Reaching the people around us

One of my church members has a brother in the hospital with life threatening  complications of drinking far too much alcohol. He was release last week, from the hospital, and promptly went back to drinking and is now back in the hospital. His son was arrested yesterday after a four hour stand off with police, on methamphetamine related charges, and the girl who lives in the trailer where he was arrested was a childhood classmate of the mother of my son's first grade classmate.  Got that? 

3 degrees of separation means that in a small town, a friend of mine ran for mayor on an anti corruption platform, against the uncle of my other friend with whom I am trying to share the gospel.

It means that the kids I teach in school, go home to the house on the corner, a house where they sort of grunt at my greeting when I walk by- I still don't belong.  It means that the third great I taught music Friday spend the day with grandma who is my next door neighbor, while their mom and dad try to sort out a messy third divorce.

It means that the meth-head is my neighbor. That my small town is not a safe place, and that the world is ripe for the gospel.

The question is how to present the gospel in a town, where the vast majority will only set foot in a church if they are picking up a check to help pay their back rent, because they are facing eviction since they had to bail their husband out  of jail for domestic violence, and spend $60 a week on cheep cigarets. 

How do we love the down and out, and their kids? When the majority of the congregation isn't sure how to talk to them? How do we actually share the life changing power of the gospel with people who are not interested in comming to church?

Good questions.  Please pray for wisdom.