How do you cook for large crowd? Part1-Prayer

• Tweet
• Email

• Tweet
• Email

How do you cook for  large crowd of people?

Couple  of weeks back,we  had an opportunity to serve the homeless people downtown.We prepared the meal for around 250 people. I will be  first to admit, it is daunting task. I will also admit, it is  very much doable. Don’t get me wrong,the most I have ever cooked  is for our family thanksgiving and I thought that was overwhelming ha !So how do get past the number?

Prayer

Our motivation for the task we felt unequipped for

“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:40

When our team signed up to cook the meal for one Friday,it was the decision which we made prayerfully, weeks and months before.

I first heard about ‘Taking it the Streets’ ministry couple of years ago.I logically concluded that they minister to the people on the streets .Idea itself was  so way out of my comfort zone that I didn’t  try to learn more about it.Then over the time as you have it, I found out that they get together with them on every Friday.They serve them meal which opens the opportunity to share gospel with them at the same time.They do not just come to see them on Friday,they also help them with clothing and mentoring.

Feeding and sharing gospel at the same time resonated with me but making meal for 250 was totally out of my league. My problem were three fold

a)    I still can’t cook all by myself.

b)    I didn’t know who to ask to be my helper. Who would be willing to cook with me at such massive scale?

c)   Biggest of all,my pride came in my way.Few that I did know, I was very reluctant to ask. I don’t wanted to be dismissed by something like that ’wow, that’s a lot of people, you are crazy(not said but implied and rightly so :-))

So I asked God, who has given me the desire to cook, to make it happen using me as his tool and bring more people into it.It required some big attitude adjustment in my part. It was not easy for me but was it worth it? Absolutely so.

One evening I met my friend Camille for after school treat with our kids.Over Italian cream cupcakes, out of nowhere, I just plainly asked her, “Do you want to cook for the homeless, some 200-250?”Her immediate response was,”I would love to. I have been thinking about it.” This was God working in other people’s heart at the same time for this. We agreed that we need more helping hands. So we both started praying and few more months passed.

Then I met Emily and her family, new to our small group, new to our church, new to Texas and the community, freshly transplanted from Louisiana and I was just getting to know her. For some crazy reason i dared to ask her, if she would be willing to join hands with us in cooking for crowd. It was pleasant surprise to me when she quickly responded back saying “Count me in, I will do whatever you need me to do”.

So my friends, our lead cooking team was born! I am so thankful to these girls that God brought us together for His purpose.They have pure heart to serve our Lord.

But wait,this is not the end of prayer yet. We three thought, more help would be better. So once again we did what we have done before. Pray. Once again, God initiated before we did. Our entire small group stepped in to help us in any manner that we needed the help.What a blessing it was to us.

Can you tell how God multiplied the helpers? Each person that He brought together was fully equipped and perfect for the role that they played.

 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7: 7-8