finding
in unlikely places
A kind word, a helpful hand, a warm meal, some spare
change can all be easy ways to express hospitality. They are
easy to recognize and easy to appreciate. At the core, as you
receive them, they make you feel welcomed and accepted.
The challenge comes when extending hospitality means
sacrifice on an unbelievable scale, when you find yourself
extending hospitality out of a place of emotional generosity
rather than physical, tangible, financial means. If you’re looking hard enough and armed with a spirit of gratitude, you
will see and experience the beauty of hospitality in the most
unlikely places.
While on the island of Lesvos, back in June, a team of eight
from Calvary Church served in Moria, the detainee center
that houses thousands of refugees fleeing from the conflicts
in the Middle East. Many of these refugees have nothing of
their own as they rush toward hope of a better, less battered
life; and embark on an inexpressibly dangerous journey toward freedom. They file into different camps once they’ve
reached Europe’s shores hoping to reconnect with beloved
family and friends who got into countries before them, but
are now confronted with little hope of making quick passage
to their final destinations throughout the continent since so
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many countries have closed their doors to these people. And
so they wait at the mercy of the powers-at-be, surrounded by
sub-par conditions and with little with which to create a home.
I was stationed to work in the family unit in Moria that housed
Afghani families. With no knowledge of their Farsi language,
I, a stranger myself, walked up and down the corridor in
hopes of connecting with one or two of the children sprinting and hopping around the compound. I wasn’t sure how to
connect, but I smiled and gestured to race against the energetic few who would let me. I would sit down by some of the
mothers and pray they would know even a little bit of English
so as to engage with me, and the Lord answered. God gave
me a group of women that I could talk with who welcomed
me in, shared their stories, smiled and taught me bits of their
language!
On one evening shift in particular, one of my new-found
friends asked me to come to their living area and enjoy a
meal with her family and friends. I was blown away. The hospitality extended to me, from women who had just enough to
feed their families, was beyond comprehension. The ingenuity they exhibited in preparing comfort items from their own