Biblical Hospitality on our Field

I believe that one of the reasons God called us to Spain is because of what He wants to do through us at our dining room table. Some missionaries feel this way about the children they teach, the schools where they work, the gatherings of people God put on their heart - an ethnic group, young people, or a vulnerable population, for example. We're here to help, to lead when necessary, to be supportive and, especially now in the beginning, to learn. It's not inconsequential, however, that I feel most like the person God created me to be when I'm across my table from someone, deep in a conversation threaded with the Gospel. 

In our latest newsletter, which you can sign up for here, I called Biblical hospitality a heart of our ministry in Spain. If I had my way, we'd have every evening free to spontaneously invite people over for meals. But it's nearing October, our weekly schedule is under way, and we have something to do every night. Between a women's Bible study, our weekly prayer meeting, Austin's fútbol and Susanna's piano lessons, various language exchanges, and the weekly kids Bible club we host, every day has something. And we also have to feed, bathe and finish homework in the short time between coming home from school and heads hitting the pillow.

While a lot of ministry happens during those hours, there's simply not room for the limited vision I have for Biblical hospitality. 

Thankfully, God's vision for Biblical hospitality does not have to fit into the box I've created for it. 

Our vision is to know God and see Him glorified. How our vision manifests will always look like growing closer to God personally and more like Jesus in maturity and holiness. It won't always look the same in terms of the daily ways we pray, things we do, and ministries in which we participate. We let the Holy Spirit show us where and how He wants us to serve, and as we know God better and obey Him in those areas, He is glorified.

We love to have people in our home, to feed them nourishing food and provide a safe place for spiritual nourishment too. In other words, I want to see God glorified at my table. Because of the reasons stated above, this can't happen spontaneously every evening, so I've been asking the Lord to help me see the ways I can be hospitable as we are going about these activities.

I'm working on a blog series to flesh this out. You'll see how we've created hospitality rhythms, (a phrase I learned from an excellent little book The Simplest Way to Change the World) unconventional ways of being hospitable, and some of the resources God has used to show me the way.