#3: Map

Walk It Out Challenge

Challenge #3: Map Your Neighborhood

Welcome back, Neighbor! If you are joining me from Chapter 3 of How to Love Your Neighbor Without Being Weird, you have already prayed and started learning names.

Now, we are going to get a bird’s-eye view of your mission field.

New here? You have stumbled onto Challenge #3 of my neighborhood outreach challenge. We are reclaiming our streets, one prayer (and one sketch) at a time. You can get the full 10-challenge framework in my new book, How to Love Your Neighbor Without Being Weird, but today, let’s get out our pencils.

The Challenge: Draw Your Map

From the Book:

Draw a simple map of the eight homes closest to yours—those next door, across the street, and behind your house. If you live in an apartment, include the units above, below, and beside you. Once your map is drawn, fill in as much as you know: names, pets, careers, or hobbies. This piece of paper is a tool to help you visualize your mission field and move from a global perspective of “neighbor” to a local one.

Go Deeper: Tools of the Trade

The book mentions using Google Maps or the County Auditor, but how do you actually do that? Here are my favorite ways to fill in the blanks:

Your County Auditor

If you are too shy to ask for a name (or if you forgot it immediately after asking), this is your best friend.

Search for ” [Your County] Auditor Property Search.”
Type in your street name.
Why it works: It usually lists the actual homeowner’s name! This is great for praying for them by name before you even meet. Note: If the resident is a renter, this might show the landlord’s name, so use this as a starting point, not the final word.

The “Napkin” Method

You don’t need fancy software.

Grab a piece of graph paper or just a sticky note.
Draw a square in the middle (That’s you!).
Draw 8 boxes around it.
Tip: Don’t worry about scale. Just get the layout right so you can visualize who is where when you pray.

What to Write?

Your map isn’t just for names. Use it to track the details that show you care:

Pets: “Golden Retriever = Buster.” (People love when you remember their dog!)
Cars: “Red Truck.”
Kids: “Girl ~5 years old.”

Neighborhood Map

Draw a map of the homes closest to yours, next door and across the street and in your back yard.

If you live in an apartment, these are the units beside, above and below you. On a farm, these homes could be acres away.

Now, get out there and fill in your neighbor’s names!

The Rules: No Weirdness!

From the Book:

You don’t need to be a professional cartographer, and your map doesn’t have to be to scale. It can be a rough sketch on a napkin or a piece of graph paper.

This isn’t for public display; it’s a private tool for your own prayer and outreach.

If someone sees you looking at your phone or a notepad while you walk, they’ll just assume you’re checking a list or a map—which is exactly what you’re doing!

God’s Way

From the Book:

When Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, He defined our neighbor as anyone we encounter in our daily lives. Mapping your neighborhood helps you zoom in on Christ’s second greatest command.

If you don’t know who lives in these homes—what they do during the day or what keeps them up at night—you won’t know if they know Jesus. By identifying them by name and location, you are preparing your heart to love them with the same intentionality God shows us.

The Words: A Prayer for Your Street

As you look at your new map, pray this prayer from the book:

“Lord, thank You for placing me in this specific spot. As I look at these homes, help me to see the people behind the doors. Open doors for conversation and show me how to love my actual neighbors today. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”

Ready for Challenge #4?

Now that you have your map, it’s time to put it into action.

In the 10th Anniversary Edition of How to Love Your Neighbor Without Being Weird, I walk you through 10 specific challenges to move from “stranger” to “neighbor,” including how to serve without being intrusive and how to host a “no-stress” gathering.

Order the Book to Unlock All 10 Challenges

Zoom in on Christ’s #2 command with these tools:

Google Maps, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MapQuest: If the satellite or street level view is available for your area, you can count each home in amazing detail. Check them all, because satellite images taken during different seasons reveal different details.
White Pages: access your neighbors’ names and addresses instantly, including previous owners associated with an address.
Your Local Government Website: Your county auditor or clerk of courts maintains detailed online property records.
Bless Every Home: print your prayer list from Challenge #1, and plot the neighbors you know on a map
Shoot, you’ve driven it countless times—just draw your own map. It doesn’t have to be to scale. Here’s a free printable map to get started.

Now, let’s stick some pins in that map:

Fill in as many names as you know: first and last names, spouses and children
Fill in as many facts as you know: cars, pets, hobbies, careers
Fill in as many personal details as you know: their joys, fears, pains, passions or problems

If you don’t know your neighbor—if you don’t know where they spend their day and what keeps them up at night—then how will you know if they know Jesus?

My friends at the Art of Neighboring have truly mastered the map. Visit The Art of Neighboring to purchase the book or download a block map, block party kit, study resources and a vision for your city. They ask, “What if Jesus really meant that we should love our actual neighbors?”

The Art of Neighboring