Baptisms are always a special time in any church but on this occasion my wife and I had special reason to rejoice. As Min shared her testimony before the congregation we found out that we had been a very small part of her journey to Christ.
Min (not her real name) came to the UK as a student with her young family and moved into some apartments near our inner city church. Min comes from a country where there is no religious freedom and had never encountered Christianity before.
Min noticed that there was a stay and play playgroup for mum’s and tots at the church and she started to attend regularly with her daughter, she was then invited to an English class and then after several months visited our Sunday service, then she started to attend regularly taking a keen interest in the Bible teaching.
Eventually she decided to follow Jesus for herself. What astounded my wife and I was that a significant part of Min’s journey to Christ was simply that my wife and I greeted Min when she arrived as a stranger at the church, made her feel welcome and took an interest in her life.
In Titus 1:8 being hospitable is one of the key requirements of an elder in the church and Hebrews 13:2 exhorts us not to neglect showing hospitality to strangers, reminding us that some have inadvertently entertained angels. The Greek word we translate as hospitality, Philoxenia, has a much more specific meaning than the English word. It is a combination of the word ‘love’ and the word ‘other’. It means then, specifically love for those from a different nationality or people group than our own.
Obviously we are called to love, and witness to those of our own culture but the Bible also issues a specific call to reach out beyond the bounds of our own culture and background.
One of WEC International’s core values is to “Love to welcome” As an international mission organisation WEC International sends many workers overseas but also to work alongside churches in the UK because many of our cities have a growing number of people who have never heard the gospel and come from a countries where there is no church.
In each location sharing the gospel will look very different, it may mean learning a different language or adapting to different cultural practices, it may involve hardships and difficulties.
Hospitality isn’t an end itself. We welcome people because, ultimately, we want them to know the life transforming, saving power of the gospel but if we are going to reach people for Christ, we need to start somewhere, and for Min the journey to Christ began when she was welcomed by members of our church.
In Galatians 2, Paul confronted Peter, to his face, because he refused to eat with gentile believers. It is because of Paul’s fierce determination that all people in all places should get the opportunity to hear the gospel that the gospel ever reached these shores.
Remembering the courage of those in the past who showed true biblical hospitality should spur us on to do likewise and love to welcome those of different languages and cultures. I spoke to Min again recently. It was friendship and hospitality that first drew her to us but the love of Christ that found her.
When Min spoke at her baptism, her love of the Lord and the joy in her heart was tangible, no one who was present could deny that.
Find out more about our Neighbours Worldwide ministry
The world is on our doorstep! In Britain and Ireland there is a thriving and growing population of people from areas of the world where the gospel is not easily heard. Although living here, most of these families still have no real knowledge of Christ or contact with the christian church. Neighbours Worldwide aims to serve these dear people in the UK and Ireland. Working alongside existing churches, Neighbours Worldwide teams teach English, lead Bible studies, visit families, give out Christian literature and do all they can to share the love of Christ in a relevant way.
We need you to get involved
If you want to build relationships with ethnic groups in your community email us.
