Can a community group really invite the poor into their group life?  Jesse Leightenheimer’s Community Group has experience this first hand.  His group – through its gospel-centered relationships, friendships, and mission focus – has welcomed a stranger and his family into their lives.   As a result, his group has become the home of a family who did not have one.  Once a stranger, this man is now a brother.  You will read about this group’s story here.

At the start of this round of community in August, I could tell right away that our community group would be strong in shepherding each other.  The people in our group have a tendency to naturally want to gospel each other.  The area that I knew the Lord would grow us was in being missionally minded.   It wasn’t that the group was reluctant to serve others; it was just that we weren’t sure how to step out. This growth came in the form of a challenge from Josh Thomas who has been serving faithfully as a Seed leader. He, for the past year, had been working with a man who needed people to help meet his needs physically due some disabilities, and relationally due to how him being a new believer.  Josh knew that this man and his family needed more than just one person speaking into their lives.  Josh challenged our group to come around him and his family and adopt them into our group.  Knowing the size of our group already and the challenges that come with that as well as not knowing what this relationship would look like, I was hesitant at first.  Thankfully, the Lord did not allow us to ignore this great gospel opportunity. Through the work of many people by God’s grace, this man and his family have seen a major shift in their lives, and our community group has been impacted greatly as well.  This man now desires to serve others instead of being served.  He is learning to lead in his family, and his family is being integrated into community in ways that we did not think possible even 6 weeks ago.  God has shown that he is powerful and his glory will go forward even when we are faithless and slow to act.  Our community has learned more and more what it means to be outwardly focused.  This is not happening through big events, but just through spending life together with this man and his family. So far we have done things like give him a card on his birthday, and then watch his children for him so that he and his wife could go out on a date.  In particular, when our community gave him a birthday card, this man responded by telling his wife that he felt like he had found a home.  The little things are the concrete ways that people will more and more be incorporated into community.  That is how the gospel is going to forward both with those already in community and those to whom our groups will reach.

Jesse Leightenheimer, Community Group leader and the contributor of this blog, can be reached at jleight@insightbb.com.  Deacon Josh Thomas can be reached at jtpeso700@gmail.com.

For months now my husband (Matt) and I have served every Saturday at the Grab N’ Go at BCDC on Jackson St. across from Shelby Park. Sometimes even stopping by during the week to help out where needed. We have connected with the homeless as we learn their names and the circumstances that they are living in. As we walk with Jesus, He prepares each of us for another season in our lives. This past Saturday we finally committed to serve along side our brothers and sisters at the Salvation Army on Brook St. at 6am for breakfast. God had been preparing us for a time such as this. We began in the kitchen helping to put hash browns on pans and cracking more than 520 eggs to be cooked. Soon we were shuffled out into the outer room so that we could share with those that were coming out of the cold for warmth and a hot meal.  My heart began to grow heavy as I saw the brokenness amongst those entering. Men, women, and young ladies with babies carrying all of the worldly possessions behind them filed in. I began to try to connect with them, introduce myself, share, and allow them to share with me. We seem to have such a stigma for the homeless. I stood and spoke with a gentleman for some time and asked him to share with me his story. He spoke of how he kept employment at the same place for 12 years then found himself in a divorce. Not knowing how to deal with the pain he began to drink, which led him to become unemployed and then he got behind on his child support. This led him to jail and once released, he was homeless. He now only owns a bicycle and finds himself sleeping under bridges and on this morning was happy to have woken up on the floor of the Salvation Army. Homelessness becomes a full time job for some of these individuals. As a servant to Christ I am called to serve and not to judge others (Matthew 7:1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged). This was such a deeper experience than what I have even experienced at Bates on Saturday mornings (see the calendar for more information) and I feel so blessed that God had prepared me for this time. When the word of God had been shared, six individuals came to the front with no hesitation and four more souls came to Christ Saturday morning. These are souls that God has called me to pray for to continue to be in relationship with Him. We have all been called to serve, where we are each serving is the question (Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in).

How is God preparing you to embrace his special concern for the poor?  Have you considered joining seed’s mission of loving God and neighbor in the city of Louisville?  You may be more prepared than you think…

Hope Garze, the writer of this blog, can be reached by email at vivify598@yahoo.com.