Recently, it was my joy to contribute an article to the Journal of the Evangelical Missiological Society about learning from non-westerners the vital importance of non-programmatic hospitality to revitalize the western church’s fellowship and outreach. Here’s an excerpt:

“While there is a sincere desire to cultivate community, the idea of lifestyle hospitality is often undervalued or misunderstood by the American church, and these misunderstandings create roadblocks to effective fellowship and outreach. This paper will now take time to examine some of the common roadblocks caused by the misunderstanding of hospitality, and will suggest practical ways forward towards the building of connection through community by means of hospitality in a 21st-century American context, learning from the example of and drawing insights from the non-western world…”

Read the rest of the article here and check out many other great articles from the current issue of JEMS as well!