On Wednesday of this week I met with Tom from the Township, the Leasing Manager (Jeanne) at the North Brunswick Senior Housing building, the Leasing Agent and the head maintenance guy to discuss the Day of Service we are performing on July 25th. Jeanne had not yet heard about the Day of Service happening in her building in exactly 2 weeks! We probably should have approached her first! For this reason our first order of business was to sell Jeanne on the idea.
At the beginning of the meeting Jeanne was showing an unfavorable-ness to what we were proposing. She mentioned a conflict of schedule with that date, was of the opinion that most residents, because they do not know us, “would not be up for having people in their apartments”, and overall seemed distrusting of our efforts. As I sat there I knew we did not have rapport with her yet and were up for a tough sell.
Noticing this aura of distrust exuding from Jeanne as the meeting pressed on, Tom chimed in with some powerful words that truly changed the course of the conversation. He said (paraphrasing here),
“Now I want you to know that the Brunswick Church of Christ has been an exceptional church in this town. We are not talking about allowing someone into the building whom we do not know. Carl the previous Pastor and now Shaun the current Pastor, and I hope you do not mind me bragging on the church a little Shaun, they have done a great deal for this town. The Oak Leaf Village Apartment complex is the eye sore of our town and for that reason many churches have stayed clear of it. But these guys have intentionally been there week in and week out holding Bible studies, getting to know the residents and baptizing people. What they are wanting to do here could have a ripple effect in that other churches might want to serve the residents here as well. For this reason I am of the opinion that we should give Shaun and the Brunswick Church of Christ our full support in this. I would like to see you guys promoting it to residents in the next 2 weeks to ensure that it is a success. It would be a shame to me if only a few residents took advantage of this Day of Service.”
What happened next was transformational. All of a sudden in the next few minutes the skepticism went away. Jeanne made known her faith and involvement in the Presbyterian church and her church’s involvement with Habitat for Humanity. She began to throw out ideas on how to make this day a big deal for the residents. At one point Jeanne even said with excitement, “I got it; why don’t we call it “A Day of Faith” instead of “A Day of Service”? That’s what it is right; a day of sharing our faith through service?” Jeanne offered to print all the fliers on extra large-colored paper for us, distribute them under each person’s door on Friday, gave us her word that she and her staff would be strong promoters of the Day of Service from now till then and even rescheduled the fire inspections that were supposed to happen in the building that day.
What happened last was perhaps the greatest part of the meeting. As we finished up and were about to depart the room with our specific to do lists I asked, “Would you guys mind if we prayed about this opportunity together?” They agreed without hesitation. So there we were, the Leasing Manager, Leasing Agent, Township zoning authority, head of maintenance at NBSH and myself uniting in prayer about the many senior residents we were planning to serve in Jesus name.
Wow. I felt so taken back as we departed the meeting that I whispered to the Lord while chuckling to myself, “Lord, what just happened in there?” I felt so blessed by God! He had given me and His church so much favor. I believe God is teaching me, through incidents like these, that one of the keys to building Christ’s church in today’s day and time is each congregation’s long-term commitment to the physical and spiritual well-being of their community. It requires building rapport with community leaders over time such that people learn to trust you who once looked down on you with skepticism.
“Thank you Lord for Your continued favor upon us in North Brunswick!”
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