We have now lived in our current neighborhood for 2 years. In the past two years God has blessed us with some true friends and great neighbors. However, there were still some people that live on our street that we didn’t know yet! So that is why we decided to throw a block party and invite all of the neighbors.
We did it July 9th and since that was so close to the 4th of July we decided to serve them an American treat—hamburgers! Not knowing who all would show up and wanting to make sure we had enough, we, along with the help of our interns, patted out over 100 burger patties to be grilled. We coordinated with other neighbors that we already knew to bring the potatoes, buns, salad, condiments, plates, etc., and then for the neighbors that we didn’t know as well we just asked them to bring a drink! It was definitely a joint effort and so much fun.
Preparations the day of began that morning with cleaning and decorating the street and setting up the volleyball net and other games. At 11 they broke out the grills to begin grilling all 100+ burgers. Neighbors started showing up around noon and we started serving the plates around 1. Around 80 neighbors ended up showing up! We stayed outside eating and playing until about 6 that evening.
It was such a fun way to meet more neighbors but also to work with other neighbors to practice the ministry of hospitality. It has been amazing to see God open doors for us through showing hospitality to our neighbors as God works to bring reconciliation to our neighborhood, El Molle.
