South Loop of Chicago.
My wife, Cindy, and I have moved to a new home in a mid-rise building in Chicago’s South Loop. Relocating from the Uptown neighborhood where we lived the past two years, this feels like a new mission field. We’re approaching the community as missionaries.
Our seven-year old Australian Shepherd, Yabbo, has proven an effective missionary in his own right. He provides the opportunity to initiate conversations easily. In keeping with the breed, Yabbo is well mannered, charming, and appreciates attention. With Yabbo’s help, Cindy and I have begun to meet the wide variety of people in our mission field and to engage them in conversation. We’re learning what is important to them, how they think, and who they are.
Among our new neighbors are a 60-something couple who moved in a week after we did from a nearby condo. They waited two years for the right place in this building to hit the market. We’ve met a cautious 60-something mother and her hard-charging adult daughter who live together. One woman is single-again in her 40s and has an energetic, vocal small dog. Another couple, in their early 30s, has daughters who are ages three years and four months.
“Who are the people in the neighborhood?” Engage them in conversations. Common ground becomes an opening for the gospel.
If the condo association permits us, we’ll host monthly Sunday brunches as a means of getting to know our neighbors and develop relationships with them. Our objective is to bless our neighbors. We believe, deeply, that the place we live should be better because Jesus-followers are here. We seek to add value to their lives.
The relationships we develop will provide conduits for the gospel and opportunities for disciple making. We’re confident that some will hear the gospel for the first time. Others may have heard the gospel, but have never understood how it applies to their daily lives.
Our hope is that a new community of believers—a church—will emerge from the new believers and those who seek to grow in Christ-likeness.
Regardless of whether we’ve lived in the same place for decades or just moved some place new, we all have the opportunity to listen and learn. Ask as they do on Sesame Street, “Who are the people in the neighborhood?” Engage them in conversations. Common ground becomes an opening for the gospel. And we can begin to make disciples while going about our daily lives.
– Dennis Conner is IBSA’s Church Planting Director for the Northeast Region.
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