A Kitchen Swap Party
Host a kitchen swap party, which is a way for the women to update their kitchen without spending money. It also provides a fun way for the women to interact with each other. The concept is simple, free, and eco–friendly. Here’s how it works:
- Each person brings items from their kitchen that they no longer want. It can be anything as long as it is still of good quality and clean.
- Ask the women to write on a card the name of the item and its purpose. (Some kitchen gadgets can be hard to figure out.)
- The women register each item in exchange for a token, which will be used to buy other items. You can use anything as a token from a clothespin to a bingo chip.
- Display the items and allow the women to browse what others have brought.
- After the browsing time and refreshments, open the store for purchases. The women can swap the number of tokens they have for the same number of items.
- If there are any items left over that no one wants, donate them to the thrift store.
What Is It and What Is Its Purpose?
Before the swapping begins, choose some of the more unusual kitchen items and see if the women can identify them and what they are used for. The leader of the program could also bring some unusual items from home, but not necessary ones that would be included in the swapping, for the women to identify.
Swap Tips
Keep the swapping anonymous so that no one will know if someone’s items aren’t taken. To avoid that awkwardness, do not label the items with the original owner’s name. Another way to distribute the items is to shop in rounds. For the first round, everyone chooses two items. After one another round of two items each, let everyone take whatever they wanted that was left over.
Decorations/Room Set–Up
Make signs for the swap tables by categories. Sugar and flour bags, dish towels and aprons make great décor. You can also use these items as door prizes.
Refreshments
Ask women to bring a recipe from their kitchen for everyone to taste. Invite the women to vote on their favorite recipe and award the “Golden Spoon” (a mixing spoon you have painted gold) to the winner.
Service Idea
Shower the corps or shelter kitchen with new items. Make a list of needed items in advance and give to the women.
Share with Those In Need
“And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God” (Hebrews 13:16)
In the Disney movie, “The Little Mermaid,” Ariel sings: “I’ve got gadgets and gizmos a’plenty; I’ve got whozits and whatzits galore. You want thingamabobs? I’ve got twenty! But who cares? No big deal. I want more.” Kitchens are often full of gadgets, whatzits and thingamabobs. Once you may have thought those objects would make your life easier. It could have been you never really figured out how to use them correctly and they just sat in a cabinet. Ariel had plenty of gadgets and gizmos too, but she wanted more. Not more objects, but more meaning to life. She wanted to be where the people were to share life with them, not the objects they owned. The “thingamabobs” actually made her want to be with the people even more.
We don’t need more things. We need more relationships. What if we began to look at the objects we own as tools for getting more out of life in a different way? What if we used our gadgets as tools to build relationships with other people, to use our gadgets to share with those in need? That’s how we can get more out of life and live meaningfully.
Creating in the kitchen is about the people who will share the dish and how it makes them feel. Yes, food is meant to sustain and nourish, but it is also meant to be shared over good conversation. It brings people together. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to share with others in this way. There are other ways we can share with those in need, too. Hebrews 13:16 doesn’t tell us how to do good and share with those in need. It just tells us not to neglect to do it.
Sometimes we forget that the Lord will give us everything we need to be able to share with others. We come up with excuses why we can’t share. We say we don’t have enough time or enough money. We tend to believe that if we had more money, then we could really help people. Sometimes we believe that we just aren’t good enough, not experienced enough, or that we are too afraid to interact with new or different people. We hold on to what we have for fear that we may go without. Remember, it is the Lord who provides for us in the first place. God is a giver and will give us what is required to sustain us, and enough to share with others. We have to trust Him as our provider. Acts 20:35 reminds us “It is more blessed to give than receive.” Sharing is pleasing to God and He will bless us for doing so.
Take an inventory of what you have in your spiritual kitchen. What tools has God specifically given you so that you may reach others for His glory? Maybe you have a testimony that needs to be shared. Maybe it’s a listening ear, an encouraging attitude, or even a sweet spirit to share with people who are experiencing crisis. It might be a talent or skill that would be helpful to your busy corps officer. You may be able to give more money or share additional time by volunteering.
Above all, pray for a heart that is closely attuned to the needs of others. Pray for eyes that see opportunities to share. Pray for hands that are willing to carry out the action.
