Sharing the Nest...Tips for Hosting Foreign House Guests

We have had four ladies from Russia staying in our home this week.

Our family has hosted visitors from foreign countries a handful of times over the last handful of years...one group from Uganda and several different groups from Russia. These guests visit America to connect with Christians here and to gain financial support for their churches.

There are many wonderful benefits to opening your home like this, but there are also special challenges...especially when there is not an interpreter in the house!! The following tips are things that I have learned along the way:

1. Prepare before they arrive - Decide where your guests will sleep and which bathroom they will use during their stay. Clean, declutter, and freshen linens in those rooms.

2. Make them feel welcomed - Upon their arrival and after the initial greetings, show them the room and bathroom they will be using as well as where necessary items like towels can be found. Then show them around the kitchen so they can make themselves "at home" during their stay (this also keeps you from being needed for every little thing).

3. Anticipate their needs - Think about what might be needed when traveling so far from home and try to provide as much as possible. Some ideas...

• Consider spending $10-$20 on travel-sized toiletries including toothbrushes/toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo/conditioner, razors, etc.
• Place magazines and/or books in their room. Many times they can read and understand English better than they can speak it.
• Make sure there is a lamp at bedside for reading as well as an alarm clock.
• Provide water bottles and even snacks in their room. Keep the water at room temperature...they don't like cold drinks!
• Provide extra pillows and blankets just in case.
• Offer to wash clothes for them especially if they have been here more than a week.

4. Stock up on fruit...they LOVE fruit!!!

5. Take them shopping at Wal-mart...they LOVE Wal-mart!!!

6. Consider giving them some type of real American experience -

• A distinctly American meal such as BBQ, hot dogs, etc.
• Let them drive your car...with the steering wheel on the opposite side of the car from theirs (if they even have a car at home, that is). You might want to find a quiet, country road first, though!!
• Take them fishing or hunting or bowling or to a baseball game
• Take them to the beach...many Russians have never seen the ocean!

7. Ask them about themselves and their families - Assuming the language barrier can be overcome, they will be glad to talk about their home lives, and this may ease some of their homesickness, too.

8. Let them give something to you - Your guests will probably feel obligated to give you something in gratitude for your hospitality...let them! They probably brought small gifts or candy for this very purpose, but they may choose to offer to help with a chore or to perform for your family (many of our guests have had musical talents that they want to share).

9. Pray for them and their ministry!

I am always a little nervous before our guests from another country arrive, and I am always a little glad to have our house back to ourselves. But I have never regretted opening our home to them! Each and every time they have entered as strangers and yet have left as friends. Our lives have been enriched by the experience of meeting them and sharing in the work God has led them to do.