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"Being naturally shy is an obstacle, but don't make it an excuse," Levine says. "You might give yourself a nudge here and there and say, 'I've got to go outside of who I usually am and just try.'"

Levine also suggests tempering your expectations. "It's a wonderful thing when a neighbor becomes a friend, but it's also a wonderful thing when a neighbor is a neighbor," she says. "But I don't think there's anything wrong with reaching out as the newcomer and showing people that you're happy to be there."

You may think, But we don't expect to be here long. What can we possibly do?

Sure, some communities and neighborhoods are transient. Chances are, you live in one. Either you or your neighbors might move on, maybe before a friendship even fully evolves. But using that as an excuse to hole up in our houses makes us awfully lonely people.

"I think some people see their lives as a snowball that starts very small, and then you just keep rolling and picking up experiences and people," Levine says. "There are some people who don't believe in that, because they've never seen it. But if you have friends in other cities, then you know that you don't necessarily pick up people and then just drop them just because you leave, or just because they leave."

Norm and Becky Wretlind's life ministry began almost thirty years ago—with a fight. Having lived three-and-a-half years in their Anaheim, California, neighborhood, they sat in their car one night after church and argued.

From their window, they could see about twenty houses on their cul-de-sac—representing twenty sets of neighbors they hadn't come close to reaching for Christ. Their guilt and frustration hung over that street like a cloud. Having previously done missions work in Bolivia, they couldn't understand why neighborhood evangelism proved so much harder.

Norm, a salesman, thought they should go door-to-door, handing out gospel tracts and asking people if they knew whether they were going to heaven or hell. Becky favored a more subtle approach, hoping the neighbors would see Christ in the way they went about their daily lives.

Their argument ended in fervent prayer that God would show them how to reach their neighborhood. Less than a week later, a friend invited them to an evangelism training conference. Its theme: Successful witnessing happens when people take the initiative to share Christ and leave the results to God.

The week after the conference, the Wretlinds' baby sitter stopped by to thank them for a high-school graduation gift they'd given her. Norm began asking her about her future, and the conversation quickly turned to spiritual matters. Later, the girl prayed to receive Christ.

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