Wow, thank you guys so much for all your responses to the last blog. So much honesty and so much wisdom. I really do appreciate it. Not just the encouragement but even just how you approached it. I was moved by how much you shared.
I also noticed the strength of our responses to a difficult subject, really a risk vs. reward subject. A topic where both sides of the argument have really strong points and I wouldn’t blame you for having either opinion. Nonetheless, many times we have very passionate opinions about these very topics. So, I thought we might do a series of blogs where we dig into some of these tough issues. We won’t do them all in a row. That would be pretty heavy, and plus I already have some fun stuff lined up. But I am really interested in where these conversations might go. So we’ll start another one today.
This issue hits really close to home for me. I’ve really struggled with it. What do you guys think about moving into a poor neighborhood in your city? The rewards are strong. True relationships with people you might not otherwise cross paths with. Honest missional living. A chance for the gospel to be advanced both in word and deed. But the risk is huge as well. Nothing less than the physical safety of your family.
I’m not worried about what people might think of me for living on the wrong side of the tracks. But I am very concerned about the wellbeing of my family. When I’m out of town, I want to feel secure that my wife is safe at home. I don’t want the kids to grow up in a dangerous neighborhood. And usually the schools in our poorest neighborhoods are our worst schools. I want my kids to have the best.
So what are your thoughts about moving into a poor part of town? Are you one of those people who have made that choice? I have quite a few friends here in Austin who have. Maybe you will share some of your story with us, and maybe your thought process as you made that decision. Again, this is an issue where I think a lot of wise people will end up on each side. I don’t think there is an across the board right answer. I believe God has chosen each of us to follow the path He lays out for us. But I’d love to hear your thoughts, your fears, your successes.
Thanks.
Todd
My wife and I are planning to move to a poorer part of town soon (Portsmouth, VA), although we’re likely to be in the slightly nicer part. A large part of the decision to live in the nicer part is down to safety – there are some areas that simply aren’t safe enough to be walking around in, especially for my wife. (We don’t have kids so I don’t have concerns about local schools in that way). We’d be living on the edge of the rougher part of town though, so it’s not like we’re isolated from the area’s problems.
Similar to you, we don’t care how people perceive us – we could afford to get a nicer place in VA Beach, but that’s not what we care about. We’re planning on starting a charity in the next few years and moving will help us start to make some more connections in the area.
Personally, I think God has given us both faith and common sense and we’re to use both. If you feel called to live in the poorest part regardless of consequences, that’s great – pray that God will protect you and your family (although there’s obviously no guarantee you will be protected). At the same time though, we’ve been given common sense and if it’s possible to live in a poor part of town where you’re putting your safety at less risk, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to choose that option.
Like you said – it depends on how God’s called you.
I look forward to reading responses here. I don’t really have any deep insight on the subject , from what I’ve been reading, you remind me alot of Rich Mullins. Good bless.
Should have read ” but from what I’ve been reading…”
A really good friend of mine did this, and I love the ministry she has. I’ve often thought I’d love to move to a poorer neighborhood and do something similar. HOWEVER… my husband is definitely not on board. And I respect that. I also respect his reasons, which are very similar to yours in terms of wanting his family to be safe.
That said, we deliberately chose not to live in a nice neighborhood. We’re in a very working middle class neighborhood, and our schools reflect that. We were intentional about not putting our kids in the wealthy schools. Which some days, I really have a hard time with because my youngest has some learning issues but can’t get help in a school where there are so many other kids who are worse off. Her teacher literally told me that they aren’t worried about her because she has good parents. So we’re spending a boatload of money on private help. It makes me really aware as a mother that I have this option for my daughter as opposed to other families who simply can’t afford it and their kids are getting lost in the cracks.
What will I do with this awareness? I don’t know. So far my answer has been to spend more time in my kids’ school helping understaffed classrooms. And I do see having my kids in the neighborhood school as a ministry opportunity. I remember being in my daughter’s kindergarten class and one of the kids was really impressed with my wedding ring. She couldn’t fathom the idea that my kids were not present at my wedding, and that they had the same father, who lived in our house. I am amazed at how many of the kids in the school just need a kind adult to talk to.
So I guess the long answer to the question is that even though I see the opportunity for ministry in bad neighborhoods, I think that when you open your eyes, even in a middle class neighborhood (and I’m sure even wealthy neighborhoods), there are opportunities for ministry. To reach out and be a good neighbor to the people around you, and to be aware that no matter where you live, there is someone God can use you to touch.
Great question but let me pose the opposite. If you can afford to, is there a risk vs. reward aspect to moving to a more affluent area. Each has their own challenges and needs. the Bible says that is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The challenge there is to get someone with great wealth to understand their true need for God. The reward is that if they do become disciples of Jesus they can be tremendously generous and and give financially in ways that many Christians cannot. The risk is little more difficult to see but is just as real as the potential physical risk of moving to poorer, rougher neighborhood. I’m talking about the spritual risk of becoming the Rich Young Ruler. I have a teenage son and it is a daily battle to help him remain humble and help him understand that all the material possesions he has really and truly mean nothing when it comes to his relationship with God and his salvation. I often think that it would be a whole lot easier for my son to see that need if we as a family struggled financially. I am not wealthy by any means. By U.S standards we are middle class, but to the rest of the world we are wealthy. The point here is that both “neighborhoods” have their risks and both neighborhoods have their rewards. What they have in common is that they both NEED GOD!!! No matter which neighborhood you choose to live in the call for Christians is the same. Look at Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (context starting in 30:11) and Mathew 28:18-20. First we must choose life and then go to all “neighborhoods” and help others become Disciples, which is the truest reward. Thanks for posing the question. God Bless.
It was interesting to read your blog last night and then read a segment in Bonhoeffer’s “Ethics” that spoke to this specific question.
Your question doesn’t really lend itself to a cost/benefit analysis, it is rather a matter of obedience.
We are called, as God’s people, to go where He calls us. He calls each of us to live as His witnesses; He calls us to love one another, and He calls us to put our love for Him above all other loves, etc. These are universals calls, things that everyone who wears the name of the Christ is called to do, but He also has very specific calls for each of His children. Some of His children are called to live for Him in a classroom, or a board room. Some are called to serve Him as a Little League coach, or as a MOPs leader. Some of His children are called to be stay at home moms loving their kids and the neighborhood kids, while some are called to care for the sick and dying. Some are called to faraway places with unknown languages and practices, while others are called to serve at a soup kitchen in their town. The only way to know what God is specifically calling each of us to do is to stay in close fellowship with Him, to know His word, and to actively seek His will.
It is true that God can probably use us wherever we are, but that can almost imply that we can do whatever we feel inclined to do, and go wherever we think we should go (either out of our own preference or out of a desire to do something good in His name). This may sound good, but it isn’t obedience, and God calls us to obedience. He calls us to follow Him, where He leads us. Sometimes we may think that God’s call on our lives isn’t as noble as His call on someone else’s life, but we are still to follow His call for us, not His call for someone else.
Is God calling you, specifically you, Todd and Jenny Agnew and your children to live in a poor neighborhood for His specific purposes? Or are you considering this simply because you think He could use you better in a poor neighborhood? If the answer to the former is “yes”, then you go. You go, regardless of the increased (or perceived increase) of risk to your family, and regardless of the educational options in that neighborhood. If the answer to the latter is “yes”, then you should probably stay where you are and continue to allow God to use you in your current neighborhood. The people in your more affluent neighborhood need God’s witness just as desperately as the people in the poor neighborhood do. Poverty comes in many forms, and it wears many faces. Sometimes dire poverty hides itself in a cloak of affluence. God alone can give you the answer to this question.
Tess
That should have ended with something more like “Many blessings to you and yours” or “may God guide you both as you make this decision”.
Blessings,
Tess
My husband and (at that time) one son and I moved to this neighborhood after coming back to Florida from Atlanta. However, we really did not know the neighborhood was bad until after we were there awhile. We stayed for a season and it was the only time in our entire life together of seventeen years that we truly enjoyed bonding with all our neighbors. We even had young gang-wanna-be’s that my husband would share the gospel with and during the day I would share the gospel with the ladies. It was a truely unique and remarkable experience that was very unexpected and natural. Regardless of our neighbors economic situations and lifestyles we all really cared for one another and I am very grateful to Jesus for being in that neighborhood. I didn’t realize how much I appreciated that experience until reading your blog. Thank you!
Todd, I can identify with what is pulling at your heart strings. My husband have experienced the same, followed by much prayer and The Lord’s opening our hearts and the doors needed to followed the call we did. We have moved to a very small town 70 miles south of our previous home in CC TX. It was a huge step out of what was definitely “our comfort zone”. We live among many underprivileged families, but there is still a mix of income levels in our community. I haven’t regretted it at all I have questioned for a few seconds at times. But the Lord reminds me of the joy he has brought to us for doing so. The few times my mind has questioned our calling is a very normal part for discernment. Part of the calling to this place is that we have started a ministry here among the community, and have developed relationships with many amongst strangers. It was difficult in many ways for a couple of months, but we are, tried and true believers in the saying, God will turn the garbage we all experience in life into His glory! But we have to give it to him first. The tough adjustments we have made and are still making, could be identified as garbage for many… but we make it a habit to pray together, and give it all to him, we still praise Him for the call, and the grace to carry it out. We would do the same thing again, if he called us yet to somewhere else. A consolation in all of this for us has been the realization of Jesus’ humility from his own birth. He chose to be born into poverty; I believe there is much strength in that for each of us. If the Lord is calling you and your wife to something different then you’re comfortable with, Praise him and thank him for it, the glory of God is in living in His will for each of us. These inspirations your experiencing, could be just that for you and your wife. Your children will be stronger, and it can help in their own faith formation to live within a culture that includes the least of these! God will bless you all in your decision, whatever it may be!
If one feels like they are doing the neighborhood a favor by moving in, they probably don’t belong there. But if you move into a place and become part of it that’s different.
The bottom line is the need to follow God’s impulse. The tricky part of that is, when you have a heart that is broken by a world in need, you can feel yourself pulled a hundred directions at once. The real truth of the matter is, this should be a decision driven by lots of prayer. In your closet. And with the family. And with the pastor/mentor person/people in your life. As well as taking counsel from them. Sometimes a hard decision gets real easy when you start explaining it out loud to someone who you can be totally open and honest with.
I remember hearing Dave Wilkinson’s testimony about ministering in New York, and hearing about his wife being attacked and raped. I won’t elaborate at all, because it’s been ages since I heard him talk about it. When he spoke of it, his purpose was to emphasize the calling of God on his life to minister in that part of New York. But I never could see God being glorified in the story. I could only see his wife, who he made promises to when they took their vows as man and wife, being violated.
So it better be a REAL calling. But then again, the “bad neighborhoods” of Austin probably aren’t THAT bad comparatively speaking.