3 minute read

New Community Campuses

New Community Campuses Holy Spirit Moving in Diverse Neighborhood

Advertisement

The SE Beechmont Community Campus is geared toward groups of people who encountered cultural barriers in attending one of Southeast’s existing regional campuses. magine a place where dozens and dozens of different languages and cultures co-exist on an everyday basis. Now, imagine that none of those languages or cultures are native to that area, yet the people there must somehow navigate the native language and culture just to survive. Finally, imagine this whole dynamic takes place within a 6-block radius.

That is Beechmont.

Beechmont truly is a home to many languages and cultures from all over the world.

Truly Present

Cliff and Heather Beach love people. They love being with people, to form friendships, to sit and listen—to be present. And they love to help. What started as a Summer outreach to help newly-arrived refugees primarily from war-torn Syria learn English over time grew into real, deep, solid friendships. The kind of friendships where someone calls and invites you over for dinner on the spur of the moment, and you say, “Yes.” The kind of friendships where you rejoice when they rejoice over the birth of a new child, and you mourn when they mourn over sickness and the death of a loved one. That’s what Cliff and Heather developed.

But to be truly present, it’s best if you are near. Cliff and Heather lived in Oldham County and attended Southeast’s Crestwood Campus, while most of their friends lived in Louisville, specifically in the south side of the city. If they

Beechmont truly is a home to many languages and cultures from all over the world. And it is where the Holy Spirit has been moving.

were truly going to be present with their new friends, they were going to need to move. So, following the Spirit, they did.

A New Kind of Campus

In the meantime, God was leading Southeast to establish a new kind of campus—a community campus. A campus focused on community transformation and geared toward groups of people who encountered cultural barriers in attending one of the church’s existing regional campuses.

As Southeast’s Elders and Missions staff prayed about this new type of campus, one area of town became an obvious location—Beechmont. God had already been at work in the South Louisville neighborhood for many years, with several ministries and churches located there. God also began moving people to the Beechmont area, many of whom came without necessarily a specific goal or target in mind, but simply an obedience to God’s leading to relocate to this specific part of town.

The wind was blowing and people were being obedient to go where it was leading.

When the Beaches decided to move closer to their friends so they could be more present, God opened a door for them to buy a house in the Beechmont area. And after they moved in, they learned Southeast was about to open a new kind of campus right in their neighborhood. A community campus. The SE Beechmont Community Campus.

So, as Cliff and Heather continue to love on their friends, sharing life with them and telling them about Jesus as opportunities present themselves, the SE Beechmont Community Campus is also looking for opportunities to follow God’s leading in reaching out to the community.

Learn More

To learn more about the SE Beechmont Campus and the community transformation efforts, email beechmont@secc.org or southeastchristian.org/locations.

Prayer Requests

• Praise God for the Beaches while praying that more families will be willing to catch the wind of what God is doing in the Beechmont neighborhood.

• Pray for wisdom and discernment as specific community transformation action plans are developed.

• Pray the hearts and minds of community members will be open to hearing the good news that Jesus loves them.

This article is from: