I’ve been thinking a lot about hospitality since we arrived here at Malumghat. Every holy day after service we have been invited to tea in someone’s home. The first Friday we enjoyed 2 tea times, this past Friday we enjoyed 5 teatimes (plus 3 meals and 2 services…. It was a very full day!) These families have nothing. They live in mud houses and have us crowd into their bedroom to sit on their beds while they feed us tea and cookies. They cook over fires built into mud ovens, and some have no electricity or plumbing, yet they are happy to entertain… it is a privilege to have anyone into their home. Allison asked today, “Mommy, why do we have to clean our house when people are coming over, when here they don’t seem to clean or care that it’s messy?” Good point! The Bengalis have so little materially that they are not distracted
from relationships; instead their whole lives are oriented around their relationships. I’m not envying their hard life, or even pretending that I could live as simply as they do. However, it does inspire me to let my own mess go a little bit more, and be more fully present with the people around me. 
