1. Let your roomates/family know your whereabouts and plans at all times. Lone rangers do not last long in the city. Put up a dry-erase board in your house and let people know where you are and when you’ll be home. And give yourself some extra time so that people don’t panic if you’re late, and call home if that lateness will be more than 30 minutes.

2. Be alert and aware of your surroundings at all times. Neighborhoods can change by the block, meaning one can get caught in a real bad position real fast and not even realize it. Pay attention and do not go into unfamiliar regions without someone from the community you know.

3. Walk purposefully and with confidence. Even if you are nervous, do not act nervous. People tend not to approach those who look like they know what they are doing, and where they are doing it.

4. Dress modestly. This is not to excuse the boorish behavior of some towards those who dress immodestly. It is simply to avoid such behavior, if and whenever possible.

5. Keep valuables and money in a living area strictly off limits to visitors.

6. Don’t tempt them to sin by showing them all your stuff. They may not think about how stealing will damage their relationships with you until it is too late.

7. Lock your car doors and make sure valuables are not visible (i.e. Ipods, Cd’s, Cell phones, nice jackets, etc.)

8. As women, do not walk or run (even for exercise) alone.

9. Have someone watch you get in/out of your car after dark if someone is available to do so.

10. Call the police if you see anything suspicious or potentially dangerous (drug activity, prositution, fights, loitering, etc.)

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.