Part of serving is listening, knowing and playing an active role in the lives of those around us.  Fredrick Buechner says it better …

“In the long run the stories all overlap and mingle like searchlights in the dark.  The stories Jesus tells are part of the story Jesus is, and the other way round.  And the story Jesus is is part of the story you and I are because Jesus has become so much a part of the world’s story that it is impossible to imagine how any of our stories would have turned out without him, even the stories of people who don’t believe in him or even know who he is or care about knowing.  And my story and your story are all part of each other too if only because we have sung together and prayed together and seen each other’s faces so that we are at least a footnote at the bottom of each other’s stories.  In other words all our stories are in the end one story, one vast story about being human, being together, being here.”

CJ Strange is the Appalachia Field Director for Crossroads Missions, a short-term missions organization that combines the biblical principles of worship, service and discipleship by being a doorway for churches and individuals seeking ministry opportunities in places they may otherwise have difficulty serving.

Relocation is a term thrown around a lot in the ‘urban ministry’ culture.  But what exactly is it?

John Perkins, who actually coined the three R’s of community development (relocation, reconcilation, and redistribution) explains relocation this way,

““Living the gospel means desiring for your neighbor and your neighbor’s family that which you desire for yourself and your family.” Only by joining a community do a community’s needs become one’s own. Living the gospel means sharing the suffering and pain of others, and relocation transforms “you, them, and theirs,” to “we, us, and ours.” “Effective ministries plant and build communities of believers that have a personal stake in the development of their neighbors,”

Michael Barkey, author of Models of Effective Compassion: Dr. John Perkins and the Three R’s of Community Develoment takes this idea even further:

“For some persons, relocation means “going back” to a community after growing up, receiving an education elsewhere, tasting success, and then responding to God’s call to return home with skills and leadership to give to the people there. For others, relocation means moving from the outside in, to uplift the people who live there. Either way, by having a personal stake in the success of the community, individuals relocating to a community often are able to provide the leadership and inspiration needed to rebuild the fallen community and prepare the next generation for a brighter tomorrow”(2000).

Relocation was always the hardest part of ‘urban ministry’ for me to accept, even though I knew it was one of the most important.  I knew that if we didn’t actually move into this neighborhood (Shelby Park) that our selfish nature would take over and we just wouldn’t really care about the poor of Louisville.  We knew we would intend to be involved in the neighborhood, but when things got tough, we would just not have a vested interest, because neighborhood issues just wouldn’t affect us.  So, we had to move here to even begin to care.  Thank God He can use us even with wrong motives.

Lindsay Eubanks is a longtime member of Sojourn, a wife, mother and Occupational Therapist. Lindsay and her husband live in the Shelby Park neighborhood in Louisville where they are trying to learn to be better neighbors and love God more.

Below is a compilation of stories and snapshots of the friends (kids) I’ve spent time with in the past few years in Shelby Park (Louisville, KY). Some are funny. Some will make you wonder why you complain that your king-sized bed is a bit hard. Some will just make you think.

LUCY – 11 years old.

“It’s beautiful! So Beautiful!,” Lucy delights loudly as we walk through the clear glass doors. I have to hold onto her jacket to keep her from bumping into people as she gazes up at the ceiling and takes in all the smells and sights her 11 year old eyes have never seen before. “I smell something good.” she says with longing as dinner time grows nearer. She begs me to ‘look around’ a little longer. It’s like she is seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. Maybe to her limited experiences, it is like the Grand Canyon. To me and the hundreds of other shoppers, it was just another trip to the Oxmoor Mall. Lucy talks about the time she went to the mall like I talk about my trip to Lake Tahoe.

CARLA- 14 years old

Carla is a freshman in high school. She lives with her mom in a rental house in our neighborhood. She told me how excited she was to move into a new house on another block. Why? Because she would finally have a room with a door.

DARLENE- 9 years old

Darlene is 9 years old. “Well, I lived with my daddy till he got in some trouble. Now I live with mam maw. This is the third time we’ve moved this year. I think I’ll be going back with my daddy after school lets out and he gets out of jail.” Darlene adds with a smile, “Oh, and his girlfriend is pregnant! I love babies.” Darlene also mentions to me that she and her 3 other sisters (6, 7, and 8 years old) are going to have their own room. There will be 2 to a bed she says. I ask if the beds are big. She says “they are huge.” I’ve come to learn that huge may mean a twin or full.

JD – 4 years old.

JD: Oh, what kind of bug is this?

Me: It’s a lady bug.

JD: Where does he come from?

Me: God made him. Do you know God made everything, even you?

JD: God made me?

Me: Yep. He made the ladybugs, the grass, the sky, everything.

JD: What kind of car does God drive?

Me: ?

Lindsay Eubanks is a longtime member of Sojourn, a wife, mother and Occupational Therapist. Lindsay and her husband live in the Shelby Park neighborhood in Louisville where they are trying to learn to be better neighbors and love God more.

The old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Who decides what is broken?

Throughout the time spent doing mercy ministries the phenomena of “broken” makes an appearance. It might be in a septic line, a vehicle, a house, a schedule, a bike, a community, a relationship or a person. Depending on how one looks at it, everything seems as if it is broken. I have wondered whose responsibility it is to determine what is and is not broken and more importantly who is going to fix what is broken!

As time passes and we stop and look around and listen, it becomes evident that ALL people are broken. Some are more broken than others, but in general EVERYONE is broken and our financial status, education, families and regional background may or may not play a role in the degree to which we are broken. “How does one fix broken people?” is typically the question to follow. Then an additional series of thoughts and questions can fill one’s mind and one can begin to wonder why we build houses, paint and make general repairs on other houses. What is the purpose behind the various mercy ministries? Maybe it is that we aren’t intended to “fix” anyone. But when we serve one another, we let our lives touch one another, and we become aware of our wholeness in Christ and not our brokenness without Him. Mercy ministries aren’t about fixing anyone or anything, but they are about breaking and re-breaking and then letting Jesus heal.

As one spends time in mercy ministries, lots of tasks are accomplished, but those aren’t the things that stand out. It is the serving that stands out. It is the serving that happens between the old, the young, the rich and the poor who participate in mercy ministries. Not fixing, manipulating or controlling lives, but people serving and sharing life together and through it all some are healed and most discover that life with Christ is Holy.

CJ Strange is the Appalachia Field Director for Crossroads Missions, a short-term missions organization that combines the biblical principles of worship, service and discipleship by being a doorway for churches and individuals seeking ministry opportunities in places they may otherwise have difficulty serving.

5 Ways You Can Get To Know Your Neighbors in the Inner City Atmosphere.
(These are NOT all inclusive or exhaustive.. just to get you thinking)

1.  Go Borrow Something (i.e. an egg, a saw, a shovel, etc.)  It is always important that   a relationship be reciprocal.  You need your neighbor just as much as you think your neighbor needs you.

2.  Play with the kids (outside, unless parents approve them coming inside your home).  Kids have a way of looking past all the barriers we adults set up such as color, economic status, culture, and even expectations of cleanliness!  They are a great gateway to meeting their parents and beginning conversations.

3.  Be Intentional and Strategic.  You don’t want to seem like a stalker, but you also don’t want to have the excuse “They are never home.”  People do come home!  Pay attention to when people are outside, getting into their cars, checking their mail, sitting on their porches.  Example,  make an effort to check your mail when you know your neighbor is pulling up to the house from work.  This might provide an opportunity for a conversation or at least a friendly hello.  Or, when you hear your neighbor taking out their trash, go ahead and take yours out too.  This works well in the urban areas because the homes are so close together – you can’t help but talk to your neighbors.

4.  Take Walks.  If you have a child, a dog, or a friend, just take a short walk around your block or to a local park.  In inner city areas, more people are walking on the sidewalks because their transportation is either the bus or their feet.  This is a great time to meet new folks.  And kids and dogs are great ice breakers (unless you don’t take the pooper scooper!)

5.  Stay Home.  This could also fall into the the ‘intentional and strategic’ category, but the basic premise is this:  Staying home means you are available!  How are we to meet our neighbors if we are ALWAYS at work, church, school, or the gym (while simultaneously on our cell phones)?  Sometimes we have to ‘schedule’ home time so that we are there when the neighborhood kids want to come in and play CandyLand unexpectedly, or the lady next door needs to borrow some milk.  If people come to an unanswered door enough times, they stop knocking.