Patricia LaVenture gives bread-making tips .
The Village Church held a unique seminar on a “Beautiful and Prayerful Life,” aimed at exploring the connection between our physical bread and prayer. Just as bread-making takes patience, so does prayer.
From the first Sunday and throughout the following weeks, about fifty people attended each meeting. Dan Augsburger was the main presenter for the seminars, and three ladies shared in the various bread-making demonstrations.
Health Educator Patricia LaVenture demonstrated two bread recipes showing in detail step-by-step how to properly knead bread. Rose Augsburger demonstrated Dan Augsburger's wheat bread recipe, made almost entirely from sprouted wheat berries. And for the final demonstration, Bonnie Samples shared her late husband’s hearty, sprouted-wheat bread.
Guests had the opportunity to not only watch live demonstrations of how to make these different breads, they also got to taste the final products, sampling them with a variety of toppings, from sugar free jams to tofu. As everyone enjoyed sampling the breads, they also fellowshipped with each other, connecting with new friends.
Anna, one of the attendees who didn't miss a seminar, recalled how valuable the sessions were. During the prayer section of the seminar, she appreciated the reminder that God longs to connect with us as His children, and all we need to do is talk to Him as a friend. If we ask for anything in His name, He will supply all our needs. As for the bread-making demonstrations, she said: "For a beginner like me, the step-by-step instructions on how to turn the dough when kneading were particularly fascinating and very helpful."
From an event planner’s standpoint, Brenda Kis pointed out how amazing it was to see the survey results from the people after the event. She said, “They are interested in learning more about prayer and are looking forward to more seminars on the subject. We were so grateful to have members of the community join us as well.”
Vickie Hess, who was already quite familiar with bread making, still found things to take away from the very detailed information shared. Even though she has been baking bread for years, she learned something new from each presenter, and she has since tried new techniques and recipes. Living a life of gratitude was one of the things Dan mentioned, and Vickie has since practiced this skill in her daily life and says it’s been a blessing. “A very special part of the seminar for me was the variety of breads and the emphasis on sharing with others. I was reminded of how much God loves us and cares about how we feed ourselves and others.”
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He said, “give us this day our daily bread.” When we pray this prayer, we’re asking not only for ourselves but for others. And so “the prayer for daily bread includes not only food to sustain the body, but that spiritual bread which will nourish the soul unto life everlasting.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings 112.2
Kutlo Penelope Lekwapa, Village Church Media Intern
