Nearly the end of the week and I said I'd talk about estates ministry and poverty.

We do estates ministry. Estates ministry is essential; Jesus said that He was here to proclaim good news to the poor. So should we be.

( @estate_ministry @NECNestates @EstatesChurch)

Jesus also chose poverty. He considered relationship to be more important than wealth, and He set aside His riches for His mission to reconcile man to God. So should we.

Poverty looks different on the outside to the reality of living it. There are a couple of things to understand about poverty:
1. Poverty is not an issue of morality. People aren't in poverty because they don't work hard enough. People aren't in poverty because of any moral flaw.

2. There are no quick fixes that can be enacted by those in poverty. Poverty is a political decision, rarely an individual's decision. Life is more expensive if you're poor:
You tend to pay more per unit for stuff if you're not paying up front by card/direct debit.

Electricity is more expensive on pre-pay, so are mobile phones, etc etc. If you buy something on credit you pay significantly more for it. If you think they should just go without then try sitting in a house with nothing to do, because access to entertainment is a poverty issue.

So if you're poor you can't just buy less for a while and save up, or just get a better job. It doesn't work like that because there are a lot of companies and systems in place to exploit you.

3. Because poverty isn't all about money if you move onto an estate and live on benefits your kids are still going to be wealthier than a lot of their peers because of you. You know about libraries and the outdoors and that mash is made from potatoes.

4. On the whole estates aren't horrible places to live. Mine is in the 2% most deprived areas in the UK but it's lovely. I wouldn't live anywhere else. The sense of community is good, and there's a nature reserve within walking distance. Acquisitive crime is low.

So what does estates ministry look like?
I've talked about our church plant, Lighthouse, in an earlier thread. Then there's everything else that isn't that:

We live with an open door. Sometimes literally, mostly figuratively. Jesus was always uninterruptible, so should we be.

Jesus was always happy to be interrupted, even when he took himself off to pray. He pretty much always spent time with people when they wanted, and he seems to meander places rather than rush.

To give an idea of this - if someone needs your help then help them, even though it's 10am on a Sunday morning and you're supposed to be running a service at 10.30.

This is always true, but the level of need is higher on estates. But mostly it's sharing tea.

We've found it's also really important for the need to be both ways. Don't rock up and solve all the problems and be self sufficient. Make sure it's a true relationship. My Muslim neighbour is sorting out our back fence. My marxist atheist neighbour brings me scrap wood.

We all watch each others' kids. The most successful discipleship relationships I've had are based on mutual need, probably because of the vulnerability it requires.

Always be ready to talk about your faith. We don't try and turn every conversation to Jesus, but we often talk about our faith and what we're doing as part of it.

We lend a lot of stuff out, sometimes it comes back. It doesn't matter. Have a loose grip on stuff, it's not important to you, but your attitude of generosity is like'y to be noticed.

Also, you can't out give God.

What we've found to be really important is taking down physical barriers to your house. We took our front fence down (though we still have hydrangeas), and the big gate gate between our front and back, and we're putting a shorter fence with a gate out back.

We also found sitting in our front garden and talking to people as they pass to be good, especially if the tea pot is nearly full.

In fact, doing that in the name of Jesus completely changed our street and the two families we're closest two both said they were thinking of

moving away.

So to sum up a long and rambling thread:

Poverty isn't anything to be ashamed of and should be embraced.

Estates mission is mostly about being there in the name of Jesus, being readily available to your neighbours, seeing and acknowledging their value, and being open about who you serve.