Sometime after I had finished pastoring in my last church, as I was walking through my neighbourhood, I sense the Lord impressing upon me these words, “Don’t forget Rod, that you are still a pastor in your neighbourhood.” These words have stayed with me and brought to mind the words of Jesus when He said we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth and His witnesses in the world in which we live, in our neighbourhood, school, workplace, local shopping centre, extended family or wherever the world in which we live takes us.

With this in mind, as pastors in our neighbourhood, Sue and I…….

• always have time to stop and talk to people we encounter.
• pray for our neighbourhood. We ask for God’s kingdom to come, for His light to shine in the darkness and for Him to show us where He is at work.
• become students of our neighbours and build relationships with them. We do this by asking questions and then following up on the things they share with us.
• take opportunities to serve individual neighbours in a practical way, by mowing lawns, or taking in an older neighbour’s bins after pickup. I (Rod) even helped a senior neighbour by being available to put eyedrops in her eyes when passing by.
• look for opportunities to share practical gifts with our neighbours. When Sue is cooking tasty biscuits, there are times she would make extra to share with neighbours. During the COVID pandemic we wrote to our neighbours and asked them for prayer points and included a pack of face masks on one occasion and a bottle of hand sanitiser on another.
• look for natural opportunities to share our personal journey (testimony) with Jesus, how He has provided for us, answered prayer for us and given us the grace to handle the challenges that have come our way. Our relationship with Jesus is something that influences every part of our lives and always opens doors of communication.
• are always expectant that God is at work. We are growing to discern the prompts of the Holy Spirit that can come at the most unexpected times as we walk around.
• are learning not to be discouraged when people react to our Christian witness. One lady from another religion confronted us one day and said, “I have heard that you pray for our neighbourhood. You don’t need to do that because people can pray for themselves.” We tried to explain that our intention came from a caring heart but it didn’t change her attitude. That night Sue and I prayed for her and we were somewhat surprised the next day to see her come to our home and apologise for her behaviour and hand us a lovely arrangement of flowers. She is now a very good friend, and we can talk freely about God to her.
• want to always be ready to share the story of Jesus with people. We do this casually but also by keeping a copy of Rick Warren’s helpful booklet, What On Earth Am I Here For? to give to people who start to show an interest in Christianity. We invite them to read it and then to meet with us to tell us how it impacted them.
• never forget what a privilege it is to be pastors in our neighbourhood living in our community as Ambassadors for Christ.
  “The greatest injustice in the world is never to hear about Jesus.” Nicky Gumball

PRAYER
On behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are commissioned to pastor your neighbourhood. And as you go, let your light shine that people may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.