Divine secrets of the NK sisterhood.

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	Vicki Friesen in the kitchen with the "sisters".

MCM Travelogue:Our stories in god's story #2
December 2003

Down in the basement of the North Kildonan Mennonite Church is a treasure. "A secret treasure in the basement of a Mennonite Church? In Winnipeg?" you ask. And what a treasure it is - a feast for the mind, body, and soul - but it isn't meant to be a secret, though chances are you haven't heard about it.

It's the North Kildonan Community Kitchen and, after spending a mere two hours with the six women who had come to cook together, I understood that it is indeed a sisterhood - one based on sharing and kindness, openness, and an acceptance that begins with a few tears shed over a couple of onions. Chopping the onions is an initiation for first-timers in the Kitchen (but by no means a cruel one) that clears the eyes and brings the release that comes with laughter. That afternoon in late November the initiation was to be mine but, fortunately for me, apple crisp doesn't contain onions and that was what *Dianne and I chose to make.

Dianne is the lovely mother of four young boys who started coming to the Community Kitchen sometime last year. It is a place where women like her and *Angela, a young first-time mom, and *Miranda, a mother and a recent newcomer to Canada, can come and cook and talk together while volunteers watch and play with their children. The women come from a variety of backgrounds but in the Kitchen it doesn't matter what your age or your income is, where you come from, or even whether or not you can speak English. Once a week these women come and, for a small fee that is partially subsidized by the church, gather to make a meal that they then divide and take home to their families for supper.

The Community Kitchen began in 2001 as an initiative of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) who recognized the need for this service in North Kildonan, an area with many young, lower and middle income families, and chose the North Kildonan Mennonite Church for its ideal kitchen facility. It was then that Anne Peters, Rita Krahn and Anna Klassen, members of the church, began volunteering their time to help out with the Community Kitchen. And so it was for two years until the WRHA informed them that, due to cutbacks and a shift in agenda, they would be pulling out of the program. But the WRHA had confidence in the volunteers of North Kildonan MC and encouraged the church to take on and continue the program. Now, Anne Peters is the coordinator and her devotion to the program and belief in its value was evident as we talked and I watched her work in the kitchen with the other women. It is still a relatively new program and there are obstacles and uncertainties for both volunteers and participants, but Anne says "We carry on with gentleness and with love; we are all learning."

The congregation of North Kildonan MC supports this initiative financially and with encouragment, though at the beginning, some were hesitant about what the program would mean for their church. Some questioned what, and I would venture to guess "who", it would bring into the church - it was the unknown that threatened them. When talking about the different reactions to the program, Anne said "I did not want to become an obstacle for those who are leery." Rather, she has made a point of drawing near to those people, helping to make the unknown known to them.

I'd love to tell you that the apple crisp turned out beautifully but unfortunately time didn't permit me to stay and find out. But it wasn't the apple crisp that brought me to the North Kildonan Community Kitchen and it certainly isn't what brings the women back. So what is their "divine secret?" One visit reveals that it's no secret at all - it's the welcome and the acceptance; the hugs and the laughter; the trust and confidence that this sisterhood builds; and, most important of all, it is the very real presence of the Divine.

*Names of program participants have been changed to protect their privacy.

Vicki Friesen currently attends Bethel Mennonite Church and is a member of the Young Adult Council of Mennonite Church Manitoba.

"Our stories in God's story" celebrates some of the ways MCM congregations are participating in God's story in their communities.

…an initiative of MCM Evangelism and Service Ministries.

If you have comments or ideas for a story, please contact Norm Voth, Director of Evangelism and Service Ministries.