The “Love Your Neighbor” Agenda That Snowballed the Growth of Our Church
When our church kicked off what I've since dubbed the “Love Your Neighbor agenda”, we had no idea of the tremendous impact this new outreach program would have.
But first, let me share a bit of the backstory.
In early 2020, I moved to Downey, Southern California, to marry Don, and our family of five soon made Downey First Christian Church our church home.
In 2022, once the worst of the COVID pandemic was behind us, I assisted the church’s pastor in getting a new evangelism ministry off the ground.
Pastor Josh's vision for this evangelism ministry was to join forces with Food Help, a food bank the church has been running for decades.
Every Saturday morning, month after month, year after year, needy men and women have been lining up on the sidewalk outside Downey First Christian Church to receive grocery items from the food bank—anywhere from 200 to 350 families every single week.
"They come here for physical food and drink," my pastor said. "Let's give them spiritual food and drink too!"
Interestingly, at the church, everyone has always referred to the individuals in the Food Help line as "our neighbors." This is because they are, in fact, the church's literal neighbors: they pour in from all over our city of Downey and from the surrounding cities.
One day, while I was praying about the direction of the new evangelism ministry, I thought of how God's Word commands us, "Love your neighbor":
"[Jesus] said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-38).
"For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Galatians 5:14).
It's true that the term "neighbor" in the Bible encompasses everyone we encounter, not just those in our immediate vicinity. It's a beautiful reminder to treat all people with kindness, regardless of proximity. I still couldn't help but feel as if these scriptures were a command from God to go love on the people in the line, specifically.
Consider also that the Bible sets a precedent for starting our evangelism efforts close to home (Luke 24:47). Witnessing to the people in the Food Help line meant starting as close to home as we could get: at the very doorstep of our church!
So, we set the ball rolling. As the new leader of the evangelism ministry, I had the privilege of spearheading our small group of volunteers in our weekly outreach efforts. I was also asked to regularly conduct classroom-style evangelism trainings at the church to equip our members to share their faith.
At the time of this writing, the Love Your Neighbor agenda has been going strong for two years. Just like we did on day one, my team members and I still slip on lanyards every Saturday morning, grab Gospel tracts and church invitation cards, and approach the neighbors in the Food Help line, wearing our most welcoming smiles.
Some neighbors line up as early as 4:30 am to wait for the food bank to open at 8, and new families keep flooding in all morning until 11 am when Food Help shuts its doors for the week.
As the neighbors wait in line, most for at least an hour, they can do nothing but stand there. And because they don’t want to lose their spot, they can't get away from us! ;-) Best mission field ever!
We stroll up to the people, greet them, and start chatting with them. Some are eager to share their story and grateful for a listening ear. Others need prayer or a hug. Others again ask us for a Bible (we always have copies to give out). And everyone needs encouragement.
The growth we've seen in our church because of the Love Your Neighbor agenda has been nothing less than phenomenal. Within six months of the launch, our Spanish service had more than tripled. And today, another eighteen months later, our entire fellowship (English and Spanish) is almost double the size. And our church is still growing.
Although there's a consistent stream of new neighbors at Food Help, we also see many of the same people repeatedly as they keep coming back for food items. And as we continue to nurture relationships with them, week after week, month after month, more and more of the neighbors take us up on the invitation to check out our Sunday services.
The irony is that we never even had any plans to build our church! Our only goal was to sow seeds of compassion and, through those seeds, create opportunities to talk about the Lord.
This past May, in honor of Mother's Day, we did something extra special for the ladies. We purchased 150 long-stemmed pink roses and gave one to every mother in the line.
We must have been the most popular group in Downey that day! There were smiles and tears of gratitude all around. Women—and men, too, who wanted a rose for their mother or wife—chased us down all morning to get one. Before long, we ran out of roses, and I had to send one of my volunteers to the flower shop to get more…not once, but twice!
When Father's Day rolled around some weeks later, we walked down the line with boxes of chocolate candy and let each father help himself to a piece. We also gave out buttons for the dads to pin on their jackets. The buttons humorously read, "King for a Day".
Friend, I could share dozens of stories about how God has used the Love Your Neighbor agenda to touch individual neighbors…
Like the story of Aisha, a Hindu woman that I built a relationship with over several months. Aisha wore a strong facade and didn't want to hear about God. But my smile must have helped her relax because she soon started confiding in me about her discouragement due to her husband's never-ending health struggles.
As time went on and Aisha and I regularly chatted, I shared a bit of my own story with her about the trial my husband and I went through when our Christopher became gravely ill and almost died.
Aisha and I really bonded over our personal stories.
On most Saturday mornings, the two of us talked about non-spiritual things. Because she had declined to hear about the Lord, my focus for the moment was simply on building rapport with her.
Then, many months into our friendship, Aisha rushed over to me one morning as soon as she saw me, tears trickling down her cheeks. She was overwhelmed by life and quietly, almost sheepishly, requested that I pray for her.
So, right there and then, I got to pray for Aisha—a practitioner of Hinduism—in the name of my Lord Jesus!
A few weeks later, when I saw her in the line again, I was carrying a stack of beautiful picture cards with comforting Bible verses for hard times. I offered her one; she looked at it and excitedly asked if I had more. I pulled out the rest of the cards, and she wanted them all! She, who had been completely closed to God's Word the first time we spoke, happily walked away that morning with her purse full of scriptures!
Then there's Jill. Jill was in a rough spot when I first met her in the Food Help line. She was homeless, out of work, and had been sleeping in her car for the past ten months. I invited her to our services, and she showed up the very next day. I spent time with her at church that Lord's Day, gave her a Bible, and introduced her to other church leaders who prayed for her. This really lifted Jill's spirit—in fact, she couldn't stop talking about how welcome she felt!
I stayed in touch with Jill, checking in with her regularly via phone calls and texts. After only three weeks, God answered our church’s prayers for her and provided her with a job that she loved and, through the new job, housing! Needless to say, Jill was elated.
Then there's Zahra, a Syrian immigrant. After I'd invited Zahra to church a few times, she came to our Christmas Eve service. I followed up by taking her out for a bite, and she then returned the blessing by inviting me to her home. Her text simply said, "Come for coffee, dear!" because her English was so limited.
I visited Zahra at her small apartment, where she served me Arabic coffee and home-baked pastries from her country. Despite the language barriers, we hit it off and established a friendship.
A couple of months later, in February 2023, Zahra happened to be with me at church when a massive 7.8 earthquake rocked her homeland. (The quake ended up killing 53 537 people in Syria and Turkey, injuring 107 213, and erasing entire cities.) We were at our women's yearly church potluck when Zarah's cell phone rang. It was Zahra's sister calling from Syria with devastating news. `
At that moment, the sister was standing on the street, wearing no shoes, barely having made it out of her home as it crumbled to the ground behind her.
As Zahra hung up the phone, she was sobbing and trembling. All the ladies at the potluck immediately flocked around her, comforted her, and prayed for her. We also prayed for her sister and the rest of Zahra's family and friends in Syria.
Zahra later shared with me how incredibly thankful she was for being surrounded by caring friends and not at home alone when she received the terrifying phone call.
Of course, it was God who had sovereignly led her there!
These stories give you a small glimpse of God's love in action. And these three women's stories keep going...
There are countless others. Stories about neighbors being encouraged, hearing the Gospel, and experiencing the Lord's power in their lives.
The Love Your Neighbor agenda is only in its infancy. And although we've already seen God move in big ways, I feel like we've barely scratched the surface of what He wants to accomplish through this ministry.
Please keep us in your prayers.
L.B.
Why do you think my church is experiencing so much growth because of the Love Your Neighbor agenda? What are some specific ways you can love your neighbor today? Share your thoughts below in the comments section!
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