Good food, good friends and true love

New ideas for community evangelism

Summary of interview transcripts/Zheng Qiongyu

Picture provided by Kang Shimin

In the morning, after seeing off their families from work and school, a group of Christian colleagues and friends from the community arrived one after another at the "Love at Home Life Station" gathering. A light hymn kicked off the event, and then everyone enthusiastically learned how to save time and effort in doing housework and cook healthy, delicious, and easy-to-cook meals. After the meal, the spiritual feast begins immediately. Through watching the sincere life testimonies of the "True Love Blog" program, the gospel is like a handful of seeds of love, spreading in the hearts of friends who seek the truth.

Do you have a burden to evangelize your neighbors but don’t know where to start? This ministry, with the goal of evangelizing friends in the community, will provide you with creative and interesting ways to do it through units such as "Easy Homework", "Master Kong Loves Cooking Time", and "The Overflowing Cup of Blessings Video Sharing" , coupled with caring follow-up before and after the meeting, you can enjoy the joy of "catching people like fish".

Brewed for many years

Brother Samuel Kang, the person in charge and founder of the ministry, drove more than two hours to come for the interview. He was cheerful and talkative and showed no signs of fatigue. As soon as he sat down, he chatted with us with witty words and everything he knew. Come and quickly resolve the unfamiliarity of the first meeting.

Although "Aidaojia Life Station" has only been established for a few months, it has taken many years of preparation from the germination of the idea to its formation. In the past, Kang Shimin has participated in many community service works, such as serving special children, serving the elderly, visiting hospitals, etc. Looking back now, these experiences are all preparing for the establishment of "Love at Home Life Station". In 2005, he first heard the faith testimonies of guests on Taiwan's Good News TV station's "True Love Blog" program. He was deeply moved and realized that sincere sharing of life can deeply touch people's hearts. In 2007, he became a volunteer for Good News Satellite TV in North America and served as the director of the North American Regional Development Department. During the more in-depth participation, I was deeply impressed by the concepts of Good News TV's "Healthy New Cooking" program, which advocates healthy, simple and delicious cooking methods, encourages viewers to cook at home, take care of their family's health and unite family emotions with delicious food prepared by themselves. Agreed, at this point, the idea of establishing an "Aidaojia Life Station" in North America gradually took shape.

Home-centered

The full name of this ministry is "Love Home Life Station - Community Care and Gospel Development Team Service". From the name, you can understand the spirit and goal of the entire ministry. Kang Shimin, who has always been very burdened with evangelism, observed that in the busy modern society, everyone is busy with their own affairs, and the function of the family is gradually declining. If we can put the family as the core, help everyone find their love for the family and take good care of the family, By restoring the functions of the family, the gospel can enter the family and the community. In addition, Kang Shimin also hopes to take this opportunity to give community friends who have not believed in the Lord the opportunity to interact naturally with Christians in their lives, and feel the care, love, joy, hope and other attractive life qualities that come from trusting in the Lord. Life and life connection. The meaning of "Life Station" is that we hope that this ministry can provide seekers with a place where they can be loved, cared for, and grow in their lives.

▲Kang Shimin specifically replaced "ministry" with "service" and expected himself and his co-workers to serve God and people with a servant mentality, not just doing things.

Team "waiter"

Why "team ministry" instead of the usual "team ministry"? In fact, this represents Kang Shimin’s philosophy on service. He hopes that he and his co-workers will not only focus on "doing things", but rather serve God and people with a servant mentality, with God as the commander, willing to pay the price, especially the "price of love", serve with the heart, and lead People who turn to the Lord will not give up even if they suffer setbacks. In order to emphasize this concept, he specifically replaced "ministry" with "ministry" in the name.

Kang Shimin emphasized that this is a team ministry, and he hopes to provide channels and methods for brothers and sisters to evangelize the community in churches, fellowships, or families by passing on a simple, practical, and easily replicable model.

▲The gathering of "Love at Home Life Station" takes home as the core and uses three simple and practical units to win the hearts of community friends.

Whole person care for body, mind and soul

The gatherings at "Love Home Life Station" are divided into three units, which can take into account the different needs of the body, mind, and spirit. From the song worship at the beginning to the sharing at the end of the third unit, it takes about two and a half hours. .

Unit 1: Doing housework easily

Kang Shimin is very interested in ways to do housework easily. Over the years, he has spent a lot of time collecting and creating many interesting ideas. Before the interview, we had lunch with Kang Shimin in the restaurant. When he saw that all the fruits we brought were bananas, he asked with a smile: "You love bananas so much, why is no one taking willow dices?" Everyone admitted sheepishly: they only took bananas because they are easy to peel, unlike peeling willows. Ding would make his hands clammy. Kang Shimin smiled and showed his hand impromptuly, teaching us how to use an ordinary iron or plastic spoon to quickly remove the skin of willow dices. He easily peeled off a complete and non-juicy willow dice in just a few seconds. Ding, everyone was amazed. After following the same method, it turned out to be a success.

It is a nightmare for many people to struggle with housework every day without achieving any results. This unit helps everyone learn how to handle housework easily and enjoy a more comfortable home life.

Unit 2: Master Kong loves cooking time

Kang Shimin loves healthy cooking. Based on Good News TV's "Healthy New Cooking" program, and considering the needs of North American Chinese and the available ingredients, he designed a recipe with less oil, less salt, less frying, and mainly steaming. The food is very delicious and effortless to prepare. Everyone eats it and learns how to open a meal easily, take care of themselves and their family's health, and connect with their family members through laughter. As the ministry expands, "Master Kong's" menu content will become increasingly rich.

Unit 3: Video Sharing of the Overflowing Cup of Blessings

After eating and drinking, what follows is a heart-touching sharing of life. This unit will broadcast the "True Love Blog" program of Good News TV. Through frank and sincere testimonies, it will allow the catechumens to feel that Christianity is not a religion limited to the church, but can be experienced and practiced in daily life in the world. True Faith. The life path of a Christian is not always smooth sailing, but because we have the Lord walking with us, no difficulty or sorrow can take away the blessings, joy, and peace given by God.

After watching the video, the co-workers will share their experiences with the friends and continue to care and pray for them after the meeting.

▲The signature moist cakes of "Master Kong Loves Cooking Time" not only allowed everyone to learn how to make cakes, but also easily broke down each other's restraint and politeness while chatting and laughing!

first party

With the support of the church fellowship, "Love Home Life Station" held its first meeting in June 2010. Kang Shimin recalled that a dozen friends came to a sister's house that day. After singing the hymn, Kang Shimin shared with everyone the aforementioned "how to quickly remove the skin of willow bark", as well as "the bottling method without a funnel", "how to complete the complete process quickly" Everyone had a great time learning secret tricks such as peeling lettuce leaves and peeling garlic easily. The next "Master Kong Loves Cooking Time", the menu offered is "Run Pancake" which is very exciting for those who have left home. It is paired with "Jade Hibiscus Chicken Soup". Everyone learned to make pancakes and cook delicious soup. While enjoying the finished product, talking and laughing, the body and mind were nourished, and the restrained politeness between each other was gradually replaced by a relaxed atmosphere.

After the meal, "True Love Blog" appeared immediately, sharing how a couple accompanied two daughters who were suffering from a rare disease and were less than 100 centimeters tall through the arduous road of growth. Through experiencing God's love, they understood the two daughters. A daughter is a unique treasure given by God, and she no longer lives in the eyes of others. The touching and sincere content touches many hearts.

When the meeting ended that day, many Taoist friends expressed that they had gained a lot and were looking forward to the next gathering, which greatly encouraged Kang Shimin and other co-workers. One of the elderly couples decided to believe in Jesus not long after attending this event. Kang Shimin said that many brothers and sisters have been leading the couple for a long time, so he would never dare to say that they decided to believe in Jesus because of this gathering alone. But it really made him happy to see the friends who came to the meeting become brothers and sisters in the Lord.

However, this gathering was not without difficulties. When the third unit of "True Love Blog" progressed, everyone was still immersed in the atmosphere of cooking. It took a while before they could calm down and concentrate on listening to the testimony sharing. . How to connect the three units more intelligently in future gatherings is one of the challenges that Kang Shimin and his colleagues currently need to overcome.

We look forward to more co-workers joining in the “service” work

Kang Shimin has been in the United States for many years and has two adult children with his wife. We curiously asked: "Do you cook at home on weekdays? Will your good cooking put pressure on your wife?" Kang Shimin smiled and said his wife's Her craftsmanship is better than his, and her knife skills are particularly meticulous. Her specialty is banquet dishes. Different from his orientation, the two of them have their own characteristics, cooperate with each other, and do not conflict with each other. His wife is also his consistent service partner. Mrs. Kang made the cake buns for the last gathering and carefully chopped them at home to save time for the gathering.

Regarding the future prospects of this ministry, Kang Shimin said that he has not set any timetable. Although the ministry is still in the development stage, it will inevitably encounter difficulties and struggles such as a lack of co-workers and difficulty in expansion. However, he is very happy and views it with a normal mind. , because he believed that if this was the work God wanted him to do, He would make a way.

Kang Shimin emphasized that this is a team ministry that requires the input of many co-workers, so that the gatherings of "Love at Home Life Station" can be held in more communities. Kang Shimin lives in Los Angeles, but this ministry is not limited to location. He sincerely invites brothers and sisters to join this "service" work and spread the seeds of love together. He will provide complete meeting content and help train co-workers. Through the concerted efforts of brothers and sisters, the gospel will enter the community and be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people!

(Interview╱Xu Yufang, Lin Qingyue, Wang Yingju, Zheng Qiongyu, Zhang Zhonghe, Du Yonghao)

If you want to know more about this ministry, or are interested in becoming a co-worker, please contact Kong Shimin:
Mobile: 562-842-7879
E-mail: samuelk2005@gmail.com