Map Assets

Community Asset Mapping, A Faithful Practice of Seeing Gifts and Calling (Adapted from the ABCD Institute)

Introduction

In Christian mission, it can be tempting to begin by asking, What is missing? or What problems need to be fixed? While understanding needs can be important, this approach invites us to begin somewhere different—by noticing and celebrating the gifts God has already placed within people and communities.

Community Asset Mapping focuses on the skills, passions, experiences, and resources that already exist among the members of a missional group and within the community they hope to serve. This practice is rooted in the belief that God has given every person gifts that matter, and that healthy communities grow when those gifts are recognized, valued, and connected.

For example:

• A member of a small group may be a skilled carpenter, teacher, listener, or organizer.

• A local community center, church hall, or shared space may already exist and be available for gatherings, outreach, or relationship-building.

Asset mapping helps us shift from a mindset of scarcity to one of abundance—trusting that God has already provided much of what is needed.

A Capacity Inventory Example

One neighborhood organization took time to listen carefully to local residents. Through interviews with over 100 people, they discovered many women who had experience working in hospitals, hotels, or caring for the sick and elderly. Although these women had valuable skills, many were unemployed, raising families, and looking for flexible, part-time work.

Rather than viewing this as a problem to be solved, the organization recognized it as a collection of gifts waiting to be connected. They brought these women together and supported them in forming a small cooperative that offered home health care services within the neighborhood.

The result was life-giving for everyone involved. Community members received much-needed care, over 80 women were able to use their skills meaningfully, and household incomes increased. This simple act of connection strengthened relationships, met real needs, and affirmed the dignity and capacity of the women involved.

Does Everyone Have Capacities?

At first glance, it may seem that some people have little to offer. They may feel overlooked, marginalized, or discouraged by past experiences. Yet Scripture and experience remind us that every living person carries gifts of value to others—whether those gifts are practical, relational, creative, spiritual, or rooted in lived experience.

Strong communities are those that recognize, honor, and make room for these gifts to be shared. Weak communities, by contrast, are often places where many people are prevented from contributing—either because their gifts are unseen or because no pathways exist for participation.

Faithful missional groups take this truth seriously. They seek to identify the capacities of all their members and ensure that those gifts are welcomed and used. The most effective and life-giving ministries are deeply relational: they engage people personally, listen carefully, and intentionally draw out the gifts of those who may be on the margins of community life.

The calling of community builders—and of the church—is to continually expand the circle of gift-givers and to create meaningful ways for those gifts to be connected with individuals, local associations, and shared efforts for the common good.

Discussion Guide

Seeing Gifts, Building Community: Asset Mapping and Christian Mission

Purpose: This discussion helps our group reflect on how God has gifted each person and how those gifts might be shared for the good of the community. Asset mapping invites us to move from “helping” to belonging, and from charity to mutual participation.

Opening Reflection

Begin with a short prayer or moment of silence.

You may read aloud:

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord.”— 1 Corinthians 12:4–5

Discussion Questions

1. Starting with Gifts, Not Gaps

   • How does it feel different to start with gifts rather than needs?

   • What might this approach change about how we see ourselves and others?

2. Recognizing Hidden Capacities

   • Why do you think some gifts often go unnoticed in communities?

   • Whose gifts might be easiest to overlook—and why?

3. Belonging and Participation

   • How does being able to give one’s gifts contribute to a sense of dignity and belonging?

   • What happens to a community when people are unable to contribute?

4. Learning from the Example

   • What stands out to you in the story of the women and the home health care cooperative?

   • What principles from that story could apply to our own context?

5. Our Group’s Gifts

   • What skills, experiences, or passions exist within our small group?

   • How might God be inviting us to connect those gifts to the needs and hopes of the community?

6. Drawing in Those at the Margins

   • What might it look like for our group to intentionally invite participation from those who feel overlooked or excluded?

   • What barriers might we need to remove?

Group Reflection Exercise

Together, reflect on:

• One gift or capacity within our group that is currently underused

• One community asset we are already aware of

• One next step we can take to connect gifts to people in meaningful ways

Write these down and revisit them as your missional discernment continues.

Closing Prayer

Invite someone to close in prayer, asking God for:

• Eyes to see gifts clearly

• Courage to invite participation

• Humility to receive from others

• Wisdom to build community rooted in love