Thoughts from Chicago

I (Chelsea) spent a few days in Chicago this week, and I thought a lot about living in a big city. There are certainly some benefits. The people there walked more than I do in a typical day. While I was there, I walked or took the subway everywhere. Everything I needed was so close. Grocery stores, clothing stores, church, restaurants, museums, libraries, book stores. The first day, I got caught up in the high fashion, convenience of Chicago. In the middle of the week, though, after the Cubs game, I was thrown back into reality. As I walked back to the hotel from the subway, I encountered unimaginable poverty. A pregnant woman was lying in the street on top of cardboard, a veteran was trying to walk the streets with one sock on and newspapers taped to the other foot. My first thoughts were, "I hope she is getting enough food for her baby. And I hope he isn't diabetic. He'll lose that foot."

That's why we're creating Katallagei. The world needs us. Imagine, for a moment, what access to fresh, nutritious foods could do for those two people? Imagine if they could work in the gardens, planting and harvesting. Imagine if through the garden, they heard the word of God and were introduced to Christ?

Katallagei wants to add some green to all the concrete in our city. We want to offer an opportunity for fresh produce, real community and prideful work. Please join us. If you can't join us, please pray for us. God bless!

Welcome to our Garden!

We are Katallagei Gardens. Katallagei is the Greek word we find in the New Testament for reconciliation. We are a community garden focused on creating reconciliation, bringing all people who were formerly separate, and being in communion with each other through gardening, education, and understanding. Our motto is "Thyme is more important than money!"

We were founded by Chelsea, Chris, Sam, Brian, Renee, and Justin after Chelsea got a call from God to start gardening in urban Indianapolis. We are just beginning our journey together. We are yet to find land, funding, or anything for that matter. We are working on figuring it all out together. We hope to serve our God, and Indianapolis, well. Please leave comments and questions for us! We'd love to meet you, talk to you about reconciliation and come into communion with you!