One Degree of Separation

One of my goals in 2007 that will continue to be a goal of mine in 2008 is to be a person who is in better touch with the real needs in my community and neighborhood. Sometimes trying to find needs leads me to people who aren't really needy...they're more like sponges. Trying to find the real needs in our community takes work. It's the work of building intimacy with people in our church so they will be honest about their needs and it's the work of building relationships with people that I haven't usually chosen to hang out with. After 2 and a half years of ministry in Buckeye I'm starting to make some inroads.

We've done 2 home makeovers and I was also doing ground work for a 3rd this past fall that fell through at the last minute. In each case it took a significant amount of effort and time for me to find people in genuine need. I have realized that I don't have relationships with those kind of people. What does God think about that?

With a lot of work I now am one degree of separation from significant needs. In other words, I'm closer to the needs. I know people who know the needs. I still am not immersed in the needs. I used to be 2 degrees of separation from needy people. Now I have some friends I can go to who are truly in touch with the needs of our community.

When I made it my goal to take my family during Christmas to help a family in "real need" I knew who to ask for a referral and the experience of helping this family in downtown Buckeye was incredibly rewarding (for us and them)!

I have recently had 2 very transparent conversations with friends from church who confessed that they had wanted to do more to help people. These were people who had the heart and the means to give, but didn't have an avenue. How do we get more in touch?