Our Neighborhood

We made it! We are officially in Dorchester and it has been wonderful. Dan has been ordained and will be preaching his first sermon this evening. (eventually, these will be podcasted for your listening enjoyment!) We are thrilled to have a place called home and Dan is thrilled to have a flock. We have done the tourist thing, entertained lovely out of town company, found the grocery store and met many wonderful neighbors. We even had dinner with Mayor Menino at our local restaurant as it was being awarded Boston's best new restaurant-well, he was there when we were.

We have "interviewed" several people from Dorchester on what life is like here. "E" is excited to see children on our street. She has been in the neighborhood for 23 years. "A" says Dot's biggest problem is trash. (Dan has taken to running around the park by our house and picks up trash in the mornings) "M" loves our neighborhood and says it is a hidden jewel in Dot. "R" is leary of the gentrifiers. "C" would never leave Dot, but says the violence is getting worse again. "AL" says there is nothing for kids to do except get into trouble. When she grew up here, there were all kinds of programs, but now there is nothing she can afford and there is no sense of community.

We look forward to many more encounters with our neighbors, showing and telling them about the Love of Christ. We pray that the Lord will make His Presence known and bring his Kingdom to bear on Dot.