Matthew 10:40-42
Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
Hospitality is one of the charisms of the Christian Church. Or at least it should be. True we have waxed and waned in our ability to love without judgment and to welcome the stranger, but on the whole, this is still something the church does rather well. After all, this is how the church started; welcoming strangers into a new community and making them feel at home.
In the last year, our city of Baltimore, and particularly our neighborhoods of reservoir and bolton hill have become more practiced in this as we have welcomed a large population of Afghan refugees here. Mt Royal School has upwards of 30 students, most of whom live nearby with friends and family.
And now it is likely, God Willing, that Memorial will also become a place of refuge and welcome for a family that has made a rather perilous journey to our borders. As detailed here: Fleeing Afghanistan, U.S. Allies Risk Journey Through Darién Gap - The New York Times (nytimes.com) this second wave of Afghan refugees have crossed oceans, land borders, and come by foot, car, bus and boat, and finally by plane to seek out new homes. Volunteers from ERICA and Memorial staff are working this week to get the Rectory in condition for a family to move in, and we are hoping that you will consider staying after Church on Sunday to clean, straighten, arrange, make beds, set tables, stock cabinets and otherwise get our Rectory set up to be home for this family.
This is, of course, a blessing to us as well. First, the opportunity to exercise our gifts of charity and hospitality, but also to learn and share in the life of a family so different from many of our own, and yet with much in common. If you are interested in helping on Sunday, please contact Wendy Yapp as she is coordinating the volunteers, and if you would like to make a financial contribution to support the family you can donate to Memorial's Afghan relief fund online or via check.
We will share more about the family as we are able, but for now we ask that you keep them in their prayers as they seek to make the last part of their journey safely.