offer hospitality to one another

Have you ever had the situation in your life where someone has shared their home, their personal space and resources, their life without communicating an expectation of anything in return?  This may be the obvious definition of one who is hospitable, but another quality of one who is gifted in this way is that they demonstrate a deep value for community.  To communicate to one another that it is your great privilege to share their company, to have them there with you, to hear their story, and you theirs, is a rare gift that some go an entire lifetime and never experience.  Why is it in the Body of Christ that some have a much keener desire for community? There are many reasons why true hospitality is not practiced as it is commanded in the Bible.  In a culture where self-sufficiency is nearly worshiped, we do not get much encouragement to freely admit that we really do need one another.  As a result, many suffer needlessly from an acute sense of loneliness. I really am looking forward to returning to Uganda, because it was there, two summers ago, that my hope for the feasibility for community was strengthened.  As I watched the coaches in Africa and the way they loved one another, I returned to the United States with a much greater expectancy that indeed, we really can extend hospitality to one another and help lessen the overwhelming sense of loneliness so many of us experience.  Nancy and I leave tomorrow for Uganda, and the excitement is growing with each minute that we get closer to takeoff.  I'd ask that you continue to pray for the requests that are listed on this blog, and watch for team updates on the link http://wftwuganda2012.blogspot.com/.