Hospitality Tips for Hosting in Your Home
Hospitality ought to be a wonderful characteristic of every follower of Christ. The Gospels and the Epistles are clear that “welcoming/hosting strangers” is an expectation of all of his followers. Jesus himself played the consummate host, while on other occasions submitted, as though a stranger, even to be a guest.
Invitations:
- Please email and/or text the students as soon as possible to invite them to share the day with you and to arrange transportation. Follow up with another text, email or phone call 2-3 days prior to the date.
- Pray about the occasion; include others in praying.
- Become more familiar with the guests’ country backgrounds. One source is World Cultures Encyclopedia.
- Consider inviting the students to come early and help you in the kitchen as a way of learning about how you prepare the food. Do thank them and let everyone know about their contribution to the dinner.
- Do offer and present your student guest(s) with a small beverage, e.g. warm water, juice, or hot tea, soon after their arrival in your home.. (Most will decline; go ahead and serve anyway.)
- This may be the first time a student has visited an American home. It is likely his/her first time to eat some of your dishes. Students are usually interested in taking pictures of your food or even the entire table of food.
- If you are having a main meat dish guarantee that additional vegetable options are available.
- Realize that many students are genuinely interested in the origins of US Holidays.
How to avoid possible misunderstandings
Cultural miscues or miscommunication may happen when two or more cultures get together. Don’t stress over mistakes made, instead, laugh about them and use them as a chance to learn something new.
Students can easily feel left out or lost when other Americans are talking so fast in their own conversation. Try to include your guests as much as possible in conversation. You may need to stop a story and explain a word or term that they may not be familiar with before continuing.
Appreciate that your guest may feel uncomfortable in one way or another, especially if it is the first time “in an American home”. Much is different or new, e.g. table manners, communication patterns, humor. Overt Christian witness, therefore, could be received either as misunderstood or unwelcome. We would prefer to err on the side that treats every student guest with dignity, compassion, and sensitivity.
Other Suggestions
- Inform other family members and guests that the international student(s) are also invited, and explain briefly to them the potential significance of hosting international students.
- FOCUS on giving space or time to learn about your guests’ cultures – food, holidays, customs, or families. Remember that they too are delighted to explain their customs! For example, you might ask, “What holiday in your culture resembles Thanksgiving in the USA?” or, “Please tell us about the most important holiday in your home nation.”
- During the gathering, introduce the students to your family members and other guests, one at a time if possible. Introduce the students to someone whom you think will facilitate ongoing conversation. If you will be very busy hosting, it will be a good idea to designate someone else as the welcoming “Ambassador” to look out for your international guest. This might be a person who is very alert and intentionally helps include the students in the on-going conversations or occasionally steers them into a topic in which the students can participate. It may not be practical to expect all other guests to have this kind of sensitivity. But you could certainly have ONE person be on the lookout for this!
- During the dinner, have the students sit next to you or adjacent to the designated welcoming person.
Do play games together!
After dinner, we suggest that more good may come from walking together or laughing over board games ( e.g. Spot it, Uno, Pictionary, Go, Cranium), than over watching football on TV.