Video Transcript: Host Ministers as Hosptialiers

Henry - So ready for the big reveal of a role that we go back to history back to  the 11th century. The 11th century is the role hospitalier. Now we have some  debate. Should it be hospitalier? Like French, so, yeah, but actually, Abigail  Munroe looked it up and it was hospitalier, so we'll go with that. But even if we're not sure, then, right?  

Abby - That's our best bet at pronouncing it. Well, what is, what does it mean to  serve, and what does that mean for a host minister to serve as a hospitalier?  

Henry - Hospitalier. I love that well, it combines the Christian call to hospitality  with ministry opens their homes to provide temporary residence to individuals in  transition and deeply rooted in the Christian tradition. So what I find so  interesting about this is to really get to this and look at what is a hospitalier,  historically referring to members of a religious order dedicated for caring for the  sick, the poor, the travelers. So before we think about that next thing, modern  hospitaliers, let's talk a little bit about these hospitaliers. So they  

Abby - were from the 11th century. Happened kind of in response. And during  the time the Crusades, they were the Order of St John of Jerusalem, okay? And  one of the things they really focused on, like you already said, is that care for the sick. So they, like, founded some hospitals. They made different, you know,  caring for people. And also they protected Christians. So they would protect the  Christians from invaders, or, you know, while they were on a pilgrimage. So it's  kind of interesting that they had a lot of a lot of roles, whether it was caring for  the sick or it was just in a military sense, even protecting,  

Henry - right? What I find interesting is the word orders. Often we don't think of  the word orders, right, but in the ancient Well, the ancient churches still think of  it, role orders. Now we come from more of a Protestant background, non  denominational. So the word orders doesn't strike with us understood as well.  But in a lot of ways, that's what getting ordained is. You are ordained to Holy  Orders. So in some ways this is a very historic type of role. If you become clergy here through the Christians Alliance, you are ordained in this order, this group of people who are coming together to become hospitaliers. Of course, that's host  ministers, but it's that. It's that still same sense. So there's a reading that goes  into details of what the hospitaliers did, and you can find that, but it is  fascinating.  

Abby - Depth of their kind of historical background is very cool. You know, they  began as just a humble group of monks who established a hospital in Jerusalem to care for the sick, and, you know, take care of the needy and even provide  shelter. And I think, you know, it's really cool. And then, yeah, as things had 

developed at that same time, the Crusades are going on. So then they start  offering  

Henry - beyond that. So it's, yeah, and it's still, the order is still strong today, so,  you know? So that's, again, it's here's where we get to be, that ecuministry, a  little bit, the quadrants of the church. We talk about other places that Christian  leaders Institute, and how the fullness of the Body of Christ, that we are on that  same team. It's Jesus Christ, His bloodshed. He rose from the dead, the  Apostles Creed. And we can appreciate even if we're not specifically Me, myself, you yourself, were not, let's say a Catholic, right? This is one thing that Catholic  universal church has brought. And really it's through there that even that  tradition of hospitality is brought forward. So a modern hospitalier provides  temporary shelter and care in homes, offering physical and spiritual support.  Now we specifically like to think of in homes, although we should technically  realize that you would this could certainly be a program that you could start, if  you had the resources, you could start a little hospitalier shelter, yeah,  absolutely so. But in general, the most scalable, reproducible, yeah, it's just you  open your own home, right?  

Abby - Providing a safe and welcoming. Environment you know you're engaging with these guests on a deeper level, when you allow you, know, shelter for a  temporary amount of time, it also opens the door to have a space where ministry can happen, where you are showing that hospitality and care and allowing you  to again share the gospel. So  

Henry - the role of a Hospitalier host minister is that like the Knights hospitalier,  you're part of this army, so to speak, knights who take this calling seriously in  their life.  

Abby - So the characteristics of this is opening your home, once again, offering  that temporary housing to those in transition, and then providing that care, so  that practical sort of support, both meals, emotional care, and then, of course,  anytime you're able to give that spiritual guidance and the sharing of the love of  God, spiritual engagement, so you're inviting them to participate in prayer and  Bible study and then guiding transition. I think that's really important, you know,  being able to actually help them, give both guidance and resources so that they  can take their next step in their journey. You know, while they're in this, you  know, set temporary time period of you providing shelter, you know, how can  you really help them in their transition to what God has next for them?  

Henry - What's nice about this is, there's a little formality to the program, and in  this class, there's even worksheets that you would fill out with the potential 

guests, and they're called guests. And why is the formal piece is because when  back in history, if somebody came to the Knights hospitaliers, there was, this is  temporary. We are the Knights hospitalier. Okay, I'm a hospitalier. This is  temporary. You are a guest. You're just by even the name. You're creating a  boundary. This is not something where we do long term. This is our ministry. So  maybe three months out of the year, you may have a season to open up your  home, but another time of the year, you know, you've got a busy period. There's  a wedding coming up and, you know, but it's a relationship that has that little bit  of orders to it. That is, there's a formalities  

Abby - need to be in place. There's protection in the person that you're caring  for. Protection?  

Henry - Yes, because if you if, if they stay at your place, they're not moving on  to the next piece that God has for them. 

Abby - You're trying to launch them, not in a way, end up stunting them  inadvertently by providing the shelter. Exactly. So who benefits the traveler, the  person needing the temporary safe place to stay so again, displaced individuals, whether that be refugees or immigrants or homeless people in crisis. Maybe  they're recovering from addiction, drama, divorce, unemployment, single  parents. Maybe they need a nurturing environment and even have children with  them. You know,  

Henry - a lot of times it's that, like, even, like a single woman now divorced, who is just, you know, still in major grief, that's a place like, that's a, in a sense, a  topic or lifestyle refugee. Then there are actually people who are refugees,  where now, you know, they're in a different land, a different place, a different  country. So the the refugees, or the immigrant, the homeless, if you put all of  them into like, just one concept, it can be applied into a lot of situations. I know  of some of these situations where it's a family refugee, you know, somehow it's  something that's not worked out, or there there was abuse, and now that person  is alone, a single and and they're really distraught. In a sense, they're they're  looking for that next comfort, that next place. So there's a lot of ways. It's like  one person leaving one destination for a lot of reasons and moving to another.  So you could even take the concept of hospitalier in a lot of ways. It could be a  newly divorced person. It could be someone who, for various reasons, is  dislocated from their parents. Recently, unincarcerated. Recently  unincarcerated. I mean, to me, that is so powerful. Yeah, so important. If there  was a team in every state, every county of prison hospitaliers in the love of  Jesus Christ, it's like they come out, they have no no one likes them, and all you are is that halfway home, that place where they come and now again, this is part

of an army. Is it safe? Is it safe? Maybe not. You know the risk. to be a  hospitalier, to be a host minister in this specific role may not be for everyone,  

Abby - right? And that's, you know, what's important too. And I think that's  what's really great. You know, maybe your situation is, you know that you have  had addiction struggles in the past, so now you know how to really help and be  a host for somebody who's going through that, versus, you know, maybe you've  experienced something else and and I think that's, again, what's great, and we  always see that again and again here at Christian leaders Institute, is what  maybe has been your experience in the past that was difficult is now the area  where you want to minister to somebody else, and you have that, you know,  empathy and that understanding, and that's so powerful to use that in this host  Minister role.  

Henry - That's so amazing. Abby and I do acknowledge that, like calling out of  their life, they have found a home through that addiction that's now in Christ, and now they're able to get that traveler who wants to travel from this place to that  place. You might actually be an immigrant yourself who now has citizenship. And you know of somebody from your homeland. You know their language. You  know English now. You know how to get them. Connected to Christian leaders,  institutes, literacy class. You can work and help them. You know, it's very  specific, but very much a specific time frame.  

Abby - So why does this role matter?  

Henry - Okay, the role of hospitality or matters because it combats isolation and displacement. It's a critical expression of Christian love and service, and  provides temporary shelter and spiritual care to restore hope and dignity. It is  true when people are dislodged. A lot of times, Despair is  

Abby - larger, very easy to be, yeah, kind of just coping. You say that a lot  where it's like you're in this space of just coping, trying to find anything that  could work, and it's like you want to restore them to a place of hope and dignity  and, yeah, providing that shelter and care is, is what is needed.  

Henry - In some ways, it's, it's like you have a church. You planted a church. It's a temporary church where two or three are gathered in God's name. It's a  temporary church for temporary time. I know one summer we were hospitaliers  for actually two singles, and in each of them had a different reason in their  journey and and we learned so much in that summer, but we were hospitaliers,  host ministers and all these, so many discussions came up, but What our goal  was to launch them, and that's what we were called to do. And we saw the 

blessing of that in so many ways. And I know this about you, too, Abby, I feel like you have sort of a hospitalier program with a lot of your friends from your public  school, and who you know, in a lot of ways, I think they organize their life. They  they know that, you know, there's a representative for Jesus Christ. That's their  age. And you in, if one of them all of a sudden, you know, became homeless, I  believe you would like have them over? Oh, definitely, yeah. And also, you know, share your devotions. You know, at our home, we do devotion this is what we  do. You know, I know that we're that you're also developing a little apartment,  right?  

Abby - I've been thinking about it. What's been working this course, just the  opportunity to use that in this role as a host minister, for sure,  

Henry - yeah, so you know. And so what that speaks to? And maybe you are a  person that has extra guest house. Maybe you have extra rooms. Maybe you're  of the means like Philemon and Aphia to build a new house. And but maybe  when you build a new house, make a little hospitalier house that you can house  people who are in transition. In some ways, that's the body of Christ. We all can't do what we each can do, but we can do what we can do, exactly this. Particular passage that we talked about earlier, For I was hungry, and you gave Me food to eat. I was thirsty to getting a drink. I was a prisoner. You took me in. You  

Abby - took me in. You know, I think that's just so,  

Henry - yeah, I was a stranger. You took me in. Yeah, I. Prisoner, a person in  transition. You took me in,  

Abby - right when you take a stranger in again, it's a great amount of faith to do  that, you know, and I think again, people called it the host Minister role. It's such  a beautiful thing, and it's such a practical expression of your faith. It transforms  lives. It offers that stability. You get the opportunity to share your faith, and then  again, that's just that practical support of having meals on a roof over your head  and and all of that. And the the Word of God continues to go on through this  action of allowing guests. And again, that's why I love that word host minister, is  when you think of hosts, you're hosting guests, right?  

Henry - Yeah, in some ways, I think that's a really good point. When it's good,  they know you're a Hospitalier, but your role is host minister, okay? The reason  it's good they know you're a Hospitalier, because there's a little formality to this,  and you know, so on. Yeah, I'm just, I just do that. I just host people. No, this  case, it's specifically a minister in your ministry. You are a hospitalier, they are a  guest. And there's that boundary that needs probably to be reviewed and 

thought about. I know many times there's disasters, you know, let's talk about  that. You know, a lot of people would say I would do that, but I don't know, what  if it doesn't go well, and this class is about helping that go better, right? It even to help it go well, so the expectations are clear, and that, you know, someone may  come and get real practical. They might come in on the 15th of June, and then  you say, Well, you've got until the 15th of September, because that's the  completion of this hospitality relationship, I guess the hospitality relationship, the hospitality hospitalitier relationship, or the ministry relationship, because starting  in October, we're doing this, this and this. You know, there is a little bit of a form  now, some of you may say, Well, I'm just gonna let the Holy Spirit lead that, and  that's fine, too, right? We're, not saying, right? You have to have  

Abby - these boundaries calling you to do in a specific situation, but it can be  very helpful to have those boundaries, because it can be important so that they  know the expectation, and you know the expectation, and the more clear the  communication is, the more likely that it will be a successful and fruitful time for  both. Well,  

Henry - like in foster care homes, like people who take on the foster care  ministry, this is a formalized rule for them, they're not called to adopt  

Abby - a child, right? They want to be a part of helping that child in their journey. However,  

Henry - sometimes the foster care can turn into adoption. And you know, it  could be that you could go to a longer term relationship. But again, we want to  help you get the tools of reproducibility, success, launching. Because here's  another example, if someone knows they're there for three months, let's say  their urgency to help in the transition, right?  

Abby - Their expectation is correct. So then they kind of know, okay, like, I need to do this in the first month, this in the second month, so I'm able to, in the third  month, do X, Y and Z, and that's where it's so important to communicate and  have those boundaries, right? So it can be motivated, even for the person  

Henry - well. And here's some practical things, like you may say, you know,  well, what about mail and email? Well, then you help them get a PO Box. They  would not have their mail at your house because, you know, that's something  snail mail. They call it in America. You know, it may not be best just to say, Oh,  here's our address. Have people send it. No, we are going to as hospitaliers,  host ministers support your own PO box. Now, if any mail comes, it comes to  that PO Box. It's a formal relationship. It really does make a difference in some 

states, for instance, or the United States, if someone is a resident, their right to  stay at your house goes on, possibly longer and longer if there's mail. So that  might be a very a formal boundary. And you'll research your own residency laws  in your own state, because we want to honor Caesar follow the laws, but we  also want to help people in a way that ultimately safeguards them from  unnecessary long term dependency and safeguards you that the that the calling  you have as a host minister is honored.  

Abby - Yes, it is a special calling again, combining that hospitality ministry,  offering a sanctuary of healing, comfort, spiritual nourishment, and again,  making a huge impact in such, again, tangible way for people.  

Henry - So what we're going to do now is now get into the nuts and bolts of all  these things that we're introducing now, the boundaries and how you know, and  in the readings, there's many readings that are in this section that even get into  that as well. So stay tuned as we dig into this hospitalier role .