The following post is written by Lauren Dillman, a member of Rob and Lauren Maine’s Community Group.  A few weeks ago the Maine’s group decided to throw a cookout for their neighborhood.  Instead of simply giving one perspective of the cookout, they decided to ask several members of their group to share their expectations, desires, and reactions to the cookout they threw.  This is the third in a three-part series.

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My community group is a relatively new group, having only formed this past January, and the family that hosts our group is fairly new to their neighborhood. We meet near the Sojourn East Campus in a suburban neighborhood that is occupied by mostly elderly people and people in retirement. At first, it was difficult to have compassion on the wealthy people around us in such a well-kept neighborhood. I mean, they’ve got it all together, right? They live in luxury! It’s a stark contrast to the neighborhood that surrounds Sojourn. While those streets may be littered, houses falling apart, and tangibly a neighborhood in need of Christ’s redemption, this wealthy little neighborhood seemed to be doing just fine. However, upon taking a deeper look, I realized that many of these people were just as broken as the people I had met near the Midtown Campus; the difference was that they worked hard to hide it. With this in mind, my group leaders and I began having conversations about how to reach our neighbors. Until a couple of weeks ago, the only contact that our group had with them was in receiving complaints about all of our cars parked in front of their houses every Tuesday night. That was it. We quickly realized how much we didn’t know about them. We didn’t know the culture, the neighborhood traditions, or the spiritual health of anyone, not even the next door neighbors. Most of the group didn’t even know their names. We decided that the first thing to do was to meet them, get to know them, and begin to make Christ known among the people living there. So, we decided to throw a cookout.

We set a date, printed out over fifty invitations, and baked homemade cookies to give as gifts (an idea we borrowed from Mercy Monday). On the day that we passed out invitations, I was feeling a little nervous. What if they rejected us? What if they thought the cookout was a stupid idea? What if no one came? Despite my uneasiness, I walked down the street with my community group, hoping that we weren’t completely wasting our time inviting the entire street to our barbeque. Of course, there was no need to worry. We met many people who were excited to come to a neighborhood cookout (especially one where they didn’t have to cook anything!). They were taken aback by our initiative, and confused by our desire to serve them. They graciously accepted our invitations, and we were left with hope that we might begin Godly relationships with at least a few of them.

The day of the cookout, I could tell that my whole community group was excited. We didn’t know what to expect, but we were ready to take on whatever God sent our way. We set up our tables and chairs, set out all the food, and waited. The first neighbor to show up came bearing gifts: two cases of imported German beer. Although we had previously decided not to bring alcohol, we graciously accepted his generosity. He then proceeded to open a bottle and pour it over the bratwurst that was cooking on the grill. He was from Germany, and wanted to show us how to really cook brats. We loved him immediately. It was so easy to get to know him, especially since he was so proud of his home country, and wanted to share that with us. One by one, neighbors walked up, began conversations, and let us really begin to get to know them. We met a woman from England. We met three women whom we dubbed “The Three Amigos” because of their close friendship, and who entertained everyone with their sense of humor and outgoing personalities. We met someone that didn’t even receive an invitation from us, but came anyway out of curiosity. We were able to answer questions about Sojourn, invite people to our community group, and really begin to make Christ known among them by being loving followers. Most importantly, as a group we were really beginning to obey the command to love our neighbor. Before the cookout began, I was really only expecting about five people to show up. But by the end of the night, about twenty people had come, including fifteen or so neighbors and a few leaders from surrounding community groups. Doors were opened for future opportunities to serve the people around us, and as people opened up, our eyes were opened to their desperate need for Christ.

Throwing this cookout was such a blessing, both for our neighbors and for my whole community group. I am beginning to see opportunities to share the light of Christ in our neighborhood, and my community group is really excited to start developing relationships with our neighbors. God has filled us with a desire to share the gospel with them, and is helping us to learn how to love them like Christ would.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” -John 15:12

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