You are Most Welcome Here

If you do something kind I say, "Thank you."  And then you say, "You are welcome."
But, what if "You are welcome" came first?  It would change everything.

I know this because for one week I was in Africa and "You are welcome" came first.

Our first day at The Covering began with a welcome ceremony with all the kids and staff of TRS, complete with special performances.

I can't remember which staff member said it first, and it really doesn't matter because we heard it repeated so many times that we knew everyone meant it - "You are Most Welcome Here."  I still get goosebumps when I think about it.

I've heard before and read for myself that hospitality is highly valued in the Bible.  I think it would be fair to say that in Biblical times hospitality was essential, definitely expected.  It was a deep reflection of character and had implications beyond what we can imagine.  Knowing this, I still never bought into it.  I mean, I know it is sweet to be the one to invite a stranger into your tent and whip up some unleavened bread, but what's the big deal?  I think I have previously associated hospitality with the concept of entertaining, as in Food Network.  Dinner parties.  I know.  I am so American.

In Africa, hospitality was more than a gesture.  It was a gift.  The kind of gift where you know you are being given something valuable.

And it was given so freely.  We were consistently met with this precious greeting, "You are most welcome here."  And, it wasn't just at The Covering.  We walked through the neighborhood with Pastor Daniel as he preached the Gospel and even HE was greeted in this way.  (Pastor Daniel is from Sierra Leone and is the Pastor at The Covering.)  He would walk up to strangers and introduce himself.

Then the stranger would say (and I really do believe it was sincere) "You are most welcome here."  Which seemed to mean - "You have my attention.  I give you my time.  I am listening.  I am welcoming you into my life."  At least to some degree.  It really was precious.

I'm not even going to Google the definition for hospitality because unless it says something like that, it's wrong.

Hospitality means it is not about me.


Sierra Leone is poor.  America is rich.

That's what the statistics say, but I cannot make myself agree.  Now, I'm not trying to be all pseudo humble, tryin to lift up all those poor people in Africa and find some silver lining to their pitiful situation.  I know it's going to sound that way because I've heard people talk about the richness of the human spirit and the gifts of joy and faith that overflow from the hearts of people in the "poorest" regions in the world and I did. not. get. it.  I recently (like two months ago) heard from friends who just returned FROM AFRICA, saying these exact things.  And I was like, yeah I just cannot imagine that - maybe these people are making lemonade out of lemons, but how is that a gift?  Who would want that kind of gift if you have to live such a hard life?

Go easy on me, now.  I know that sounds very shallow, and it is.  But, surely I'm not the only one, right?  It comes with American citizenship, doesn't it?  We don't want things to be hard and we avoid it like the plague.  Hasn't every great American industry been built around making our lives easier, more comfortable, more efficient?  (Apple, hello?!? - as I type away on my MacBook Pro).  My head is going to explode if I think about the excesses of the American "dream" and that I am a part of it / it is a part of me, so let's change gears.....

Here's a little Africa 101 -  Community over Individual
When you have "nothing" and are trying to survive, you need community.  And you KNOW that you need community.  Every man for himself mentality makes for a dead man.  People matter a lot.  (I hope I'm not eluding you with all my fancy words and stuff.)  This community spirit is interwoven into everything.  We were taught this concept in our orientation and given examples of how the children at The Covering share everything, because THEY WANT TO.  If one child receives a new shirt, it is not "mine" - every child in that apartment just received a new shirt.  If you give one child a sucker, they all enjoy a lick.  (They are working on germ awareness, btw.)  I can tell you that I've never seen 100+ children anywhere EVER with such little conflict and so much love for each other.  These are the implications of "community over individual" on a micro level.  It's not hard to imagine, then, how it is that these "poor" people are so rich.

When you are the person being told, "You are most welcome here," you realize that there's meaning behind that and these people know things that I don't know and have something I don't have.  They have a precious gift of self-forgetfulness, weaved into their culture.  They are sinful, too, and I know one's culture cannot take him beyond the selfishness of his own heart.  But, I'm telling you these people are not making lemonade out of lemons.  They possess gifts that are lasting and supremely valuable.  They are rich in the kind of gifts that don't spoil.

I thought of the manna that God provided the Israelites in the desert.  The instruction was to gather only the amount that was needed each day.  The manna gift was good.  It was God's provision.  But they hoarded it and the good gift turned to maggots.

Our American "gifts" (= stuff, money, time) are perishable.  And we hoard them and they rot.

America is poor.  Sierra Leone is rich.

Hospitality meant that these sweet people shared their gifts with me.  Freely.  I did nothing to earn their welcome - it was out of love.  And so I learned of Christ.  You cannot help but understand Christ when you are welcomed in true hospitality.  THAT is why it is essential.

When "You are welcome" comes first, it changes everything.

"Thank you" really means something now.