Nothing has resonated with me as much recently as this post from David Fitch. My wife and I are a part of a fellowship church … it’s something, that has been a completely organic, authentic, at times messy project that seems poised on the verge of becoming something legit. One of the things that we talk about a lot is the idea of a community of faith being outwardly-focused (**cough** missional **cough**) in it’s approach. That’s a tough thing to do in the suburbs, especially the suburbs where we find ourselves.

David reflects on this idea in terms of choosing to own real estate in a place that seems so counter-intuitive for being missional.

I find the suburbs difficult for mission. The poor are so hard to find. Yet as I walked and prayed, I found my imagination stoked by the Spirit. Mission was all around the rhythms of this place.

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1.) The Hospital: (we’ll be two blocks from a hospital). There are few places where people are this poor (in spirit if not other ways), broken and seeking God than in the hospital. Practicing the presence of Christ in the hospitals is a spiritual discipline. It changes me, it ministers Christ. I could develop a regular weekly rhythm where I could spend a few hours a week assisting the chaplain there at the hospital.

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5.) Mom’s Play Groups: (I noticed young children in this neighborhood). All over the suburbs, through the internet, lonely moms get together under the excuse that their kids need to play together (It’s not an excuse). These moms have some of the greatest community. I’ve witnessed this first hand with our young son. When you get there, look for the hurting left out mom, the single mom, maybe the mom with a troubled child, spend time there caring and supporting. Practice the generous serving spirit of Christ. You will be changed, and others will be too through your ministry.

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6.) McDonald’s: (there’s a great McDonald’s in this hood). I don’t care where you go, every McDonald’s has a local breakfast club: usually a group of men who sit around, talk sports and joke around before they go to work. If you go the same time everyday, they’ll soon get to know you and you’re life will become an open book to strangers who become friends. Trust me on this; you don’t even have to try on this one.

David really speaks to that when he writes about finding the poor in the suburbs. I think that sometimes as American evangelicals, there is a tendency to define “poor” as an economic state. It’s a dollars and sense thing. It’s haves versus have not. But I think that’s just part of an understanding of “poor”. The longer I live in suburbia, the more I resonate with the of people who have the whole world, but who have lost their souls. In many ways, that’s a much more realistic understanding of poverty in America in 2008. While there are still many, many people who are economically poor, and those people are terribly under-served, we often assume that we cannot find a poverty of the soul among the affluent.