Congratulations on stepping out of your comfort zone to get engaged in the work that God is doing in our city! At ENP we have all experienced the transforming power of serving others!
We know that if you follow these steps below, not only will our neighborhoods benefit from your service, but you will leave transformed.
Before you dive in, we want to encourage you to consider a couple of things:
1) Listen & Learn.
Enter the neighborhood ready to listen and learn. You are not an expert, but rather a guest. Instead of feeling like you are entering a zoo to observe another neighborhood and its residents, consider that you are in a fishbowl and everyone’s eyes are on you.
Ask Questions. As you enter the neighborhood, ask questions! Ask questions to the residents or those helping you coordinate your project. They have been and will continue to be in this neighborhood. They can teach you a lot!
Drop your assumptions. Instead of assuming you know why things are the way they are, be open to new observations or discoveries. Just because it is different doesn’t mean it is bad. This is an exposure experience to take a learner’s posture.
2) Do No Harm.
As you begin serving, the worst thing that could happen is if the neighborhood is worse off than before you came. How could this happen?
Consider your words or actions. Are they respectful? How would you want others to act if they came into your neighborhood?
We invite you to always consider this question: “What is the most loving thing I could do for this person or in this situation?”
3) Experience the beauty.
You may be stepping into areas of material poverty, but the reality is that often we that are serving are far more relationally or spiritually poor than the people we are going to work with.
There are many gems and assets in terms of people and resources in our city. Go on a treasure hunt and you won’t be disappointed.
If you are open, you are going to see a new face of beauty in the diversity of our city.
4) Debrief.
Nothing is worse than serving and learning nothing from it. If serving is a checkbox then consider not serving.
If you want to exit this experience changed you have to take time to debrief. Life change happens as we have experiences, process those experiences, and adjust to a new way of understanding.
Here are some sample questions to help with your time of debrief: What was fun or exciting to you from this experience? What was difficult or confusing? What did you learn? What could you have done better or is there a better way to serve this community next time? What do you want to do/change after serving?
5) Have Fun!
Enjoy your time! Serving is fun. We were designed to live for more than ourselves, so enjoy the process of working for the good of others and for the good of our city!
Every Neighborhood Partnership exists to take the struggle out of knowing how and where to serve our city. We train and equip you, and give you a platform to quickly engage schools and neighborhoods in our city so that they are transformed into healthy, vibrant neighborhoods.
If you want to learn more about these topics check out the recommended books below or contact us to set up a training… info@everyneighborhood.org or call us at 559-400-7310.
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