Mission Possible: Neighbors, small seeds, and a refrigerator

by Randy Martin & Jacob Curtis

In the summer of 2024, Ambler (PA) Mennonite provided a three-month sabbatical for our pastors. We decided that while they were away, we wanted to get more curious about Jesus’ mandate to love our neighbors. Backed by a Missional Operations Grant from Mosaic Mennonite Conference, we brought in a series of speakers from community organizations. We asked them, “What are you seeing and hearing around Ambler? Who are our neighbors? What gifts are they bringing and what challenges are they facing? And how can we be present with them?”

As we listened to these speakers, we began to make connections. Mark Boorse, the Director of Program Development at Access Services, talked to us about his work with people who are unhoused. He shared a photo of an ice-fishing tent he’d set up for a couple sheltering by the river in Norristown. We recognized them because we had helped them find housing during the winter of 2021! We started to see how our church could be one small part of a whole web of care.

This connecting phenomenon happened again when our speakers from WeCare Ambler asked if we could partner with them, another church, and a local food cupboard to pay back rent for a mother facing eviction. Together, we paid two-thirds of it. When the woman’s employer heard what we were doing, they agreed to pay the final third. When everything was settled with the landlord, the mother texted us, “Oh wow. Thank you so-o-o much…It was a struggle trying to figure things out. I am so grateful. Thank you.”

To process everything we were learning, we turned to Tom Albright, a former pastor of Ripple Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Tom met with us six times, planned question-and-answer sessions with the speakers, and led “circle church” services to discern where we were seeing the kingdom of God in action. He also took us on a prayer walk through Ambler, stopping to pray outside some of the organizations we had learned about earlier as well as important sites from our church’s history.

We see these seeds growing. Several of us are volunteering at a monthly food distribution event led by Chosen 300 Ministries. We recently hosted a free Saturday lunch at the church to celebrate the launch of our new community fridge. The refrigerator is a way to supplement the dry goods that most food pantries offer with fresh foods that require refrigeration. The fridge is located outside our front doors, so people can stop by anytime to take what they need or give what they can. Getting this project off the ground has been a real cooperative effort, with help from local individuals, businesses, and nonprofits.  

Ambler Mennonite is also a part of the first cohort of congregations in the new Vibrant Mosaic initiative. We’ll be learning more about local mission and doing more local mission experiments with grant funding. We’re excited to see what God will do next!