, and kept in touch. I still wavered with this request from God, until one day I just made a decision to OBEY and just do what He asked.

A few days ago, Hope Faith Ministries called me, and said they are ready to get, "Some of your wonderful Coffee!" I had to laugh since I knew that this lady did not even drink Coffee. But it's the thought that counts.

Starting this weekend, we will be donating over 420 pounds of Coffee each month to Hope Faith Ministries. As I'm sure you can imagine, this can sound a bit unnerving, but unlike people, God can think 'outside the box'. He already had a plan.

He sent another Ministry our way last week called, "Fresh Cup Ministries". Pamela was looking for A Roaster, to use for their own Coffee brand. He brought Pamela across our path, and after meeting, decided to use us as their Roaster!

Why am I telling you this?

I want you to know that every time you purchase Coffee from A Cup Of Faith, and Fresh Cup Ministries, you are sowing into Hope Faith Ministries, helping to free up that money that was once used for Coffee, but  can now be used for food, clothing, medicine, or any of the other services or items they give to such needy people!

I am truly happy about this partnership, and am looking forward to all that will be done through the love, care, physical and Spiritual feeding of these people!

Thank you for supporting A Cup Of Faith Coffee Roasting Company and our Ministry to help others in need.

For more information on Hope Faith Ministries, please visit their website at:

To find out more about, Fresh Cup Ministries  please go to:

   I cannot believe that it's been almost a year since our Diedrich IR-5 was hooked up to power and gas,  and became 'alive'.  How time flies!

When I first started A Cup Of Faith in Hemet, California in 2002, we were selling another Company's Coffee. I believed in the quality of their products, and still do! It was my Husband's and my Christmas tradition to purchase our favorite Coffee from them. I would anxiously sniff out my prize Christmas morning, and quickly brew some up for us to enjoy!

Sine the Lord told me to start Roasting around October 2009, a lot has happened.

First off, I was NOT thrilled with the idea. I argued with Him, (once again), and tried to explain to The Most High God that I cannot even bake, let alone roast Coffee!

I put it off, but once again, He continued to tell me, to urge me to start roasting Coffee.

Praying I heard the Lord correctly, and submitting, I told my Husband that I wanted a home Roaster for Christmas.

I have learned several times, that when the Lord wants you to do something, He will continue to gently, nudge you towards that direction, and will keep nudging you until you submit.

Christmas morning came, and to my 'surprise' (my Husband tried to hide the small roaster, but I snooped it out... he was not thrilled with me), I opened a lovely Gene Roaster, and a lot of green Coffee! I was thrilled, excited and so very nervous. This was an expensive investment, and I needed to learn how to roast!

As time went on, I did some roasts by watching Youtube video's or reading some books. I would get calls from my Husband when he was at the pool with the kids, telling me the smell would waft all the way there and through the Community since I had to roast outside.

Winter was quite, interesting during roasting.

It wasn't long before I was asking my friends on Facebook if they wanted to try some of my home Roasted Coffee. Several people were interested and so I sent out their samples.
Now I was really hoping for some suggestions, since I had no training in this area, but the responses I got were quite different. All of them were positive and encouraging comments! People were asking how they could purchase our Coffee, if we had a website, etc.

We decided to pursue Coffee Roasting more intensely.

We decided to invest in a larger, Commercial Roaster, and start building,

We decided on a Diedrich IR-5 Roaster, picked out the colors, and all other necessary choice, and placed the order.

I picked out the place I wanted our Roasting facility at, and started the necessary repairs, adjustments, and changes that needed to be made. But the bigger factor that was on my mind was learning how to properly Roast Coffee.

You would be surprised at how many places Roast Coffee, yet have never had training. I'm sure they can Roast, but there are things about the Roasting process that need to be learned, as well as cupping, etc.  You can't just slap some beans in a Roaster, turn it on, walk off and come back in 15 minutes.

I wanted this Business to have a good reputation, and to deliver a high quality product.

I studied beans, and decided to Roast Organic and Fair Trade Coffees as much as possible. I wanted high grade beans, not beans that are cheap and cannot deliver a fine Coffee.

I also choose the beans based on having smooth qualities. 

After choosing the beans, I placed the order. Thousands of dollars worth of beans were on the way!

I choose Boot Coffee Roasting School in California for my education. Other people tried to talk me out of it, other Roasters, suppliers, and people in the Coffee Industry. They said it would be a waste of money, and to just take a one day class at their facility.

I am so glad I didn't listen!

I spent eleven days in California, going to class every day except the weekends. During that time, I learned more about Coffee than I ever thought! I had no idea how much went into Roasting, and Cupping!

My time spent with Willem and Jody were wonderful, and I made some good friends from all over the world that I still keep in contact with.

When I returned home, I was anxiously awaiting the Roaster. Days passed, weeks passed, and it seemed like forever!  A Roaster from Diedrich takes about three months to build. Each one is built by hand.
They were kind enough to send me photos of the building process, and kept me informed.

Finally, the day came. Our 'baby' was to be delivered  by a very large FedEx truck! Weighing in at nine hundred pounds, (yes, 900 lbs... and it's a smaller one!), it was a bit of a challenge moving it once we got it inside the building. But thanks to my wonderful Husband, it was in without any problems!

Venting was installed, and later on the gas and electric was hooked up to it.

The photo above was from that day, the day she became 'alive'!

That is what we are celebrating, the day our Diedrich IR-5 was able to start Roasting. And Roasting with her gives our Coffees such a sweetness in the Cup, unlike anything I expected!

Now you have the whole story, almost a years worth.

On our first year Anniversary, we are celebrating the direction the Lord showed us to take, The Holy Spirit for His Wisdom, the FAITH it took to do this (let me tell you!!!!), the monies God provided  (this Business is DEBT FREE, and has been from day one!), the way my Family stood and still stands behind me, my Husband's strength, knowledge and determination (I could not have done it without you!),  from the great instruction I received from Boots, the wonderful service and beautiful machine we received from Diedrich as well as all of our wonderful Customers who have stood with us since we started.

From all of us at A Cup Of Faith Coffee Roasting Company,

THANK YOU!

 I cannot wait to see what the Holy Spirit has us make up for our Anniversary Blend!

A Cup Of Faith Coffee Roasting Company

www.ACupOfFaithCoffee.com

Our good friends at Piliani Kope Farm made a small video on how they produce excellent Coffee, from seed to cup!

You can find their website at www.pilianikopefarm.com.

The winner will win two, 12oz bags of Coffee!

Let's honor the Dad's!

"Honor (esteem and value as precious) your father and your mother--this is the first commandment with a promise--" Ephesians 6:2 AMP

So many things are swirling around in my head today. Focused, driven anticipation of this Business growing like never before and how to do it while helping others!

I know these thoughts are not mine, but from the Holy Spirit!

"2.And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him--the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord--

 3. And shall make Him of quick understanding, and His delight shall be in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord. And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, neither decide by the hearing of His ears;" Isaiah 11:2-3 AMP

I am excited for these times!

The urge to make new Blends has been on my mind lately as well.
I love Roasting Coffee and strive to bring you the highest quality I can.

Everything is done by hand at A Cup Of Faith.

There are no computers Roasting your Coffee. (Yes, some use a Computer!) Our Coffees are roasted by hand. We choose the beans for certain qualities such as Organic, Fair Trade and smooth

characteristics.

We blend the beans and physically load them by hand into the Roaster.

When we start the Roasting process, we never walk off. We monitor the roast by sight, smell and sound every minute of the way.

We do not have a bagging machine. All of our Coffees are bagged, sealed and have the labels put on by hand.

I guess you could say, we put our heart,

our mind,

and our passion into every Bag of Coffee.

And I think that is an important quality.

Enjoy your day.

As you have most likely heard, Joplin Missouri was hit hard by a tornado a few days ago. It destroyed homes, a school, the Hospital and everything in a six mile path.
Lives have been lost, and nearly destroyed for many others.

It is important that you know that God did NOT do this. The Bible says, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." John 10:10 AMP.  The "Thief" is also knows as the devil.

God is not in the business of ruining lives, but He wants your life to overflow with good things. So please, don't blame Him.

He also said, "Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]" Hebrews 13:5 AMP.

First off, there is a difference in needing money, and LOVING money. If you love money more than God or anyone to the point you will steal, hurt or kill someone for it, THAT is the LOVE OF MONEY.

But what I want you to hear here is that God said He will not in any degree fail you, give you up, leave you, let you down, etc.! These are hard times, but trust God. He knows what you are going through, and it bothers Him. Trust Him to get you through this!!

I encourage you to also look up Isaiah 53:4, Isaiah 61:1, Galatians 6:2, James 1:22, Romans 12:15, Philemon 7, and John 14:26.

In an effort to help, A Cup Of Faith Coffee Roasting Company will be donating $4.00 per bag of Coffee sold, and 50% from all books will go to the Red Cross for disaster relief.

We will make a commitment to do this for one month, starting today, May 24th.

If you would like to donate to the Red Cross directly, here is a link to do so:

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.94aae335470e233f6cf911df43181aa0/?vgnextoid=19c51995c6710310VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

I do know they are in need of blood donations and well as other items.

Thank you for all of your help, donations and prayers for the Midwest and anyone in need.

-Margo

I don't know about you, but I am LOVING this cooler weather we're having!  And since it's cooler out, I wanted a nice hot Latte.

I visited Torani's website (www.Torani.com) and found a wonderful recipe for a White Chocolate, Coconut Latte.  Sad to say, I could not find the syrup, let alone the white chocolate anywhere in our area. Then I remembered a local Coffee House called "The Friendly Bean" (www.friendlybeancoffee.com), off of Barry Road in Kansas City, Mo.
I called them and asked if they had those items and if I could buy them.  Normally they don't sell their syrups, but thankfully, they had some to spare!

With goodies in hand, and a Caramel Macchiato from The Friendly Bean, I rushed home, bursting through the door as if I had just won the lotto,  and turned on our Rancilio Sylvia Espresso Machine.

(Yes, a bit of a craving for this Coffee!)

After a few minutes, I had a steaming hot ,White Coconut Latte in my hands.

I normally enjoy the "naked" taste of our Coffee, unaltered. The natural tastes in our Organic and Fair Trade Coffees are amazing when you take the time to discover them!  But this time, I just had to have this, and I highly recommend it!

I will be adding this to our "Recipes" section of our website under "HOT Recipes". Rest assured, you can use it hot or cold, with Espresso or with strong brewed drip Coffee.

I am also excited that we will be looking into the Brick & Mortar again tomorrow after Church.
There's just something about this building...

Thank you again, for supporting A Cup Of Faith Coffee Roasting Co. and have a great weekend!

There are so many things going on lately, it's almost hard to keep up with them all!

One of the best and fastest ways to get the latest information is by getting added to our E-Mail list! If you haven't done so, please take some time and contact us, requesting to be added to our E-Mail list! You can do so by emailing us at info@ACupOfFaithCoffee.com or click HERE.

Today we are having a contest for FREEBIE FRIDAY!  Email us and tell us who you feel deserves a prize and tell us why! Is it a neighbor who helped you out in your time of need? Is it a Teacher? The kind older lady down the street? Someone who has started a cause to help others?

Let us know TODAY by email info@ACupOfFaithCoffee.com.

Also, we are having another Contest for your CREATIVE side!  We need you to describe A Cup Of Faith in seven words or less for an advertisement! The winner will win a three month supply (6, 12oz bags) of Coffee! E-Mail us with as many entries as you would like. Be sure to leave us your information so we can contact our winner!
Contest ends June 30th and the entries have been pouring in, so hurry! 

Also in the news, we are currently looking for a "Brick and Mortar" building to open our Coffee House and Roasterie in for the Smithville Missouri area!  This is an exciting step for us, and one we are truly looking forward to.  (See, I told you there are some exciting things happening here!)

Have a wonderful weekend!