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.