Originally, I wanted the community I founded to be all about promoting veganism. But I don’t think I will be able to help in ways I want to if I make people become vegan. I want to inspire them, however. It is similar to having a spiritual path. I can’t force people to follow Jesus, but I sure hope I might inspire them to do so because I have been blessed so much every since I surrendered my life to Jesus.
I haven’t been blessed materially, necessarily, but I have had this growing, deepening sense of peace that I never felt before I called him my Master and Savior.
My name is on the deed of 19 acres of land. I don’t own the land. People can never own land. That is my belief. I am the land’s steward, and I pray I can use it to serve both those who live on the land (which includes the plants, animals and all of life) as well as the whole planet.
About 7 years ago, around 2016, a benefactress came into my life and wanted to support me in starting a vegan community which I called Jesus Vegans. Back then, I really wanted to inspire Christians to become vegans. This very successful petition demonstrated my passion for that cause: https://www.idausa.org/campaign/sustainable-activism/latest-news/ask-producers-of-the-chosen-to-accurately-portray-jesus-as-vegan/
The petition was so successful with thousands of people signing it that the director of The Chosen, the amazingly successful series which portrays the life of Jesus and his disciples in an extremely entertaining way, got really angry at me. You see, each signature went straight into the email inbox of The Chosen and that caused problems with the communications that Dallas Jenkins thought were really big. He even threatened to contact his lawyers about the petition, which I instigated. He found out I was the one who inspired Defense of Animals to circulate the petition and he said some pretty harsh words to me, along with his fans. Yikes!
I call myself a Christian, but reluctantly, because I have had some of the worst experiences of my life with Christians! But I know there are really great Christians out there and I’m not giving up on Jesus.
I say all that because I am at this point undecided about whether or not I want the core group that directs the community project to be Christian. I definitely want them to be vegan, and preferably believe the Christian Universalist path of Jesus as taught in the Bible. You can read about what Christian Universalism is all about here: https://www.christianuniversalism.com/what-is-christian-universalism/
Even as I write this, I realize that to find a Christian Universalist who is vegan who wants to help start a community–might be like finding a needle in a haystack. However, with God, all things are possible, and I will be seeking His guidance.
Me being able to have stewardship via a deed for 19 acres is indeed a miracle which needs a whole article to explain all that had to take place in order for this to happen. For now I will just say–trust me! And to have a spacious house that can be used to house the first inhabitants of the village, including me at this point, is also a miracle. I am grateful to all who helped make this happen and to God who facilitated the countless details that made this possible.
The challenge of the land is that when my former husband and I lived there with our daughter, beginning in 2001, we collected a lot of stuff which we hoped we would use to build the homestead. Robert (my former husband) was so skilled at building that with the help of some friends, he built a one room cabin, installed a wood heater, gravity fed water, and solar energy–all in the course of several months. We even had internet!
We cultivated a lovely garden and built a fence, lived in an ancient but well built trailer while the house was being built, and in so many ways we thrived on land that was originally just forest. The trees were not huge because the land had been logged years ago–probably clear cut. Logging roads go through the land.
The problem was that the cabin had a tarp roof and Robert kept replacing the tarp until we got a fifth wheel to live in because I got an inheritance from my mother and we thought we were going to travel. Those plans fell through. The roof never got replaced, and eventually Robert and I divorced. We both moved to Fayetteville and lived separately. The roof collapsed and now the cabin is in shambles–quite the eye sore.
The fifth wheel did not survive either because the roof developed a leak and was never repaired. It actually looks okay on the outside–but inside is terrible.
And the ancient trailer is actually quite amazing because it is made out of metal. It leaked as well but still is reparable.
When my benefactress donated money to build on the land, the first step was to clear away a lot of debris that had built up over the years–some of it was just trash that had never been taken to the transfer station. We didn’t have a trash pick up service, but now there is one. Lots of stuff went into the dumpster because we could not see a use for it. Much went into the “resource yard” where I now go shopping when I need something. It needs organizing, but it is useful.
Right now, the outside of the house which is well built and still needs to be insulated and gotten ready for winter, has a lot of clutter which I am slowly cleaning up. Inside is quite a wreck as well as I get things organized and re-organized. I have had to work at other jobs in order to make money to fund the building project and I’ve had little time to get things in order.
There is a yome which miraculously is still standing and I pray we can renovate it. It has a lot of clutter surrounding it and inside as well. Learn about yomes here: https://redskyshelters.com/yome/
There are two big decks as well which are very sturdy. They need to be re-painted but could be used for campsites or for little homes.
If you came and visited the community site today, you might be very disappointed with the appearance. Yet perhaps when you hear about my vision, you might feel more hopeful.
And actually, most of the land is very beautiful. Only about 3 acres has been developed. There are 6 acres right next door which I would love to buy or sell some harmonious folks. A creek runs through the lower part of the property and that creek flows to a gorgeous waterfall and wild area which is not part of the land that is in my name–but very close.
The neighborhood is a bit challenging. Some people don’t like me because I have been quite the whistleblower about aspects of the neighborhood that are deceptive to buyers. I’ll write more about that later. However, I do have some friends–and perhaps the people who are upset with me are in the vast minority.
When I visited the Bear Creek land trust in northern Missouri, I learned that the Discovery Channel was going to document the building of a community right next door to the land trust. That is what gave me the idea of giving the Discovery Channel or some other producer–the opportunity to transform the current state of Wilberforce Village site into something beautiful. People always love transformation–the before and after experience, right?
I want to see the original cabin which really has so many good memories transformed into a multi-use building which is a school, community center, dorms for students and staff. I am passionate about helping parents to be able to homeschool, or have a low-cost private school alternative. I also love the idea of making the school intergenerational. The elders can teach the younger ones skills that may have disappeared for the most part. The younger ones can help the elders learn about using computers and technology.
There are a growing number of models of schools where there is a lot of mentoring going on. I’ve heard that if you learn something, then teach it, you will acquire the knowledge of what is learned much more deeply.
People will definitely learn skills that can yield income, and everyone is encouraged to follow their bliss, their dreams in the area of right livelihood.
My dream of helping the victims of sex-trafficking to have a place to heal is so essential to this vision, and I will definitely need experts in this arena in order to help the rescued souls who have been traumatized. But the beauty of them living in a community where there are people who have not been so severely traumatized–is that they have role models. The strong can help the weak. And of course the victims who then become healed, can become advocates and mentors for those who are freshly rescued. I’ve heard stories from those transformed victims and they are beautiful!
The staff of the village who will be hired to help with the rescued victims will have families who need homes and jobs. The rescued victims will need permanent homes eventually where they can raise their own families. Or perhaps they will choose to be a part of an extended family if they do not get married. That is where the Community Land Trust model is essential This model ensures that everyone can have their own place as long as they abide by the covenants which are initially created by myself with input from a board, but eventually the whole village can give input. We will be like a little country doing our best to create the best environment with maximum freedom yet respecting people’s and all of life’s rights so that all may thrive. Learn about Community Land Trusts here–you will find it fascinating and inspiring. https://groundedsolutions.org/strengthening-neighborhoods/community-land-trusts
The building that I and other founders live in is very close to where the school and community center building is located. We will be strictly vegan living in this household, but I am willing to consider allowing the diet at the school to have animal products as long as it is provable that the animal food served is from animals that were raised and killed with the least pain possible. I know there are ways to kill cows and chickens in ways that cause very little pain and trauma.
However, I still need to think about this. You see, since we are wanting to help victims of slave trafficking, I want people to know that there are very similar things that happen to animals that happen to trafficked individuals. I hope you will read this article so you can see the similarities. https://freefromharm.org/animal-products-and-culture/animal-slavery-and-other-comparisons
Although a community land trust is a non-profit, still, profit can be made from the money paid by the people who have “holdings.” They basically pay a monthly fee which is very reasonable and not based on how many improvements they make, and they can pass on the land to their heirs. Along with the amazing and profitable businesses that the school will help to created, money can be made in order to buy more land and thus expand the operation. There is land next door to our land which might be available to buy and land just across the road and in other places in the neighborhood which might be purchased.
As we create more villages, we can become more self-sufficient, and trade and use money less. We can interface with the neighbors and develop great relationships. Jobs are scarce in the immediate vicinity and if we can create cottage industries and produce things that people really need for self-sufficient living, wouldn’t that be great? Lots of food production as well as helping people get prolific gardens and food forests cultivated will also be a service. A wonderful farmers market happens every Tuesday and Saturday in Huntsville, which is the county seat of Madison County.
The kind of village I envision could attract people from all over the world to come and visit and participate in training so they can duplicate our efforts. Since there is a huge need for helping the rescued victims to heal, we want to see as many of these villages as possible.
In addition to helping victims, we want all members of the community to be as healthy as possible, body, mind and soul. We all have been traumatized to a certain extent, and we don’t want the victims to think they are the only ones who need healing. The healthier we all are, the more productive we can be in creating harmony among each other and living in a way that is an example to the world of how people can live together and thrive.
We also will want to prevent human trafficking and find ways to help the perpetrators and the partakers. Restorative justice is important. Helping people find good and wholesome things to do instead of watching porn is another thing. We can create a think tank to come up with all the solutions so we don’t have more victims to help. We will look at the core causes of trafficking, including poverty, fractured families, and all around toxic environment and see how we can work together with others to implement these solutions.
I hope this was inspiring. I wrote this as a kind of stream of consciousness and I felt joyful and hopeful as I write it. I hope Paul Mitchell who founded http://www.Liberating-Humanity.com reads this and would like to talk to me about how to implement this idea. He inspired me to create this plan.
