We started an unanticipated blogging hiatus when we moved to Grand Rapids in August, shortly before launching the inaugural Practicing Resurrection conference in Cameron, Ontario and starting a new job at Calvin College. A great deal has been happening since then, of course, but we've been too busy to write about it in this space.
And so, some brief updates ...
One of the biggest transitions--other than leaving our wonderful group of friends in Three Rivers--has been the ongoing transformation of World Fare from a retail store run by the two of us to one run by a managerial group and board of directors. While this has been difficult (akin, on a smaller scale, to giving a child up for adoption), it should lead to a more healthy organization in the end. It's already proven exciting to watch volunteers take greater responsibility and ownership in the store, giving their time and energy to righting economic injustice through fair trade--showing that a global difference can be made in our small corner of the world. We're as prepared as we've ever been for Christmas, in no small part due to the board's planning and executing several holiday workshops throughout the season.
*cino has been suffering a little in the midst of this transition, though. We've managed to maintain our aggressive catapult publishing schedule, but we missed sending the September road journal due to the busyness. *cino has also lost two major donors in the last few months (for unrelated reasons), which means it's been scraping along to make ends meet. We'll be sending out December's road journal next week if we can cobble together the resources to pay for printing and postage. If anyone is interested in helping see that bit of things through, feel free to donate through our online donation form. We would appreciate it greatly! Lastly, we're still working toward the completion of cultureVision--*cino's online curriculum application--and we hope to have it finished in the first quarter of next year.
If all goes well, Kirstin and I will have ceded most of our managerial duties for World Fare by the end of the year, leaving us with Calvin, *cino and independent contracting work to keep us occupied. And that would probably be enough ...
