What's Cooking?

Cook Christi (right) consults with her kitchen
helpers while they take a snack break

When the original cook Mr. Maloon had found for this mission trip had to bow out, he wasn't sure what we were going to do about that all important team member.  I remember him asking the staff at morning worship to pray, that we needed a cook and quick.  Not too long after that, he got a phone call asking for information about the school.  A woman was interested in Thunderbird for her niece.  One thing lead to another and by the end of the conversation, we had our cook for the mission trip!  Just one of many of the God-ordained events connected with this trip.

Ashley and Catherine make lunch for the day.

Christi Currier has had to put up with a lot, starting with being booked in a different hotel from the group in D.C.  She told me she wondered if God was trying to tell her something when things kept happening to discourage her from making the trip.  She stuck with it, though, and ended up becoming an integral part of everyone's day.

Kaazmein Lodge's kitchen

It's not been easy, though.  Start with the water, and having to boil and/or bleach everything before it could be used in the cooking.  Factor in the fact that every time she tried to use the oven it blew the electricity for the whole camp--more than once when people were in the showers (turning off the pump and leaving soapy people unable to rinse off).  Consider that ingredients that are commonly found and used at home were difficult or impossible to find.  Recipes had to be devised to use what food could be found.  Christi and her team had to go out two, three, and sometimes four times in a day--and to different stores--to find the groceries for the day. Add to all that yesterday when all the food was locked up and the Lodge staff didn't arrive until it was time to serve.  Or today when there was no gas to cook any of the hot food.  Go-with-the-flow Christi has had to make countless adjustments every day to keep this group of hungry workers fed.  It's not been ideal.  It's not what she had planned from the comfort of her home.  But as Pastor Jay said the other day, we have not been hungry.  We have been fed.

Eggs waiting for the bleach wash

Each day, Christi has a different group of helpers that she works with--usually three students and an adult.  The team gets up before anyone else, long before dark (if they are on time) to prepare the 6:30 breakfast and make the sack lunches everyone takes to the job site.  After everyone has gone off, the kitchen crew cleans up breakfast, plans out supper, and makes the grocery list for the day.  Then Christopher (taxi driver) takes Christi and one or two others out for the purchases.

Meanwhile the rest of the crew is working on what they can in the kitchen.  There is an hour or two break, then it's back to work, preparing supper and the post-VBS/Evangelism snack.  It's a long, long day.

Grant volunteers to help with breakfast every morning.  
"I like food, I like cooking, I have the time to help."

During the course of her time working in the hotel kitchen, Christi has had opportunity to witness to the hotel workers there.  They have been curious about all the bleach we use to clean the dishes and the food.  They have never seen anything like it.  After explaining about the need for cleanliness, they have been impressed to start better cleaning practices themselves.  When she was making brownies for one of the treats, they had no idea what she was doing--they had never seen or tasted brownies.  They filmed her making macaroni and cheese, and have asked her for her (vegetarian) recipes.

Dishes, fruit, vegetables, and eggs
are all cleaned with bleach and water.

One of the first meals at Kaazmein
Lodge.

A beautiful salad