Transforming Neighborhoods

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TransformingNeighborhoods

• Envisioning

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Transforming Neighborhoods is is Built
on Relationships

• Person to person relationships
• Person to neighborhood relationships
• Neighborhood to city relationships

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Transforming of Neighborhoods and Cities By

• Equipping Churches to Facilitate Transformed
  Neighborhoods and People to Maturity in Christ

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Built on Luke 1027

• Love God with all your mind, body, soul and
  strength
• AND
• Love your neighbor as yourself

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What is Kingdom Transformation?

• Gods Kingdom come, His will be done.
• Health and wholeness spiritually, physically,
  emotionally, and socially.
• Restoration of right relationships with God,
  self, others, and creation.
• Transformation is radical change that starts on
  the inside. As beliefs and values change,
  behaviors and the resulting effects are also
  altered. Communities change as individuals
  change. Transformation comes one person at a
  time. (adapted from Miller 1998)

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Cities Today

• In 2010, more people live in urban areas than in
  rural areas.
• By 2020, 70 of the world will be living in
  cities of over 1 million.
• There are 200 cities today with over 1 million
  people. By 2020, there will be 1450.

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Urban Neighborhoods

• People from all over, generally transient
• No sense of community because they do not know
  and trust their neighbors
• More isolated, dependent on professionals
• No safety net when people need help
• City is not a community, too big therefore must
  break into smaller neighborhoods

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Neighborhoods

• Smaller in size (8-12) blocks
• Centers around an elementary school area (since
  most kids still walk to school)
• Parents are more involved with kids at this age
• Parents can be connected to other activities

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The Approach

• Build a Village in the City
• Focus on Assets
• Gain Participation

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I. Build a Village in the City

• We know each other and look out for each other by
  starting with fun activities and built on self
  interest
• Surrounded by a social network, which is not kin
  or tribe
• Realize all people have intrinsic value
• Build trust so help each other
• Aggregate neighbors into transforming their
  neighborhood

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To Build a Village We Must Find Out About
Each Other

• Since most people do not even know the neighbors
  names we need way to find out about people,
  groups and organizations in the neighborhood.
• Asset Based Community Development (ABCD)
  identifies assets found in individuals and groups
  in the neighborhood.
• Asset mapping been done for 25 years in USA and a
  powerful tool for beginning to create sub
  communities

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II. Focus on Assets

• Everyone has assets (skills, knowledge, passions)
  which may be unknown
• All people want to be of value to others and not
  just be a receivers
• Builds on what is in the neighborhood already,
  work can be on-going by people in it.
• Needs focus on problems, assets on solutions

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III. Gain Participation at PeoplesLevel

• Expose (Compassion)
• Easy Entry
• One Time
• No Commitment
• Little Relationship
• Engage (Betterment)
• Several Times
• Heart is Changing
• Some Commitment
• Builds New Relationships
• Own (Development)
• Deeper Engagement
• Recruiting Others
• High Relationship

Compassion
Betterment
Develop- ment
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The Strategy

• Find churches that are externally focused and
  want to reach their neighborhoods in a wholistic
  way.
• Create new sub-communities and villages.
• Find assets and interests of people and equips
  them to accomplish activities built on their
  self-interest.
• Connect small interest groups to neighborhood
  interests.

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Major Players in Transforming a Neighborhood

• A Facilitation/Training Team (launch team) of lay
  people from the church, and eventually the
  community, initiates the program--creating
  awareness and training the next two groups.
• A Committee, or Neighborhood Association of local
  leaders from the neighborhood who are trained by
  launch team then direct the outreach in their
  area.
• Neighborhood Agents of Change (NAC) are local
  volunteers who learn how to help their neighbors
  then visit neighbors to share what they have
  learned.

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Activities to Start

• Launch team from the church begins work on
  several fronts to raise awareness and
  participation.
• Church identifies where members live and group
  into neighborhoods challenging people to know
  their neighbors
• Members begin walking the two square blocks where
  they live to meet and get to know their neighbors
• Hold bar-b-ques, block parties etc to begin to
  develop relationships
• Begin to do acts of service to elementary school
  for the designated large neighborhoods.
• Do asset mapping and begin simple classes based
  on what people in the neighborhood want to learn

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Training Local Volunteer Facilitators

• Facilitators are volunteers therefore only have
  limited time each week
• Start with 10 hour Weekend Training for volunteer
  facilitators by Master Trainer
• Train multiple churches together each applying in
  their neighborhood.
• Churches decide which modules they want
  additional training on from 10 modules (4 to 7
  hours each).

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Training Is Built On Turning Learning into Action

• Starts with what people already know and builds.
• Focuses on the learner not the teacher.
• People are involved in their own learning instead
  of being lectured to. They participate in small
  groups, discussions, role plays, creating stories
  and songs.
• All learning is turned into action and not left
  as head knowledge.
• The teaching is under the guidance of the Holy
  Spirit.
• There are over 2000 participatory lesson plans to
  be used by the trained on many different topics.

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Impact Statement

• Neighborhoods throughout city doing wholistic
  transformational ministry are networked together
  to learn from and encourage each other.
• As the teams come together they find common
  interests which begin to transform the city as a
  whole thereby changing it from the inside out.

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Observable Indicators

• Transformed neighborhoods from the inside.
• People know neighbors and helping each other.
• People knowing and growing in Christ.
• People taking responsibility for their own lives.
• Healthy growing churches.
• Improvement in employment and living conditions.
• Reduction in disease, crime, drug and alcohol
  addiction.
• Other Neighborhoods throughout the city begin to
  implement Neighborhood Transformation.

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Resources

• www.neighborhoodtransformation.net
• http//facebook.com/pages/Neighborhood-Transformat
  ion/178206349129
• http//urbancheguy.wordpress.com

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Helping Transform Neighborhoods
and People To Maturity In Christ
A Ministry of Alliance for Transformational
Ministry
Stan Rowland Jeff Bisgrove www.neighborhoodtrans
formation.net