Part Two: Finding Mission on our Doorstep

By Alex Leighton

EDITOR's NOTE: This is the next installment in our "Into Harvest Series" where we are meeting and getting to know members of the Great Commission Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, learning more about who they are and why they are committed to the mission of church planting. The Rev. Alex Leighton continues with the second part of a two-part article on neighborhood evangelism.

 As a follow up to an article in last month’s Messenger, I've been asked to share the story of how God has led our family into our neighborhood, building relationships with neighbors, ministering to them, and seeing some respond to the Gospel. 

When we first moved to Virginia, we felt called to a certain neighborhood. As we learned more about where other folks from All Saints’ Church (Woodbridge, VA) lived, we saw that it was a neighborhood that wasn’t heavily populated with our members. We loved the opportunities that we were given as we were invited into our neighbors’ lives. And they were there with us as our third and fourth children were born. We hosted Community Vacation Bible School (CVBS) in our house there and our next-door neighbors committed their lives to Christ during that time. What an incredible joy! I can remember saying to my wife, Rebecca, that it could have been for that reason alone that we were called to that house. 

But as our situation changed and grew, we were finding our financial situation more difficult. The rent was becoming too high; we prayed and asked God for a solution. He led us to some parishioners who were moving away from All Saints’. They agreed to rent the house to us that they were leaving for something that better fit our budget. They had also prayed about it, and their children got a picture of us living in their house. It seemed like the Lord was leading us and yet we longed for the things we had experienced in our previous neighborhood.

We've been in this second house for three years now and God continues to bless us in amazing ways. We began hosting CVBS the first summer we were in it. One student hadn’t heard about Jesus, and she gave her life to him during that week. She wrote a thank you note to Rebecca, who led the Bible time, entitled “Thank you for telling me about Jesus.” We still have it as a reminder of God’s faithfulness. 

Our neighborhood is a double cul-de-sac, and is always full of kids playing ball, riding bikes, and having nerf gun battles. With all of those interactions there are inevitably some squabbles; one of our children found his way into one of these squabbles. We tried to help him see his part in it, and to own up to it; and both sets of parents were committed to seeing the kids reconcile. They were able to say their “I’m sorrys”. This same neighbor then came to CVBS at our house a few weeks later. He gave his life to the Lord and his mother sent us a picture of him reading the Bible we gave him. She said he couldn’t put it down! What a gift from God to see him at work in these relationships—we are praying for more!

The Rev. Alex Leighton is Associate Rector of All Saints' Church, Woodbridge, VA. He serves as a member of the Great Commission Committee.