IF we turn to the Bible, Luke 9:10 – 17, it relates how Jesus fed some five thousand people with just five loaves of bread and two fish.

Taniba’s Baptist Church has not exactly done this but it has fed many more mouths over a much longer period of time.

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To find out how, we must backtrack to 2007 when ‘Pete’s Kitchen’ served an evening meal to anybody who was alone or needed social contact.

That changed in about 2017 when it was decided that a lunchtime sit down meal would better suit the elderly who do not like venturing out after dark.

Another change came during Covid when the church kitchen provided a no-contact drive in service and a free delivery for those in need.

Christmas is a particularly important time for Christians who celebrate the birth of Jesus and a special slap-up dinner is put on for those who attend the Thursday lunches.

A $2 donation to defray costs is welcome but unlike Mary and Joseph, nobody in need will be turned away.

To refresh your memory, it is worth once again turning to Luke: 2.7 for the Christmas story which tells why the Saviour was born in a stable.

The church still has its own vegetable gardens and the fresh produce helps to supply the kitchen with nutritional greens.

Want to do some calculating?

The meal service has been running for some fifteen years.

Multiply that by 50 to give the number of weeks it has been operating and again multiply it by 30, which is a rough estimate of the attendance each time.

This adds up to a lot more mouths fed since Jesus performed his miracle by the Sea of Galilee all those years ago, doesn’t it?

By Geoff WALKER