One area that has been very unsatisfying in working on this project is our abject failure to find any people of color interested in working with us. On one level it’s completely understandable. But we would like to be an inclusive Village open to everyone in town.

On Sunday 17 July, we visited Ebenezer Baptist Church to speak with the congregation there about our Village. We were kindly allocated 3 minutes at the end of the regular Sunday service by Pastor Lehman Bates. Having just 3 minutes to speak is an interesting challenge when there’s so much one COULD say about the Village idea and progress so far.

Anyway, we did our thing, and then briefly stood outside with our biggest smiles on as people were leaving to hand out brochures. About a half-dozen people took one and a few made positive comments about our presentation and thanked us.

Who knows if this effort will bear fruit? We shall follow up with Pastor B in a couple of weeks to see if he received any comments or questions. It’s a start.