24 Jul How Our Dog’s Potty Break Made Us Urban Missionaries

“I think God wants us to sell the house.”

That wasn’t exactly what I expected to come out of my husband’s mouth on a Sunday afternoon about a year ago. We had purchased our first home with the idea that it might just be our forever home. But we had also purchased the house as a foreclosure. We knew it would appraise for more than we had purchased it for.

At that point in our journey, our student debt was weighing heavily on us. We were bound to it and a “slave to the lender” as God calls us not to be. We knew something had to change. I spent that afternoon walking around the house picturing three little blond-headed children playing in every room. I cried and mourned the life I thought we were going to have there.

But by later that night, I knew he was right. I realized it was an opportunity.

Our story really started out as a financial decision. Selling the house and buying cheaper would take care of some of our debt – end of story. At least, we thought that was the end. Not long after we decided to sell, we met some friends who attend Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Greenville. They lived in a transitional downtown area and had moved there with the sole purpose of reaching the neighborhood. I remember being surprised that they chose the area solely based on feeling God’s plan and purpose for reaching people there.

You see, the community was in an interesting spot. There were nice, updated homes and there were not-so-updated homes. There were people in the lower class and people in the upper-middle class. There were people of all color and walks of life. Some would drive through this area and never want to come back, and others have told us it wasn’t nearly as bad as they expected it to be. Regardless, through some mission-minded friends, we fell in love with the neighborhood and began to see God calling us to the same journey.

Once we felt God calling us to the neighborhood, we began driving around to find a house. Our house still hadn’t sold, but we felt so strongly that God wanted us there that we couldn’t help but look. On one of those journeys, we stopped in front of a house only because our dog had to go to the bathroom. As soon as we got out of the car, a lovely lady came outside of the house and struck up a conversation with us. After two hours of talking, we had met a lifelong friend and mentor. She was a member of North Hills Community Church and had moved with her husband to the area for the same reason as our friends from Redeemer.

She also happened to be a realtor. Only God could have orchestrated this.

After leaving that night, we knew we were not alone. God had already put a network of believers in place who were committed to ministering to the neighborhood. Over the course of the next few months, we developed a friendship with our new realtor and friend. She listed our house, sold it, and found us one in her neighborhood.

We moved into our new home, and at first glance, I was scared to live there. However, within a few days, I realized that there was nothing at all to be scared of. Our neighborhood was a true representation of the world we live in. How can we live in and understand a world where the only people we interact with are people just like us? Granted, that does not mean that when God calls us to live missionally, He expects us to all move to a new neighborhood. But for us, that was the clear answer.

We initially saw this move as a financial opportunity. But God has shown us that His vision is so much bigger. 

He has provided us with the opportunity to join several other families from different church communities, to invest in the neighborhood, to be the gap between different residents, and most importantly – to show God’s love. I am so excited to build community here while we build our home and family.

God calls us to go against culture and stand out. He calls us to live with the Kingdom in mind. He calls us to be missional. For us, that meant moving to an area and building a community focused on sharing the love of Christ. For you, it might mean something completely different. We are still trying to figure out what loving our neighbors looks like, but the biggest surprise of all has been that though we moved here to reach others, our neighbors have already out-loved us in many ways. They are teaching us what it means to truly love thy neighbor. We came on this journey to reach others, but God is already using it to refine us and shape our hearts.

– Lindsay Jackman, Downtown Campus