Loving our Neighbors in Action & Truth

Hello friends!

At Mission Waco, we have the privilege of hosting teams for overnight opportunities to learn, serve and engage with our community in Waco. These experiences are designed to build relationships, deepen understanding and invite groups into a more thoughtful way of loving their neighbors.

As part of this, we are providing teams with a set of post-trip resources to help them continue reflecting and growing as they return home.

However, we don’t believe these tools are only for those who come on a trip. We want to make these resources available to anyone who wants to learn, reflect and love their neighbors more intentionally right where they are!

A question many Christians find themselves asking, whether after a trip or simply after becoming more aware of the needs around them is the same: “What now?”

The truth is, the opportunity to love and serve others doesn’t end when an experience ends. This opportunity continues in our everyday lives - in our home neighborhoods, classrooms, workplaces and communities.

God is already at work in our communities and we’re invited to join in, right where we are! How cool is that!

Why These Resources Matter

Loving our neighbors isn’t just about big, organized events. Often, loving neighbors well looks like consistent, intentional actions: noticing needs around you, building relationships with those in your community and responding with compassion.

These resources are meant to help you do just that. They offer simple ways to reflect on what you see, notice both strengths and challenges in your home community and take meaningful steps toward connection and care for the neighbors around you.

Highlighted Resource: What’s Strong and What’s Wrong

One of the resources we’re especially excited to share is the “What’s Strong and What’s Wrong” activity.

This tool creates space to pause and reflect on your home community - not just what is seen at the surface level, but with deeper awareness and intention. This resource invites you to view your home community as a whole: What is Strong - the good that is already present and What is Wrong - the brokenness that exists.

It’s easy to focus only on what’s wrong and feel overwhelmed, or to only see ministries that are strong and stay comfortable. But learning to notice both helps shape a more honest, hopeful and faithful response to the places and people around us.

More than anything, this activity is an invitation - to pay attention, to pray and to begin asking what it might look like to respond in humility. 

More Ways to Get Started

Along with this activity, we’re sharing several other resources to help you take next steps:

• Home Neighborhood Prayer Walk Guide to help you slow down and intentionally pray for the people and places around you
• Loving Our Neighbors Bingo - a simple, engaging way to practice everyday acts of care and connection
• Bible Study Reflection to help you process and reflect on Jesus’ heart and posture toward people
• A list of ideas of how to respond with Practical Ways to Love Your Neighborhood to help you brainstorm ideas of how to love your home neighborhood

Each of these resources are designed to be flexible - whether you use them on your own, with a small group or as a family.

Here is the link to access all of our resources! Please reach out if you would like support discerning ways to engage your family, church, school, and business with these tools.

An Invitation

You don’t have to travel far to love your neighbor well. In fact, some of the most meaningful opportunities are most likely already right in front of you - in the people you pass by, the places you frequent and the community you are already a part of.

This is an invitation to keep going, to keep noticing, keep learning and keep showing up with humility and care. 

While none of us can do everything, each of us can do something. And these small, faithful steps can make a real difference in someone’s life and ultimately bring change to an entire community.