My family and I spent a week this summer living in inner-city Montgomery with our ministry partners, Bryan and Delta Kelly. They founded Common Ground Montgomery a few years ago to reach the Washington Park neighborhood in Montgomery, AL.
Our time there was filled with laughter, chaos, joy and lots of cross-cultural experiences. Like what happened late one afternoon. Bryan and I were returning to his home and realized he didn’t have his key with him. He made a quick call and then we waited on his front porch for his neighbor to return from the store to get us the spare key.
In the 20 minutes that we were sitting there, I received an amazing gift…I witnessed a beautiful example of authentic community.
First, Wigi came out to visit. She’s a 70-year-old grandmother that has basically adopted the Kelly family. Her daughter, Angie came over as well, piping in plenty of jokes about a guy who doesn’t even have a key to his own house…some really funny stuff. The other neighbors joined in the mix and it soon turned into an impromptu block party.
Urban neighborhoods are some of the last remaining “front-porch” communities in America. Most of us live in places where we can park in our garages and maintain a private deck out back. We know very little about our neighbors, if anything. But by sitting openly in the middle of an impoverished community, from which so many of us try to protect ourselves, I was reminded of the joy of a true community.
Bryan and I were there to serve those neighbors and give of ourselves, but instead received the gift of God’s love through the hands and feet of a grandmother. Isn’t it amazing when God deals with our hearts through a blessing we never would have imagined?
