The New Testament word “hospitality” combines two Greek words, xeno and philia, or love for strangers. Hospitality is therefore the opposite of xenophobia, the fear or contempt for strangers and foreigners. When you welcome foreigners into your life and treat them like family, you practice the grace that transforms strangers into friends. We were welcomed into God’s kingdom and are invited to the Lord’s table. “We were once foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” But, “now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:12-13). The Lord says to us, just as the Lord said to His ancient people: “Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens” (Exodus 23:9).

According to some estimates, 75 percent of foreign students are never invited into American homes or churches.
While it may take years for a Christian missionary to acquire foreign language skills, international scholars are required to demonstrate English proficiency before they study here. These scholars, among their nations’ brightest, will almost certainly become world leaders. They want to make American friends; they’re curious to learn more about our culture, and yet, according to some estimates, 75 percent of foreign students are never invited into American homes or churches.

At least 25 years before Genesis 18, Abraham and Sarah had given up almost everything to follow the Lord. But their lives eventually became drudgery—moving from one campsite to another. What about God’s promise? Will God really give them offspring to bless the world? Abraham had seen a dramatic guarantee of the covenant of grace in Genesis 15. God had given him a covenant sign in Genesis 17. But God’s promises later seemed to melt away in the blistering reality faced by these two old sojourners. Abraham is now about 100 years old. Sarah is 90. Each laughs in cynical unbelief when God promises them a son.

But after Abraham and Sarah welcomed the three strangers, they were never the same. They became believing partners in the Lord’s plan. The Lord takes Abraham into confidence, like a trusted friend: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” By the end of the day, Abraham is praying for God’s mercy on a wicked world. 

RUF International equips Christians and churches to welcome scholars from every nation. We recognize that Christian hospitality can transform not only visiting scholars but also local churches. When foreign students experience welcoming love, they often become spiritually curious about our welcoming God. And the vision of the local church is enlarged—without the costs, passports, inoculations, or security issues of overseas vision trips. The world is here. International student ministry is cost-effective world missions.

In his book Daring to Draw Near, John White calls Genesis 18 “The day God grew larger” for Abraham. That is a psychological statement, since God is “infinite, eternal, and unchangeable” (Westminster Shorter Catechism). But after years of harsh daily realities, do you limit the power of God? Are you cynical? Do you expect extraordinary spiritual things in your life? This one day in Abraham’s life, recorded in Genesis 18, he experienced two profound insights: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” and “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

The Lord commands us to raise godly families. But the Lord also wants families to participate in His plan to bless the world. The Lord does not merely want Sarah to eavesdrop on the promises, but to be directly involved, miraculously. When Abraham and Sarah offered hospitality to these strangers, they became believing partners. They communed in God’s plan. The Lord came in and ate with them.

What about you? You know the Lord’s promises. You have received His covenant sign of baptism. Do you experience the reality of God’s promise for the world in your daily life? When you make room for those who have no place, you will discover your own place in God’s plan for the world.

When you, your family, or church share Christian hospitality with students and scholars from other nations, the Lord will grow “larger” in your life. God’s work in the world will become more real to you. At a recent RUF International investigative Bible study, one Asian scholar asked her Christian table host, “Do you mean Jesus is still alive?” That was an electrifying and renewing experience for a mature Christian.

The Lord Jesus says to Christians and churches, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). Would you like to encounter and experience Jesus Christ in your daily life? Hundreds of thousands of internationals are on our college campuses—sent here by our sovereign God. It is no accident that the world has come to American campuses. “[God] made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth … he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” (Acts 17:26).

Did you know that you may “see Jesus” in your daily life through practicing hospitality—like Abraham? On the last day, Jesus Christ will say to His people, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35).

Al LaCour is the coordinator of RUF International.