Hospitality Reborn on 9/11

Leading a non-profit organization means that you must be flexible. We recently scheduled our annual fundraising event, A Time to Dance with Our Stars. However, because of a conflict with schedules, we had to reschedule it on a Saturday. The only open date for our location choice just happened to fall on Saturday, September 11th, 2010.

I know, how could we possibly plan a celebratory event on such a tragic date? However, I was quickly reminded by a volunteer that while 9/11 was a terrible day for most of the world, for one small community in Gander, Newfoundland Canada, it was the day the world came to their town. As the airplanes across North American were instructed to immediately land, that small town of 10,000 people welcomed over 6,000 guests stranded during this tragedy. Their acts of true hospitality were chronicled in a book, as well as in an interview with Tom Brokov.

I am providing links to these sources.
http://www.popmatters.com/books/reviews/d/day-the-world-came-to-town.shtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O6mU-5k4kk

Tulsa is leaving a similar legacy of hospitality to patients and families who find themselves needing lodging, meals, and support during a medical crisis away from home. Over 25,000 patients a year travel to Tulsa for inpatient medical care. Half of those patients are on Medicaid, Medicare, or are uninsured. These families are not able to afford the hotel, meals, and other basic living needs associated with a medical stay. Because of that, they are sleeping in waiting rooms or their vehicles trying to support their loved one in the hospital. Since 2006, Hospitality House of Tulsa has been the ‘home away from home’ for these families.

Our event this year is based upon Ecclesiastes 3 :
There is a t ime for everything, and a season for every act ivity under heaven:
a t ime to be born and a t ime to die,
a t ime to plant and a t ime to uproot,
a t ime to kill and a t ime to heal,
a t ime to tear down and a t ime to build,
a t ime to weep and a t ime to laugh,
a t ime to mourn and . . .

I hope you will join us as we come together to support families facing a medical crisis away from home! For more information go to our website and click Events. http://www.tulsahospitalityhouse.org

Growing up in Hospitality, Oklahoma

I had the wonderful privilege of growing up in a typical rural community in Western Oklahoma. My father was the High School football coach, my mother was the Jr. High School secretary. Needless to say, I couldn’t get away with anything in that small town!

It was in that community where I first experienced Biblical hospitality at its best. My roots and passion for helping families in medical crisis began there. When I was 17 years old, my family experienced a serious medical crisis. My mother was diagnosed with an advanced stage of breast cancer. She and my father would travel to Oklahoma City, two hours from home, over many months for surgeries and inpatient chemotherapy.

With three very active teenagers at home, my parents were very worried about leaving us. Their concern was short lived though as we watched the entire community support us during that time. Our church family would pray and bring in meals for us, our school family would make sure we had rides to our church, school, and sports commitments, that uniforms were washed and ready, and that our academic studies did not suffer.

Two years of treatments brought many ups and downs to our family. My parents spared us the details concerning the financial impact this terrible disease was having on our family, but we knew. Toward the end of that second year, my mother was referred to MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas for trial studies.

As they were preparing to board the airplane in Oklahoma City that early morning, the President of our local Sports Booster Club greeted them at the airport. He asked if they knew where they would be staying during their visit to Houston. My parents explained they didn’t have a firm plan and thought they would figure it out when they arrived. That dear man then shared that our community had come together for the purpose of making sure they had lodging and meals while there. He handed my father $700 to meet those needs during this crisis. What a wonderful expression of support!

Sadly, my mother did not survive her diagnosis. My family and community grieved deeply. But even in the midst of that grief, these wonderful people surrounded us with all the love and support we needed to survive the loss. The lessons I learned and the love exemplified to me through this small community will never be forgotten.

If you are ever traveling on I-40 West, just before you get to the Texas panhandle, look for that town. Oh, the highway sign might display the name Sayre, Oklahoma; but to me, it reads Hospitality, Oklahoma.

Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice Hospitality.
Romans 12:13 (NIV)