Giving

Six months ago, Jason Janz made an appeal for financial help for SI, and quite a few of you rose to the occasion. He was able to recover his personal investment in SI before passing the site on to me. At the time, he estimated the cost of running the site to be around $750 a month.

^{Note: This article is reprinted with permission from As I See It, a monthly electronic magazine compiled and edited by Doug Kutilek. AISI is sent free to all who request it by writing to the editor at [email protected].}

SI is now just over three years old. During our first month, we had about 7,500 different visitors to the site; and this past month, we had 38,500! The site continues to be a blessing to many and a pain in the neck for some others. :) I like stats, and this one kind of blew me away—since we opened, 35,429,657 pages have been viewed on the site! It takes a good amount of work and funds to keep the site running the way it does.

^{Author’s Note: For the past nine months, I have been consumed with the vision of planting a church in downtown Denver. This vision has called me and my family to a life of travel, a part-time job, and constant change. As the owner of SI, I have felt detached from the site I started almost three years ago. I appreciate the crew that has pinch-hit for me.}

by Brian McCrorie

If you can’t view the video above, please try this alternate link.

When SI began, I wanted to create a blog and forum to discuss news and ideas. Now, after two years, the site has grown to become much more than that. It’s an online magazine, a resource for pastors, a web community, and a news outlet. What it took to run the site at the beginning and what it takes now are worlds apart.