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What A Missiologist Taught Me About Discovering the Needs In A Community

December 19, 2011 Rodlie Ortiz, D.Min.

I recently had a conversation with Dr. Bruce Bauer, a missiologist here at the Andrews University Theological Seminary . I wanted to speak with him because I’ve been wrestling with questions about evangelism, outreach, and discipleship, and wanted to get his perspective. During our conversation he shared that he’d been a missionary in various parts of Asia including Guam, Japan, and Cambodia. So I asked him, “You’ve obviously had experience connecting with different people groups in different parts of the world, but what would be one of the first things you’d do if you were asked to be a missionary to the people here in Berrien Springs, MI?” I think you can substitute whatever town or city you live in by the way, because I think his answer can apply to just about anywhere.

He said, “You need to find out what the needs are in the community, and then figure out a way that you can meet those needs.”

I wondered out loud in front of him how someone could come to understand what the needs are in a community. He then responded that I need to connect with various leaders in the community. There was no way of getting around this. The first person he suggested I connect with is the police chief in our town. “He’s going to know what the major kinds of issues are that the people face,” he responded.  That makes sense because the kinds of crimes that people commit are often indicative of the kinds of issues that are being faced in the community. “I wouldn’t stop there, though,” he continued. “I’d also connect with social workers in the area. They are actually in people’s homes and know what’s happening. They’re aware of the themes that people are facing.” He also suggested connecting with the leaders in the local schools.

I thought those suggestions made sense, and I immediately connected with them. He threw out one more suggestion to me, though, that took me by surprise: “You need to talk to ________. He’s the manager of the local hardware store. He’s been in the community for a long time, and connects with people everyday.”

So here’s two quick lessons:

1.Beware of methods that have worked in the past in a different context. Because we’re all living in different communities and the people face different things, we need to have our ears to the ground in our own community in an intentional way. The need in one community will not be the same as in the other community.

2. Learning about needs takes work. Nothing will beat the work of connecting with people and having those conversations about what’s happening in the lives of people where we live. A temptation I have is to simply order some community needs analysis from some company and to rely upon that. But nothing beats the work of being out there, having the conversations, meeting the people, and therefore discovering what’s happening.

So what about you? What would you add to the list of whom to connect with? How do you think you can best learn about the needs in a particular community?

[image by g.bremer]

Filed Under: missional

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About Rodlie Ortiz, D.Min.

On the pastoral team at Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University. Tech geek.

Comments

  1. Pedro M Trinidad says

    December 20, 2011 at 10:12 am

    Great article with good insights.

    • Rodlie Ortiz says

      December 21, 2011 at 9:14 pm

      Thanks, Pedro!

  2. Jose Bourget says

    December 20, 2011 at 12:57 pm

    Who I would talk to or where I would go, partially depends in the type of community that I am in.

    In Chicago, while serving as the faith representat in the 19th district police department we struggled with a different problem then most of the other district.

    We were situated in a primarily affluent district so the needs of the community were not only different but also common crime trends (drugs or domestic violence) were much more concealed.

    So we tried different ways to create awareness while also creating opportunities for someone to “cry out” their distress.

    Here are a few things we tried:

    1. Quarterly townhall mtgs at a common neutral location

    2. We identified 6-8 national “cause” (domestic abuse, child abuse, self defense etc) based themes to provide materials, gatherings, speakers, and mass marketing

    3. We partnered with other churches and non-profits to host open houses highlighting how these entities support communities

    As a police department, we saw these as ways to draw out people who had needs, present discreet ways to work through their needs, and create a space for someone to feel safe to communicate their needs to us. Police have some interesting obstacles in the form of legal or general public attitudes to the “force”. Even so we felt we were connecting with some of the needs in our district.

    • Rodlie Ortiz says

      December 21, 2011 at 9:15 pm

      Those are some great ideas! I wonder how common it is for communities to do stuff like this?

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