Love in your hood

So much difference can be made through relationship. Relationships are the foundation our worlds are built on. The successfulness, authenticity and strength of our relationships ultimately determine the success of our lives, the health of our communities and the vibrancy of our cities.

And while we understand and crave the healthy real, profound, giving, fun relationships for ourselves its easy to limit the power of relationships to those significant relationships in our lives.

Somehow we’ve bought into the lie that those who can touch people lives in our communities, our cities, our world who are struggling, sick, poor, or have had crap happen to them is for those with specialist skills, or a certain type of personality.

We do our bit when we can, giving to worthy charities and causes and saying kind words when we have the presence of mind to. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed and powerless in a world where so much evil exists. Where the system seems impregnable despite who’s in power. Sometimes we are just scared that we don’t have the skills, or we won’t know what to say. Or how to respond to what another might share.

But I’ve seen the transforming power of people investing in relationships in their communities. Young people who have grown up in a community believing passionately for the next generation of young people to live in a community with opportunities, free from violence, and drug abuse. These young people standing together are a family for each other supporting each other through life’s seasons and encouraging the next generation to dream of something different. Young people who are now taking a stand in their community to say no to drug and alcohol abuse and violence. They are changing their community, generation by generation. Each generation is supporting each other and encouraging the next to dream and take action for a different future.

So much community development work comes down to relationships. The transforming of communities comes down to engaging people and building relationship, to working together, collaborating on a common cause. It happens in walking alongside each other in life, to build trust, to share life together and have confidence that the relationships will remain. The impact of these relationships can be incredibly profound, yet the start is incredibly simple.