We Are Neighbors

What if you put your whole self in to neighboring?  What might you discover living in proximity to you? Opportunities to serve, to minister to others, or even people with wonder gifts and abilities that you can learn from?  The opportunities are as numerous as your neighbors. And while you can be a blessing to others, you will likely be the one who gets blessed. Especially, if you put your whole self in! In this heart-warming story from Steve Hartman (CBS) we learn about the hokey pokey and what happened when one neighbor decided to embrace her elderly neighbor's love for the song. See the video here.

We serve a God of order so this rule of physics can apply to our efforts neighboring initiative. "Significant change will occur with minimal force if applied over an extended period of time." We are off to a good start on the neighboring initiative here at Ridgecrest but to change the cultural narrative we need to keep taking steps to emphasize neighboring. We are ready in one week to move on to the second challenge in our neighboring initiative: meet and talk with your eight closest neighbors! I was reminded a few weeks ago that neighboring begins with prayer. I realized I had never met one of the widows living on my street. My wife and I prayed that we would have an opportunity to meet and help her. The next day, God orchestrated a moment for me to meet Harriet. Her dog Buster escaped and found my dog Otis and me on our walk. I carried Buster back, and that led to a conversation about her north-facing driveway and the danger it posed for her when snow is on the ground.

  Dear Representative, I had an opportunity to be at the capital on Wednesday, Feb. 16, to testify in front of the Tourism Committee in favor of a bill proposed by Representative Bishop Davidson. I am writing to ask you to support this measure as it passes through the legislative process. HB 1560 -- Recognizes September 28 as "National Good Neighbor Day" and designates the week of September 28 as "Missouri Good Neighbor Week." Five years ago, my wife and I discovered that we only knew the names of neighbors in two houses enar us (we have lived in the same house for 18 years). We were convinced that our apathy was not the best way to live. Together, we set out to re-introduce ourselves to our neighbors and to learn our neighbors' names, use their names, and find ways to interact with them socially. Over the last four years, my wife and I have been blessed to build relationships with our neighbors. Doing so has improved our quality of life. At the same t

Ridgecrest Baptist Church has a long tradition of organizing a luncheon near Valentine's Day for the widows of our church. The deacons help set-up, serve and clean up as a way to minister to the widows of our church on this holiday that often represents the love of couples. There is a growing program at Ridgecrest called Righteous Oaks that is focused on developing friendships and a network of believers among those in the church that are widows or widowers. The program needs champions who help market it, get people there, and serve in the ministry. More information about Righteous Oaks and the Grief Share ministry can be found on the church website . Some of the statistics on widows in the United States are startling. Widows are the fastest-growing demographic in the United States as baby boomers age.  Widows lose 75% of their friendship network when their spouse dies. 60% of widows experience serious health issues in that first year.  One-third of widows meet the criteria for clin

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.   Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." • Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers from the Ridgecrest Baptist Church out into our own neighborhoods. • Ask the Lord to show you a few neighbors that He would like for you to develop relationships with in your neighborhood. We recommend starting with the people being the eight closets front doors to your door. • Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see what is going on in each of your neighbor’s lives and then ask Him to give you a heart of compassion. • Ask the Lord to show you what He is doing in each of your n

I often get asked about my favorite books or articles on neighboring. Since 2019, this has been the primary subject of my academic and leisure reading.  The first book I read on this subject was "The Art of Neighboring" by Dave Runyon and Jay Pathak.  I have marked my personal favorites in bold on this long list of resources. You will also find some fictional listings (marked) that teach good lessons about neighbors.  There is much to be learned on this subject and when anyone is talking or writing about the value of neighboring we all benefit. - David Burton   LITERATURE REVIEW AND NEIGHBORING RESOURCES Aaron Smith, “Neighbors Online,” Pew Research Center, June 9, 2010. Abide Ohama. Neighbor Improvement effort in Ohama, Nebraska. https://www.abideomaha.org/programs Allen, Jennie. Find Your People: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World . WaterBook. 2023. Angulo, R., &; Crowell, D. (2018). Kindness & salt: Recipes for the care and feeding of your friends an