When our group of 6 college students and 2 adults began our long journey north to Wilton, Connecticut just over a week ago, we had no idea what to expect. We had climbed into a church van in Greenville, NC and aimed the front bumper toward a place and people that we had never met before. Some in our group, natives of the south-eastern United States, had never traveled further north than Washington, D.C., others who had gone further, never to Connecticut. We had no idea how our southern accents, predilection for sweet tea, and inability to eat before saying ‘the blessing,’ would be received by the people we would be living and serving with during the week.

After an almost 17 hour trek in a cramped van (due to a bus fire on the New Jersey Turnpike), we pulled into the parking lot of Orem’s Diner who, thankfully, served dinner well past 10pm. As we began to order the waitress stopped one of our crew who had ordered with a particular southern drawl and asked where we were from. “North Carolina,” was the response given to the amused waitress who remarked that we were not really from the south, with South Carolina being the geographical marker for what denoted the region for her. After a quick rebuttal (and a request for grits, which got us a raised eyebrow), the waitress laughed with us at our already comical journeying into a new land.

It was at this same diner that we first got our taste of the people, and church, we would be working with. Jason Coker, the pastor of Wilton Baptist Church, met us at the diner and quickly made us feel welcome in a new place after our long journey. We were cranky, I’m sure, and he quickly had us laughing and sharing about our homes, colleges and families. His welcome extended even further when we asked for our bills and were informed that it had already been covered. We couldn’t believe it, but were thankful for the hospitality already shown.

As the night progressed, we were floored at the generosity as we checked into our host homes. The girls in our group were offered an apartment whose resident was out of the country during the week we were there. Someone had actually handed over her keys so that a group of college students, no one in the town had ever met, would have a place to stay. She left a note telling the girls to ‘make themselves at home’ and to ‘water her plant.’ We couldn’t believe the hospitality. The guys in the group, likewise, were welcomed into the home of a church member. This time, however, the family was not out of town. They invited a group of unknown guys not just into their charming bungalow, but also into the midst of their day to day busy lives.

The hospitality extended even further as Jason took two afternoons off to give us personal tours of Yale University and New York City. It was shown in powerful ways as our entire group were invited to sit down with, not one, but two families around their dinner tables for great conversation and life-giving community. We were not just an outside group at those dinners, we were members of the family- right down to the ‘food with no price-tag’ meal children expect when they eat at home.

There were other moments too: the church members who provided lunch for us every day, the craft teacher who put together framed photos of our group signed by all of the kids who attended the Vacation Bible School we helped lead, the member who baked our group two plates of chocolate chip cookies for the ride home, and how, when one of our team experienced the heartbreak of losing her great-grandmother in the midst of the week, the church members rallied around her offering the prayers and support generally only extended to members of that particular church.

The Bible is riddled with moments where hospitality is not just shown, it is expected within a community of faith. Whole sections focus on the command for people of faith to welcome the stranger and to show love to everyone, no matter who they are or where they’re from. Our team drove north with no idea of what to expect and left feeling like we were leaving a part of our family behind. I can’t imagine a closer representation of the Kingdom of God than our group sitting around the table with complete strangers who had welcomed us into their homes, their church, and their lives.

Yes, even ‘up north’ beautiful expressions of southern hospitality can be found.

“…your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.” – Matthew 6:10

Wilton Baptist Church is located in Wilton, Connecticut and is a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship partner congregation.