The IAFR Blog

The kitchen is warm and steamy with the smell of the pulao my Afghan friend is cooking. Her deep-set eyes shine with the joy of cooking food from home. I know her family will enjoy eating it as much as she's found comfort in preparing it. And I know I'll also be invited to partake generously in the feast. That's how things are done at this community kitchen in a family refugee camp in Sarajevo, where I volunteer with my colleagues.

The Flavor of Hospitality

This kitchen is filled with smells, spices, and chatter from a beautifully diverse range of countries. This afternoon, I will also partake in Nepali lentils and flatbread with another refugee friend, cooking food that reminds her of home. A sponsoring organization provides essential ingredients like flour, eggs, rice, and lentils, and the families who use the kitchen purchase extras like meat or produce.

On another day, I cook food from my home in America to share with my displaced friends. When the sweet dessert comes out of the oven, my Turkish friend tastes the warm apples spiced with cinnamon and nods approvingly. The spices and fruit are familiar to her even though we don't share a common language to discuss the ingredients I used. The flavor of hospitality tastes like sharing food from home, even if we are from very different places.

Welcome can change the world.

As I watch families cook traditional foods that bring them comfort on my days in the community kitchen, I am struck by their generosity and gratitude. The gift of a safe space to cook is a gift that has helped restore their dignity. And I am reminded that it is important not to underestimate the power of offering someone a safe space, a space where they can be at ease, where they have dignity and purpose, and where they can feel seen.

Wherever you live or whoever you are ministering to, you can offer this same safe space - whether that's serving coffee in your living room, accompanying a friend to a difficult appointment, or offering to listen and be present in someone's pain. Creating spaces of hospitality and welcome can change the world, one person, one kitchen, and one meal at a time. I know because I have been welcomed just as I've been privileged to welcome others.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the work in Sarajevo here!