Last weekend Matt and I traveled to Portland, OR to share what we have learned about Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD). We met with a Missional Wisdom Foundation Launch and Lead cohort at Camp Magruder on the Oregon "coast", not to be confused with "beach" (which is a warm sunny place), the locals informed us. It was a great group of people, all working on amazing projects in their community. 

On Friday evening we introduced ourselves and defined foundational terms like community, community development, and ABCD. We asked the group to share with us their reasons for being in the program and their experiences of community development. It was a very knowledgeable and experience-rich group.

On Saturday we spoke about our journey from observing the giftedness of our neighbors, to discovering ABCD and the work of Broadway UMC in Indianapolis, to implementing the Abundant Community Network in SoCe, to launching the Neighboring Movement. The Launch & Lead participants responded with great insights, encouragement, and eagerness to experiment with neighboring in their own contexts.