Global GospelSample

Neighbors Being Neighbors

BY LYNDSEY WATSON

As for many churches across the world, in March 2020, everything changed for ours. We had to adjust Sunday mornings, our plans, and our programs. As a small church, we soon launched Neighborhood Care Groups. We divided the congregation into groups based on neighborhoods, with the goal of 20–30 families in each. In all, about 100 families stayed connected across six or seven neighborhoods. To this day, it’s one of the ministries I’m most proud to have been part of.

These groups prayed for one another, sent cards, delivered flowers, dropped off gifts, and simply checked in. Over time, they grew to include families who weren’t part of the church but lived in the neighborhood. It was a beautiful example of neighbors being neighbors.

Fast-forward to 2023, when I had the opportunity to travel to India with a group of female pastors to visit the Hindustani Covenant Church. We were curious, eager to learn, and open to what God wanted to show us. One evening, we were invited to participate in a Cottage Prayer Meeting.

These gatherings didn’t happen in church buildings or auditoriums—they took place in homes. A different home each evening, rotating among church members. There was singing, Scripture reading and sharing, conversation, and prayer. Families invited neighbors to join. Children, aunties, grandparents, and friends gathered and offered tea, food, and fellowship. The meetings were simple and ordinary, yet deeply sacred.

What struck me most was how clearly God was already at work, moving through the ordinary moments of neighbors serving and praying together. God wasn’t waiting for a formal church service. He was present in the prayers of those gathered, in the quiet faith of neighbors asking for healing or provision. These families invited one another—and Jesus—into their homes.

Jesus says in Matthew 22:37–40, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

I saw these words come to life in a small living room filled with prayer and packed with people, in neighbors showing up for one another, in communities choosing love.

Cottage Prayer Meetings—like our Neighborhood Care Groups—were not just about prayer. They were about presence. Loving God and loving neighbor, in living rooms, around tables, across generations. They serve as a reminder that faith is not just something expressed on Sunday mornings. It is a way of life that moves through the streets of our neighborhoods and around the tables of our homes. It’s about loving God and loving people right where we are. Neighbors being neighbors.

And it makes me wonder, What if we lived like that? What if we believed that God is already at work next door, around our tables, in the lives of our coworkers or classmates—just as he is across the world? What would it look like to notice where God is already moving in our neighborhoods and join in?

We don’t need a sanctuary or a program to participate in the kingdom of God. Maybe it starts with inviting someone over for coffee or tea. Or praying with a neighbor. Or being present enough to listen. Maybe it looks like asking, “How can I pray for you?”—and meaning it.

God is at work, and the invitation is open.

Reflection Question

In what ways might God be inviting you to create space, whether in your neighborhood or across cultures, where presence and love can flourish?

Prayer

God, thank you that you are already at work in homes, in hearts, and in neighborhoods near and far. Open my eyes to see where you are moving around me. Help me love you with all that I am, and to love my neighbors with intention and joy. Teach me to recognize you in the ordinary spaces and show me how to join you there. Help me to be present just as you are. Thank you for who you are and how you show us what love looks like. Amen.