Remember the Culture Make Sale, *cino's online sale of handmade items and personalized services? Last fall, supporters of *culture is not optional from near and far connected with each other by creating and purchasing goods and services. We made over $1500, which will help to renovate the Huss School property in Three Rivers into a community center focused on agriculture and the arts.

This "joy" stone was given as a gift to a relative of mine in the the Netherlands! It crossed the ocean and found a new home in her garden. If you would like to share any pictures or stories from the Culture Make Sale of your own, let us know.

Let me take a step back before I tell you more about these two trips in particular. *cino has been hosting spring break service learning trips since we partnered with Calvin College in 2010. (You can see our reports from 2010 and 2011 in our archives.) Over the three successive years, we've been developing the trips along the themes of rule of life and place. By rule of life, we mean the way we organize our time around what's important to us. Toward the end of exploring this theme, we spend time with local intentional communities and practice our own basic daily rule together: morning prayers, work period, lunch, community explorations, an hour of silence, and cooking and eating a meal together. As we practice this rule, we also delve into the theme of place. In a cultural climate that values multi-tasking, movement and efficiency, we experience what it might look like to focus instead on rootedness, rest and listening. In the midst of divided attention and impulsive purchasing, we practice stillness and intentionality.

The "canvas" for much of our exploration was in the form of field trips throughout the community. Here are the themes that we addressed in our afternoons:

• Agriculture: We visited five local farms between the two trips, including Bluebird Farm, White Yarrow Farm, Sustainable Greens, Bair Lane Farm and Corey Lake Orchards.


• Journalism: Elena Hines, editor of the Three Rivers Commercial News, and Bruce Snook, founding editor of River Country Journal, discussed the importance of recording our community's stories.


• Aging: Tracy Kiel and her colleague Kristin hosted us at Riverview Manor, a skilled nursing facility, and engaged in conversation with Janell Hart and Renee Welch from the county's Commission on Aging about issues facing the older members of our community.


• Youth: We brought together Stephanie Morgan (young adult librarian), Stephanie Schoon (director of Three Rivers Area Mentoring) and Chief of Police Tom Bringman, who were able to talk about their work with youth and some of the needs of the community related to children and young adults.


• Arts: We toured the lovely Carnegie Center for the Arts, along with local public art and outlets for local artists, including the Pink Paisley Poppy Emporium and UniQ Jewelry. The Calvin group met with local artist couple Larry-Michael and Becky Hackenberg at their home on the St. Joseph River, while the Geneva group heard from local artists Emily Ulmer, Gail Walters and Michael Northrop. The Calvin group also had the opportunity to enjoy a house show by David Bazan.


• Local Business: In addition to informal time wandering around the historic downtown district, we visited with the owners/managers of World Fare, Love Your Mother, the Riviera Theatre and Lowry's Books.


• Intentional Communities: Both groups stayed at least a portion of their time with the *culture is not optional intentional community at Trinity Episcopal Church and visited St. Gregory's Abbey to talk with Brother Abraham and participated in vespers and meditation. Both groups also practiced an hour of silence every afternoon. The Calvin group stayed a portion of the week at the Hermitage Community, where we participated in morning prayers.

The teachings of unsuspected teachers belong to the task, and are its hope.
The love and the work of friends and lovers belong to the task, and are its health.
Rest and rejoicing belong to the task, and are its grace.
Let tomorrow come tomorrow. Not by your will is the house carried through the night.
Order is the only possibility of rest.

We ended each trip with a potluck dinner and several of the folks who met with our groups throughout the week joined us. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of people who didn't know each other just days earlier enjoying one another's company. For all of the ambitious learning outcomes we might seek to achieve with such trips, perhaps the simple ability to combine chatting and eating should be at the top of the list. It's around the table, after all, that we are made fully known in the breaking of bread and the drinking of wine.

For more photos, see our Geneva and Calvin Spring Break photo sets on Flickr.

*culture is not optional's network stretches across the globe, and thanks to the success of the Culture Make Sale, that web of connections is growing! Over the past two months, friends of *cino new and old, from all over, have given and received gifts of time, energy, and resources, to benefit the renovation and development of the former Huss School building into a community center in Three Rivers, Michigan. Handmade ceramics, customized love letters and website design, brilliant books and poetry, yard work, artwork, apple pies, and so much more - these are little bits of human culture that enrich our lives, and all the more so when they are shared.

Thanks to all for helping raise over $1500 for the Imagining Space at Huss School! Your continued support ensures that Huss School is on its way to becoming a place of peace, hope, and justice.

Additionally, the sale will continue soon in Three Rivers: World Fare, a fair trade store downtown, has partnered with *cino as an outlet to sell goods that give life to projects and endeavors in the local community. Be sure to stop by 37 N. Main St. in the near future and check out the many wonderful items still on sale!

Handcrafted items and customized services of all sorts are available for sale online through September 30, and all proceeds will benefit the continuation of the building's revitalization. Goods such as stationery, art, photography, clothing, poetry, ceramics, and more have been donated by supporters all over the country. In addition, the sale features many services, such as a session with a consultant on writing a college application essay, a website design, and a customized handmade quilt, love letter, embroidered icon; the list goes on.  Browsers are encouraged to check back often, as new items are being added weekly. Some services are only available in the Three Rivers area, and free pick-up on select items is available.

*culture is not optional is still accepting handmade items and services as donations to the sale. Visit the donation page to find more information about contributing.  The page also includes a list of ideas for what to donate.

The sale's name comes from the book Culture Making by Andy Crouch, which challenges Christians to be actively involved in culture, creating rather than simply consuming or condemning what's going on around them. "We're really excited about how this sale reflects our future hopes for the Huss School property," said *cino co-director Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma.  "We hope it will be a space of creativity, joy and collaboration, which is what the Culture Make Sale is all about." Participate in "culture making" by purchasing homemade goods and services, or by offering to donate your own talents and gifts!

Links for more information:

• Culture Make Sale
• Imagining Space Project
• Also find the event "Culture Make Sale! (Online Event)" on Facebook

Steve and Mel Montgomery's wonderful hospitality began the moment we pulled in the driveway of their lovely 65-acre farm and only grew over the three days of ^camping is not optional. A beautifully restored, three-story white house stands guard at the top of the hill over acres of pastures and woods. As an educational space overseen by the Montgomery family, along with a board of directors and a group of core partners, Lamppost Farm is a place of teaching and conversation around faith as an everyday way of life -- a perfect dovetail for a co-sponsored event with *culture is not optional.

Highlights of the weekend included:

• Talking and relaxing around the campfire.


• Learning how to slaughter and process grass-fed Lamppost Farm chickens and having good discussions about life, death, meat and normative behavior.


• Watching Drew Montgomery's baseball team win their Friday night game.


• Playing corn hole with minimal scoring and maximum coach-talk cliches.


• Reuniting with old friends and meeting some new ones.


• Cooking and eating fantastic meals with meat and produce raised (and even butchered) right at the farm.


• Playing with farm pets, including Misty and her new kitten.


• Sharing the joys and struggles of running small, start-up non-profit organizations and wrestling with issues like health insurance and retirement savings in the context of a life of faith and risk-taking.

On July 28-30, we're also partnering with Maple Tree Meadows to host a ^camping is not optional event in Three Rivers. This beautiful farm is only ten minutes from Huss School, making it an ideal place to stay if you're coming into town for the Future Festival. Our camping events are very informal, but provide plenty of opportunities for sharing good food, stories, farm chores, songs and more. If you'd like, you could also volunteer for the Festival while you're here; just send us a note to let us know you're interested. We have limited space available, so register early!

Camping in Columbiana will take place July 7-9 at a lovely little spot called Lamppost Farm. Our friends Steve and Mel and their kids, whom we met through the first Practicing Resurrection conference in 2006, have cultivated a small homestead there. They're looking forward to welcoming campers for conversation, exploration, camp fires and, for the stout-hearted who really want to know more about where their food comes from, chicken processing.

Camping in Three Rivers will take place July 28-30 at Maple Tree Meadows. With the help of many neighbors, our friend Karla has been prayerfully and contemplatively rescuing this historic farm from neglect. The dates for this opportunity just happen to coincide with the 2011 Huss Future Festival, a day-long event on July 30 full of art, live music, food, recycled goods for sale and imagining possibilities for *culture is not optional's space at Huss School.

Facilities at both locations will be rustic, so come prepared to rough it. You can register now at the ^camping is not optional web site, for just $10 per night per adult (kids camp free with their parents). Space is limited, so register soon! We look forward to seeing you there.

Our *cino spring break trip that was born last year with a small group of five Calvin College students grew to nine this year, plus our two resident volunteers, Stephanie and Emily. We really enjoyed getting to know the students who participated and getting to know our work and community better through their participation. Here's a day-by-day synopsis to give you a glimpse of what we experienced together, in addition to our collection of photos...

FRIDAY
The students arrived in downtown Three Rivers after the 80-mile trip from Grand Rapids. We got to know each other a bit better (namely: spirit animals...whatever that means!) over tea and coffee at World Fare. Rob and I also gave an overview of the geography and character of Three Rivers before we split up to spend the night at the rectory and our apartment above World Fare.

SATURDAY
After breakfast at our apartment, we headed over to tour Huss School and learn more about the work we'd be doing during the week--both the immediate tasks and how they fit into the long term vision for the school. Next, we toured the historic Silliman House and got a Three Rivers history lesson from DAR member and fountain of local history knowledge, Becky Shank. Over a delicious homemade pizza lunch at the rectory, we planned our meals for the week and made our grocery list of items that we then procured from local farmers, an Amish grocery store and, lastly, one of the local big boxes. We arrived at The Hermitage Community, our home for six nights, and were greeted with a dinner of chili and cornbread prepared by David and Naomi Wenger. The Wengers, who are co-directors of The Hermitage, led us in discussion over dinner about the qualities and purposes of a rule of life, as well as how to approach our daily period of silence during the week.

SUNDAY
The group dispersed on Sunday morning for Eucharist at St. Gregory's Abbey, worship at Florence Church of the Brethren Mennonite and quiet time at The Hermitage. We reconvened for a lunch of various incredible soups and breads shared with Tim Raakman, a friend and *cino board member, and some of his weekend guests. Sunday afternoon was spent conversing, napping and reading and, once we were finally hungry again, we closed the day with a Middle Eastern meal.

MONDAY
Our first weekday began with breakfast and morning prayer at The Hermitage, led by the Wengers. After prayer, we packed up our lunch and headed to work at Huss School until 12:30. Our activities on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the school included raking, removing drop ceiling tiles and framing, re-mulching around the community garden, creating some new flower beds and paths, removing flooring and doing some general clean-up around the building. In the afternoon, we visited two farming families who live within walking distance of each other just northwest of Three Rivers. An unexpected adventure was chasing and catching the laying hens who escaped from their pen. We observed an hour of silence when we returned to The Hermitage, followed by a dinner of deliciously fresh burritos.

TUESDAY
Tuesday was similar in structure to Monday, but a few of us spent the morning at World Fare cleaning and entering data for new inventory. Our afternoon explorations included visiting three local businesses (Lowry's Books, Love Your Mother and the Riviera Theatre) and meeting with Brenda McGowan about race and education in Three Rivers. Our hour of silence was followed by a meal of fresh bread and a roasted eggplant soup topped with yogurt, cilantro and sweet peppers.

WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday morning, we were back at the school after morning prayers and the weekly Eucharist at The Hermitage. It was a cold, rainy day, but we did manage to get some outdoor work done, including tackling the brush pile out back. In the afternoon, we talked with Pastor Bennett at New Jerusalem Baptist Church about the qualities of the neighborhood surrounding his church and Huss School. We also met with Bruce Snook of River Country Journal in the Michigan room at the Three Rivers library. Dinner was a delicious red lentil curry over rice, topped with yogurt and cilantro.

THURSDAY
After morning prayer on Thursday, we headed to the rectory where our resident community lives to do a different sort of work for the school: making items to sell in our Culture Make Sale fundraiser in July. We made soap (oatmeal almond and lemon lavender), garlands and stationery sets. In the afternoon, we continued our arts theme by visiting the wetland property of a local artist couple (founders of the Three Rivers Artist Guild), checking out the Carnegie Center for the Arts, and watching a film at the Riviera. We broke our rule a bit on Thursday to accommodate the Riviera's "rule," and headed back to The Hermitage later to enjoy a dinner of cabbage and noodles with freshly baked rolls and apple sauce--wonderful comfort food during a week that just got colder and colder!

FRIDAY
Friday was our day to clean up at The Hermitage and move over to St. Gregory's Abbey. After morning prayer, we scrubbed the barn from top to bottom and also spent some time serving the retreat center in some other ways: picking up the debris from February's ice storm, raking gravel back into the parking lot and pulling nails from old barn boards that will be recycled as picture frames. A rest time after a leisurely lunch refreshed us to finish our tasks and visit the quirky Long Lake Food and Book Shop before heading to the Abbey in time for afternoon tea. Vespers and meditation at 5:00 pm was our first glimpse of the monks' practice of chanting the Psalms and we continued our quiet time until 6:00, as we'd done most of the week. Dinner was a stir fried amalgamation of leftover vegetables, tofu and egg in a sauce of cilantro, coconut milk, tomatoes, tamari and garlic. Because of the Feast of the Annunciation, there was no compline on Friday, but there was a baking extravaganza in the St. Denys kitchen: chocolate cake, apple crisp and raisin bread.

SATURDAY
Several participants got up for 4:00 am prayers, but only one faithful soul made it to 6:00 am. We were all up and out of the house by 8:15 am, however, for the daily Eucharist service. Afterward, most of us hopped in the van and headed out to the small country crossroads of Volinia for the annual maple festival, including an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast. During a ride on the horse drawn wagon, we got to hear one of the students talk about his experiences helping run the maple project at the alternative school. Back at the monastery, we continued participating in the day's prayers and writing thank you notes to those we'd visited during the week. Br. Abraham visited with us in the afternoon to talk about the Benedictine vow of stability and tell a bit of his story. Afterward, we piled all of ourselves and our stuff into the van for our last stop together: dinner at the home of our friends JD and Barb. Taking into account our vegetarians and lactose intolerant eaters, Barb created a phenomenal Middle Eastern feast with an astounding array of fresh vegetables, cheeses, dips, pastries, tarts and more. The meal, topped off by vegan chocolate cake with chocolate almond ganache and toasted coconut, was excellent and a great way to celebrate our time together.

Throughout the week, we had wonderful conversations about topics big and small, as we practiced accepting each other wherever we were in our lives and also sought to grow in our understanding of what it means to be human in this world, embedded in particular vocations and places. We spent lots of time laughing, eating, reflecting, praying, reading, working, creating and listening. And we even spent some time cutting hair.

Voting for our project starts Wednesday and you can vote on the Refresh Everything site, via text message or through a Facebook application. You can vote once a day and we'll need you to vote every day in December if we stand a chance of winning. We will post the links and numbers to vote as soon as possible.

If you'd like to receive a daily e-mail reminder, sign up for our daily asterisk e-mail list. We send out a provocative quote every day and, during the month of December, we'll be including a reason to vote for *cino's project.

Thanks! And more soon ...

It should be a refreshing and inspiring event!