A new way to practice justice is taking shape at First-Plymouth. justNeighbors is a new ministry that will take First-Plymouth volunteers into the community with the goal of providing encounter, connection and meeting with people in the church’s neighborhood.

Pastor Juan Carlos Huertas is working with Amanda Barker, who volunteered to be the lay leader of justNeighbors, to organize monthly opportunities to be with people in helpful ways. The first justNeighbors encounter is scheduled for January 29 from 8 to noon. Volunteers will go to one or two laundromats and help people in the neighborhood do their laundry. Two 2-hour shifts will be available from 8:00am-10:00am and 10:00am-Noon.

“I was having recurring conversations withPastor Huertas about how to make church come alive in a new and different way, for people who want to put action behind the mission to increase the love of God and neighbor,” Barker explained.

Millennials and younger generations sometimes have trouble connecting to church in traditional forms, and this initiative provides an opportunity for them to bring church alive. But this is definitely not limited to that age category according to Barker.

justNeighbors is modeled after Jesus in Luke 10, verses 8 and 9, Pastor Huertas explained.

“Whenever you enter a town, and its people welcome you, eat what is before you, cure the sick who are there and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near.”

“We want to encounter the Kingdom of God,” said Pastor Huertas. “When you are among the least of these, you are with Him. We have an opportunity to meet Jesus. This is not about white saviorism, but rather being together to have this encounter that transforms and surprises us. That is what it means to be church together--the body of Christ.”

“We are open to ideas from members of the congregation for justNeighbors encounters. We are thinking about engaging through Clinic With A Heart in February, for example,” said Barker.

“These encounters are not to be transactional but rather to prioritize a human-to-human, face-to-face encounter; to experience the kingdom of God,” said Huertas.