Last week, I drove past the first KFC.
I grew up in the small Southeastern Kentucky town of Corbin. Here is where the Colonel started frying it decades ago. My mother’s house is about two miles from the restaurant.
As we visited for the holiday, she mentioned the place had been renovated. Sarah, the kids, and I drove by to see the new additions. As we passed the store, an Asian man was outside taking a photo of the the building–a common sight as many people visit this location each year. The global reach of this business fascinates me.
Before Christmas, the BBC posted the very interesting story, “Why Japan Celebrates Christmas with KFC.” Check it out!
Here is simply another example of the power of culinary skills, and one more reason pastors should shepherd their cooks to the nations. As I have written before, globalization has provided a fantastic opportunity available to many believers:
To the World through the Stomach
A Way to the Heart is through the Stomach
The Christian population of Japan is about one percent, making the Japanese one of the world’s largest unreached people groups. If you and your church are interested in crossing cultural gaps and connecting with the unreached, mobilize your culinary artists! If the Colonel’s work that began in my small Appalachian community can have influence throughout the world, imagine the Kingdom possibilities if the Church recognized the value of sharing cultures and organized opportunities via cooking. Do we have the apostolic imagination to see the possible?
The five billion remain.