Long before we arrived

Duchesne is an all girls prep school in our neighborhood. I don’t know how many times I’ve driven past and looked at the building. I have always thought about what a great asset it is for our neighborhood. Recently I got the chance to go inside and hear from the Head of School at the neighborhood association meeting.

Duchesne may be the oldest organization in our neighborhood. About 130 years ago a group of nuns came to Omaha and founded the school. It started out as a convent. For 130 years there have been nuns and students praying at the chapel on campus.

In 1994 they were experiencing some hard times. There was enormous pressure to move out to west Omaha suburbs (where the money is). But after considering it for a long time, they decided that God had them in this place for a reason. There were many reasons to move, but they chose to stay.

For me, as I live out God’s calling on my life, it’s clear that putting down roots and serving my neighborhood is central. This story from Duchesne really helped me see how powerful this is. God has been at work in this neighborhood long before we arrived. I love that feeling. We get the job of discovering what He is doing and partnering with Him.

One tangible way I am involved in our neighborhood is through events and neighborhood meetings. I often meet others that want to see the success of our neighborhood. By getting involved in very tangible needs we will naturally make connections with people. A very simple, and very effective strategy in advancing God’s Kingdom.

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Fear brings isolation

“At this point I would rather throw them in the Missouri,” he said while leaning forward in his chair. He was obviously very upset. I heard this comment during a discussion about the change inCOMMON’s new community center was going to bring to people living in poverty. This man was wondering whether the community center would bring positive change to the neighborhood or whether it would encourage more destruction. The joke of the whole thing was that the former owners of the community center were the owners of a strip club.

Why are we so motivated by fear? Is it really true that refugees and people living in poverty are responsible and should be blamed? Or is how we relate to one another the cause of destruction?

Until we answer questions about our own fear we will only bring more isolation into our communities.

We all have these feelings of fear that cause us to throw up our hands in frustration, rather than helping people in some way. Until we realize that poverty is a lack of relational networks our solutions only feed the problems and lead to further isolation. The end answer looks more like throwing people in the Missouri river than it does crossing the street and attempting to understand our neighbors.

This is not easy and it may be uncomfortable, especially in an age when our neighbors are from all over the planet. However, we may find that if we are open to understanding our neighbors first, that we gain more than we lose. Often the same understanding that we ourselves demand is not extended. "Love your neighbor as yourself," seems very simple, but is often the most difficult task. Mending broken relationships is so important to bringing our communities out of poverty and despair.

Why focus on one Neighborhood?

The beauty of working in one neighborhood as a believer is that I do not get to chose my neighbor. This is great! We talk about this so much in our churches, "we want people to come that don't know the good news." Well to me treating our neighborhoods better is a great place to start. There are so many ways that we choose people who will be in our clubs. We dress certain ways. We are members at certain places. The list goes on and on. But when you get home at night you had little to say about who lives next to you. It is true though that we make efforts to choose our neighbors too. If we have the ability to choose what neighborhood to live in, we have the means to move into a place where people probably look and think a lot like us.

My family and I have been in Omaha for about 9 months. As we set out for this city we had a spark in us to pursue neighborhood development. Anyone that knows us knows that we also believe that Jesus is the only answer for a fallen world. That being said we have been on a journey to live out the life of Jesus in our neighborhood. As we have done this we discover that most people do not have a problem with Jesus. So what does neighborhood development and the Gospel have in common. Well for one are we being good neighbors? There is so much that Jesus taught us that we are not doing, as one person we can feel overwhelmed. What can one person do to bring light to the world?

If we started to treat our neighborhoods better we would start to meet our neighbors. The great thing about focusing on one place is that your neighbor’s needs are your needs. It is now not about us doing something to or for someone ,it is about us working with our neighbors.

In our neighborhood there is a great park that does not get used that much and is a bit ragged. The grounds have a lot of weeds and the equipment is sort of falling apart. There is a baseball field that has an infield completely full of grass. As I was walking my dog yesterday I noticed that there was a man and three boys playing baseball. I went up to him. “It is great to see this field getting some use.” I said. “Yeah the field is not in the best shape but it works.” He said. “Who is responsible for the upkeep?” “The city.” He said. “We are working on getting some new equipment at the park and then we are going to start working down here.” “Who are you with” I said. “The Gifford Park association.” At that our conversation was done for the time being. But this conversation can be continued at the monthly neighborhood meeting. Where there is a group of neighbors already meeting to work for the good of our neighborhood.

When I look at the Gospel I am encouraged that this is a good approach. Jesus had government officials, tax collectors, fisherman, Pharisees, prostitutes all over for supper. As we seek to follow Christ we will probably run into the same issues he did. We will probably get push back but I feel like focusing on one neighborhood is something small that I can do. There is a lot that I can’t do. The impact that my life (Changed by Christ) could have is magnified by focusing on the small things. In a neighborhood there is no divide between what is sacred and what is secular, we are just neighbors.

Here is a prayer that is hanging on the side of my door to remind me to keep our neighborhood in prayer. “O Lord, our creator, by your holy prophet you taught your ancient people to seek the welfare of the cities in which they lived. We commend our neighborhood to your care, that it might be kept free from social strife and decay. Give us strength of purpose and concern for others, that we may create here a community of justice and peace where your will may be done; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”