By Special Guest Blogger: Katherine Lorance

     Lately I’ve been thinking about how amazing it is that you could probably find someone from every country in the world in a city like Chicago and how even more amazing it is that you could likely find people who speak languages you’ve never heard of in small towns across the United States.  How should followers of Jesus respond?

     Let me first share about the wonderful opportunity I had to visit Egypt several years ago.  Although I saw the Sphinx and snorkeled in the Red Sea, I mostly remember the times spent far from the usual tourist attractions.  My hosts, American ex-pat friends of friends, allowed me to tag along as they visited friends in small, sometimes remote villages.  On one occasion, we wound up trying to visit a sheikh who was a friend of a friend.

     We walked up to a local cafe and asked if the server knew where the sheikh lived.  He insisted we stay and have some Fantas first.  I thought this was just his way of trying to get some money in exchange for his information.  As I sipped my carbonated beverage, I noticed several men were watching Face Off with Nicholas Cage and John Travolta, dubbed in Arabic.  Yes, Hollywood and soft drink companies have made it to the ends of the earth.  After a while, the owner told us exactly where the sheikh lived, a stone’s throw away.  And he refused to take any money for our drinks.

     Hospitality is an important part of that man’s culture.  Visitors, even strangers, may drop by a home unannounced and be welcomed with tea and lots of coffee.  Later the ex-pats told me that people consider it a great honor to host foreigners.  It’s like a status symbol to be able to say, “Yeah, I served drinks to those people.”

     I cringe to think about the reception that café worker and his friends might receive if they arrived in the States.  Would they be greeted with caution and distrust in small towns?  Would they be greeted (or even noticed) at all in my Chicagoland suburb?  Upon returning to Egypt, would they fondly recall the warm hospitality of Americans?

     Followers of Jesus, we are told to “seek to show hospitality” (Romans 12:13).  Our guests are here.  Let us consider it a great honor to serve those who are far from home.  Let us offer a cup of cold water (or sweet tea or Dr Pepper or café latte) to the strangers who might be thirsty (Matthew 25:35).