So like, I’m sitting here sipping my third cold brew of the day, still processing what went down last weekend. Y’all, we need to talk about something major that nobody in our circle seems to address – the whole vibe check before we roll into new spots to spread the Word.

Here’s the tea: last Saturday, me and the squad decided to hit up this neighborhood across town. We’d heard it was “ripe for ministry” or whatever, and we were feeling that fire, you know? Armed with our slick pamphlets and that contagious energy we always bring, we thought we were totally set to make an impact.

But fam, we messed up. Big time.

We didn’t realize this community had already been through it with other religious groups who basically steamrolled in, dropped their message, and bounced without building any real connections. The moment we started with our usual approach, you could literally feel the energy shift. People were giving us those looks – you know the ones – like we were just another group of privileged kids playing savior for the weekend.

One older lady straight up told me, “We don’t need your kind of help,” and honestly? That hit different. Because she wasn’t wrong.

We’ve got to do better at sustaining ourselves in these spaces, and that means actually doing the work before we even step foot in a new community. We can’t just expect people to receive us with open arms when we haven’t earned their trust or shown that we understand their specific needs and history.

The thing is, we’re so used to our bubble where everyone speaks the same language – both literally and spiritually. But real ministry? It’s messy. It requires us to be humble enough to listen first, speak second. To acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, we don’t have all the answers for every community.

I’m still processing what it means to truly connect with people where they’re at. How we can sustain not just our energy but our integrity when we enter spaces that aren’t familiar to us. Because if we’re being real, that disaster last weekend wasn’t about them rejecting the gospel – it was about them rejecting the way we presented it, without any consideration for who they are and what they’ve experienced.

So this is me, taking the L, learning from it, and promising to do better. Because spreading the Word shouldn’t leave us or the communities we enter feeling drained – it should be life-giving for everyone involved.

Next time, we’re doing our homework. We’re building relationships. We’re asking questions instead of just providing answers.

And maybe then, we’ll actually be living the message instead of just talking about it.

Just some thoughts from your boy,
– Mitchell Royel

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