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Last year at about this time, we felt the spirit move. Kirstin and I were listening to a presentation by Bill Strickland of Manchester Craftsmen's Guild at the annual Jubilee Conference in Pittsburgh and an idea began to take shape.

Strickland shared his amazing story, from growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Pittsburgh to creating a world-class community center that transforms the lives of kids and families in that same neighborhood. He spoke of bringing beauty into the inner-city and giving kids his prescription for thriving: sunlight, affection and good food.

His story isn't some pie-in-the-sky liberal do-gooding; he's driven to see kids live into their deep potential so this country can solve some of its most entrenched social problems. And he's got the statistics to show that his program is working. When almost 50% of students of color are drop out of high school, over 90% of the students in his program graduate. He has training programs teaching welfare mothers how to be gourmet chefs, horticulturalists and pharmaceutical technicians--the same women who have been told time and time again that they aren't worth anything. It's amazing what a little sunlight and attention can do for the human spirit.

A few months later, we took the leap of faith that is the Imagining Space project. We have a long way to go and our project will look a lot different than Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, but a lot of the underlying motivation is similar. We want to create a beautiful space for the people of Three Rivers and for students around North America, cultivating opportunities to transform this community and others toward abundant flourishing. With your help, I'm pretty sure we can do it ... we'll just need to be patient and keep pressing on toward the goal!

I'd highly recommend watching Strickland's lecture below. Unfortunately, the photos he's showing during the presentation didn't make it into the video; however, the story is still inspiring to hear. Just imagine what we might be able to do in Three Rivers!

One: Watch! Wait! The day of God is at hand!
All: Like the bud on a tree, God's possibilities are about to blossom!
One: Stay awake! The reign of God is very near.
All: We are here, watching and waiting with hope.
All: May God bring justice to all people. May God's reign come on earth as in heaven.

An Advent litany from Hymnal: A Worship Book (1992)

As we met with our board of directors last Friday, it felt appropriate that we were gathering and discerning in the middle of Advent--a time of waiting and expectation. The incarnation of God teaches us that anything can happen, that our longing will be satisfied in ways we could never have foreseen.

We didn't come out of our board meeting with any spectacular revelations or perfect plans. Rather, we came out of it with a much-needed sense of patience, re-committed to growing *culture is not optional together in imaginative, discerning, sustainable ways. Throughout the day, we met with local members of the Three Rivers Area Faith Community, where the vision for a youth and family center at Huss School originated. Their perspective on what the Three Rivers community needs and how our resources might meet those needs will continue to be invaluable as we cultivate relationships of love and accountability. We also toured and said words of blessing at Huss School--just the first of many blessings on the site, we expect. Since some of our board members were meeting in person for the first time, we shared abundant meals and conversation in the middle of more formal business. We look forward to gathering again as a board early in the new year.

Finances continue to be a concern until we get back on our feet with a revised plan for fundraising. Since we last updated you about our efforts with the Imagining Space project, a small Three Rivers congregation contributed over $700 in special offerings toward the project; a group of college staff members raised $800 for Huss as their collective Christmas donation; and an individual donor committed to contribute monthly toward our electric bill. We are incredibly grateful for the generosity and vision behind these gifts. God continues to provide where our efforts fall short.

As we approach the end of 2009, we would be grateful for any financial contribution you can make. $40 keeps the electricity on for one month, $360 covers insurance and $500 meets one mortgage payment. We believe that this project will always depend on the gifts of many people, contributing money, time, prayers and skills as they are able--and it will be stronger for having the investment of many, rather than just a few. Please let us know what you can offer. We would love to start 2010 with four months of expenses in the bank, which means raising $2,000 in addition to the gifts listed above before the end of the year. One-time and monthly donations can be made online. In kind gifts can be communicated by sending us a message through our contact page.

Bigger plans will be needed over time to realize the full potential of the space. In the meantime, there's nothing stopping us from beginning good work on the site. In January, we will host our first out-of-town group at the school. However, this group won't be scrubbing floors and painting walls; they'll be filming! We're glad that a film class from Calvin College will have the opportunity to use the building in its current somewhat-spooky state as a unique film set while they learn practical writing, acting and production skills. We're also looking forward to revealing more to all of you visually in the form of a promotional video the group will make as part of their exchange for using the space.

In March, we'll host our first work group, as several Calvin College students will use their spring break to serve and learn in Three Rivers. The board is already imagining ways to draw more of you into the work and creativity of that week, so watch for more details.

Thank you for your attentiveness to the Imagining Space project throughout 2009. Just one year ago, we never would have anticipated that *cino would have such abundant building and land space as a canvas on which to paint a bold, colorful, interactive Kingdom-oriented vision. Thank God for graciously setting aside this time of year for us to delve into the goodness of hope, of giddy excitement, of earth-shaking surprises.

Even in the midst of great pain, Lord,
I praise you for that which is.
I will not refuse this grief
Or close myself to this anguish.
Let shallow men pray for ease:
"Comfort us; shield us from sorrow."
I pray for whatever you send me,
and I ask to receive it as your gift.
You have put a joy in my heart
greater than all the world's riches.
I lie down trusting the darkness,
for I know that even now you are here.

Psalm 4, adapted from the Hebrew by Stephen Mitchell

Psalm 4 has been something of a mantra for us lately, which may help illuminate, in poetic terms, our sudden silence on the Imagining Space project. Some explanation is certainly in order, so here's a brief overview of the past six months in the lives of Rob and Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma, sole (unpaid) staff members of *culture is not optional.

Beginning in May and with the help of our board of directors, we raised $25,000 in forty days as a down payment to purchase Huss School, an historic building in Three Rivers, Michigan--22,000 square feet of classrooms, office space and a gymnasium on four acres of land for $75,000. It was a huge leap of faith for this small organization and $25,000 was just the beginning. But the vision was magnetizing: an off-campus program for college students, community development in a struggling Midwestern town, an opportunity to embody the everyday Kingdom faithfulness we profess to in catapult, in the road journal, in Practicing Resurrection conferences, in our fiction and non-fiction books. Over 150 donors contributed and the door opened onto a world of possibilities.

In June, we closed on the school purchase just days before embarking on a two-week speaking tour about faith and food. The tour, which took us from our home in Michigan through five states, was a wonderful opportunity to connect with old and new friends on a topic dear to our hearts (and stomachs, of course). At the far western reaches of our route, however, we saw clouds gathering on the horizon. When the storm finally hit, we realized that circumstance would require us to move out of our house in Grand Rapids quite unexpectedly. We were faced with a choice: move somewhere temporary in Grand Rapids for another year, or complete a renovation nine months ahead of schedule on an apartment 80 miles south in Three Rivers to establish a more permanent home closer to Huss School. Given the miraculous developments with the school in the spring, we decided that, even though we planned to continue our work at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, we were being drawn back toward Three Rivers.

Most of July and August passed in a blur of sixteen-hour days. With the help of many friends and family members, we tiled and painted and scrubbed and sanded and varnished and packed. Renovation projects typically fall behind schedule and this one was no exception. After we moved out of our house on August 22, we rested our heads in temporary beds for about six weeks between Grand Rapids and Three Rivers until we could finally move into our apartment--with functional plumbing and legal permission.

In the midst of adjusting to a commute and exhausting physical labor, another unexpected trial commenced. Just after Labor Day weekend, personal possessions started disappearing from our storage space in the basement of the building where our apartment is located. Not until October, when about $6,000 in property had disappeared over the course of several incidents, were we able to narrow the possible suspects down to one person--someone we'd liked, trusted, helped and accepted help from, who had key access all along. In the end, we were only able to recover about a quarter of what was lost through insurance, but we also experienced a loss of trust and security. Even when we were too blind with anger, sadness and helplessness to see the way forward, a group of friends graciously helped guide us to the best resolution possible--one that reflects our values of justice and mercy and did not involve prosecution.

Now, in November, we have fallen behind on our *cino work and continue to wrestle with difficult questions. Why would God provide for our initial fundraising efforts for the school with such breathtaking abundance, only to watch us lose momentum as we struggled to keep our heads above water through an unexpected move and the heartbreak of broken trust? Why would we be able to meet our first financial goal on schedule only to have the whole thing unravel in the next few months when the needs are still so great? What are we supposed to be learning here? Has this hardship been a test along the right path or a caution along the wrong one? Time may or may not clarify the answers, but we plan to proceed, in faith, with the ambitious vision of the Imagining Space campaign.

Throughout everything that's occurred over the past six months--from the purchase of the school to the food tour to the renovation to the thefts--we have been clearly affirmed in one belief: we need community. In our worst times, when we felt the least equipped to face the challenges before us, the community of people around us has answered to such various needs as grunt work, lunch, critical advice and timely encouragement. In the best times, community has cohered around a beautiful, ridiculous vision for life in the Kingdom, responding with everything from ideas to connections to money. Six months of great need have also been six months of great abundance, as we've learned to "praise [God] for that which is" and "lie down trusting the darkness."

The board of *culture is not optional will be meeting in December to assess where we are as an organization, pray over future projects for wisdom and discernment and plan for the coming months and years. In the meantime, we still need all of you. Please join us in prayer. Please also consider making a contribution yet in 2009 toward expenses for the school building. We've all been captivated by the amazing vision for what could be at the old Huss School, but there will be many months of mortgage payments and electric bills to slog through while we work to gather resources for the costly transformation the space will require. Our most immediate need is for help financing the basic monthly expenses, which include the loan payment of $500, the insurance payment of $360 and the basic electric bill, which is usually around $40. We think you'll agree that such slogging is best undertaken in good company, so please join us with whatever resources you have to offer.

We sincerely apologize for the loss of momentum and communication that occurred on the Imagining Space project while our lives took unexpected hairpin turns this summer and fall. Like the tall Michigan oaks that have lost all of their leaves, we look forward to re-emerging anew and flourishing for yet another season...but we can't do it without you. Thank you, in advance, for taking the time to consider how you can best contribute to the needs of *culture is not optional on the brink of 2010.

Grace and peace,
Rob & Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

Closing on Huss School and holding the actual keys in our hands opens up a world of possibilities. We, along with *cino and Three Rivers friends, are eager to get to work on everything from the nitty gritty details of cleaning to recruiting students for service and study. However...

We've attempted to put all of the ingredients together just right for this project and now we need to let things rest for a bit. It will be quite like the process of making bread from scratch, which begins with a lot of doing--gathering, measuring, proofing, mixing, kneading. And then, after that initial frenzy of work, you place the dough in a bowl, cover it, put it in a warm place and let it rest. Rising requires proper preparation and is necessary for a successful finished product.

The next few weeks will be a time of resting and rising for the Imagining Space project. Though it may not look like we're doing much, there will be plenty going on beyond our efforts. Rising is a process that can't be rushed as the micro-organisms--our dreams and ideas--begin to bond in new ways to become something that is both beautiful and nourishing.

Please say a prayer for this process, that we'll have eyes to see the possibilities that emerge from this time of rising and that we'll be re-energized and refreshed for all of the tasks that lie ahead of us in July and beyond.

Bruce Snook did an e-mail interview with me yesterday and posted an article about the closing on the River Country Journal blog--check it out!

Elena Hines, managing editor at the Three Rivers Commercial News, was on hand at the closing on Friday to take photos and do interview for a story that appeared on yesterday's front page. Thanks, Elena!

The number on the home page this morning is $15,805, which is $4,195 short of our $20,000 goal for May 27. What happens now? That's a great question with a somewhat complicated answer.

Let me first say that we're thrilled at the amount of support people have shown for the Imagining Space project. We pushed our networks really hard over the past month--harder than we ever have for fundraising--and were extremely encouraged by the amount of joyful generosity that came back. We're so grateful to everyone who responded with prayers, ideas, wisdom and money. Thank you! We are simply stunned.

The nature of real estate and fundraising seems to be that deadlines are never neat and tidy. Since we set the May 27 deadline in anticipation of a May 30 closing date on Huss School, we've had to push the closing date back due to the logistics of having to get so many things in order first. This change will give us time to follow up on some outstanding invitations to contribute and to continue to explore other connections. We'll be setting a new deadline for ourselves soon depending on where the closing date lands and we'll keep you posted, so watch the site and your e-mail.

In the meantime, please continue to pray for wisdom, courage and delight in the face of a big, big project. We're looking forward to seeing where things land and holding loosely to all possibilities in a desire to be faithful to the Spirit's leading.

Please also continue to consider what you might contribute (or who you might encourage to contribute) to the ongoing goals toward the purchase of Huss School and the embodiment of a Kingdom vision. We really appreciate your attentiveness, care and support!

May 27 is here! We set this date and the $20,000 fundraising goal early in May according to the terms of *cino's offer to purchase the historic Huss School in Three Rivers, Michigan. As I write, we have just over $5,000 left to go and we're still waiting to see what the rest of this day brings.

The past few weeks have been exhilarating and exhausting. So many words of wisdom, encouragement and caution have come our way as we've put a big dream out there to see what happens. Will we breathe a sigh of relief and celebrate if we reach this first goal? Of course! Dozens of people from all over the world have already come together in hopeful anticipation of what might be possible for a small organization in a small town in southwest Michigan.

A celebration will honor the guiding success of the past month, but it will also be an opportunity to renew our collective commitment to the next phase of hard work. If Huss School is the place we're called to be, there are many logistics in our very near future--negotiating fees and contracts, gathering information, signing papers. If Huss School is not the place we're called to be, there's the work of taking a step back as a board of directors and community of stakeholders to re-imagine where to direct the momentum that's gathered behind the campaign. Beyond either outcome, there's more planning, meeting, talking, fundraising, grant writing, blogging...

Amid all of this, Rob and I stand with all of you at an intersection--the intersection of past and future, of global and local, of pushing and being pulled, of audacity and caution. We pray that our stillness at this intersection is and will continue to be characterized by love, faith, hope and joy that reach deeper than we can ever fully know and tie all of us to the great mystery of God's heart.

So please donate if you can. Send us your thoughts if you have words in waiting. And go in peace to embody Love through service in the place where you are. Thank you for your attentiveness to Imagining Space!

Only one week to go to our May 27 deadline for raising $20,000. It's way more money than we've ever raised before as an organization for a huge building that will take years and millions of dollars to renovate. We've already acknowledged that we're crazy (but hopefully in a good, faithful crazy kind of way).

In the spirit of confession, let me tell you: it's an emotional roller coaster right now. One moment we are encouraged by a friend in China who's donating $20. The next, we are looking at the loooong way we have yet to go and feeling like we'll never get there, even as we feel more encouraged and excited about the potential for Huss School.

In the midst of this anxious doing and waiting, a friend who's been involved in starting (and ending) several such big projects as this before sent us some words worth sharing (and for me, repeating):

I am so proud of what you are doing and the way you are imagining and hoping. The older I get, the more I have less and less patience for small dreamers who are proud of their predictable but I think petty imaginings. If I fail, I want to fail at something really good, really true and really beautiful in purpose, in hope and in courage. I see that in you.

And in a follow-up note:

You embody Delight-filled determination to make their lives and those around you count. Failure is not really possible in that framework, only plan changes and learning new ways perhaps to move forward with new people and renewed energies in grace. Take heart, feel the hope of glory in the rising potential in your midst. Life is way too short, this side of the banquet to live small and restrict the flow of transforming love.

Thank God for this friend and for all of you who have been walking with us, chipping in your prayers, dollars, cautions, advice, encouragement and ideas.

And now we wait. And do some things that need doing. And wait some more.

Rob and I had several exciting meeting with local Three Rivers folks this weekend about the potential of Huss School and the ideas that are swirling around in the larger vision for a space in Three Rivers. Several themes emerged from formal and informal conversations:

1. People want to see the Huss School building renovated and put to good use, rather than torn down.


2. People want to see life-giving, creative opportunities for those who are on the margins socially and economically, especially youth.


3. People want to see something that will contribute to the aesthetic and economic value of the neighborhood, city and county.

Admittedly, we've been more than a bit intimidated lately about being pursued by such a huge project, but we came out of this weekend feeling even more committed to doing everything we can to fill the halls and rooms of Huss School with creativity and community once again.

There's so much history and emotional energy surrounding Huss School for many people in Three Rivers and beyond and we feel that if the possibility for this particular building does come to fruition, we'd have to be gentle stewards of those stories and emotions. (For example, check out this blog post Rob stumbled on a couple of weeks ago.) Those in Three Rivers we've spoken with so far--and there will be many more, including property neighbors--have been cautiously hopeful about our vision for the building and give their blessing for this radical journey. Re-purposing Huss School would not be re-purposing just any old building, but one that's a powerful symbol for several generations. We look forward to the opportunity to serve a community that's looking for inspiring signs of hope and imagination for the good of a city we all love.