Radical Hospitality

Tonight at our evening devotional we were asked where we had seen God this week. There have been so many places, but perhaps most significant for me has been the radical hospitality of our Ivoirian hosts. While the per capita income in Cote d’Ivoire is around $1,200, our hosts have opened their doors and their country in so many ways. We have been provided lunch and supper every day by our hosts. Any host church or group can do that. But, it is the way they have done it that demonstrates radical hospitality and has also been one of the most significant places that I have seen God.

Today we were involved in net distribution in Unbuntu, a small village near Alepe. Around 2 p.m. we were told that we were going to visit a school. But instead of going to a school, we were ushered into the bamboo and thatch covered porch of a student pastor and his wife. Chairs were placed at the table and we were invited to sit down. There were no chairs for the pastor and his wife. The table was set. The pastor had purchased bottled water at the store and filled our glasses with cold water. The family would be drinking water that came from the communal tap adjacent to their modest home. Rice, Casaba (sp?) and fresh fish stew was lovingly served to us. As we sat at the table the family observed from across the room. We engaged in conversation and other members of the community began to arrive. By the time we left an hour and a half later to return to the net distribution site, the pastor and his wife had served lunch to 14 persons. These persons came by to visit and then were invited to enjoy the meal. It was a loaves and fishes experience. The presence of Christ in our midst allowed all of us to be fed and to enjoy wonderful fellowship with one another. The meal had been cooked over a wood fire across the eroded path from the home. Under a kitchen which consisted of a fire pit and a few benches, the meal had been prepared and served hot to us at the table. After all had been fed, they pastor’s family ate. This has happened in a different setting every day. We have truly seen the God in the hearts and welcome of the Ivoirian people.

When one of our members need to find a “toilette” quickly, an unknown Ivoirian family opened them home to a stranger from America. When we asked residents in the village if they had hung their nets, we were invited into their homes to see and share the “news.” God has been seen this week in the faces and hearts of those who have little.