(Hospitality was the theme of the Allume conference I attended this weekend. I was refreshed in every way. Creatively, spiritually, relationally, and by more holy in my hotel rooms, but this, this story, this family, and this organization is my 2014 Allume.)

I sat next to a homeless man in church on Sunday, after Allume. It took me some minutes of wondering to see it-they don’t always hold a sign, and it’s not something I would blurt out in conversation, even me, with the loose tongue and pouring out of questions for all I meet. He was a young man, in clean-ish clothes that became increasingly shabby on closer inspection. His overstuffed backpack teetered against the chair on the other side of us, and he came and went during the service, passing close by with the smell of the have-nots.

Not washed. Not sheltered. Not like me.

It was not uncomfortable, this sharing of seat space, just … other. 

We raised our voices together, singing the age-old hymns in chorus. He laughed with me at the indignant toddler who was adamant about not being baptized. He was behind me in line, when we took communion together as a church body. Afterward, he stuck out his hand and introduced himself as *Steven. He moved away after that, shaking hands down the line and greeting other churchgoers he clearly had a relationship with.

I was undone.

I was in community with Steven on Sunday morning. It’s the first time in 35 years that I’ve ever spent more than a few minutes with a homeless person. (And to be clear, the Lord provided this encounter, because I had no part in him being there. I was fortunate to be attending a church in Greenville, SC who purposes intentionally to have a relationship with, and serve the homeless community). Don’t get me wrong, I’ve bought meals, I’ve given money, I’ve given water, and I have prayed for them consistently.

I’ve never sat in church with them before. I’ve certainly never had a homeless man named Steven look me in the eye and shake my hands after church. 

“Radical, biblical hospitality means closing the gap between charity and community.”  ~ Logan Wolfram

It’s easy to give our money, and even our time, from a distance. It’s easy to be comfortable, and to cry safety as our reasons for holding back. It’s easy to be charitable. It is quite another thing to extend your hand for a handshake, to throw your arms and heart wide for relationship.

Here’s the thing. We don’t need to be afraid, or comfortable. We don’t need to be afraid of the other, the poor, the run down part of town, and all the people dwelling in the margins. We don’t need to be afraid of ISIL, of Ebola, or of all the things the world would have you fear.

There’s no room for fear when you are standing in the gap.

I met a family last weekend who is not afraid of ISIL. They live in Iraq. They are not afraid. And they love the people of Iraq with a deep abiding love. 

Jeremy and Jessica Courtney started the Preemptive Love Coalition nine years ago to serve the children of Iraq, children marked from birth by decades of violence.

PLC provides life-saving heart surgeries to the backlog of Iraqi children born with heart defects and disease – something that occurs TEN TIMES more than the world average. They do this by offering a pediatric cardiac training program that brings international heart surgery teams into Iraq to train locals and save children.

Please, PLEASE go to their website to read more. 

While my Sunday encounter with Steven is hurtling me out of my comfort zone in my physical life, when I heard the story behind The Preemptive Love Coalition, and met the Courtney family, I knew I had found the place for my online voice.

 Read more about how PLC was the answer to a years-long heart cry of mine.

In the meantime, Pure Charity and the Allume conference has partnered with The Preemptive Love Coalition to fund 45 lifesaving heart surgeries for children in Iraq. I would love for you to help them! To do that, GO HERE to make a one-time $25 donation.

Ribbon rings as post-op therapy tools for the Iraqi kiddos. 

Thanks for listening to my heart. And friends? Click here to see a lot more of it laid bare.