Brewing Something New for the Missions:
 What One Family Can Do

When Father Vince Thompson, C.S.B., issued a challenge to Jim Boyles and his family last spring, Jim had no idea that within months he would be back out of semi-retirement and heavily involved in a new business.

Boyles is the founder of Artisan Field, a family-owned visual communications and marketing firm in Houston. Thompson is a Basilian missionary in a poor barrio of Bogota, Colombia. The two have been friends for many years, since Father Vince was a priest at St. Anne Catholic Church in Houston where Boyles is still a parishioner. 

Father Vince reminded Jim that he and his family were in the business of creativity, and challenged them to come up with an idea to help the people of his mission area. He told Jim that many families there exist on a single meal each day, and many do not have the job skills to provide for their families. Unemployment is extremely high, and drugs and violence plague the area where Father Vince is stationed.

Boyles, his wife, and five adult children all work for Artisan Field. They brainstormed ideas on how they could help. They remembered Pope John Paul II’s words on World Mission Day, 2001, when he reminded us that “every Christian must be a missionary.” Even those of us who never leave home are called to be missionaries. 

The Boyles family studied the situation and talked over possibilities with Father Vince. The high cost of shipping knocked out several ideas. They learned that since coffee prices have fallen below the production cost of small family growers, millions of people have been thrown out of work and off their land. They decided to market premium coffee made from beans grown by small growers, certified as Fair Trade coffee. 

With their business background, the Boyles family worked to set up a non-profit organization called Saint Basil Coffee, in honor of the patron saint of the Basilian fathers. All who work with the organization are volunteers; there are no paid salaries and all profit goes to the Basilian missions. One of the mottos of their company is that “There are few things so powerful or productive as collaboration.” The Boyles family put that motto into play and designed marketing materials and a website for Saint Basil Coffee. 

Wife, Mary Margaret, who is the financial officer for Artisan Field volunteered to handle the accounting. Son, Tom, and daughters Mary and Elizabeth designed the marketing material and website. Son, Jim Jr. volunteered to assist in coffee sales and son, John, assumed the role of marketing manager responsible for market development. Their original target was to sell the coffee, Colombian Supremo, made from prime Arabica beans, to and through churches, but the website is bringing many individual customers as well. 

- The Boyles family -

By October, the paperwork was done and Saint Basil Coffee was ready to brew up something different for the missions. Their goal is to sell 1,000 pounds of coffee a month which will bring approximately $5,000 per month for use in the missions. These funds help provide job training for adults, education for adults and children alike, food relief and aid to establish small family businesses, helping the poor to rise from poverty. 

The great saint of Lisieux, St. Therese, never left her convent. Yet, because of her great love and prayers for the missions, she was named their patroness. This humble, cloistered Carmelite stands beside the active missionary Francis Xavier as an equal in this patronage; each had their own work to do to bring the love of Christ to the world. Even without leaving home, we too can be co-missionaries. We can give our prayers, our alms, and, like the Boyles family, use our creativity and collaboration to design new ways to help to bring the Good News to the poor. 

Even a cup of coffee can make a difference. A cup of Saint Basil coffee is an opportunity to put faith into action, and to answer Pope John Paul II’s appeal for social justice.

You can purchase Saint Basil Coffee through the internet at:
www.saintbasilcoffee.com
You may also fax your order to 713-880-0779 or call for more information to 281-397-2276.