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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}history-2.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 176px; float: right;" /></p>
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	Au Sable did not become &ldquo;The Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies&rdquo; until 1979. It started years before as a dream of Harold Snyder while he was still a graduate student at Michigan State University. Harold believed that first-hand contact with God&rsquo;s creation could powerfully shape and transform a person&rsquo;s relationship with God and their commitment to Jesus Christ. He also believed that serving and protecting the physical was an important role for human beings living on earth under the authority of God, and something that could and should be done by every person. Thanks to the work and vision of Harold Snyder and many others, these ideas have been shaped into the reality of thousands of lives today, lives touched and changed by the education and experience of the Au Sable Institute.</p>
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	Today there are about 4,000 alumni of Au Sable&rsquo;s courses, internship experiences and Graduate Fellows programs. Many, perhaps most, are working today in ways unique to their calling and giftedness, to serve, protect and restore God&rsquo;s earth. Yet, for all these thousands of alumni, those of us who are among them often know little about the others. The significant accomplishments, enduring effort, and lasting effectiveness of Au Sable alumni are real, but their work and their lives are not shared among many of us who have shared the Au Sable experience.</p>
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	The word &ldquo;community&rdquo; is often over-used and misapplied. Community does not exist primarily because of what we say about it, but because of what we choose to share about it. I am convinced, from biblical teaching, historical example, and personal life experience, that true community is formed in the sharing of three essential elements: mutual admiration, common purpose, and collective achievement. When people possess these things in common with one another, true community begins to grow, and each member begins to share the strength of all.</p>
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	<em>Profiles in Stewardship</em> is a feature we will begin offering on our website to build the Au Sable community, particularly in our desire to grow in mutual admiration of one another, of the work we have done, and of the stories of our lives invested in that work. In that mutual admiration, we will also find mutual inspiration, seeing people like us and different from us, doing things we have done, or hope to do, but shaped together by the place and mission of Au Sable. To accomplish these things, we must first begin the work of knowing one another, of learning our stories, and celebrating God&rsquo;s work and call in our lives in the mission of creation care.</p>
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	Our first offering of <em>Profiles in Stewardship</em> conveys the experiences of Au Sable alumni, <a href="/news_and_resources/blog/profiles_in_stewardship_mark_breederland#.UX6a7bU3uSo">Mark Breederland</a>, once an Au Sable student and maintenance worker, and now an educator for the Michigan Sea Grant Program, a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Michigan State University concerned with the quality of Michigan&rsquo;s water resources and the people who depend on them. More profiles will follow. I ask you to read them with, as Jesus often put it, ears to hear. Look at what God is doing in the ministry of creation care in every life, and you will see yourself and your work differently. And if you know a life that should be in one of these profiles, write and tell me about it. I would like to see every one of your stories here, shared by and inspiring everyone who is part of the Au Sable community.</p>
