Effective Compassion

Amy Sherman from the July 1998 issue

(Page 3 of 3)

I've met Nehemiahs like Mathieu and Gordon in low-income communities in Phoenix, Richmond, Detroit, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Baltimore. They've invested for the long haul, patiently building friendships, earning trust, and mobilizing residents to transform their communities. When I've interviewed neighborhood residents concerning their opinion of these outsiders who have become insiders, they typically say the Nehemiahs have succeeded because they practice what they preach and offer love and hope.

It is certainly true that in many inner-city communities important, if modest, institutions of civil society are too often overlooked. And it is wrong when well-doers barge in from outside and fail to see these people and groups, or simply dismiss them. But it is also true that there are atomistic inner-city neighborhoods that lack any signs of civic cooperation.

In these settings, a Nehemiah from outside the neighborhood can serve as a catalyst to spark a resurrection of cooperation and community-mindedness. And sometimes Nehemiahs, through their "indigenous leadership development" efforts, are the ones who identify potential Josephs, invest in them, and eventually turn over leadership of community projects to them. If we are too quick to judge all outsiders as potential problems for Josephs, we will miss the critical role being played in many communities by Joseph-loving, Joseph-supporting Nehemiahs.