Hospitality

by Carolina
from Virtuous Daughters, August 2011~Volume 11, Number 5

Hello Girls,
  
For my family, hospitality is very important. And I can’t say that we have always done hospitality the same way, which is why I would like to share my stories and some suggestions of hospitality.
  
First of all, hospitality and family boils down to the same thing: to bring glory to God. Then it is clear to see that:
  
​The family is powerful.

When the family is united and one, it is a beautiful thing that stands out and speaks powerfully. It speaks of a joy that the world does not have. But then what is hospitality? It’s fellowship with one another and practicing what the Bible commands us to do. Romans 12:9–13 says to seek to show hospitality.
  
“Family ministry” sounds a little intimidating (to me), but really, it’s preaching Christ through our actions and words. This could be taking goodies to neighbors or people you don’t know.
  
What I have learned is when I meet a person who doesn’t really hold to the same values and beliefs as my family, I have learned to have a lot of grace and compassion with them and see that they are usually just as shy as I am. Try not to treat them as some alien from outer space :) but instead, talk to them about topics and things that you could possibly have in common and try to make them feel comfortable to talk with you.
  
When I started writing this article, I thought I would just write about hospitality, but really, hospitality branches out into family ministry which can go even farther to the way we live and who we are in Christ. But I’ll try to keep this short :).
  
An example of our family ministry is this: we, as a family, teach a birth class at our local pregnancy help center. Almost all of the clients that come to the class come from broken homes and have a muddled picture of what a real family looks like. We teach much more than just about birth and babies. My dad preaches the Gospel to these people who are, mostly, unbelievers.
  
When it comes to doing hospitality closer to home, here are some suggestions that are helpful:

• Having families over for just snacks and singing and/or games
• Having families over for dinner (we enjoy doing it potluck style)
• Saturday morning breakfast (but beware, they might not leave until after lunch :))
  
• Have families over and just order pizza (you can probably tell by now that my family likes to have food involved)
• You can take it outside the home and invite a bunch of moms and kids for fun at the park
• You could invite a bunch of girls over to do crafts or just for fun!
• One that we like to do as a family is to send out an email saying that we will be at X (ice cream shop, park, restaurant, etc.) at X time and invite people to join us

 
For those of us who no longer have little ones in the house, how much more can we encourage and help those who do! This expands outside our home and to the home of others, and at church, and the list goes on.
  
We, as a family, have had the joy of being able to bring a meal to families who are busy with little ones. Another way is to open your home to people from out of town. Hotels plus meals out often discourage out-of-town families from going to conferences and other such events. So housing a family can be a big blessing for them and you. During conferences, we have strived to open our home to family and friends who come for the weekend.
  
Before I end, it is important to know that hospitality/family ministry will look different for everyone. Whether you invite people over for sandwiches or a five course dinner (or forget the food :)), don’t lose sight of the reason of hospitality, which is to bring glory to God through showing love and hospitality to both believers and unbelievers that come your way. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”—1 Corinthians 10:31