Luke 10:5 (NIV): "Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house'".

The community here in Albania has been surprisingly comforting. I don’t say that in the sense that I believed everyone would stray away from us and shut doors in our faces. I just never expected to be invited into homes within minutes of meeting someone.

It was the afternoon and I had just gotten back from a small village called Katjel. This is where my ministry group has been going Tuesdays through Saturdays, ministering and fellowshipping with the youth there. I was super tired and honestly didn’t plan on leaving our host church for the rest of the day.

As I walked into the door, I was greeted by a couple of the guys in my group. They explained that they wanted to have a guys night and had planned for us to walk to a local cafe. My initial reaction was a definite “No” as I said I was very tired and just wanted some time to myself. After a second thought though, I had an impression that I really should go. I thought to myself, you know what why not. I wanted to grow closer to the guys in my group anyway so this is a perfect opportunity.

I grabbed my shoes that I had just taken off and put them back on as I headed for the door. All the guys and I began walking to this local cafe. None of us had actually been there before so we had no idea what to expect. During the walk there we all chatted and laughed, it was a fairly beautiful afternoon and a good day for a walk. I was glad I ended up going.

After about a 20-25 minute walk we arrived at this cafe. A blue tiled fence lined the driveway leading down to the front door. A older man was sitting outside watching the news. He ended up following us in as he seemed like the owner. As we all grabbed sodas from the fridge and ordered coffees, we combined two tables and sat together. It was here that we all went around sharing our experiences with the past weeks, how we felt, and our goals, what we were working towards. It became a great experience for us to bond so that we may be more fit to serve the kingdom together.

During the walk back we began walking past this house on our left side of the street. This house had a couple cows in the yard and a beautiful flower garden in the front. A woman was standing by the gate to the driveway, she made eye contact with a couple of us so we decided to say hi. This led to her trying to make conversation with us, so we grabbed our phones for google translate. Even though it was a bit hard, we had a great interaction with this woman. We complimented her flowers and her home. Then, her husband came out of the house and had a big smile on his face. He didn’t speak any English either, but we all understood his hand gesture as he motioned for us to come inside. After looking at each other for a brief moment, we reluctantly said sure and followed them inside. We had just met these people not five minutes ago and we were all going into their home, it was definitely a strange feeling.

Taking off our shoes at the door, we are brought into a living area with a table in the middle of a couple couches with a TV facing our way. As the news played in the background, we were offered candies, apples, and grapes. We continued to speak the woman with google translate and got to know her more and more. I couldn’t believe the hospitality of the locals.

After talking a bit more, we find out that her and her husband are not religious. We deicide as a group that we will build relationships with them, share the gospel and eventually invite them to church.

It was getting late and we had to be back before dark so we all said goodbye. While getting up to leave we were offered the rest of their candies and apple for the short walk back to our church. These locals were incredibly kind.

Walking back to the church we all processed what had happened there, the hospitality was truly surprising to all of us. We could not wait to continue to build what was there and be the hands and feet of the kingdom.

It has been amazing to see what God can do with just a simple “yes”. I could have chose to stay home and not go out that afternoon, but I had this feeling or this impression that I should have. Thank God for that.

We can’t wait to continue to build relationships with locals or anyone we come across. Thats what we are all here for, to be the hands and feet of the kingdom. Whatever the Lord has for us here we will pursue with love and intent. We are called to say “Peace to this house” with wherever we enter. To bring the Lord into any home is a blessing in and of itself. Glory be to God.