News

Kirstin and I will be preaching this weekend at Crossroads Community Church in Dyer, IN. We'll be speaking specifically about food and how we might live into the biblical narrative through our everyday food choices--a continuation of the ideas we explored during the Eat Well Food Tour from last summer. In fact, this is kind of an extension of the tour!

Crossroads has three weekend services--Saturday at 5:30pm and Sunday at 9:00am and 10:30am--and we'll be speaking for each. We're looking forward to spending time with the good folks at Crossroads!

The Winter 2010 road journal is being dropped off at the Post Office today and will make it to your mailbox in a matter of days. This issue of our quarterly print journal features several great pieces by various *cino writers, plus a photo essay highlighting the Imagining Space project at Huss School. A special thanks to Julie Bouman for helping with the mailing; we couldn't have gotten everything done without her!

If you aren't on our mailing list yet, you can sign up now for a free subscription to the road journal.

Dear friends of *cino,

On Friday, February 19, the *culture is not optional board of directors met in Pennsylvania before attending the annual Jubilee Conference in Pittsburgh. We had great conversation at Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea about *cino's identity and about fund raising.

The good news

Here's the good news: our work is flourishing. It was fun to be at Jubilee and hear directly from so many people who are inspired by the road journal, who love writing for catapult, who read the daily asterisk quote every day, who want to come to Practicing Resurrection and who are excited to see what is sprouting in Three Rivers at Huss School. We also had many good conversations with college students and post-grads who are striving to discern Kingdom faithfulness in all things: career, family, place, church, relationships and more. We're glad that the resources *cino already offers can provide some of what they need on their journeys.

The...other news

Here's the...other news: we are on the edge financially. Last spring, we stepped out in faith to purchase the historic Huss School building in Three Rivers and it has stretched our organization to the extent that we have urgent needs for the building and other expenses. We board members are praying and trusting that God will provide--and we're getting to work!

Introducing SUSTAIN *cino

SUSTAIN *cino will be our effort over the next few years to cultivate our resources through three phases--getting by, sprouting and thriving--and we need your help. We have outlined three budget goals that will allow the work of *cino--including the Imagining Space project at Huss School--to grow and flourish. We've broken down the goals into monthly target amounts:

• $2,500 per month: June 12, 2010


• $5,000 per month: End of 2010


• $10,000 per month: End of 2011

What we are asking of you now is to consider making a monthly commitment to help us meet our $2,500 per month goal by June 12, our one-year ownership anniversary Huss School. If $10 per month is what you can afford, you will be part of our foundation of many--after all, 150 gifts of all sizes helped us raise $25,000 in 40 days to purchase Huss School! Just think: if each of those 150 households gave $10 per month, we'd be over halfway to our first goal! And if you can afford $20 or $30 per month, you'll help cover the share of someone who benefits from *cino's work, but is in a low or no income situation.

Our experience has been that the foundation of *cino's support will consist of many people like you catching the vision and doing what they can to participate. We are praying and working for major gifts and grants, to be sure, but we also need you to walk with us through the both the thrilling and the difficult times.

Our commitment is to keep doing and growing the good work God has called us to do through *cino and to stay in regular communication with you. Will you match our commitment with one of your own?

Yours in gratitude and trust,
The *culture is not optional Board of Directors
Jeff Bouman
Grant Elgersma
Gail Heffner
Sylvia Keesmaat
Tim Raakman
Hank Suhr
Rob & Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

To set up a monthly donation or make a one-time contribution, please visit the *culture is not optional web site.

A good chunk of our board meeting on February 19 was spent discussing the financial needs of *culture is not optional. We've never been more excited about the work we're doing and the possibilities that lie in front of us--especially the Imagining Space project. But to move forward, we really need to establish a much more stable financial foundation. Toward that end, we established three budget goals that we'll be working toward over the next few years.

Getting by

$30,000 per year / $2,500 per month

• Basic building expenses (mortgage, insurance, utilities)
• Technology costs (server fees, domain registration, etc.)
• Printing and mailing
• Event fees (conference displays, etc.)

Sprouting

$60,000 per year / $5,000 per month

• All of the above, plus ...
• A double mortgage payment (paying down principle faster)
• Additional printing budget for books in the Road Map Series
• Salary and benefits for director
• Funding for professional accountant
• Promotional budget

Thriving

$120,000 per year / $10,000 per month

• All of the above, plus ...
• Additional mortgage payments, paying off the mortgage in 3 years
• Additional printing and mailing budget for expanded mailing list
• Additional printing budget for books in the Road Map Series
• Intern stipends
• catapult magazine/road journal honoraria
• Salary for part-time property manager
• Additional promotional budget

These budget goals are primarily operational and only extend for the next few years. We're hoping that we'll be able to raise additional funding through grants and other sources to help fund the renovation of Huss School.

We've set the following timeline to try to meet these goals:

• $2,500 per month: June 12, 2010
• $5,000 per month: End of 2010
• $10,000 per month: End of 2011

On the one hand, these goals seem ridiculously ambitious and unattainable. On the other hand, we feel like we're simply following through on *cino's vision. As we reflect on God's faithfulness when *cino's supporters contributed $25,000 in 40 days a little less than a year ago, an annual budget of $120,000 seems pretty realistic. And when we think of what we'd be able to accomplish with such a relatively small institutional budget, we get pretty excited ...

We'll be sending out more information soon about meeting our first goal!

The *cino board of directors will be meeting this Friday morning in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; from there, most of the board will continue on to the Jubilee Conference in Pittsburgh. While a number of things are on the agenda for discussion, the most pressing matter will be a conversation about financial sustainability so we can move forward with all of *cino's varied projects.

Please pray for imagination, patience and wisdom as we meet!

We're getting ready for our annual trip to Pittsburgh for CCO's Jubilee Conference, a gathering of several thousand college students eager to explore how to weave faith commitments into everyday life. This year, we'll have our usual table in the exhibit area with all kinds of information about *cino projects: catapult magazine and road journal; Imagining Space and Practicing Resurrection.

Kirstin and Rob will also be leading a workshop called "Movin' On Out":

It's important to consider what Christian faithfulness might look like in our unique careers as members of the body of Christ. But what about faithfulness in the practical aspects of the transition from living at school or with our parents to living on our own? This workshop will explore what it means to live into the Kingdom creatively as we choose where to live, establish food habits, cultivate a household and more.

So, if you'll be at the conference, be sure to check out our table in the exhibit hall and, if you're interested, attend our workshop! We'd love meeting new folks and engaging in great conversation.

Byron Borger of Hearts and Minds Books recently named Clutching Dust and Stars the Best First Novel of 2009! Here is Byron's review:

Rob and Natalie are expertly drawn hipster young adults, twenty-somethings who have been out of school for a few years and are "charting various paths of downward mobility." This is set in Bellingham, Washington, in the early years of 2000s, where Natalie's art studio behind the thrift shop is her place of canvas and paint. I can tell you ten things I liked about this well-written drama, and while not every reader will love every moment, this is a first novel by a very thoughtful Christian writer, published by an indie company that we are close to. I don't award the book because of that, but thought you may know their e-zine (catapult) and may have seen it serialized there. We're pretty excited to carry this book, with its allusive title drawn from The Kabbalah, despite its raw tale and deep struggles about faith and justice...no, it is because of this that we so affirm it. As the author puts it, "the story follows the tensions between various poles: dust and stars, apathy and idealism, love and sadness, disbelief and faith, graffiti and art, Rob and Natalie." Best first novel, 2009!

Of course, we encourage you to check out all of the "Best of 2009" recommendations at Hearts and Minds; they've got a great end-of-year list! And remember to mention *culture is not optional when purchasing ... we'll get a 10% donation for sending you in their direction.