Do You Know Your Neighbors?

Do you know your neighbors? We have an entire congregation of them!

Galilee Baptist Church sits right across the country road from Pine Cove’s East Texas main office. Members of the congregation and Pine Cove staffers have always been “neighborly” to each other and, a few months back, church members hosted a luncheon for the staff.

“We had them over to the church for barbecue chicken, links, and brisket,” Pastor Anthony Williams said. “About a dozen ladies from the church helped host. We wanted to do it as an appreciation. They have been very supportive of us through the years.”

Matt Edwards, Pine Cove’s chief operating officer, said about 200 staff members attended the luncheon and enjoyed food and fellowship.

“(The church) was there long before we were,” he says. “They had a long history before us and we want to make sure we are always doing everything we can to be good neighbors.”

From making sure the congregation’s youth have opportunity to come to camp to helping with new kitchen equipment for the church, Edwards says Pine Cove is intentional about investing in the church.

“The Bible says to love your neighbor,” Edwards explains. “Right there in front of us are our neighbors. They are our friends. They are literally our neighbors and we’ve built friendships and are doing life with them.”

He says building relationships is one way Pine Cove puts the faith and life lessons taught to campers into action. “We all serve the same God, so we want to live that way.”

Pastor Williams said church members enjoyed having the group over for lunch. “We plan on making it an annual event for the fellowship,” he says.

That’s what neighbors do.

“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”  Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
-Mark 12:28-31 (ESV)