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.