At Mission 98, we love highlighting people who are engaged in apartment ministry and today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse and Savanna who serve an apartment community in California.
Tell us about the property you serve. We serve a quiet complex, located on the largest apartment property in town. Sprawling over fourteen acres with walking paths and plenty of grass, our community has140 units. Our community is a mix of ages, ranging from college students and young families to senior citizens. Despite the large age ranges, everyone looks out for each other, and it’s a pretty involved community.
Share one way you see God moving in your apartment community. Our neighbor, Debbie, shared with us awhile back that shortly after she moved in, almost all of the neighbors in the units next to her moved out. She’s a believer who struggles with a physical disability, and she prayed a lot about having some new neighbors that understood her. A couple months later, Cece moved in across from her. Now Cece and Debbie hangout almost every day, do errands together, and Cece has helped Debbie step out of her comfort zone a lot. They’ve bonded a lot over shared life experiences, and Debbie truly believes God listened to her prayers and put Cece in her life! Another story is about our neighbor Mike, who was staying in the hospital for a while. His neighbor, Terry, decided to surprise him in the hospital to lift his spirits and let him know he was praying for him.
What’s your favorite part about serving your community? Our favorite part about serving our community is when residents get comfortable enough with us to tell us what’s going on in their lives and the things that they are going through. It’s a special feeling when someone opens up to you about the hard things, and it’s a joy for us to be able to pray for them and offer a helping hand when possible.
What scripture do you refer to when describing what your apartment ministry? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind and love thy neighbor as thyself.” — Matthew 22: 37-38. We feel like this scripture really sums it all up! We are to love God with all of our being, to be in submission to Him, and to love our neighbors wholeheartedly. Although serving in an apartment community has its challenges, we truly believe that God has intentionally set this ministry in place, because we see the fruits it is bearing in peoples’ lives!
What is something others may not know about serving in an apartment community? Something others may not know about serving in an apartment community is that you become the go-to person for people’s questions and problems, which can be both a good and a not-so good thing. Even though we aren’t property or resident managers, people still assume that you have the skills and knowledge to help them with tasks outside of your scope. We love when we’re able to help residents out in a pinch, but when the resident manager isn’t available, a lot of residents will refer to you.
Is there something churches and individuals could do to support people engaged in apartment ministry? Tell us what would make your life easier. We do an event almost every week, indefinitely, and sometimes we run out of fresh ideas to keep the events new and exciting. In the past, we’ve had people from church offer to help us with events by providing something they are skilled at or passionate about, like cooking their family’s secret pasta recipe for everyone. We are so appreciative when someone reaches out to do that, it’s a huge blessing to us and the residents. Additionally, prayers for resilience and softened hearts in our community are always appreciated!
Please share a specific story in which you cared for residents. This last winter we had a resident, Doug, whose apartment was flooded and needed to be entirely renovated. He had to stay in a hotel for a month, and during that time we decided to bring him a care package. We thought about how hard it would be to have to live in a hotel for that long with no way to make your own meals. Doug is a passionate vegan and often struggles to find products he can actually enjoy when out and about, so we decided to make him a personalized vegan gift basket with all of his favorite snacks and drinks and a new travel mug. He loved the gift basket and still talks about it!
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Thank you, Jesse and Savanna for loving and serving your community well! Should you want to connect more with people engaged in apartment ministry like Jesse and Savanna, head over to our community.
Although serving in an apartment community has its challenges, we truly believe that God has intentionally set this ministry in place because we see the fruit it is bearing in peoples’ lives!
Savanna and Jesse Stidham
