A Return to Blessings Bakery

The curse and the blessing of working for ZOE Ministry is that I almost never speak to the same people twice. Like bishops, seminary professors, and any other clergy that do not serve a local church, I have preached the same sermon at least fifteen times. It is always Acts 3:1-10 where Peter and John are walking up to the temple at the hour of prayer, they look a lame man in the eyes and say “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”

I then tell the story of Davis and Sqberio – two bakers at the blessings bakery. Last summer when I ate their wonderful sweet bread, Davis told how he got 3 dollars a day to bake bread at Blessings Bakery (a group business). Instead of using that money for himself, he gave his friend half of his salary to train him to be the second baker. Simon Peter is Davis’ spiritual ancestor, helping his friend to not just to beg day after day, but teaching him to walk on his own.

At this point, thousands of people have heard this sermon over the past eight months. Two of them took me up on my offer to travel to Machungalu, Kenya and taste the bread themselves.

As we walked up to the bakery, I felt nervous. What if I had over exaggerated the significance of the bakery? What if, in my exuberance to preach the gospel, I had missed something significant in the story? What if the bread wasn’t good anymore? According to some, I tend to have a flair for the dramatic when I preach and part of me was afraid that reality would not live up to the imagination.

I was nervous for nothing.

Now, the bread wasn’t quite as good as it was last time (mostly because we were over two hours late to meet with them), but the power of their story touched everyone who heard it. Davis has taught Sqberio both how to save and spend his money. Davis helped Sqberio open up a bank account and Davis taught Sqberio how to buy and keep a goat that can provide both milk and fertilizer.

I asked why he did it, why he gave up half of his salary for his friend. His answer was simple: “We love each other as orphans.”

We found out that day that four members in the group are positive for HIV. Reegan says that losing a fellow group member to AIDS is harder than losing their parents because they love each other so much. That love can be seen in Sqberio’s goat. It is a love big enough for Davis to give him half of his salary. It is that love that makes Blessings Bakery worth the trip.