The spirit of hospitality is still alive!!

I had to start with this song Hold us together by Matt Maher. It speaks volumes

I had to learn this lesson of hospitality the hard way. I was such a naïve, people trusting, man depending, brand new born again Christian. I believed in the honesty and good nature of my fellow man, and it was this trust that was used by the enemy during the early part of my renewed walk and relationship with GOD over the last seven years. I trusted my checking account to be handled by a person I considered a friend and who I thought had my best interest at heart, even though my daughter warned me about her persona several times. According to my daughter, something about her was just not right. To cut a long story short, thousands of dollars was stolen and my account was wiped clean.

We now found ourselves in a dilemma, no one to turn to, no job, family or friends. I had made these plans, allocated funds to cover us for a couple of years, now all of these plans just fell apart. GOD is awesome though; he turned around and used what the enemy meant to use to destroy us to glorify him. I had to learn to be humble and ask people for help. To be honest I don’t know why at this point I did not return to London, which would have been the most sensible thing to do. I believe GOD held us back for his purpose, plus at that time my daughter was in high school and I did not want to disrupt her education.

It was at this point that I discovered the true meaning of hospitality and people’s take on it, and how some people will take advantage of you when you are at a low point and you are vulnerable. I worked for a family member, renovating  and helping her set up her new store for about two months and she did not pay me a dime, instead she told me that the store did not make enough money. I also worked at night cleaning offices, but at the end of each week, after working between 25-35 hours weekly, there was barely enough to make it to the other week.

Some of the people I asked for help told me point blank, that they cannot help us, because we were undocumented in the country and that if they helped us, they will be sinning. ????(At this point in time, we had a couple of lawyers who were trying to help us sort out our documents). It was at this point that I started to research the Bible about migration and hospitality.

Throughout the bible, there is a whole lot of information about migration and hospitality and helping the poor and needy. As far back as I can go, starting from the days of Abraham, GOD asked Abraham to move to a place where he will bless him and future generations. Throughout Abraham’s journey, GOD always made provision for him, either through people he met on the way, or people GOD send to purposefully bless him.

When the children of Israel were in the desert for 40 years, GOD provided Manna from heaven for them so that they could eat, because at that time, they were not able to fend for themselves.

When Ruth returned with her mother-in-law Naomi, Boaz allowed her and other less fortunate people to collect grains after his harvesters. 

There are many examples of how GOD made provisions for the needy and migrants throughout the Bible

Leviticus 19:34 says

Hebrews 13:2 says

Proverbs 31:20

Even though things were tough, living of one income, GOD opened doors that we never knew existed. He revealed resources that were available to us. He allowed an awesome woman of GOD to give me a job which lasted for five years. These people would never know that their hospitality and good deeds made a vast difference to our lives. We will be forever grateful for that. That is why it really frustrates me when bureaucrats both in the United Kingdom and over in the USA pass these unbelievable laws about feeding the homeless and hungry. Last week in Fort Lauderdale, a 90 year old man and two priests were arrested and jailed because they went against the law and fed some homeless people.

Over here in the UK, the hungry, needy and homeless are restricted access to food banks and in some areas, some cannot use them for more than three times a year. A lot of churches are now petitioning the government for help.

This is a quote I read from Pastor John Hagee a couple of days ago
”It's easy to point out someone's flaws. It takes a servant of the Living God to look past their faults and see their need...then help them fulfill that need. You may not be able to help millions of people from your own backyard, but you should be willing to help the ONE that God puts right in front of you!”

Before passing judgments or condemning, talk to some of them and you will be amazed to hear their stories.

GOD allowed different people from our church to bless us with food, rent and other stuff after I lost my job. We were also blessed with other stuff, such as rides to and from church and where we needed to go and even clothing. We even got help from out of state from a young lady and her friends who heard of our dilemma. A lot of times, it is not a financial Blessing that is needed, but empathy, hugs, a kind word, even a smile helps!

The spirit of hospitality is still alive in a lot of people, Christian and non Christian alike, not everyone is critical or judgmental. There are a lot of people making a difference in the lives of people all around the world, ordinary people like you and me.

Before my world turned upside down, I would like to believe that I was a nice and compassionate person, who went to church regularly, donated to charities, helped others as best as I could, because it was the right thing to do. I never once really bothered to go one step further to see if I could help remedy the underlying causes. Now that has all changed. I help and will do so because I want to make a difference and impact the lives of people in GOD’s kingdom. I will not walk away if I could do something.

I have also had the privilege of meeting some wonderful people who are making an impact on the lives of others. To name a few, The Outreach ministry at the Living Hope Christian Center in Pennsauken NJ, Pastored by Pastor Ronald King Sr and Pastor Angela King, The Waymakers, Inc, which is a non profit organization based in New Jersey, headlined by two awesome women of GOD Pastor Carol Robinson and Samantha Pompey who spend all their available time raising funds to educate, feed and are even building wells in Ghana for the impoverished and disadvantaged, not forgetting Carol Pavlicin who works with youth/women and children at Urban Promise in Camden, New Jersey. These are a couple of examples demonstrating the spirit of hospitality and how every one in their own unique way can make a positive impact in the lives of others.