by Tami

A few weeks ago Dorothy asked me if I would go around and meet our neighbors where we have our ministry center. At first, I was apprehensive, but she said we would go in pairs, so I felt better about it and it didn't seem as overwhelming.

There were 3 groups of us and each group had 3-4 beautiful baskets put together by Susan. The baskets were filled with lots of home-baked goods all wrapped in colorful cellophane. Each group delivered the baskets to different businesses, and as we walked around the business center we prayed for each of the businesses we visited; that they might be prompted to check out Spectrum Church on a Sunday, participate in a future event, or simply be touched by God in some way as a result.

Typically, we would enter the business and introduce ourselves, tell them we were from Spectrum Church and that we wanted to get to know our neighbors in the business center. Usually, the people would introduce themselves, sometimes give us a business card and often we would ask them what type of business it was and what they did. Some of them shared more and chatted awhile. Everyone was friendly and we discovered many of the businesses had dogs in the office while they worked. We would then offer them the basket of goodies - which usually brought a smile to their faces.

One business that was most enthusiastic about our visit, was one that we almost skipped. There was no sign outside or on the door and we actually walked past it toward the next business. But both of us seemed led to turn around and try the door anyway fully expecting it to be locked. When we pulled on the door it opened and we were greeted by 4 friendly young men who took a few minutes to say hello and share a bit about the company. They were thrilled about our gift and remarked that the treats would be gone in a few hours!

I guess I wasn't very optimistic at first because it was much more interesting and enjoyable then I thought it might be. And it wasn’t scary. It reinforced how important it is to make an effort to be neighborly. It feels good, it’s not hard and it’s a way of showing God’s love through His people.