Tell us what prompted you to start reaching out into your neighborhood.
Prior to our marriage, God had been at work in both of our hearts by giving us a burden for the eternal destinations of those around us. Our neighbors are those closest to us and they observe how we live our daily lives. It seemed to make the most sense to reach out to them! Also, Tim’s parents had modeled neighborhood evangelism for us. They host an annual neighborhood Christmas party and have held an evangelistic Bible study in their Michigan neighborhood for a number of years.
For most of us, this would be a scary idea. Did you face any fear or anxiety and how did you overcome those feelings?
Yes, we did face various fears and anxiety. Every time we would knock on one of our neighbors’ doors to invite people we didn’t know very well to a social, we would have to pray and ask God for personal faith and strength. We would also pray that God would deepen our relationships with our neighbors. Often, God would answer those prayers allowing us the opportunity to communicate the gospel more naturally. At other times, we would have to just step out in faith and obedience despite our fears.
When and how did you start reaching out into your neighborhood? How did you invite people? If you sent invitations, what did you put on your invitation?
We moved in to our neighborhood during the summer and immediately hosted an ice cream social encouraging our neighbors to bring their favorite topping to share. We invited the 3-4 houses on
either side of ours and 7-8 houses on the other side of the street. Danielle handcrafted invitations including: who, what, when, where, and RSVP. We then hand delivered these invitations as a way of meeting our neighbors and beginning a relationship.How did people respond? How many people showed up at your house? What was their attitude toward your initiative?
People were eager to meet each other and share a bowl of ice cream. Our fridge has been filled with leftover chocolate syrup for the last three years because our annual ice cream social provides enough to last a whole year! We had around 20 people, including children, come to the first social. Everyone was grateful to have an informal time to interact with neighbors they would see on a daily basis, but never have the courage to talk to.
How did you spend the time? What kinds of things did you do? Did you introduce the gospel or anything about your faith this first time?
Our first ice cream social was spent solely on getting to know one another. Everyone wore name tags and we started the social with an ice breaker. We also had an activity for the children. Soon after, we made our ice cream sundaes and devoured them together. Children are always a great source of enjoyment and topic of conversation. We did not introduce the gospel or anything about our faith at this first social. Many future conversations stemmed from the rapport we had built during that first ice cream social.
What surprised you most about this first initiative? What did you learn about people, society, and neighborhood evangelism?
First, we were surprised by how many people we talked to and how much we learned about our neighbors when we delivered our invitations. We really didn’t know how many people were going to come, and were surprised by how many people attended. We learned that everyone longs for community and will come to a stranger’s home to experience it. Second, it surprised us at how many of our neighbors did not even know each other. We had neighbors who lived right next door to each other for several years meet for the first time. We also learned that neighborhood evangelism starts with building relationships. It didn’t take long to enter into one-on-one spiritual conversations once we had built some trust and history – all around a bowl of ice cream topped with chocolate syrup. It was a great way to start neighborhood evangelism.
Please visit Missio CrossWay next week for the next entry in Neighborhood Evangelism.
