6 | The Gift of Hospitality, an interview with Kate Fisher

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BARB SMITH: Did you know the Bible talks about the gift of hospitality and in this Podcast I am interviewing Kate Fisher about this supernatural gift. I have known Kate for many years and she currently serves as a woman’s pastor at Celebration Church in Regina, Saskatchewan and she is as close to an expert on hospitality that I know because she lives it.

Welcome Kate.

KATE FISHER: Hi Barb

BARB: Kate, I know you’ve studied the subject so what does the Bible have to say about hospitality.

KATE: Hospitality is spoken over and over again in the word of God and specifically I searched out what was being said by Christ in the Gospels. Our Greek word actually for hospitality is “filoxenia” and I don’t know if I’m pronouncing that rate bike it means love of strangers and that completely supports Christ. Jesus talks about hospitality as a gateway to salvation. In Luke chapter 7 from The Message Bible:

“The wretched of the Earth have God’s salvation through hospitality extended to them.”

And even in the early church, God used hospitality to bring others into the Kingdom of God. In the book of Acts in the 2nd chapter, it talks about how they broke bread in their homes. They ate together and this is the part that I really like:

“And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.”

BARB: Yeah, I think we’ve really undervalued the importance of hospitality, even in the growth of the early church, but I know you have also talked about the gift of hospitality what exactly do you mean by that?

KATE: When I was studying I came across 1st Peter chapter 4 and in verse 9 it talks about the practice of hospitality to one another. It goes on to talk about how it’s important to offer it to foreigners and guests and people in the body of Christ. It goes on to verse 10 and it describes hospitality as a gift that’s received. It’s a supernatural talent, a gracious divine endowment, a gifting of the Holy Spirit.

I believe they got has natural gifts that he gives all of us and that comes from what our parents have taught us, our culture, our environment, I mean all of us have it this is not the natural giftings that are given to you it actually is a supernatural insert of the spirit of God and you expressing then out through hospitality.

And as we open up our hearts and our our homes to others, God can use that supernaturally to heal the sick, to set the captive free and to bring people into the Kingdom of God. It’s bigger than you think

BARB: So do you feel like you have the gift of hospitality? KATE: I actually received the prophetic word. This was a long time ago and and the word went something like this:

“Kate there’s never too many people, never too many children, never too much food, never too many pets.”

From that point I knew that I had a gift, a supernatural gift of hospitality and freely it was given to me so freely am going to give to others.

BARB: So if it’s a spiritual gift have you experienced the Holy Spirit moving through this gifting?

KATE: Our house has been open to just about everybody, anytime, anywhere and we have seen how God has used our gift, my gift, my husband’s gift, we kind of both have it, to heal the sick and to set people free. And I could give you a tangible example would you like that?

BARB: Please.

KATE: Alright. Ok. We have had a friend actually live with us. Larry and I, we a have a boarding house and our friend Dan, he actually is a missionary right now in Palestine. He had invited a friend over who actually was a Moslem friend.

Dan met him when he was teaching English as a second language. This gentleman sat at her table and Dan and him were intensely engrossed in a conversation about Jesus Christ. My husband and I, it was past our bedtime, we blessed Dan and we went downstairs to bed.

While we were downstairs sleeping, Dan actually led him to the Kingdom. He became a child of God. That was extremely exciting for us to hear about. This gentleman came back one more time and we prayed for the filling of the Holy Spirit.

Now this was a very am exciting time for this gentleman. He felt like somebody. He actually thought that there was a practical joke being played on him, maybe some magic was in the room, because he got stuck to his chair and he couldn’t move. Later we explained to him that often when heaven meets Earth, our physical bodies will manifest and that feeling that he had wasn’t magic, but it was rather the Holy Spirit filling him up.

This man still loves the Lord. He is walking in the fullness of his destiny and purpose and it’s a big amen from my point of view.

The 2nd thing that happened, and again I mean I got lots of stories, but this one I want to share with you because we didn’t know anything supernatural was gonna happen. After church we invited a friend over, quite a bit younger than my husband and I, a single mom. She came into her home. We had a lovely meal.

She the shared with us that she was actually on her way to the hospital the next day to have a procedure. Larry and I, we prayed for her. We prayed for peace over her. We asked God to heal her, because you know that’s what you do.

The next day we got a phone call from our friend and she had supernaturally been touched by God. There was no procedure. She left the hospital in perfect health and again a huge amen. We weren’t expecting something big to happen, but even when you do something little, if God’s in it something big is going to be the result.

BARB: It’s encouraging to see the Holy Spirit wants to give us the Gift of Hospitality, but I often get caught in the trap of wanting to have my house look perfect. How do you deal with that?

KATE: I understand completely I am notorious for grabbing an empty laundry hamper, throw in all the clutter and then throwing that hamper behind the couch, so nobody can see. I’ve been caught off guard where I haven’t had a clean dish in the house, but I have a China full of fine dining, so I will grab a box of macaroni, I’ll throw it in and serve it on these fine plates and pray over.

I take my hands off and I always expect God to show up and He always does. So expect the supernatural. God uses circumstances and happenstances all the time when you least expect it.

Our house group was asked to host a party for our missionary from Vietnam. Now I’m not quite sure it how it ended up on our shoulders, other than the fact that we have the biggest house. We had just actually purchased this house and had started extensive renovations. We pulled down walls. We pulled out the flooring and we were actually standing on the base floor. Our plae place look like a barn.

And then on top of all that, Larry’s mother had passed away only two weeks earlier but we made the best of it.

We brought in all of our outside furniture and we made it work. We piled the boxes of flooring up and put up a piece of plywood over top. Threw a table cloth on top and that became the table where all the potluck dishes ended up. Because, it wasn’t just our house church that showed up. There were a lot of others, maybe even uninvited guests, that showed their faces that day. It was quite a party.

The missionary from Vietnam told these amazing stories and there was a koinoneia, a unity amongst everybody that was there. it was a love fest and God showed up. There were people manifesting, getting slain in the Spirit. Filled up and splashing over. It was supernatural. I set up hospitality and God showed up and worked within that and it was the best party ever. People still talk about that party today.

BARB: Thanks for sharing with us today Kate. It helping me deal with the struggles I have personally faced with hospitality. What would you like to leave with us in closing?

KATE: I strongly believe that God represents us when we represent him. He will bless us with a supernatural gift and so when you open up your home, when you are hospitable to others, expect the unexpected. Again hospitality is a supernatural gift, expect supernatural.

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