Over the last year, I have discovered that I really enjoy baking & making a nice place for people to come over to and hang out. I suppose you would call this hospitality, something that the Bible tells us to practice.
In all honesty, while I enjoy the principle of hospitality and want to do it more, I'm not very good at it for two reasons. The first being, I'm a serious introvert, meaning I enjoy being by myself. Don't get me wrong, I like to be around people, but if I had the choice of going to a big party & meeting a bunch of new people, or staying at home to watch a movie by myself or do some task at home, I would choose the latter. So I'm working on this.
The second reason is because I'm selfish. I like having things my way, in my timing, and just the way I like it. I suppose I also have a tendency to have a poverty mentality as well, meaning I'm not naturally generous because I often have the mindset that you have to save things because you might not have money to buy more. (This makes me sound like a hoarder, which I am not.) Or maybe not a poverty mentality, but the selfish mentality of, "this is mine, I bought it." I think it's more this latter mindset, also known as greed/selfishness. Also something I'm working on.
I posted briefly about this last year, but this is something that I'm often reminded of. When I was on outreach in Bangladesh, my team and I had the privilege of visiting a little village out in the boonies (which we nearly died just getting to it, but that's another story), and we were the very first white people to visit this village.
It was a Buddhist village and the people were very friendly & welcoming, except for the children who I think were initially freaked out by us ghostly looking people.
It was in this village that I learned a lesson I will never forget.
One of the leaders of the village showed us around and was very happy to have us at his home. He had someone cut down coconuts and cut them open right there for us to drink.
This was a first for me, and also a challenge being as I'm not a fan of coconuts, but out of respect I couldn't refuse.
In all honesty, while I enjoy the principle of hospitality and want to do it more, I'm not very good at it for two reasons. The first being, I'm a serious introvert, meaning I enjoy being by myself. Don't get me wrong, I like to be around people, but if I had the choice of going to a big party & meeting a bunch of new people, or staying at home to watch a movie by myself or do some task at home, I would choose the latter. So I'm working on this.
The second reason is because I'm selfish. I like having things my way, in my timing, and just the way I like it. I suppose I also have a tendency to have a poverty mentality as well, meaning I'm not naturally generous because I often have the mindset that you have to save things because you might not have money to buy more. (This makes me sound like a hoarder, which I am not.) Or maybe not a poverty mentality, but the selfish mentality of, "this is mine, I bought it." I think it's more this latter mindset, also known as greed/selfishness. Also something I'm working on.
I posted briefly about this last year, but this is something that I'm often reminded of. When I was on outreach in Bangladesh, my team and I had the privilege of visiting a little village out in the boonies (which we nearly died just getting to it, but that's another story), and we were the very first white people to visit this village.
It was a Buddhist village and the people were very friendly & welcoming, except for the children who I think were initially freaked out by us ghostly looking people.
It was in this village that I learned a lesson I will never forget.
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| Cutting open a coconut |
This was a first for me, and also a challenge being as I'm not a fan of coconuts, but out of respect I couldn't refuse.
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| Attempting to drink the coconut water |
Well, after showing us around the village, interrupting a Buddhist consecration ceremony where they invited us to share the gospel (what?!?), the man had our team over to his house. He had a very modest little house. And by modest I mean, it was a very small shack with a dirt floor and cracks in the boards of the walls. There was barely room for my team to fit inside, but we squeezed in and sat around a little table on the floor.
There was a ton of food in front of us, that had all been cooked by the man's family, and they kept bringing more. The man was clearly poor, yet there was a feast in front of us. He also had sent someone to go buy soda for us to drink.
We sat around chatting, praying that we wouldn't get sick, and were laughing as we realized we were being laughed at by the girls who had cooked as they watched us try to figure out how to eat rice with one hand (this also is a challenge that I never really got down well). But what happened next, I will never forget.
Needless to say, a bunch of bodies crammed in this little room, eating hot food, when it was 100+ degrees out, it was ridiculously hot. All of the sudden, I looked up and saw our host fanning us. What the?! He was literally waving a little hand fan above our heads to try and cool us down. I couldn't believe it. He didn't sit to eat with us, he served us. He was just as hot, but he wanted us to be more comfortable. We invited him and his family to come and eat. He said they would eat when we had finished. Translation, they had given us their food and would eat whatever was left over.
This man was not a believer, and it's safe to say he had probably never read the Bible, yet here he was, being an example of Christ-likeness, generosity and hospitality, like I had never seen before, and probably better than most Christians I've met, including myself.
In Romans 12: 13 we are told to "Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."
This man was a leader in his village. He could have very easily had someone serving him and fanning him, yet he was serving. He was physically inconvenienced, and generously gave of his time & food. This Buddhist man was an incredible example of what it looks like to show hospitality to others (even perfect strangers), as well as being a servant leader.
Thank you Mr. Buddhist Man for the lesson taught. I hope to become as generous & self-sacrificing.
Can you learn a lesson from this amazing man? Have you ever physically inconvenienced yourself to show hospitality? How are you seeking to show hospitality?
We sat around chatting, praying that we wouldn't get sick, and were laughing as we realized we were being laughed at by the girls who had cooked as they watched us try to figure out how to eat rice with one hand (this also is a challenge that I never really got down well). But what happened next, I will never forget.
Needless to say, a bunch of bodies crammed in this little room, eating hot food, when it was 100+ degrees out, it was ridiculously hot. All of the sudden, I looked up and saw our host fanning us. What the?! He was literally waving a little hand fan above our heads to try and cool us down. I couldn't believe it. He didn't sit to eat with us, he served us. He was just as hot, but he wanted us to be more comfortable. We invited him and his family to come and eat. He said they would eat when we had finished. Translation, they had given us their food and would eat whatever was left over.
This man was not a believer, and it's safe to say he had probably never read the Bible, yet here he was, being an example of Christ-likeness, generosity and hospitality, like I had never seen before, and probably better than most Christians I've met, including myself.
In Romans 12: 13 we are told to "Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."
This man was a leader in his village. He could have very easily had someone serving him and fanning him, yet he was serving. He was physically inconvenienced, and generously gave of his time & food. This Buddhist man was an incredible example of what it looks like to show hospitality to others (even perfect strangers), as well as being a servant leader.
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| Our humble, hospitable, generous host |
Thank you Mr. Buddhist Man for the lesson taught. I hope to become as generous & self-sacrificing.
Can you learn a lesson from this amazing man? Have you ever physically inconvenienced yourself to show hospitality? How are you seeking to show hospitality?
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| Our host & his family with my team |
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