(written Mar., ‘07)

Again and again we’ve had to slow ourselves down from jumping into programs for our community and focus on relationships. We were reminded of this by a couple who did this kind of ministry for 15 yrs. They said they spent the first year a a half just building relationships! Our milestones are not what projects we’ve started, but the people we have connected to. In Restoring At-Risk Communities, Bob Lupton says, “We are finally beginning to realize that programs do not fix communities. Only neighbors can do that.”

As I walk the streets of my neighborhood, I feel the needs because they are also my own as a part of this community. I see the youth wandering around without purpose; dreams and gifts lying dormant under the facade of the glorified street life. I see teenage girls walking with babies in strollers, looking for a “man” to give them identity. I see young men sitting in the same spots day after day with the light of life already snuffed out of their eyes.

And so, we try to weave the threads of community through little conversations, in the park, in a coffee shop, and mostly on the streets. We do research on churches and organizations already doing work in the area and assessing their effectiveness through real life. We pray and dream of what this neighborhood could one day be and how we will all as a community get there.