The journey thus far has been simply incredible!!! We are beyond thrilled. It's been reconfirmed for us: God is so good and His people are truly generous. Thank you to each of you who have joined us in prayer and financial support. We are so close to finishing this Phase 1a goal!

Where things stand as of today:

• Total pledged and/or donated to date: approx. $370,000 (!!!)

• This means we're only $30,000 away from our goal for Phase 1a of $400,000.

We invite you to join us in praying that God would provide all that is needed for this vision. If you'd like to give, you can do so at our ONLINE DONATION PAGE or visit our donation page for all of the giving possibilities.

STATS: these data points bring us such joy

• We've had pledges or gifts from 45 distinct giving "units" (spouses / families counting as one) - some donating more than once and/or setting up a recurring donation

• representing 29 different churches (including 15 Bay Area and 3 Sacramento / Foothill churches)

• Donations ranging from $100 - $100,000

This represents a phenomenal beginning to this vision / project. We could not be more pleased by the broad participation and support we are seeing. Thanks be to God!

We’re incredibly grateful and inspired by the progress to date. All glory to God!! Go team IONA HOUSE!

THE UPDATE:

• Total pledged and/or donated to date: approx. $339,000(!!!!!!)

• We're only about $60k from our objective of $400,000.

• We have until August 6 to receive funds for this Phase 1a goal

STATS:

We only share because it's so inspiring...

• We've had pledges or gifts from 42 distinct giving "units" (spouses / families count as one)

• representing 27 different churches (including 13 Bay Area and 3 Sacramento / Foothill churches)

• Donations ranging from $100-100,000

What a joy it is to see God's people rally together for this vision. To see the small community that we are able to communicate with in this still-private-phase of this vision come up with this sort of funds is, in our minds, nothing short of the hand of God. And it's not over yet...

What an exciting day!!! We had 6 more donations made today. Our total stands at $280,000 with an additional $10,000 donation waiting to be made IF we can get another $10,000 in matching donation money. That would put us at $300,000. It doesn’t all have to come from one donor (though that would be welcome)… just another $10k put forward by the time proof of funds is called for. Please reach out to me (Ryan) if you have questions about this. Let’s go team!!! We’re making great progress. Elizabeth and I continue to be in awe of what God is doing. Have your way, Lord!

We are currently at approx. $270,000 in donations and pledges. This amount represents a phenomenal group of people who have acted in faith to partner for the establishment of Iona House. Here are some key data points that excite us and show us what a broad and diverse group God is gathering to believe in and support this vision (even as it remains not-even-fully-public).

• Donations ranging from $100 to $100,000 (all donations matter, no matter the size).

• Donations have come from 26 different donor parties representing over 100 people (if we include spouses and children).

• Some donors have believed enough in this vision to have made multiple donations already!

• Donations have come from people who worship in 17 different churches including 8 in the Bay Area.

Our contact list is actually not very big... so this represents a high degree of participation. Praise God for such a wonderful community of partners and supporters!

The joy and enthusiasm with which people are giving is so inspiring to us. There is something wild and faith-filled about giving to a project when it is in its initial stage - nothing more than an idea and a dream. It is very Abrahamic.

We have been talking about how to recognize and honor the faith of those who have given in this phase. - Perhaps a special commemorative plaque with the names of all those who have stepped out in courageous faith to give in this first phase, those who generously stepped forward to plant seeds for a great harvest to come (which makes us think that maybe the plaque should be in a garden area on our farm where we will be planting seeds each year!). :)

Praise God! We’ve received a handful (four) more donations this weekend. Our total stands at approx. $236,500. We’ve also been told by a few folks that a donation is in the mail (though we don’t know the amount).

One of the great joys of this process is seeing a broad community of support developing for this vision. Local people (in the Placerville area), people from the Bay Area, people from out of state, and even folks on the East Coast are all represented in our donor community. We’ve always known it would take committed, broad community to make this happen! The Lord is weaving it all together, even as we’re still waiting to see it unfold. We remain filled with faith. “Lord, have your way…”

This evening Elizabeth and I are taking a few minutes to give thanks to God and celebrate the progress to date. Here are a few highlights.

1) That we even have this property in escrow with first right of refusals on the other two parcels is a miracle to begin with! Add to this the smooth escrow to date: easement meeting, etc.

2) That we have a fantastic and growing community of people who are praying with us and partnering with us in this adventure.

3) Donations officially pledged and/or received to date: approx. $230,000

4) Number of donor parties (married couples counting as one) participating so far: 15+

We’ve got 10 days to go and $170,000 left to raise. We remain confident that God is at work! Tonight, we’re giving Him praise and glory for bringing us this far.

We’re on this exciting adventure of seeking to raise $400,000 in 30 days. We’re currently 13 days from our deadline. We have approximately $215,000 in pledges and gifts received. There are some folks who have told us they plan to give, but have not given us a number. But, as you can see, we still have a ways to go. We’re trusting that God has a way to make this work. Thanks for your prayers!

Let me begin with a confession: when working on a vision as exciting as the Iona House vision, the constant temptation is to try to make it my project or for Elizabeth and I together, our project… to pretend to ourselves that it could be our efforts or our cleverness or our strategies that bring it about. And yet, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this project is only and ever God’s project. He is the one who has placed the dream in our hearts (starting 3 years ago in a conscious way). He has been showing us that this is a dream far bigger than we are capable of accomplishing in our own strength (which is a kind of grace, actually). God is the one who has opened the doors all along the way. We’ve already seen more than a handful of miracles which operate in our hearts as signs reminding us of what has been our mantra the past number of years in ministry (both for planting and developing Eucharist Church and now this Iona House vision) - “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1). We hope and pray that this mantra will guide everything we’re doing. Our job is to prayerfully listen in order to walk in step with the Spirit and participate in what He is doing. We are but participants in God’s great project. May it be so.