Do you know who lives next door? How about across the street? If someone on your block needed a cup of sugar, would they knock on your door? More importantly, if they had a need for prayer or a question about spiritual matters, would they know to come to you? I googled a bit and discovered that most "neighborhood ministries" are geared toward looking out of for the impoverished and disenfranchised. I absolutely support that, but not to the exclusion of our literal neighbors.
Acts 1:8 is our church's theme for ministry this year. It says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The idea of this passages seems to be that our witness begins with those closest to us and expands from there.
This one always gets me. You see, I don't know my neighbors. I've met the guy next door once. I've waved at the family across the street a couple of times. I received a mean note on my car once about parking on the wrong side of the street from one of them, but it was typed and unsigned. I'm not sure who did that. :-\
So, my goal this next year is to meet my neighbors, to pray for them, to pray with them, to let it be known that my home is a place of prayer and their needs and concerns and questions about faith are welcome here in hopes that it just might make a difference.
If you're wondering about what to do once you've introduced yourself, www.meettheneighbors.org offers some good suggestions.
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