Dear Friends,
“Extend hospitality to strangers.” (Romans 12:13)
Hospitality has always been close to the very heart of the Gospel. It is woven through the story of salvation, revealing something profound about the character of God and the calling of God’s people. From Abraham’s welcome beneath the oaks of Mamre to the disciples recognizing the risen Christ in the breaking of bread at Emmaus, Scripture repeatedly presents hospitality as a sacred encounter through which God is made known.
Yet Christian hospitality is more than generosity offered by one person to another. The Church invites us to move beyond the familiar categories of host and guest. In the life of the Christian community, none of us is ultimately the host. Christ himself is the host. We gather as guests around his table, recipients of grace before we become instruments of grace for others. Every act of welcome within the Church flows from the welcome we ourselves have received in him.
This understanding reshapes our common life. Hospitality is no longer a transaction between those who have and those who need. It becomes participation in the divine hospitality of God, who in Jesus Christ welcomes the stranger, gathers the scattered, and creates a new household of faith.
One of the most tangible expressions of this divine hospitality is the sharing of food. Food nourishes the body, but it also carries memory, identity, affection, and belonging. There is a kind of food that speaks directly to the heart, food with which the soul resonates. Such “heart food” evokes home, family, tradition, and community. It reminds us who we are and where we belong.
This is why the ministry of the Open Kitchen possesses such profound missional significance. In a world marked by displacement, migration, conflict, and uncertainty, providing opportunities and provisions for refugees and migrants to prepare and enjoy their own food is far more than a charitable gesture. It is an expression of the Gospel itself.
For those who have left behind familiar places, languages, and relationships, preparing a traditional meal can become an act of healing. The familiar aroma of spices, the preparation of cherished recipes, and the sharing of food from one’s homeland can restore dignity and affirm identity. Such practices communicate a powerful message: our story matters, our culture is valued, and our presence enriches community.
Theologically, this reflects the pattern of God’s kingdom. The prophets envisioned a day when all nations would gather at the Lord’s feast. Isaiah speaks of a banquet prepared for all peoples. Jesus repeatedly describes the kingdom through the imagery of shared meals and open tables. He eats with those whom society excludes, demonstrating that God’s welcome extends beyond every human boundary. The Eucharist stands at the centre of this vision. At the Lord’s Table, distinctions of status, background, nationality, and circumstance are relativised by the greater reality of our common identity in Christ. Each one comes with equal dignity before the throne of grace.
What is particularly beautiful about ministries such as the Open Kitchen is the way they reveal the mutuality at the heart of Christian hospitality. Someone may arrive as a guest, uncertain and unfamiliar with their surroundings. Yet before long, that same person becomes a host. Through preparing food, sharing traditions, telling stories, and offering friendship, they begin to nourish others. The recipient becomes the giver. The stranger becomes the neighbour. The neighbour becomes the friend.
In this way the dividing line between host and guest gradually dissolves. We discover that hospitality is not something we extend from a position of strength to those in need. Rather, it is a shared participation in God’s generous life. We welcome one another because Christ has first welcomed us all.
The Open Kitchen thus becomes more than a place where meals are prepared. It becomes an embodiment of the Church’s vocation. Around the table, barriers are lowered, friendships are formed, and communities are renewed. We learn to receive as well as to give. We encounter Christ in one another. We glimpse something of the heavenly banquet toward which all Christian life is directed.
May we continue to cultivate communities where every person finds a place at the table, where strangers become friends, and where all are invited to discover the abundance of God’s hospitality. For it is Christ who gathers us, Christ who feeds us, and Christ who teaches us that in the kingdom of God, we are all both and beyond guests and hosts in the household of grace.
Vinod Victor
July 1, 2026
Freiburg Anglican Church 