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Your Field Guide to Neighborhood Outreach – Building Bridges to Our Community

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Immanuel members, this week we’re beginning a new feature for your bulletin regarding instant community-building steps you can take to share your time and talents, and eventually your spiritual treasure, with your neighbors and friends. Each idea is a paraphrased or abbreviated excerpt from the book, Field Guide to Neighborhood Outreach by Group Publishing, 2007. We hope you’ll get excited by these insights as much as we did! Please contact me with any questions! Thanks for reading – and putting these ideas into action. I’d love to hear feedback about the fruits of your efforts! - Lisa Jaeger

From the Introduction…

It’s easy to go through weeks, months, or even years without ever meeting our neighbors. We can drive right into our garages and walk straight into our homes without ever seeing or building relationships with those around us. But God calls us to break free from that isolated way of living that is so prevalent in our culture. God wants you to be a light in your neighborhood. God has planted you right where you live for a purpose. Let your light shine!

Getting Started - How to Reach Out to Your Neighborhood

  1. Pray. Ask God how he wants you to use your spiritual gifts, passions, and talents to minister to your neighbors.
  2. Determine exactly who you will try to reach with the gospel. Set geographic boundaries – the street you live on? The whole block? The subdivision?
  3. Brainstorm creative ways to connect with your neighbors (hopefully this column will be a good source of ideas!).
  4. Once you’ve connected with your neighbors, invite them to serve the community with you.
  5. Rearrange your calendar so you can invest lots of time in the field (at home).
  6. Be sure that all your planning takes children into account. For example, if their children aren’t well-fed and cared for, single parents won’t be drawn to this outreach.
  7. Make service, love, and relationship-building your top priorities in interacting with your neighbors.
  8. Wait for God’s timing before you begin to verbalize your faith, all the while praying for God to open doors of opportunity and to be working in the hearts of your neighbors.
  9. Be proactive in spending time with both Christian and non-Christian neighbors.
  10. Discover which methods of communication seem acceptable (and unacceptable) within your neighborhood.
  11. Invite and empower others in the neighborhood to get involved in the ministry.
  12. Meet people exactly where they are before thinking of inviting them to attend a church function. Motives can easily be misunderstood among non-Christians.

Some Christmastime ideas:

Organize a holiday decorating contest.

Dress up as Santa for the neighborhood kids, such as foster and adopted children at Bethany Christian Services.

Distribute a news article at your Christmas party or in your cards that directs people toward the spiritual significance of Christmas.

Don’t be afraid to send Christmas cards that send a clearly Christian message.

Host a caroling party. Better yet, attend the Immanuel Christmas Caroling event in the Brookfield Square Mall in front of Boston Store (indoors) from 3 to 4:30 TODAY (Dec. 16)

 
 
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