The brethren in Sydney, Australia have been holding cooking demonstrations in the Schofields Church for a number of years now, and with the effort put into these programs the Lord's light shines in the local Sydney community.
Various members help with the distribution of flyers throughout local neighbourhoods, as well as advertise with banners in front of the church. Phone and e-mail contacts that have been collected in previous registrations are used to contact individuals who would like to attend again.
Cooking demonstrations are held over 3 consecutive Mondays in May and then again in October on a yearly basis. Registration to attend is encouraged in order for the brethren to know how much food needs to be prepared in advance for samples, as well as to give guests the opportunity to provide their contact information for future contact.
When the cooking demonstrations first began, they started off quite small in number with around 6-10 people attending, but over the years numbers have swelled to 80-90 registrations for each night.
Meetings start with a ½ hour health talk by qualified speakers, followed by recipe demonstrations of 3 -4 dishes per night. As each dish is being prepared in front of the guests, they get to try a few samples. This way they are involved in the process and can ask questions and make comments.
The meetings end with prayer and an invitation to the next session and any other outreach program that the church is conducting, as well as a warm invitation to our regular Sabbath and weekly prayer meetings. The Schofields Church also has a health food shop on the premises, and many of the products used in the recipes demonstrated can be purchased there. Cook books, health literature and tracts are also available for the attendees to have and/or purchase.
The attendees are not charged a fee as the event is promoted as a community service, yet donations are welcomed and appreciated. Portions are generous and the information gained is relevant and valuable, and our guests realise this. We have formed friendships and the word of mouth recommendations have proved invaluable. The Lord is good, and He is ever there to bless the efforts that are made on His behalf.
We pray that our story may help you to make the step of faith to start an outreach program in your church, or to participate in an already existing one. Aim high and the Lord will give the increase.
