The Boundaries of Their Dwelling Place

I grew up reading missionary letters. With my grandparents' career with the Christian mission in the Philippines, we have many family friends who are all over the world. Besides these family ties, I have many personal friends who have decided to take the leap of traveling across the world to minister to a specific location. Other than the immense courage that these folks hold, perhaps their most noble attribute is their intentionality.

The letters that they send reflect a total intention to love the place where they live. They say things like, "We're finally having tea with our neighbor, who has ignored us for the last six months and we're praying that through this tea date they would understand that we love them and Jesus loves them and that is all." They are the most intentional citizens. Everything that they do is for the reason that the world may know Christ and his love.

I'm not sure I live like that.
Just yesterday, I spent about thirteen hours moving and cleaning. I got my stuff out of my apartment on 23rd and W Burnside and, through several trips, made my way to the apartment Ali and I will live in right in the heart of John's Landing. John's Landing is the greatest neighborhood you've never heard of, Portland's best kept secret. And as I moved in my stuff and Ali came over, I started to think very intentionally about this apartment.

Over Ali's famous noodle stir-fry, we sat on the floor and prayed that our apartment wouldn't just be an apartment, but a sanctuary; a place where people could experience God. A place of peace, life, and hospitality.

This morning, I walked to Coffee Plant (a place I'm sure I'll spend many mornings) and prayed for the neighborhood and what God would have me do with the people here. It's full of medical students, teachers, and young professionals. It's quiet but lively, blue collar and collegiate. What are we to do here?

I meditated on Paul's words, which he speaks to the Athenian skeptics on Mars Hill in Acts 17:26

"And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted period and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him."

You live where you live for a reason - it's a good time to start living like there's a little more weight to our circumstances.

Join me?