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"I just don't see Maureen ever coming to faith in Jesus," I thought to myself as I took the last step up toward our front door. I had just seen her getting out of her car in her next-door driveway and had smiled, waved, and said "Good morning!" - as a good Canadian neighbour should. 
When we had moved into that neighbourhood several months earlier I seemed to have a simple faith that God could save any of our neighbours. It was our constant hope and prayer; and knowing how wonderful God is and how relieving the gospel is, it almost seemed easy to imagine any of our neighbours coming to faith in Jesus one day.  
Except for that day. 
Maureen was a happily-cantankerous type of retiree. She was pleasant enough to us and our kids, and we continued to nurture a friendship along as best as we could. But over time as we got to know her we got to see --and hear-- her thoughts and feelings about all kinds of things. 
That day, as I approached our front door, was the first time I entertained the idea of one of my neighbours potentially never coming to know Jesus. Have you ever become so familiar with someone that you begin to suspect that may never come to faith in Jesus? 
As I took another step and reached for the doorknob, it was as if the Holy Spirit gently interrupted my thought process to confront me: "Mike, if you begin to believe that Maureen may never come to faith in Jesus, you will cease to partner with my work in her life."
Somehow along the way I had forgotten that the same Jesus that saved me, and has a track record of saving the difficult people and transforming difficult places (study Mark 5-8; also consider Saul-Paul; the list could go on and on), was of course at work in Maureen's life in spite of my inability to see it at the time and could of course still save Maureen, no matter how set-in-her-ways and peppery she may presently seem. 
Jesus doesn't just harvest the low-hanging fruit. 
Jesus expertly knows how to reach the most difficult people in the most difficult places. 
That includes your neighbourhood. 
This same Jesus famously said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." We want to take this literally. We want to believe that God could be up to something absolutely wonderful in the Comox Valley. What if He's about to do something historic here? 
This is why our second prayer priority for 2022 is: Our Neighbours. 
God has strategically placed YOU on your street among your neighbors. Very likely, the best opportunity any of them have to experience the love of Jesus, is through your life. 
This year, let's pray regularly that we can effectively build friendships in our neighborhoods. 
This year, let's pray regularly for hearts to be opened in our neighborhoods. 
This year, let's pray regularly for our neighbours to discover that Jesus loves and saves them. 
That day, instead of giving up on Maureen, I decided to keep entrusting her to God's hands and work and continued praying for God to help us bring tangible experiences of His love and gospel to her life. 
Do you have any Maureen's in your neighbourhood? 
Let's keep praying.
Pastor Mike