Our home was the 'crack house' in the neigbhorhood. It was in 2003 we moved in to our home after it went through probate. The neighborhood was full of children, all the streets ended in cul-de-sac so often the kids would be running around outside, playing football and other games. I imediately joined in. It's great getting to know these kids (mostly boys 10-12). We've played hundreds of games out in the front streets over these years. My wife has tutored many of them at our house. We have a large birch tree in our front yard that the kids would come and sit under. Many of the boys don't have fathers, so they ask me questions as they grow up. They'd also ask me questions about God and other religions, I even got to explain triperspectival presuppositional apologetics.
One day everything changed. One of the boys asked me more about sin, God and Jesus. I went over the gospel with him, as I had before, but this time he began to cry. He said he wanted to be forgiven of his sins, that he knew he needed Jesus as his savior. He asked how he could become a Christian. I explained and he gave his life to Jesus. He was so excited he started telling the other kids. A month later, one of the oldest boys came to me and said he wanted to become a Christian too. Next several boys asked if I'd lead a Bible Study. So off we went, first we make dinner and then we go through Old Testament stories (from a Gospel/Redemptive Historical perspective). Creation, Noah's Ark, Babel, Abraham…it's been great. It's great teaching these kids, some of whom had never heard about Jesus or ever been to church and seeing their excitement. But mostly, it's been amazing to see the gospel change a neighborhood.
