A Bachelors Hospitality

Editors note: this post was originally written on June 1, 2016

According to my watch it’s 1:24 Wednesday afternoon, which means in just over three and a half hours Lord Willing, I’ll be officially moving into my new rental property in Barrouallie.

It was two-weeks ago today (Wednesday) when I signed a contract for the home and since then I’ve been very busy.

1. Buying a stove and refrigerator then having it delivered
2. Purchasing furniture and a mattress
3. Getting internet hooked up
4. And bringing over things from the other rental a little at a time, then one of my large barrels last Monday

When setting up a new home people always have a choice; they can either set it up in a bachelor [1] or family style (which has more comforts). The truth is because of the large amount of expenses (and the fact that I have to buy a car soon) I chose to begin setting my home up in a bachelor style, then raise it to family a little bit at a time over the next year.

Now to be honest keeping my home set up for a bachelor isn’t a very bad thing because I am one! However it’s meant to be a ministry tool for things like discipleship, counseling sessions, fellowships, and bible clubs for children. Unfortunately those things are kind of hard to do with cheap furniture :-), But at the same time I remember that hospitality speaks louder than comfy chairs.

the word “hospitality” makes us think of elaborate meals served on the finest china and desserts amazing enough to make everybody in town jealous. But it can also be a kind word, glass of water, bible story, snack, or glass of koolaid (if your lucky). The reason a culinary masterpiece and a glass of water can both be an act of hospitality is hospitality itself emphasizes acts of kindness.

Seeing hospitality as acts of kindness instead of world-class cuisine is hugely important for me since as a missionary (1) I don’t have the money to create these kinds of meals and (2) I definitely don’t have the cooking skill to do it! But anybody can give out glasses of water and jolly ranchers.

So with God’s help my new house will become known as a place where people can receive hospitality; it may not have the most comfortable furniture, delicious food, or surround sound system. But it will have an attitude of love that won’t turn people away…and in the end that’s what matters.