“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.”
Matthew 25:35
According to the website Knowing Jesus, the Bible refers to food 1,207 times. From feeding the 5,000 to the Parable of the Great Banquet, there is a connection between these stories. They are all about food, yes, but they also all have a theme of fellowshipping and growing relationships while they ate. In Matthew 25:35 the line, “I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home,” is a reminder that God opens up the Kingdom for all people and that we should too.
And that is why Diversity Kitchen was started.
Diversity Kitchen is a video series created in the hope that by bringing people of different cultures together over the love of food and Jesus that further conversation and relationship-building can begin in our denomination and in our world. It is a place where we can open our homes up to people from different backgrounds so we can fellowship and learn about each other.
In the first episode of Diversity Kitchen, Virginia Conference Lay Leader Martha Stokes and the Rev. Debi Straughter start the series with greens and a conversation about Watch Night.
Episode two features Stokes, the Rev. Dan Kim, and the Rev. Hung Su Lim as they cook TTeok Guk. While they cook, they explore Korean culture and the traditions of Lunar New Year.
Stay tuned quarterly for future episodes of Diversity Kitchen.
Diversity Kitchen is a video series created in partnership with the conference Communications Office, Conference Lay Leader Martha Stokes, and the Call to Action Work Group.
July 21, 2021: Diversity Kitchen was featured during the called Southeastern Jurisdictional (SEJ) Conference as a way the Virginia Conference is addressing racism. View the video below.