Dear Friends of Santa Barbara A Rocha,
It is with mixed emotions that I write this letter.
Megan (my wife) and I began this journey called A Rocha
almost eight years ago after volunteering for a month at A Rocha Canada. We
were moved by the sense of community and authenticity of ministry taking place
there. As we traveled back home we couldn’t help but wonder what an A Rocha
project might look like here in Santa Barbara. After several years of leading
studies and hosting A Rocha guests, Megan and I, along with Rich and Jill
Dixon, began a more formal A Rocha project. This blossomed into numerous creation
care activities: seminars, creation care camps, host speakers, community
gardens, trail building, partnered environmental projects with other community
groups, and of course, the Five Loaves Farm at Santa Barbara Community Church.
Over the past year and a half, farmer Emiko Corey has provided gifted
leadership to the farm. Her labor of love has fed hundreds of Santa Barbara’s
hungry poor each week with fresh organically grown produce. All of this has
been done with a sense of joy and hope as we steward what God has placed before
us.
A good friend of mine once shared with me that good friends
are not built sitting across the table from one another but by working side by
side on a common task. Yes, the hard work of trail building, pulling weeds,
teaching kids, and growing food has been important. But even more important are
the relationships that have developed while working side by side on the common
tasks of creation care. The farm has seen hundreds of volunteers over the past
two years. We could not have done any of this without all their help. Interns
have been trained and new creation care projects have sprouted as a result. Kate
Gabriel our farm assistant and Uncle Marty Camp and Jordan Wrinkle, our
volunteers extraordinaire, have kept the farm growing and encouraged Emiko the
whole way through. We feel incredibly blessed to have so many good people in
our lives.
Now when a letter begins this way you kind of know where it
is going, right? Well… when we began this work we knew that is would not be
sustainable at the level we were going.
You just can’t work forever and not make a living. Thankfully I was able
to find great work that helped pay the bills while and still allowing me some
time to work at growing A Rocha here in Santa Barbara. There has been no lack
of supportive friends or community groups. People have genuinely liked the work
they have seen here whether that be the farm, Harvest Festivals, or camps. And
while we have been able to raise some funds for a farmer, there just hasn’t
been the financial support to provide leadership for the entire project. Over
the past several months Megan and I have been attempting to manage the strain
of me essentially working two full time jobs and finally decided that something
had to change. At the same time Emiko and her husband Aaron decided that they
were going to spend the summer together in San Francisco for a law internship and
then move together to Los Angeles so Aaron could complete his law degree. It
seemed that the timing was right to work on passing on the torch of the farm. I
met with the leadership of Santa Barbara Community Church to “sell them the
farm” and they are ready to move forward with it.
So… the farm is in transition. Santa Barbara CommunityChurch is excited about continuing the farm and is in the process of seeking a
board of directors and a gifted farmer to care for the land. In the meantime
Emiko is preparing the land with low maintenance cover crops to enhance the
soil. Our goal is to have the farm ready for the new farmer whenever they are
ready to take up the hoe. If you have interest in helping out during this
transition please contact Tony Davis (tonysdavis1@gmail.com) with your ideas.
For those of you who have been faithful donors to the farm
you have a few choices. If you would like to continue donating to the work of
the farm and feeding the hungry poor of Santa Barbara then you will need to
redirect your giving to Santa Barbara Community Church. They will be setting up a
separate account for funding the farm. Please contact Karen McClean (karen@sbcommunity.org) as
to how to direct your giving there. If you would like to continue your giving
and instead direct it to the work of A Rocha USA you should contact Ashlee
Grishaber (ashlee.grishaber@arocha.org).
And what about Santa Barbara A Rocha? We will be closing
shop for now. Emiko and I will both be leaving our positions with A Rocha USA
at the end of April. I’m sure we will still be involved in creation care; it’s
part of our DNA. But as far as providing leadership for a project of some sort…
I think it’s time for us to focus on our families for a bit. Megan and I are
ready to wait and see what God has in store for us next.
Thank you again for all the support. We will keep you
updated as the transition unfolds. Feel free to email me with any questions or suggestions.
