Missional Listening: Learning from our context

To be a missionary in one's context one must lead with their ears, not their mouth. Missionaries that go to any culture to present the gospel seek to learn from their context. They live by the mantra that "the locals always know more than I do."

For the next several weeks our launch team is spending time taking surveys of those in the region, especially in Lansdale. Surveys aren't something that I have done a lot of in the past, so I got a lot of feedback from people (a survey about the survey, I guess...) and got some positive feedback. Even David Kinnaman, director of the Barna Research Group and co-author of the book unChristian took a look at it and said that while it wasn't "scientific" it certainly could get a good cross-section of people's thoughts of our region.

Here are the questions - far from exhaustive, but a good smattering of questions to help us learn more.
If you live in/around Lansdale how might you answer these questions?
If you don't live in the area, how might you answer these questions for your context?

(1) What are the two or three things that make Lansdale and the North Penn region unique/distinct?

(2) What are the three best things about our region?

(3) What are some of the largest areas of need/improvement in the North Penn region?

(4) Who are the people, business, non-profit organizations, faith communities and/or groups that are serving and impacting the community the most?

(5) Are you involved in any clubs, civic groups or community organizations in the region? If yes, which ones?

(6) Do you have any religious background or are you involved in any sort of faith community? If so, where? If not, why not?

(7) If you answered no to the question above, what would have to happen for you to consider being involved in a faith community?

(8) When you think of the word “Jesus” what comes to your mind?

(9) When you think of the word “church” what comes to your mind?

(10) If you heard that a new faith community was starting - and it had as one of its top priorities to serve the North Penn region - how would that make you feel? Excited? Disappointed? Indifferent?