YOUR HAPPY, health witness of life as a minister's wife will ever be the drawing card to your neighbors. Even those who think your goodness is weird will have to admit it is a comforting kind of weirdness when their hearts or heads are aching.
Through children, church work, community projects, economies, health, and hobbies, you may set the foundation for casual or formal Bible studies. Share in their interests, what appeals to them. Pray for awareness to see the needs and opportunities, and for the know-how to fill them. Many blessings to yourself and others are lost through procrastination and timidity.
Children. The mother across the street bemoans the personality contrast between her Sandy and Mandy. She asks you how but how can two little girls be so opposite! Do you, does the Bible, have any help for distracted parents? "One star differeth from an other star" (1 Cor. 15:41). If God allows for individuality, can we do less? And so you share gems of His wisdom: Prov. 19:18; Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21. Maybe a Josephine Cunnington Edwards book. The possibilities for building rapport are as many and varied as the children.
Church Work. Compliment them on their involvement with their own church, share teaching or study tools, i.e., memory verse devices, flannelgraph materials, source books. Find as much as possible to agree on, starting from the known-and-accepted and advance as interest may allow to the greater light. VBS craft collections provide a good chance to meet your neighbors and acquaint them with your wholesome, helpful way of life. How about Pathfinder Club as a springboard of interest and interaction? And Story Hours? You could take turns with other appreciative parents.
Community Projects. Within practical limitation, we can give a hand with uplift programs. Be sure your limitations are understood in advance. In turn, we have Community Services to fortify our outreach. Acquaintances may be made via a friendly request for unwanted or outgrown items to supply emergency calls. Practical Christianity in good-deed projects can be shared, such as a Christmas dinner and gifts for an underprivileged family.
Economies. Tips and tricks to stretch the food and clothing dollar are your "way of life." Another homemaker may regard you as Heaven-sent with your casserole recipe, soup, or stew suggestions. A tip of economy of "time" may be a gratefully received insight.
Health. Stubborn bronchitis? Want a workout with my Thermophore? Did you hear the latest about sugar wow! We have so much to give via recipes, menus, journals, and books. Mix in the interplay of the physical and spiritual, such as: whole grains like the whole Bible to make the whole man. Present the fully rounded nourishment we need for health. Man has fractured the food and the Word, processing and devitalizing to suit his taste, and has lost his balance physically, mentally, and spiritually. Whole living, better living, is the specific dynamic action SDA's exist for!
Hobbies. Sports and crafts provide a wide field for fun to share. Look what tennis did for the Lutheran home of Pastor and Mrs. Ray Holmes (Stranger in My Home)! Just the exchange of ideas and enthusiasm can make bonds of fellowship, opening the way to fellowship with the Best Friend.
So, after all this winsome womanliness you have won the confidence of another woman who wants to know: "What does the Bible have for me?"
You now have the perfect opportunity to get into deeper subjects. When you have won a friend, you have won her confidence, and this is the key to soul winning. Plunge in and get involved, a life may be depending upon you.
Take Jesus as your guide, ask for a special project, and then have the confidence in Him that He will be with you every step of the way. Look at each person you meet as one Christ is anxious to save.
The most concise summary for sharing the gospel in your neighborhood is Love it! Live it! Give it!
