It's Been Four Years

It’s been four years since I agreed to become the executive director of NeighborLink Fort Wayne. If you would have asked me at that time whether I thought I could ever work at a place more than two years, I would have said no. This is a testament to the idea of leaning into where calling, passion, and vocation collide. It’s a testament that transformation lies directly in the tension of life’s decisions and circumstances. God meets us in that tension and promises to be faithful if we follow him. 

So much has happened and changed in just four years. Here is a picture of one of my first major projects at NeighborLink. It was a roofing project for a woman who’s home was in really bad shape.  She was a hoarder and had let her home go far enough that it was actually condemned when I took it on. God remained faithful to provide the right group of people who invested hours and thousands of dollars to complete this project as well as people to journey with this woman to address the hoarding issue. No small feat.

Four years later I’m still broken over the despair of people seeking help through NeighborLink as a last resort. I now live in the tension between trying to celebrate the incredible work of thousands of volunteers each year who take more and more projects, and the ever increasing amount of projects and circumstances people are facing. It’s not an easy place to be most days. I’m in awe one minute and ticked off another. 

I think the tension really stems from the reality that something COULD be done in just about every one of these projects if only there were more people that cared enough to do something. Anything. To see simple projects like mowing or cleaning go unmet kills me. 

NeighborLink isn’t just a place of sad stories of people suffering through bad choices and unexpected circumstances. NeighborLink is a place of hope, opportunity, and transformation. The only way the hope, opportunities, and transformation can be ignited is by someone choosing a project and therefor lighting the match. 

If more people would just read the project descriptions, like this one, they would see that we’re not just a place to get free lawn care or new windows, but a place to connect to people that really want to fight their way to freedom. 

I know I have an unpopular message. Very few people, including myself, really gravitate towards doing things we don’t naturally want to do with the little bit of leftover time each week. I’m not a fan of taking care of my own home or yard, let alone someone else’s, to be honest. The sex appeal of connecting with people that aren’t like us in our own backyard isn’t as compelling as many other causes that are asking for our time and resources. Our barriers at NeighborLink can be big and hard to overcome. However, worth fighting to take down.

NeighborLink projects always require us to die to ourselves, use more time than we wanted to offer, and more internal turmoil than we’re inclined to embrace. It’s messy at best and the more I invest, the harder it is to further die to it. 

After four years, I can’t image doing anything different. I’ve seen glimpses of the Kingdom of God and I want more of them. I’ve seen 7 other communities in the United States take our model and implement it in their own cities. I’ve seen over 1,500 connections/projects completed in Fort Wayne and see people build lasting relationships that have been mutually beneficial. God is good.

I want to see lives transformed and I want to see the Church realize its place in the community as a geographic anchor for a neighborhood. I want to see volunteers realize that service is more than doing for others, and more of doing with them. 

I’m in deep and I’m committed to see this thing through. I hope you’ll join me in the mess in 2012. 

Andrew