The Kirkos Caravan is The Pilgrim Family on the Journey of Life sharing stories and songs along the path. It is a domestic church, a traveling storytelling theater, a creator of media for families, the host of creative productions, and a cottage school specializing in homesteading and storytelling. In essence, it is a life-learning family formation project made to be shared with other pilgrims we happen upon during the journey--friends, relatives, and the local community, wherever our paths lead.
The Kirkos Caravan is both a personal and public endeavor to renew family-based traditional culture and sustainable agriculture through studies and workshops in homesteading and storytelling. What is home-based culture and agriculture? All those daily and seasonal pursuits we once took for granted but that now seem to be lost arts: following the liturgical calendar with special hymns, recipes, and crafts, entertaining our own family and friends with talents that were born and nurtured through their support, decorating our homes with our own handiwork, growing and preserving our own food and celebrating the bounty with our community at seasonal feasts...
Created by and for the Kirk Assaf family and their communities as a "School of the Family" project, the Kirkos Caravan Pilgrims' Path leads them from Remus, Michigan to Rome, Italy and back again in a perpetual loop each year, with occasional excursions to Lebanon and other places of personal or religious significance.
The Kirkos Caravan is both a personal and public endeavor to renew family-based traditional culture and sustainable agriculture through studies and workshops in homesteading and storytelling. What is home-based culture and agriculture? All those daily and seasonal pursuits we once took for granted but that now seem to be lost arts: following the liturgical calendar with special hymns, recipes, and crafts, entertaining our own family and friends with talents that were born and nurtured through their support, decorating our homes with our own handiwork, growing and preserving our own food and celebrating the bounty with our community at seasonal feasts...
Created by and for the Kirk Assaf family and their communities as a "School of the Family" project, the Kirkos Caravan Pilgrims' Path leads them from Remus, Michigan to Rome, Italy and back again in a perpetual loop each year, with occasional excursions to Lebanon and other places of personal or religious significance.
What's in a name?
“Kirkos” was the first word for circus, meaning “circle” in Greek. “Kirk” is an antique word for “Church” from Scotland, the country of origin of Andrea Kirk Assaf’s paternal ancestors. The symbolism of the circle spans the ages and all cultures, from the Phoenicians of the ancient world to the Native Americans of the new world. “Kirkos” symbolizes the circle, the circus, the cycle of life, eternity, and the Church. The “Caravan” represents the journey, the passage of time, the wheel, and colorful festivity.
“Kirkos” was the first word for circus, meaning “circle” in Greek. “Kirk” is an antique word for “Church” from Scotland, the country of origin of Andrea Kirk Assaf’s paternal ancestors. The symbolism of the circle spans the ages and all cultures, from the Phoenicians of the ancient world to the Native Americans of the new world. “Kirkos” symbolizes the circle, the circus, the cycle of life, eternity, and the Church. The “Caravan” represents the journey, the passage of time, the wheel, and colorful festivity.
