Hospitality: a (cross- cultural) life on life experience

Since I have started my new adventure in the US, it is the first time I post something on this blog. That's exciting!! But before I begin, let me tell you something more about me. My name is Samanta, I moved from Italy to Columbus with Gianni, my husband almost two years ago and I joined the IFI group last January, working as intern in the event organization.

Have you ever wondered what is your most valuable resource? To me, it is time. Time is the only thing we can never get back.When we dedicate people our time, we show them they are important to us. How can you get to know someone better? Yes! Spending time with them!

That's exactly what Russ and Rebecca Sermon did with us today: they opened their home to me, Titi, Tony, Xi, Alyssa, Christina, Kaini, and Phil, prepared an amazing lunch for us and shared their testimonies and life changing experiences! What a great example of hospitality!

This helped us internationals to understand more about the American culture and to share about our own traditions. Reading "Cross-Cultural Servanthood" by Duane Elmer (you haven'r read it?? Do it, it's a great source of inspiration!!), we have been challenged to put ourselves in the shoes of others to serve them in a more effective way: 

"Serving people is not just doing what seems good in our own culture but seeking out the knowledge of the people, learning from them, knowing their cultural values and then acting in ways that support the fabric of the culture to the degree possible. After taking these steps, we will have served them".

Kaini, Xi, Tanit, Titi, Samanta, Alyssa, Christina, Phil, Rebecca and Russ

 How can we do it? How can we understand other people's background? What I learned from this book is that asking questions with a sincere heart is always a good choice. Moreover, it might be wise to find someone to learn from and learn with, in order to avoid major blunders without even knowing it. It is such a new vision to me! I am ready to start... and you?