This morning we took to the streets. Amanda Duntz said it reminded her of what we did in Mexico. We got into the neighborhood and met the people who lived there. As part of our Missional Church project we walked the streets behind the church and distributed flyers announcing our "Winter Survival Kit" giveaway at the Martin Luther King Center next Saturday.

We met at the church at 10:00 a.m. and went up Fairmount Street. We took different sides of the street and made sure to leave one of our flyers at each house or apartment. We made up two hundred flyers and believe it or not, as we finished up over on Maple Street, we ran out of them and had to go back and make a few more to post in the Wishy Washy and at King Wah restaurant.

As we made our way back to the church Cynthia was telling us about several of the families who used to come to church and pointing out where they lived in the neighborhood. It struck me how things have changed. Only a few of the families in the neighborhood actually come to the church. Today June Coleman, Tag and Joy Griffin and the boys are the only regulars that attend.

Well that's not exactly true. Some of our neighbors do attend services at Buenas Nuevas. The point is that we don't know any of the people who live right next door. That's the point of the missional church project. It is aimed at getting us out into the neighborhood to find ways to share God's love and to get to know the people who live right in our own back yard.

Jesus asked "Who is your neighbor?" It is hard to answer that question if you don't know. I hope that several of you will come out to help us distribute the survival kits next Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Center. We are looking for folks to bake cupcakes for the event. We will also have coffee and hot chocolate for anyone who stops by. I think it is going to be a great day.

Cal