The Welfare and the Fellowship Committees organized this event to encourage members of our congregation and parish to get to know each other better, and also to raise money for the Margarita Orphanage.
Margarita Orphanage children.
People registered to be either hosts or guests at a meal to be held on July 26th. Their names were randomly selected (except where transport was needed) so that no one knew until a few days before where they were going, or who was coming to their home for a meal.
The meals were encouraged to be simple, with the fellowship and “getting acquainted” being stressed as more important. However from reports, the food was plentiful and delicious at all venues, and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. Some comments – and these were reinforced several times from different sources:
- The night was a great idea to bring people together –
- People enjoyed the “happy night” –
- Much better than a progressive dinner as it gave people the opportunity to really talk together. People preferred to stay in one place –
- The night allowed people to understand more about individuals –
- There was an opportunity to see people who they had not had in their homes before -
- Worth repeating –
- Much better than expected (coming from someone who was a little bit dubious about the “draw” of guests names out of a hat) -
- We felt we learnt a lot more about people in that more relaxed, quiet (not always so quiet!) atmosphere. In one night we learnt more about each of our guests than in numerous quick chats at church -
- What a great way to get to know people from our sister congregation at Our Saviour's, Knox -
- What interesting people we have in our parish -
- What fascinating/sad/interesting/wonderful life stories were shared -
- More people to add to my prayer list -
- Thank you, thank you, thank you -
- Great night -
It is obvious that people appreciated being able to talk to each other at length instead of the quick chats we have at church when it is often too noisy to hear each other, and where there is always the chance of being interrupted. Some people felt more confident to be involved and to chat in this smaller, more intimate group in a quiet venue.
At one home, the guests were “charged” for their pre dinner drinks; at another, they were fined if they told a bad joke – these proceeds were donated to the orphanage. One of the guests locked their hostess out of the house when she went out to say goodbye to them; and another one lost her front door key - fortunately only temporarily. One hostess (single lady) thought for a while that she was entertaining only 4 men – she was “rescued” when another lady arrived! From all accounts, there was a lot of laughter and fun had at all venues.
So why don’t we do it more often? Why don’t we ask each other (and not always people we know well) home sometimes, even on the spur of the moment for a simple meal like a bought chicken and salad? There is a wealth of blessings and experiences to be had by stopping now and then and getting to know someone “new”. Let’s not always wait for it to be organized for us - let’s just “do it!”
As a bonus to all this fun, we raised about $1000 for the orphanage.
There were 64 participants in the event; 11 host venues and 44 guests. One couple were hosts one night to guests who couldn’t come on the 26th, and then guests the next. Another couple hosted a meal for 4 the following Friday night as they couldn’t participate on the 26th either.
Each participant was given a card with the name and details of one of the children in the orphanage. They were encouraged to continue to pray for that child.
Our special thanks go to our sister congregation at Our Saviour's, Knox for their wonderful support. Let’s hope we can reciprocate some time in the not too distant future.