The Joy of Cooking
// Jeanne DeTellis Loudon
We commonly pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Around the world, there is a great need for food as people struggle to survive.
On January 6, 1983, our first meal in Haiti consisted of a loaf of homemade bread carried in a suitcase by missionary, Diane Vrooman. Later on, after I tired from long days of cooking for our team, I decided to give each missionary a day in the kitchen. They were wiser than I. The first week of their assignment they found a Haitian woman, Felicia, to do the cooking. Felicia had the joy of cooking, and fed us a multitude of tasty, local food.
Across our 30 school campuses women enjoy cooking, including Xavier Mode from our Santo campus.
Homemade loaves of bread, made by Haitian cooks at our Missions Training Center, are always a favorite.
Jeanne DeTellis enjoys being in the kitchen. This photo from 1980 shows her joy of cooking.
As more Haitian women came to work for us, we taught them more and more American recipes—including varieties of bread: white, oatmeal, whole wheat, and sweet pecan buns. They also made trays of pizza for our visiting teams. The most successful cooks began as illiterate Haitian women who memorized the recipes. The best outcome of all of their cooking is that some women now have their own restaurants. I write this as I have the joy of preparing a wedding reception for my grandson, Luc DeTellis. There is joy in cooking…cooking good food, and saying to the recipient, “bon appétit.” Celebrate life with God’s daily bread. ~Jeanne DeTellis Loudon
