Neighborhood Missionary Network

Christ-followers living like missionaries in their neighborhoods, with the same zeal, strategy, and intenstionality as overseas missionaries have. As a result, neighborhoods are transformed through the love of Christ as manifested in the lives of local believers.

Mission:
Train Christians missional life skills to bring the Good News to our neighborhood, through our words and actions, in partnership with others.

Values:

Neighborhood Mission Networks: What are they?
Perhaps the easiest way to understand a life of service in our communities and neighborhoods is to break it down into its primary parts.

Neighborhood
The neighborhood designates the area of our concern, the place where we are actively involved, where we invest in the people God has brought into our lives. It is one of our primary circles of influence. In the biblical terminology of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Uttermost Ends of the Earth, this is our Jerusalem. Our neighborhoods are where we get to know people, where we understand needs and where we can demonstrate the amazing love of Jesus Christ. Smart cross-cultural missionaries have always taken time to understand their new settings, before they plunge into ministry activities. It is an unfortunate mistake that new missionaries sometimes make, coming in with a predetermined program, plan, or solution. Until a missionary has lived in a community for some time, it is not likely that he or she will really understand people or their needs, and any plans for ministry will likely not be very effective. Neighborhood missionaries already have some understanding of the community which can then be build upon. The community is also where we are known. In our neighborhoods, we can't pretend. People know us. They watch our lives, and where we can demonstrate the difference Christ makes in someone's life. Our neighbors observe how we handle life, with all its ups and downs. It is where truly incarnational ministry can happen.

Mission
Mission, or "reaching out," is the heart of the gospel. God reveals Himself throughout Scripture and throughout history as a God who seeks people. He first reaches out to us, not the other way around. Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." Jesus' words to us, his commission to us, is to live life as he lived it - where people are. Not in the safe environment of the church, but in the rough and tumble world of our neighborhoods. Mission is sometimes described as evangelism, but it is more than just proclaiming the Good News, it is also all about practical deeds of service to others. The evangelization of the world is the supreme task of the church. The world is all around us, and we don't have to cross an ocean to be a missionary. Fulfilling the Great Commission is all about our lifestyle, about being missional in our words and our actions. It is being intentional in the way we live our lives. It is about being strategic. And it is certainly about being willing to get involved in our neighbors' sometimes messy lives.

Networks
We acknowledge that we can't do it alone. If we look at what abilities God has given to each of us as part of the Body of Christ, we realize that we can't do everything. It makes sense to find ways to work together. As a result, not only individuals, but whole neighborhoods can be transformed when believers work together to accomplish something greater than could be accomplished alone, and the Gospel becomes believable.

Networks can link communities with resources, and individuals and families with sources of help, regardless of whether that help comes from churches, organizations, individuals, or social services, etc. A neighborhood missionary identifies others in the community who shares his or her desire to serve the community and finds ways of working together. Often a first step is simply praying for their community and spending time with their neighbors. It is important not to assume anything, and to be willing to play a humble role. That is where God works. God can do anything through the person who doesn't care who gets the credit.