Our mission is to walk with women beyond the boundaries of poverty and neglect and assist them in finding their purpose.

          The Bible says that wealth is from God and belongs to Him.  Deuteronomy 8:18

“You shall remember the Lord, your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth.”

          Mastering budgets that could make a significant upgrade in the lives of the ladies who work for My Cup of Tea is complicated. We have invited many experts in finance who have conducted workshops, lectures, and encouragement for stewardship of income over the years of our nonprofit’s operation.  All of the ladies have been offered wise counsel by the best in the field of personal financial acumen. Professionals have left materials and phone numbers for further assistance.  However, there had been no substantial progress until recently.

In this community, a little cash left after the bills are paid rarely beckons practical purchases or nest eggs. The very fact that the bills are paid is progress since so many came to us unable to meet their basic needs. Now it is time to think and plan.

Most of the ladies live in the red-hot moment. Splurging on a bouncy inflatable for a child’s birthday, a gel manicure, a new “lace” wig, sequined eyelashes, or a tattoo most often absorbs the brief moments of solvency.  It’s understandable because these luxuries - the kinds most of us take for granted - have been rarities in their lives. Consequently, some have the mindset that if they don’t snatch up these “trinkets” now, there won’t be another opportunity.

 Our mission at My Cup of Tea is repeated and advanced with every sale of tea. We are determined to open every opportunity for their pecuniary development and spiritual maturity.

Fourteen months ago, God empowered and called a dozen friends in Memphis with the same earnest concern and commitment to our mission at My Cup of Tea. These friendly and frequently visiting advocates have become empowering guides discipling women in Kingdom mentality and eternal investments.  Most of the ladies from Orange Mound have begun these new relationships with uncertainty. Embracing hope and confronting challenges can be formidable. Justifiably, a few have expressed suspicion of the intentions of gracious service and sacrifice.  Some of the new partnerships begin with dinner dates, a birthday card, and encouraging words.  Making headway is challenging when pride and frustration have persuaded some to quit the quest.  Speed bumps have multiplied, potholes have deepened, and there are no straightaways. Trust ties take time I’ve been told. I have testified to that.

Not so, however, with our newest employee, whom I have called Momma Bear, (MB) in previous newsletters. I am stunned, ashamed of my skepticism, and have repented of my unbelief because MB has welcomed coaching on new life choices and is in a visible metamorphosis.

Keen, unorthodox survival savvy has been her ideology. People reared on the streets know the pecking order of life and tell-tale signals of untrustworthy people.  She had me stumped when she decided to stay with us and pursue employment. I labeled her “Trouble” with a capital “T” and considered her a short termer but nevertheless our newest employee.  I asked one of our very busy lifelong friends to walk with MB for the brevity of her job with My Cup of Tea. She said yes and arranged her schedule to mentor MB.

Pam, (P), has shown me Heaven’s view of MB. P is a veteran of faith and Godly wisdom and now meets with MB at the Orange Mound Library weekly and reads with her Growing in Christ, by the Navigators. MB has used, as never before, her leftover cash, in informed shopping. She bought new Oprah Winfrey readers with frames on sale and now can stay on the line she is reading with P. She has been to church 5 Sundays in a row, and she is one of the few who has prepared to lead a section of Scripture in our weekly Bible class.  P recently drove the family to a horse barn in Germantown. They petted, fed, and sat on a real horse, an animal in stark contrast to the familiar house rodents, Pitbull dogs, and stray cats in the neighborhood. MB has peeked into the possible and is bold and vociferous in making the new view permanent.  P has seen her with the eyes of Christ. He sought out the street people, the Momma Bears, the discouraged, and the disregarded.

MB has also joined an exercise class at the Kroc Center with the extra cash from her last pay cycle, and her daughters are enrolled in swimming lessons.

P joins the dozen women like her who are shepherding our willing women into greener venues with patience and prayer.

Our advocacy-mentoring-discipling program has spawned companions and true friendships. MB is walking with P in a new world of return for her investments.

All give time and experience, connections, and networks for their companions to make wise choices with their extra cash on Friday.  But more importantly, they explore with them inspired choices for character strengthening and eternal impact. As said often before, our employed women who live within the boundary of Orange Mound are learning to steward their wealth, model their dependence on the Lord, and return honor and shalom to the once-respected neighborhood called Orange Mound.

The global marketing research industry was expected to produce $140 BILLION in revenue in 2024. According to Hanover Research, 79% of companies conduct at least 5 market research projects per year. This excludes the daily surveys conducted by pollsters on behalf of political candidates and special interest groups or nonprofits seeking to understand their supporters.

By now, you likely know that My Cup of Tea is somewhat unique in that we are a social enterprise - both nonprofit and business. As such, getting the lay of the land is of particular importance to us because we need to understand the perspectives of customers who buy our tea and other products, donors who contribute to us directly, and supporters who provide time, talent, and other resources.

Since 2019, we have conducted a customer survey digitally. We draft, disseminate, and compile the results in-house. 

And we take your advice.

Here are a few ways over the years that your responses have been taken to heart and put into action:

• A year ago we asked you about prices and if inflation affected your tea purchases. You told us it did, so when everyone was raising prices, ours stayed the same.
• You told us a few years ago that you wanted more sustainable products, so we've created sustainability gifts and offered reusable shopping bags.
• Some of you asked for extended hours and that we open on Saturdays. We piloted extended hours in the summer, but the level of business didn't cover our costs. We also began opening on Saturdays in December, which has worked and we will continue to do.
• And, you asked us to make our tea available in more locations for convenience, our products are now available in 24 locations in the Memphis area.

These are just a few of the ways we have used your responses to our survey. We compare the results to past years to ensure we are providing the best quality products and an exceptional customer experience. We don't take your support for granted.

Please consider taking a few moments to complete this simple survey so we can continue to serve you well.

Click to Take the Survey.

A Southern, mature woman, by tradition, is to be wise, kind, nurturing, informed, and a builder of her home.  Adults modeled and taught me these values in my formative years and placed me where I could absorb them. Once grown, my cultural community added objectives to the mix: women’s Bible studies, flower arranging, cooking classes, sewing clubs, smocking lessons, bridge lessons, travel, mission trips, garden clubs, Pilates, book clubs, and carpool line etiquette.

With these in mind, and overly confident, 14 years ago, I purposed with friends to share our avocations and hobbies with women who were underexposed to these domestic conventions. I set up shop in Orange Mound to supplement and resource women in poverty. Knowing without any hesitation or doubt that I was clearly called to women in Orange Mound, I concluded they were eagerly waiting for me and in search of manicures, massages, Bible hermeneutics, homemaking skills, and the like. I was sure that these would provide stability, dignity, confidence, relaxation, and friendships. 

Instead, every woman I met here was in search of safety, food, and shelter.

Stunned, I soon sensed my bundle of “perks” was of little consequence in the real world of Orange Mound. Most of my new friends were unchurched, unmotivated, untraveled, uninspired, and unhealthy. Current events were not on their radar, and learning to cook with “EVOO” or do yoga was not in their top 100 survival skills.  The vast majority had no dentists, doctors, or therapists, and husbands were absent. Their collective ambition was to live through the night without injury and through the week with functioning utilities.

 I had arrived in an “escape room” without any clues. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Shamefully blind and sugarcoating reality, I had never considered that what I was offering free of charge was of no real help to the women I met.  My “Plan A” on how to live life more abundantly was annoying, subjective, and irrelevant. The many volunteers who had come to join in the mission felt unappreciated and frustrated.

Daily, I pondered why God says over 400 times in Scripture to care for the poor. We will always have them with us, (Mark14:7). Showing mercy to the poor is in effect ministering to Jesus (Matthew 25:35-40). Shutting your eyes to the poor brings judgement (Proverbs 28:27). And the sin of Sodom, which is the most convicting of all: “the women were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and the needy “(Ezekiel16:49).

Refining, resourcing, and revitalization of neighborhoods are popular projects, but we were among women stuck at the survival stage of life. We resolved that our single charge and highest priority was to disciple in Truth all who arrived in earnest to work at the tea company.  

God calls all believers in His family to go to the unreached, and the women in Orange Mound were two miles from our church but a world away. The joy and freedom of living are immeasurably dependent on our relationship to the Lord and His Truth in the Gospel. We had to come alongside them to give Biblical counsel, principles, and encouragement through meeting basic needs most take for granted.

We knew that if they were willing to listen, through the power of the Holy Spirit, He could reverse the pattern of dependency on the tyranny of the urgent, government assistance, and the false narrative that all they would ever be is hopeless. Dependence on God in reverence and obedience would change lives, change families, and change neighborhoods.

Red Zone, Kingdom Community Builders, Neighborhood Christian Center , Orange  Mound Outreach and My Cup of Tea are collectively punctuating the promises of the Lord in our community. Helping hundreds of Orange Mound residents awaken to opportunities available for success are underway.  Discipling a few persons to whole devotion to the Lord, is a priority now.

Yesterday, I went off script in our weekly Bible study of Colossians and teased out contemplative points of faith and salvation.  The ladies were scanning the first chapter of the epistle to answer me.  “The answer is not in this chapter”, I whispered.  The discussion amped up, and those willing to participate offered irrefutable and valuable insights. They were not only correct, but they were feeling the Truth of God’s gift of Jesus personally. They used their own words, and not ours.

In the last week of April, several changed lives are finding new purpose and grasping why they are here, which is to know God and enjoy Him.

The seeds planted for over a decade have taken root and born fruit.  A change for the better has begun, and we have been changed for good. Pilates can wait.