Isaac's Upbringing in a Faith-Based Community

Isaac shares the story of growing up in a unique faith-based community.

"My wife's grandparents founded this community 51 years ago. It started as an inner-city mission in the slums of Manhattan. They had been atheists but had radical life-changing experiences with God, became Christians, and felt called to start this mission.

A motley crew of folks from all backgrounds came together and a church was founded. A few years in, they realized they needed a culture to raise their kids that would sustain the values they cared about - family and faith. They moved about 200 people to western Colorado, which was like the middle of nowhere for people who had spent their whole lives in New York City.

My parents encountered this group, had transformational experiences, came to God, and joined. In Colorado, they learned skills like living off the land, growing food, and working with their hands. They relearned traditional skills like woodworking, pottery, and blacksmithing.

In the early nineties, they moved to Texas. We have about 450 acres just outside of Waco. What makes us different is we take our faith very seriously and want to make it come alive in every aspect of life. We truly try to live out community - working, playing, doing life together. There are about 1200 people in this Texas branch, with about a third living on the property.

We strive for simplicity. We don't have TVs in our homes, we don't really have internet in our homes. About 95% of the community is self-employed or works for each other. We live an agrarian lifestyle, grow gardens, and use technology, but our philosophy is to control it versus being controlled by it."