1324 GA Highway 49 South | Americus Georgia 31719

(229) 924-0391  |  info@koinoniafarm.org
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube
Flickr
Visit Store
  • Home
  • About
    • Koinonia Today
    • History
      • Clarence Jordan
    • News
      • Publications
      • Media Page
      • Koinonia in Your Inbox
  • Visit
    • Ways to Visit
    • Courses & Retreats
  • Internship
    • Internship – A Brief Description
  • Support
    • Sponsor a Tree
    • Service To Others
  • Blog
    • Brief Thoughts from Bren
    • Other Writings
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Koinonia Today
    • History
      • Clarence Jordan
    • News
      • Publications
      • Media Page
      • Koinonia in Your Inbox
  • Visit
    • Ways to Visit
    • Courses & Retreats
  • Internship
    • Internship – A Brief Description
  • Support
    • Sponsor a Tree
    • Service To Others
  • Blog
    • Brief Thoughts from Bren
    • Other Writings
Donate
Visit Store

Support Koinonia in Honor or Memory of a Loved One with

Top ^

Giving and Receiving

Bren Dubay

Bren Dubay

Bren oversees our life and work by keeping us focused on the community’s vision and mission. She facilitates the internship program and guides novices and candidates.
All Writings
  • October 22, 2018
  • 2:25 pm
  • One Comment

By: Bren Dubay
October 2018

If there is any concept worth restoring to its original depth and evocative potential, it is the concept of hospitality. — Henri Nouwen

 

I live where hospitality is more than a concept. It is our heartbeat. From the beginning, no matter the ups and downs, Koinonia has been a place of welcome. No matter background or level of education, no matter whether you possess a penny or a trillion pennies, no matter your faith or lack of faith, no matter, you are welcome.

 

But hospitality is not only about giving; it’s also about receiving. If Koinonia only gives, it may be a successful member of the hospitality industry, but it’s not living the depth of hospitality. We don’t see people as clients or customers, but as neighbors in the Gospel sense of that word. Neighbors help each other. We all have something to give. We all have something to receive.

 

Meals are important here at Koinonia Farm. So often, when I look around the dining hall, I am aware that I may be seeing something others may not be able to see. There, sitting side by side, are people who have found there way to Koinonia for many different reasons. Some are people of means in the material sense of the word and some are not. It does not matter.

 

Amy, Carl and their daughter Monica (not their real names), a middle school student, came to the farm in need of help. Some would say that the parents had made poor choices. Whatever mistakes may have been made, Monica was a good student and school personnel wanted better for her and suggested they come to Koinonia. Grateful for the welcome they received, Amy and Carl enthusiastically pitched in to help around the farm wherever needed.

 

Many nights at dinner, 12 year-old Monica, without being asked or coaxed, would happily help with the dishes. There came a time when the whole family said, “Let us do the dishes. Y’all turn in early and get some rest.” They showed us hospitality — we were the recipients. It was that giving and receiving the neighbors can share.

 

Before they left, Amy and Carl told us that being at Koinonia showed them there is a different way to live and that they wanted to do right by their daughter and each other. We pray for them every day.

 

Donna and Tom (not their real names) came from a very different background. She had been a journalist and he had worked for a trucking company. We do not know the exact details of what happened, but both had lost their jobs and ultimately their home. They asked if they could stay for a bit longer than the normal two week stay for guests. Their pride was shattered and their marriage strained near the breaking point.

 

Seeing the need, Tom offered to take on the landscaping and mowing around the farm. There was so much rain this past summer that we were convinced if you stood still and looked at the grass, you could see it growing. Donna was an exceptional cook and helped in the kitchen and bakery. They took time to look for employment and they took time to work on their marriage. They stayed here as neighbors, not as clients.

 

By August, Donna had found a teaching position. Soon after, a local trucking company offered Tom a job.

 

Having these guests and getting to know them has reminded me the importance of receiving hospitality as well as giving hospitality. But is this giving and receiving what Nouwen means when he refers to restoring hospitality’s “original depth and evocative potential?”

 

Seems to me welcoming and accepting welcome from the stranger, neighbor, friend or foe and the willingness to offer and accept the same from those with whom we live begins to take hospitality to its original depth and evocative potential. In today’s world, sitting across the table from someone very different from ourselves, looking them in the eye and hearing what they have to say is evocative. The world is divided. Does it have to be so? Is the simple act of giving and receiving hospitality beyond immediate family and friends, in part, an answer? That seems a provocative thought.

Share this with your friends:
Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on google
Google+
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
PrevPreviousCanaan Palestine Partnership Products
NextClear the GroundNext

One thought on “Giving and Receiving”

  • Avatar Robert H. Thompson says:
    October 23, 2018 at 3:59 pm

    Thank you Bren, for these beautiful words. I love hearing these stories, and the work of Koinonia.
    bob

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More to explore

blank
Blog
Steve Krout

Reflections on Martin Luther King Day

In many of the people I grew up with, I see a Christianity that is not informed by spiritual and civil rights leaders like Sojourner Truth, Martin Luther King, and Cesar Chavez. I wonder how differently our country would have been shaped had we been taught to be open to the Spirit’s moving in and through such prophets.

Read More »
January 18, 2021 No Comments
blank
Blog
Steve Krout

5 Songs for Your Advent to Christmas Playlist

There’s the longing of the Advent season and there’s the excitement that is the Christmas season. I love both of those feelings.

Read More »
December 11, 2020 3 Comments
blank
Blog
Bren Dubay

Leisure

Leisure is an end in itself, a time to dwell on the beauty of creation, to read a challenging book, to be carried away listening to a soaring symphony, to catch one’s breath at a stunning work of art, a time to step back to admire the work that one has done. It is a time to worship and pray, the highest forms of leisure. It is a time to contemplate goodness and allow that goodness and all these meaningful activities to re-create us.

Read More »
October 28, 2020 1 Comment
Springtime Orchard
Blog
Bren Dubay

The Great Divorce

Good art, good literature, helps us imagine what a new normal and a new world can be. It is vital in times like these to seek out that which helps us imagine a better world and encourages us to work together, perhaps in small ways like Sarah Smith, to build this new world now.

Read More »
September 30, 2020 No Comments
Peace Trail Sign
Blog
Bren Dubay

Lessons for Disciples

The father went on directing his remarks to Naomi, “You aren’t one of us. Why would my children play with you?”
Naomi looked at the grown man. She could see kindness in his eyes even though his tone and words did not match it. She said to him, “Aren’t we are all God’s children, sir? That makes us one family … doesn’t it, sir?”

Read More »
August 24, 2020 1 Comment
blank
Blog
Steve Krout

Grace and Time – “Don’t Worry” by Mary Oliver

Grace must be lived and breathed. Perhaps you are not where you want to be today — Breathe. Live into the grace offered to you from God. And, don’t worry. Things take the time they take.

Read More »
August 14, 2020 No Comments

Contact Us

Koinonia Farm

1324 GA Highway 49 South
Americus, Georgia 31719
Tel: (877) 738-1741
Tel: (229) 924-0391

E-mail: info@koinoniafarm.org

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube
Flickr
Online Store

Looking for something else?
Enter a word or phrase below.

Koinonia In Your Inbox

Please fill out the information below so we can keep you up to date in your email inbox.

Designed and maintained by Lowthian Design Works

Designed and maintained by Lowthian Design Works

Koinonia Farm

1324 GA Highway 49 South
Americus, Georgia 31719
Tel: (877) 738-1741
Tel: (229) 924-0391

E-mail: info@koinoniafarm.org

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube
Flickr
Online Store

Looking for something else?
Click on the search icon and enter a word or phrase.

Search
Close