This simple picture speaks to me.
I love that the door is open. A pastor I have spent some time with has often emphasized the importance of an open office door as the best default option. It gives a subconscious message of invitation. It causes someone to feel welcome rather than disruptive. Our IAFR drop-in office is a small space in what is sometimes a noisy, busy building. But the door is open most of the time. With that consistently open door, relationships have developed, familiarity has increased, and there have been many opportunities for hospitality and friendship as we seek to engage whoever might be passing by.
The empty chair in the photo represents two different things in my mind. It represents hospitality, an opportunity to invite someone in to spend some time, and it also represents opportunity. We may not have the most comfortable chairs in our office, but we always try to communicate the invitation to “come in and take a seat.” At the table is an opportunity to engage, no matter what side of the table you are on.
The Somali crepes (called “malawah”) also represent hospitality to me. These particular crepes were given to me at a time when I really wasn’t expecting them. In fact, I was starting to feel a little frustrated when an appointment that had been scheduled with the giver of the crepes was much delayed. But this plate of hot, beautiful crepes had a tremendous impact on me. I was receiving unexpected hospitality from someone who I felt deserved more hospitality from me, not the other way around.
The crepes can also represent friendship. In the case of these specific crepes, it represented an early gift/gesture in a developing friendship.
I’ve eaten much stranger foods in cross-cultural contexts, but I still think these malawah can represent cross-cultural opportunity. I intend to always be ready for new foods to enjoy with friends from places and backgrounds that are different from mine. The adventure is fun. Though it can be a bit scary once in a while, the journey is almost always worth the risk. And sometimes the new foods, not to mention relationships, are really, really good.
Lastly… the mysterious drink. Is it water? Is it coffee? Without the clues that could only be experienced in person, it is hard to know. In this case, the drink was a wonderful, hot, fresh cup of tea. It wasn’t any standard tea, but super sweet and spicy. I’m sure it had plenty of caffeine too. It packed a punch and was a wonderful complement to the malawah. You never know what a covered cup, or a day, or a conversation, or a new relationship might provide.
“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Matthew 25:35 (NIV)
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