Levi’s Secret

Levi is my brother’s son. He is 13 years old. For a number of years he has had a dog-walking business. Last fall I was talking to his mother and she told me something interesting about him. He thought maybe he was spending a bit too much time using his iPod Touch so he decided to sell it. Before doing he backed up the information to his mother’s device. She scrolled around looking at the information. It was then she discovered something unusual.

He had created a small data-base for his business. In the data-base he listed the names, addresses, and contact information for his dog-walking customers. But there were a couple other categories that captured his mother’s attention. For each of his customers he had noted if they had were believers and if he had given them the gospel yet. In his notes it was clear that he had tried to evaluate their spiritual condition.

He actually had a count of all the neighbors and has a disarming way of engaging people in adult conversation to probe their world-view and pull them into thoughtful dialog.

Levi is not just a kid out walking dogs and making a little spare cash, he is a neighborhood missionary. He is asking people to tell their stories of faith and he is praying for them and he is trying to arrange gospel conversations with them.

This story thrilled me and got me thinking. How well do you know your neighbors? Have you listened to their stories of faith? Do you know what they believe? Do you pray for them? Have to done acts of love and service for them to show genuine love? Have you ever set down with them and had a gospel conversation? If they moved away or passed away could you say that you loved them, you knew them, and you made the gospel clear to them?

It’s summer-time. It’s a good time to meet the neighbors and befriend them. Start with learning their names and their stories. Maybe you could create a little data-base and start praying for them and plotting some kindnesses.

I’m keeping my eye on Levi. He’s going places.

Ken Pierpont

Granville Cottage

Riverview, Michigan

June 2, 2014