The Cape of Good Hope

As my wife, Danielle, and I prepared to buy our first home, we prayed that God would place us in a neighborhood where we could intentionally love our neighbors like Jesus. The initial awkwardness of being the “new people on the block” soon gave way to friendly connections, but we yearned to build deeper community. We prayed for our neighborhood and wanted to extend Jesus’ love to our neighbors.

One day, I surprised my next-door neighbor by mowing his front lawn. It only took me a couple extra minutes, but when he and his wife noticed, you would have thought I had rescued their kids from a burning building. The whole neighborhood buzzed with the gossip of the “new guy” who mows the neighbor’s lawn. Shortly after, my neighbor across the street ribbed me one Saturday afternoon by yelling across the street, “Hey, why don’t you mow my grass too!” So I did! Within a year the couple next door asked us to be the godparents of their fourth child.

When we arrived, the neighborhood already had some connection points in place such as the summer block party and a women’s book group. But, to extend our own connection in the neighborhood, we came up with the idea of hosting an open house. Partnering with another couple that we were friends with in the area, we invited everyone in the neighborhood to come over for a few hours late on a Sunday afternoon. We made a pot of chili and encouraged everyone to bring some food to share. We paid some local high school students to care for the children and ordered some pizza for them too.

We had no agenda except to welcome and love our neighbors. And that’s what we did! We made the open house a once-a-month event, calling it Second Sunday so folks would remember which Sunday to plan on coming over. Clever, huh? By staying regularly connected with the people in our proximity, we noticed more ways to be intentionally involved with their lives and extend Christ’s love in tangible ways.

Danielle and I decided to give our small Cape Cod home a nickname, “The Cape of Good Hope.” This name served as a reminder to us of our vision to create a safe, welcoming environment where people would find hope. We wanted our home to be a place where anyone could explore matters of faith openly in the company of true friends. We have been fortunate to experience this, as neighbors have confided in us about their family difficulties, marriage struggles, and spiritual challenges. Danielle and I pray for our neighbors nearly every day that they would experience the love and grace of Jesus. We have been allowed the privilege to pray with and for some neighbors who had never before shown openness to God. In fact, I have invited some of the guys over to discuss questions about God and life. They came, and have continued to come—fully engaging themselves in meaningful discussions about God.

We also created a motto for our home: “Where strangers become friends and friends become family.” We try to extend welcome beyond the limits of our house structure and cultivate community wherever we go—because welcoming is not just about inviting, it’s about bringing a warm, inviting presence to others wherever you are. It is a way of living.

John Crilly
National Field Director