Where Do You Start When Putting Together a Survival Group?

How do you think of survival groups?  Is it something you’ve considered joining or starting?   On one hand how cool would it be to be a part of a group where you had a role and you knew other people were watching your back.  Sounds good doesn’t it?

Fun Comparison

I’m a big fan of SciFi and it’s reminiscent of the positions on the bridge of one of the Star Trek ship.  You have the CO, the XO, the Operations officer, the Communications officer, the Tactical officer, the Flight Control officer and others like the Medical officer who weren’t on the bridge.  They all worked together to thwart the bad guys.

So is that how you look at a survival group?  It’s a group of people all with different jobs.  You may have a security contingent, a gardener, a husbandry expert, a medic, a leader, and tactical expert, a marksman and others who work together to thwart the TEOTWAWKI bad guys?

And just like I have a bit of a different opinion than most on bugging out, I have a differing opinion as to many when it comes to survival groups.  Most people think that they’ll be living out in the middle of nowhere and their survival group will come to them.

Survival Groups

I want to dispel that rumor now.  According to Selco, who lived through the Balkan War, the way he and his family survived was that they lived in a neighborhood with people around who could help each other.  That was one of the main things that saved them.  So instead of considering putting together an elite survival group, perhaps you should consider getting to know your neighbors.

If we are potentially going to depend on our neighbors if the SHTF, we need to get to know them, but how should we go about doing it?

What shouldn’t you do?

Well, let me tell you what not to do.  Don’t go door to door handing out invitations to a barbecue when these people don’t know you from Adam because none of them will come.  Uhuh.  Ask me how I know.  When we moved into our new house almost a year ago, we were determined that we were going to get to know our neighbors and we were going to get involved in their lives.  It was a priority for us.

So after 1-2 months of getting into the place and getting our house set up, and dealing with all the other fun things that you deal with when you move, we started trying to get to know our neighbors.  When we got home from church on a Sunday afternoon, we went over and introduced ourselves to our neighbors directly across the street from us.  We talked for a good 20 minutes before we headed back to our house.

Later that night, she “friended” me on Facebook and sent me a message that she enjoyed our talk.  We don’t talk really often (especially in the cold months when we hibernate), but that one act of taking time to get to know them when they were outside really worked.  This is one of the two families that we’ve actually had inside our home.

Things to do to get to know your neighbors

1.)  Walk a dog.

I guarantee you that if you are out walking a dog, your neighbors will get to know you by sight.  When you’re out and you see someone, wave.  That one simple act will open doors for you to get to know your neighbors in the future.

2.)  Send your kids outside to play.

Your kids can really be a great tool in building bridges with others in your neighborhood whether they have kids or not.  One of my neighbors commented on how she loved seeing my kids outside playing.  My children are also the reason that we were able to reach out to another family and have them over for dinner.

3.)  Spend time outside in your yard or on your front porch.

If people see you outside regularly, they will be much more likely to stop and talk.   The more people see you, the more likely they will be to engage you.  We have a couple that sits on their front porch many evenings during good weather.  They just sit there and talk, but we’ve gotten to know them by sight and had a chance to engage them in some really good conversation just because they were willing to sit outside and talk with each other.

4.)  Pass Out Cookies – Regularly

This is something our church is starting to do in our church neighborhood.  We want to get to know the people around the church and to bless them!  What better way to break the ice, but with homemade cookies.  Of all the homes that the people from our church visited when they handed out cookies last time, only one (out of about 30 homes) refused the cookies.  In two of the homes the people really wanted to talk.  They needed just a little extra bit of attention.

But in order to be effective in doing this, you need to make sure you do it regularly.  You might get known as the crazy cookie lady, but hey, they not only know you, but they will be willing to engage with you!

5.)  Be FRIENDLY!

The Bible says in Proverbs 18:24, “A man who has friends must show himself friendly.”   If you really want to get to know the people around you, you need to go out of your way to actually be friendly!  Smile and wave as people walk or drive by when you’re outside.  Drink your Saturday morning coffee outside on your front porch and invite passers-by to join you.

We were just given a small wrought iron table and chair set and we purchased another set that we put on our front porch.  When it finally starts to warm up, we’re going to take a large carafe of coffee out to the front porch with us along with some coffee cake and invite those walking by to stop and enjoy some coffee with us.  We really are serious about getting to know our neighbors better this year.

What about you?

Do you feel the need to get to know your neighbors?  Do you have any other tips or tricks to opening up the door to get more familiar with your neighbors?  Please share them with us below in the comments section so that we can all become more prepared.

Together let’s Love, Learn, Practice, and Overcome

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