Our Needs… God’s Provision

Highlighting some key opportunities to partner with us to bring about a more developed campus / vision

 

Photo credit: Rob Bergman

 
 
 

A word from the Co-founders (Ryan & Elizabeth):

Without a doubt, the vision of Iona House is ambitious. It requires a sizable campus, the construction of numerous buildings, the cultivation and stewardship of an agricultural operation, and much more. We wouldn’t undertake this mission were it not for the fact that the Lord has made it abundantly clear that He wants Iona House to exist. We are astounded at what He has already done! The story of Iona House is fundamentally a faith story. It’s certainly not a story of our cleverness or strategic planning.

The vision of Iona House requires partners. The partners we desire are faith partners before they are funding partners. The real work God is doing here is not so much buildings and campus development projects (though these are important); it is the work of building faith and building up a community of witnesses to His faithfulness. To be clear, the vision God has given us requires a substantial expression of generosity. But our primary goal is not funding; our goal is faith.

If you believe along with us that God is doing something vital and distinctive through the ministry of Iona House, we would love to talk with you.

In all things, glory to God!

Ryan & Elizabeth

 
Contact Ryan & Elizabeth
 

Our Current Top Three Priority Needs

Note that our most consistent financial need is for people to join us as recurring partners in our operational expenses - allowing us to give the gift of Iona House to all who come to us. See our ARBOR page for more about this ministry.

 

Animal Barns & Fencing

Our animals need proper shelter, larger paddocks, and much better fencing. Goal: completion by December 2026

Total Project Need: approx. $50,000
Currently pledged / donated: $15,000

Still Needed: $35,000


Outdoor Kitchen for Village Barn

We are increasingly making communal meals on campus. Having an outdoor setup would significantly help us!

Goal: completion by November 2026

Total Project Need: $10,000
Currently pledged / donated: $8,000

Still Needed: $2,000

Wildfire Preparedness

We have significant gaps currently in our ability to address an emergency related to a wildfire. We want to address these needs! These include on-site water storage, a means of evacuating our animals, and more.

Goal: completion by November 2026

Total Project Need: $25,000
Currently pledged / donated: $2,000

Still Needed: $23,000

Other Needs

Please reach out to ryan@ionahouse.org to discuss.

Smaller Scale Needs

Items and projects that cost $5,000 or less

  • This attachment allows us to take the voluminous amount of leaves that fall on our campus and turn them into usable soil. It also will cut down our time time spent in “blowing” the leaves off of paths and roadways.

  • This water filtration system will help the taste of the well water in the Cappadocians cottage (Dome). While the current water is safe to drink, its taste could be significantly improved.

  • Moving woodchips around the property for foot paths will go much faster with the appropriate size of tractor bucket. This tool will last us for decades and saves us a significant amount of time.

  • Fall is already pretty here on our campus. We would like to add some red color to the beautiful yellows on the trees. These trees will also provide good shade in a few spots needed.

  • Being in a rural area, we have power outages more often than in suburban or urban areas. Having a backup generator means we can run the water pump for the well and prepare food, etc. while the power is out.

  • We would like to better mark out our prayer trail system on our campus. We currently have approx. 3 miles of trails but some of them are underutilized because of lack of signage. We would design a system that allows a person to determine which route to follow based on time it takes to complete.

  • This pergola would provide a shade / weather protected place to sit near the pond.

  • This is a key component that we need to add solar power to one of our structures. We hope to increase our solar power capabilities asap!

  • For use with our already donated solar panels!

  • We would like to upgrade our houses to provide built-in A/C and heating that we don’t currently have. We need to add multiple units. Talk to us if you’re interested in sponsoring this ministry.

Larger Scale Needs

Items that are more costly

  • Having our own sawmill would allow us to utilize the amazing natural resource we have in the form of a mighty forest. We could use the wood for structures, fences, contemplative arts projects, and more. The model we are looking at is https://woodmizer.com/us/lt15wide-portable-sawmill

  • We would love to have a dedicated space for woodworking. It would make use of the abundant natural resource of lumber on our property as a monastic-inspired contemplative art form.

  • We would like to add two more prayer huts to our campus. This would help us especially on weekends when our campus is full.

  • The electrical situation that we inherited at Iona House when we purchased the land + structures in 2023 leaves us constrained in many ways. We have a plan to update and upgrade our electrical situation once we have funding.

  • We would love to get our Abbey ponds developed and functional. This requires a solar driven solution to utilizing our current well and the need to line our ponds to hold water.

  • We would like to plant our olive orchard in an area that we have cleared for such. It requires money to complete terracing, put in irrigation, and purchase the trees. We imagine this being both a wonderful place of prayer and a place of agricultural production.

  • We want to develop a dedicated space for our ministry of contemplative arts

  • Talk to us about interest you may have in partnering with us to develop major aspects of our Abbey vision:

    • Chapel

    • Main Lodge

    • Commons

    • Resident House

    • Fruit Orchards

    • Stations of the Cross

    • and much more…