It begins with a family vacation, 2 parents, a daughter and her husband. This family took an amazing vacation to East Africa, visiting world renowned sites in Tanzania, as well as a brief visit to Ethiopia. Later on, we will tell the story of the whole vacation. But, for now, there is a story of hospitality. We could call it African Hospitality, but it's actually much more than that. It should be called Christian Hospitality, because it's something rarely experienced outside of Jehovah’s organization.
So the scene is set, our family is visiting the English congregation in Arusha, TZ. After the meeting is finished, we hope to join the group in field service. As it turns out, only the WT conductor and another brother are going out, and the WT conductor (a local brother) insists that we all join him at his home to eat a small lunch, "whatever he can find" as he says. So, of course, we Americans imagine sandwiches, something simple. We are very happy to accept and hop in his van to go to his home. On arrival, he puts all the brothers to work helping him heat water for coffee and tea, as well as heating food. Once it's all on the table, we find that it's not something simple.... It's a traditional meal, which his wife had prepared for the family before going out of town. Rather than conserving this food for himself and his son, as intended, our brother lovingly heated it all up to feed 8 people. Was it offered grudgingly or with hesitation? Not at all, it was his idea and at his insistence! We couldn't help but think of Lydia in Acts 16:15, who just made them come. And of course, our brother didn't stop there, but insisted on dropping us off to meet some friends. To him, allowing us to take public transport or a taxi was unthinkable!
The story may seem to be finished, but it's really just beginning. Let's change the scene to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Our family had been planning to spend 36 hours in the city between flights, but has nothing confirmed due to airline changes. Do we know anyone in the city? Just 2 people, who Alisa knew 7 years before, but hasn't seen since then. She was able to finally get in touch with them, just the day before we arrive in Ethiopia. They said that they would see about arranging a tour guide/driver for us, what a relief! Our plan is to meet them at some point during our short stay, and maybe have a meal together. Well, to our surprise, they were waiting for us at the airport! It's incredible to see friendly faces waiting at an airport halfway around the world, where we don't expect to know a single person! What is more, they came to our hotel, made sure we were settled in, had dinner with us that night, and even insisted on paying for it! At this moment, we started to get an idea of "Ethiopian hospitality".... That idea was confirmed th next day. The arrangements for a driver included a personal chauffeur, who happens to be a pioneer and commuter Bethelite, a tour of the branch, and lunch at the branch! If you have ever visited a branch, for example in New York, you go with the expectation that you will be encouraged, right? Of course, that's what we thought, but by the time lunch was over, we felt like all 85-90 Bethelites had been encouraged by our visit. It seemed like they all came over to meet us, and were so happy to have random visitors from another country. We felt like traveling overseers or some kind of celebrities! But the hospitality didn't stop at Bethel. Our driver not only showed us around town, but helped us find a place to stay for the night, after our arrangements fell through. Then, he and his wife took us to dinner, along with the couple who had met us at the airport. And, what a dinner! Authentic Ethiopian food, along with a traditional music and dance show on stage. Finally, our driver took us back home, and even picked us up at 6:30 am to go to the airport! Far, far beyond what he was hired for, or even just common courtesy!
Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip and all the hospitality, and will have fond memories from it for years. But, it really made us think as well.... How hospitable are we? Would we have expended ourselves and inconvenienced ourselves like our brothers and sisters did? Hopefully, the answer is yes. However, we can't help but acknowledge that our western idea of hospitality is often much more self-sparing than that. Sure gives us something to work on!
As a footnote, if you are thinking "what about some pictures?", those will be coming soon in a separate post. We thought it would be more interesting to break up the story, rather than deluge you with a novel!
