The Welcome Network Inc. is the result of a response to the evacuation of Afghanistan in August of 2021. Thirty Afghans were settled in West Bend at that time. The intensity of that experience shined a light on the challenges of all people groups who have made their way to this community and those who will make their way here in the future. There is much more we can do and much more we should do for them. The experience of serving their needs is enriching and, yes, even rewarding, but actually it is mandated by God in scripture.
As you consider your involvement in The Welcome Network, read below to understand a deeper answer to the question, why welcome?
The Mandate of Welcome
Scripture is clear on the role of the Christ follower with respect to the stranger, the foreigner, the sojourner, the immigrant. We read that “God defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.” (Deut. 10:18) God’s people were to show this kind of care and compassion for they themselves were once strangers in Egypt. But the idea of welcoming the foreigner goes all the way back to the beginning.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, we find the Hebrew word “ger” nearly one hundred times. This word indicates anyone who is not native to a given land or among a given people. It is used to describe strangers, foreigners, or aliens.
Since Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden, each of us is as much a “ger” as there ever has been. This is not our home. This theme echoes throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Peter writes, “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.” (1 Peter 1:17)
Abraham was called to leave his own land and become a sojourner in the land of Canaan. A famine caused his son Isaac to sojourn in the land of the Philistines. Famine again caused Isaac’s son Jacob to eventually move his family to Egypt where the people sojourned for 400 years until Moses was chosen to lead the people out of slavery there.
Moses himself fled as a sojourner to Midian where he lived before returning to Egypt to lead that generation into the promised land where they were, once again… foreigners. The law that Moses received on Mount Sinai in the Ten Commandments itself states that the Sabbath was intended to include the foreigners in their midst (Exodus 20:10).
As God expands upon His divine commands, we find this in Leviticus 19:33-34: “Don’t mistreat any foreigners who live in your land. Instead, treat them as well as you treat those who are native born and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
Does this change upon the arrival of the Messiah? Well, Jesus himself fled as a child to Egypt as a refugee. He later teaches: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” It appears not.
Paul adds, “Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.”
But why is this theme so prevalent throughout God’s Word? The answer is found in a song on the last pages of Scripture, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
And Paul had come to this conclusion even before Revelation when he wrote to the church in Ephesus: “He (Jesus) came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:17-20)
We have been blessed to be a blessing, so that all nations have access to know and worship the living God.
Unfortunately, at times we as the body of Christ must confess and repent of the reality that we fail to live out the clear commands in Scripture to welcome and care for the foreigner, stranger, and sojourner. We have even approached the “ger” in our midst by responding with “grrrrr”. Rather than welcoming those seeking safety, refuge, or opportunity, we have closed our doors, turned our backs, and held so tightly to that which is God’s but we claim for our own. We as followers of Jesus must take seriously the Scriptural mandate of welcome.
If we take our mission seriously as a church, we at Kettlebrook must consistently seek to be family, follow Jesus, and help others follow Jesus. The “others” in mind here are those both near and far who we are called to welcome in the name of Jesus.
As Matt Chandler notes in his book “Take Heart”, we love the outsider because we were the outsider. That’s our story.”
– Troy Loether, lead pastor of Kettlebrook Church, West Bend, WI
The Welcome Network 