After a holiday lull and decline in the most recent Covid surge, our stream of visitors to the community is picking back up. Some of our guests are seeking to learn more about communal living. Others want to hear about the experiences of refugees and immigrants and discover how they might make connections in these communities. Former refugees and staff often visit to reconnect with friends and see how Jubilee has evolved over the years.

This past January, for example, we hosted a Korean couple, and many of us enjoyed inviting them for a meal or conversation. The husband is in a doctoral program and is researching the new monastic movement and intentional Christian communities. They appreciated learning from “seasoned” communitarians such as founders Don and Carolyn as well as new novices Andrew and Camille, who had a lot to connect with them over, having spent eight years teaching English in Korea.

We were also recently blessed by a day visit from a Congolese family who lived at Jubilee as newly arrived refugees in the U.S. the summer of 2015. They brought snacks to share, and we sat around a fire on a chilly Sunday afternoon. We enjoyed reminiscing about the dad’s enjoyment of milking the Jubilee cow when they lived here, and they enjoyed meeting our newer staff members and volunteers as well.
In other news, a Venezuelan woman who we hosted for about two months has moved to California, and we would very much appreciate your prayers for her safety and next steps.