Mission on my own terms

As you know, we’ve been trying hard to get to know the people who live on our street. With barbeques, house parties, meals and film and craft club, we’ve done quite a bit to try and kick start a sense of community. All of this though has been on our own terms. We’ve laid things on and invited others to join us.

Quite early on, one or two of our neighbours would periodically invite us along to something they were involved in, for example, a quiz night at a pub, a gig they were involved in, or just for a drink. Being the busy people we are, we often had to say no to many of these offers. We didn’t really notice how many times this was happening until the offers dried up. If you say no to someone enough times they will, of course, stop asking.

We had to make the decision that we would rearrange our plans if someone invited us to something. If building relationships on the street was really important to us, then we had to make it a priority.

So, when a neighbour came round t week to tell me his car treasure hunt partner had dropped out and asked whether I’d stand in, I agreed (even though it was a Sunday morning and I was expected at the Sunday service).

I didn’t really know what a car treasure hunt was, but it turns out that it involves driving all over the county (not only did I have to miss church, but I had to lay aside my environmental principles!), trying to solve clues and locate insanely well hidden ‘treasure’. Fortunately my neighbour was well experienced, and so was able to compensate for my obvious inexperience (my directions were okay, but I only answered about 3 of the 30 questions!).

I actually didn’t enjoy it all that much, and as the day wore on I was increasingly concerned about what an environmental disaster it was! Having said that, it was a classic example of a ‘third place’. There are about 30 regulars in the club (and about another 15 who come occasionally), and they are a really tight group. They do a treasure hunt most months, and once a month get together for a social (apparently the treasure hunt itself doesn’t qualify as a social event!). They also regularly get together for a meal, to play golf, and a number of other spin off activities. And, each year they all go on holiday together. Consequently, there was a really strong sense of community, but it wasn’t a closed community, they are always looking to draw new people in, and made me feel really welcome.

So if it wasn’t for the fact that what they do involves needlessly burning gallons of fuel, I think I’d consider joining (even though I found the treasure hunt itself pretty tedious). It’d be a perfect place for making new connections, and sharing my faith.

Since the treasure hunt, my neighbour has dropped round a few times; we’ve had a drink together, and watched the footy (come on England!). So by dropping my plans, and accepting his invite to go on the treasure hunt, our connection seems to have really deepened.