During the last two months I'm sure you have spent quite a bit of time in and out of stores, restaurants, and traveling.  You probably have a few stories of a clerk or waiter who went above and beyond to help you and a couple of someone who treated very poorly.  At each of our Midwest Christian Retreats properties we work all year long with our staff and volunteers to create a culture centered-around serving guest with love.

I recently took to the skies for a family vacation...  Flying used to be so much fun!  I can remember as a little boy standing with my face pressed against the glass watching planes come and go while we waited at the airport, looking at the pilot like he was a superhero, and savoring my complementary airplane peanuts.  I no longer look forward to flying.  The security lines and regulations don't really bother me, those precautions need to be in place.  The last several times I have taken to the skies, I don't feel like I'm treated as a guest on most airlines just a dollar sign.  What would make this experience better?  I wish that I greeted with a smile.  I wish my requests were answered with care and not blown off with an eye roll.  Did the airline get me from point A to point B?  Yes, and that is the service that I need them to provide but, HOW the service is delivered also makes a big difference.

In our training seminars, our director Steve, will often times will talk about taking a trip Grandma's house.  For many people that is a place we enjoy visiting, a place where we made fond memories, and a place we want to return.  I look forward to a warm greeting, good food, fresh home-made cookies, good fellowship, relaxed schedule...  While I'm at Grandma's house I know she will take care of my needs.  Not only will she take care of me, but she will do so with love.  That is the type of environment we are seeking to create at our Midwest Christian Retreats properties.  Our team understands its not just what we do, but how we do it.  Because we want our guests can feel at home to worship, fellowship, and be uplifted and encouraged by God.

The bottom line:  Christian Hospitality is Biblical.

Our director Steve, wrote the following as a preface for a guest service training.

Christian Hospitality is one of the leading gifts in the New Testament. Peter (1 Peter 4:8-10) admonishes his audience, Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. Paul (Romans 12:13) tells us how Christian love is to be expressed with, Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Again, to the Hebrews (Hebrews 13:1-2) the same expression of love is encouraged with, Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. In addition to the general sense in which hospitality is a key expression of God’s love in us, it is also the ONLY gift required of church leaders. Paul tells young Titus (Titus 1:8) that Elders, among other things, …must be hospitable, one who loves what is good…. Timothy (1 Timothy 3:2) is also told, Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach…

We look forward to serving your group in 2010.  Midwest Christian Retreats is YOUR partner in effective off-site ministry.