I spent much of last Thursday and Friday at the DPAC attending the Advance 09 conference.  The Advance 09 Conference brought together some of America’s best Christian pastors (Driscoll, Chandler, Piper and our own JD Greear among others) to speak on the resurgence of the Church in America.  It was absolutely amazing.  More than 2,700 folks from all over the country came to Durham to hear what God was doing in the world and what he calls us all to do.

I met lots of folks from places as far away as Seattle and including West Virginia, Louisville, Little Rock, and Grand Rapids Michigan to name a few.  One of the folks, that left the greatest impression though, was a missons pastor from Redeemer church in Winston Salem named Francis Smith.

I met him briefly yesterday when he stopped by the DurhamCares table.  He talked about how he had grown up in Durham in Braggtown and then moved north to Bahama.  He then went on to tell me the origin of the name of this area north of Durham (named by combining the last names of the 3 families who first settled there) and why it wasn’t pronounced like the islands off the coast of Florida.  When I asked him if he would participate in a new 30-second-video project that we are doing that asks people why they love Durham (he was born here and does love it, so he’d qualify) and what it means for them to love their neighbor, he politely declined.  Well, he came back today telling me that he would like to participate after all.  It seems that he had told the story last night to his wife who urged him to seize this opportunity during which he might share something with others.  And so, he did do the interview. (it and many others like it will be brought online in our new video section which should hopefully make it’s debut before the end of the month).

I had told him, of course, all about DurhamCares and how we are working to encourage people in Durham to become engaged in their city through volunteer matching, trips to Durham and Succcess Grants.  He definitely got it, and was encouraged by our inspiration from the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I was very impressed with his wisdom, born from many years in the mission field abroad and right here in North Carolina. He had many things to say about engagement, and I’ll only list a few here.

I hope that you find them as encouraging and challenging as I did, but I fear that I may not do them justice, and it sure was great to hear them from his mouth, and not my feeble typing:

1. Don’t buy a new shovel.  I know that sounds a bit strange, but it makes all the sense in the world if you think about it, and no, it has nothing to do with the recession and a desire to cut back on new purchases.  Francis said that someone had once told him that it’s a good idea to borrow a shovel (or other tool) even if you have one.  Why?  Well, because that gives you an opportunity to engage with your neighbor.  Ask him or her how they are doing and what’s going on in their life.  Mostly conversations will be short and pleasant, but sometimes your neighbor might even bring up issues that you might help them sort out or encourage them on.  Either way, you’ll both be better for it.  Such conversations might never happen if you have the most complete tool collection out there.  By the way, I tried that tonight out of a genuine need for milk, and a strong desire not to go to the store.  He’s right, I very much enjoyed my brief visit with my neighbor and I think that he felt the same.
2. Is it safe? I know, this sounds like some sort of plug for the movie Marathon Man.  No, this isn’t about the famous interchange between Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman, it’s about confronting your fears as you seek to help your neighbor in an unfamiliar neighborhood.  Francis shared with me a story of a woman who he got to know at his church.  He had encouraged her to volunteer at a mission in an unfamiliar part of town.  She asked, “Is it safe?”  His response: “No, but then again in this world now, nothing is completely.”  Several months later she saw him again in church and she came up to him to tell him that she was indeed volunteering and helping with kids in this impoverished area of town.  Francis asked her, “Well, did you find out that it’s safe?”  Her answer: “No, but I love working with the kids.”  I found this story to be strikingly honest and consistent with my limited experience.  God calls us to honor him in all sorts of ways and stretches us beyond our comfort level, as he did with this woman, but he blesses us (and those we seek to serve) when we do so.
3. Don’t just drive through.  Over the course of his career he has been strongly influenced by John Perkins who told him that it’s not just enough for us to drive into challenged neighborhoods each day and assist our brothers on the other side of town, but that it’s far better to move in alongside them and to live amongst them. (And then to resist the urge to spend a lot in up-fitting the house to our old standards.)  For then, true barriers will come down.  I found this last part very challenging to internalize and candidly (as if I’d be anything but), I don’t see moving our family any time soon.  BUT, I found a lot of wisdom in what he said and it’s going to encourage me to do more when I visit these neighborhoods.  Lest I feel too pleased with myself about the lengths that I’m going, I’ll be inspired on knowing that there is yet far more that I can do.  I do wish, though, that I had the courage to do exactly what Perkins suggests.  Maybe there will be a time for that in my life.

Francis, THANK YOU for coming back to Durham for the conference.  Thank you for stopping by the DurhamCares booth today, and thank you for sharing this encouragement with me.  Thank you for loving your neighbor!

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