The first ever international restaurant ministry conference in Peru spearheaded by the Chinese Coordination Center of World Evangelism (CCCOWE) U.S.A. has brought a new wave of evangelistic movement among the Chinese grassroots community.
The nine-day long conference was held in the capital city Lima from March 21-29 in collaboration with restaurant evangelical fellowships across the world, including Chinese Christian Herald Crusades (CHCC) Restaurant Gospel Ministry in North America, Hong Kong Catering Evangelistic Fellowship and Europe Restaurant Gospel Ministry Association.
Entitled "Delicious Life," around 60 leaders and members of restaurant evangelical fellowships across the world have joined the meeting. In particular, Europe has showed active participation with 25 people coming from England, Scotland, the Netherland, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and other countries.
The Conference is made up of a wide range of activities. In the morning, the participants spent time in two sessions- vocational training and spiritual formation- hosted by experienced businessmen and renowned evangelical leaders respectively. The main Christian speakers included founder of the international restaurant ministry movement Rev. Timothy Lin, the director of CCCOWE USA Rev. David Chi, consultant of Europe Restaurant Gospel Ministry Association David Cheung and others.
Every afternoon, all participants of the conference were divided into 19 small groups and outreached to almost 1,000 Chinese restaurants in Lima within five days. The visits are proved to be very fruitful when Christian restaurant workers acted as evangelists and touched the life of the grassroots by giving their testimonies.
From the visits, it is found that there are two major ethnicities among restaurant workers, either Cantonese or Fukienese. Competition in the catering industry has become more intense as more new businesses are opened in the recent years. While the seekers and evangelists shared their common concern, they have reached the answer in life through Christian faith.
"Delicious Life" 168 Cooking Contest was held in March 21afternoon at the 100-year-old Chinese Business Chamber. Professional cook from different countries prepared their best dishes and shared their skills with one another. On March 24 evening, the event was also held simultaneously in three Chinese restaurants. Other professional knowledge such as business management and strategy were also addressed. These events had made the top headline of the local Chinese newspaper as they have drawn huge attention from the Chinese community.
On March 26-28 evenings, "Delicious Life" evangelistic concerts were led by the director of CCCOWE USA Rev. David Chi and his wife as well as Jonathan Soepardjo and his wife at three different Chinese restaurants. Since restaurants usually close at midnight, the concerts ran from midnight to dawn. People listened to messages delivered by pastors, prayed and worshipped God overnight.
Concluding the nine-day Conference, consultant of Europe Restaurant Gospel Ministry Association David Cheung made an altar call as he shared his testimonies. Many people are moved with tears and dedicated themselves to the Lord’s ministries. In addition, four Chinese churches in Lima have reached a partnership and formed the first restaurant ministry in the city. They are blessed by prayers of elders and pastors, so that they will continue to spread the seed of the gospel and plant it in Chinese restaurants in Peru.
