Be hospitable to one another without complaint. - 1 Peter 4:9
Hospitality is huge in West African culture. For example, when you enter a person's home (or even their courtyard), there are formalities to be observed before you even begin to state the purpose of your visit. Your host will usually ask if you have any "news" and will certainly offer you something to drink. If someone arrives at mealtime, then the host is expected to feed them all.
However, the most interesting custom concerns how you leave. When you are ready to go on your way you must "request the road." If your host ignores the request, you cannot leave without offending them. They may even say that it is not possible at the time. Eventually, after multiple requests, your host will let you go, sometimes by saying, "I give you the half," meaning that you may only leave with "half of the road," because they fully expect that you will some day return.
If other cultures, many lacking any knowledge of Christ's love, extend such hospitality then what should be our attitude and practice toward those whom God sends our way? In light of the expanding refugee and diaspora crises around the world, how should Christ's Body (His Church) respond?
I think we know.
No one of this nation ever begs, for the houses of all are common to all; and they consider liberality and hospitality amongst the first virtues. - Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales)
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