“Missional” is a word that we too often associate with being someone who goes to a foreign country, or to an unfamiliar neighborhood to show the love of Jesus to people in those places. For Rhonda and me, the word “missional” means nothing more than displaying the heart of Jesus, that He displayed to us, to those we come in contact with, wherever we are.
The end goal is obedience to the Holy Spirit to join God in whatever He is doing around us. To this end, with the pandemic and quarantine, we saw people all around us who were becoming anxious, alienated, depressed, and angry. As Jesus followers, we knew God wanted us to do something. So we began praying for God to give us ideas.
Trying to be as attentive to God’s leading as possible, we began doing a number of different things in our neighborhood to try to alleviate and reduce some of those stressors in our neighbors. Particularly, to neighbors up and down the street, that we have never met.
We did things like “Dessert on the Driveway” for a time, while we could meet outside, masked and distanced. We also began to deliver gifts of encouragement. Since the spikes in people getting sick, we have focused on these gifts of encouragement. They ranged from very simple things to more ornate bags with 7 or so items in them.
We have been encouraged to have great feedback from a number of neighbors! They are encouraged to see someone taking a little time to connect with them. We believe Jesus has us making these connections so that it will lead to opportunities for Gospel sharing. That’s what we believe displaying the heart of Jesus leads every believer to do!