Radical Hospitality 10/28/24

Today we visited Sellan Hospice and Palliative Care Program and were welcomed with radical hospitality.  We were enfolded in heart felt words of welcome.  Enveloped in hugs, we were received as if we were long lost family members.

After introductions were made we were fed “a small lunch” which was actually a large feast of delicious traditional Tanzanian dishes.

It was no surprise to me that a compassionate hospice staff would give an open hearted welcome;however, the unexpected surprise is how radical hospitality is baked into the Tanzania culture and is tasted with every encounter.  Overflowing hospitality is the nature of the people of Tanzania and we have experienced it with every encounter since we arrived.  

We as strangers have been welcomed as friends.    We have been welcomed with an entourage of motorbikes when approaching the village and with joyous singing and dancing.











We have been fed in abundance while knowing such abundance is not part of their daily diet.  We have been given comforts that they do not use (ie toilet paper). We have been showered with gifts upon our departure that we did not deserve.

The Boma la n’gombe School is a perfect example of Tanzanian hospitality.   About 2 miles before we reached the school the children and staff waved branches as they welcomed us with singing and fresh flower bouquets.  As we joined them on the road we were surrounded with smiling faces and sparkling eyes.   They treated us to a program of singing and dancing along with a display of their awesome talents.   




We learned that the teachers had been working for months while being paid half their salaries and yet, we were fed a huge lunch.   We had seen the kitchen where rice and beans were cooked over a wood fire for the community of students and staff and we were humbled. 

When it came time to leave the women were given brightly colored Tanzanian skirts and the men were given shirts. We were humbled!  

Two days later we stopped by the school on the next leg of our journey and we were given the same radical hospitality as if it were a family reunion and we were humbled again.

In  Mwatasi we were wrapped in radical hospitality and as we left we were wrapped, literally and figuratively, in love and African fabric.  We were humbled!




At the hospice office we were gifted with a key chain with our names printed on one side and the symbol of their hospice on the other.   They were thinking about us long before we arrived as they made the effort to track down our names.  We were humbled!

Radical hospitality is baked into the culture of this beautiful land and its people.  It is a hospitality that goes above and beyond. It does  not think about one’s self but always thinks of the stranger.  It is focused on the other.  It does not keep tally.  It is abundant.  It freely flows from one heart to another. Radical hospitality is a lesson learned from the gracious, loving people of God in Tanzania.


Kris Linner

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