It is often difficult to know what the result will be when a disciple attempts to interact with the world outside of the Mission for the first time since their entry into the program. Such was the case when Robert, one of the men in our Christian Life Discipleship Program, came to his counselor and asked if he could enter into a cooking contest. Discussion was held as to the merit of entering it and then other discussion revolved around what would happen if he didn't do well? Would this cause him to regress? What if he did do well? Would it cause his ego to grow and interfere with his growth in Christ? Would this take time away from his studies and cause him to fall behind? And many more questions as to how this would affect him. After much discussion it was decided that this would most likely be a positive step forward for him and so he was given permission to enter.

    Robert sent in his recipe to the Bakersfield Californian, who was sponsoring the event, and in turn he was soon contacted and told he was a semi-finalist in the competition. The semi-final competition was held on June 2nd, 2007. Using the Mission kitchen he prepared his dish on the day before and cooked the dish the day of the event. Arriving at the event, Robert waited anxiously for the judging of the side-dish event, the event he had entered. The nine finalists for each category were soon announced and his name was among them.

    The finals were held on Saturday, June 30th 2007. During the time between the semi-finals and the finals Robert had practiced his dish a number of times and felt he had done well and yet his nerves were still on edge as he awaited the decision of the judges. The side-dish event was judged first and after 30 minutes of discussion the winners were announced – congratulations Robert on a 3rd place finish!

    All of this proved to be a positive thing for Robert, the most important of which was the caring support he got from so many people during the 2 months of the competition - from his counselors and his brothers in Christ, to the director of the program and the ladies in the administrative office plus other staff who went down to the competition to show him support. He found that there were many peopled who did still care and believe in him.

Good call counselors and good job Robert!