In the midst of Sonia’s story during the worship committee meeting, we were startled by the sound of gun shots coming from just outside the front of the house. We all hit the floor. After calling 911 and waiting to hear the police arrive, we went out to find on the sidewalk next door a young man shot dead and his girlfriend shot in the leg. Apparently the young man, who was part of a gang from another city, had been walking down the street with his girlfriend when he was confronted by members of another gang and shot. We stood amidst the gathering neighbors – all somewhat stunned. For Josh and his family, the rest of the night and much of the next day were filled with police and news media in front of the house and conversations with concerned neighbors.

Such events create incredible fear for everyone living in the neighborhood – certainly also for Josh, who was concerned about the safety of his family, which included his three young boys. Josh decided to do something to deal with the fear descending on his neighborhood. He organized a service on his front lawn for the very next evening.

Getting there late, I ended up standing in the back, leaning on the fence in front of Josh’s house. There were thrity to forty persons gathered in the front yard, about half of them Josh’s neighbors and about half persons from our congregation who lived close by. Josh was sitting on his front steps and Justin from our church was sitting beside him, playing the guitar as the group sang.