Do you want a way to teach your family or small group about how we can live from “enough”? Make this traditional African stew and do the devotional to be inspired to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and care for those in need.
Dinner: African chicken stew
Chicken and vegetable stew served over rice or another starch is a common dish throughout sub-Saharan Africa. We tweaked this recipe to work for a Canadian kitchen. We also taste-tested this dish with a 4- and a 6-year-old. The verdict: “It’s yummy. I can’t believe I’m eating African food!” Most Compassion children in Africa attend their Compassion centres once a week and receive a meal and snacks. They might receive a starch with a stew of vegetables or meat—much like this recipe!
2 tablespoons oil
3-pound chicken, cut into pieces (or 3 pounds of chicken thighs)
6 Roma tomatoes, quartered
1 medium onion, sliced
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon paprika
¼ teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
2 cups chicken broth
2 carrots, sliced
2 green onions, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
Cooked rice
In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. When hot, add the chicken and cook until browned, turning occasionally.
Put tomatoes, onion and garlic in a blender and blend until smooth.
Add thyme, paprika, curry powder and salt and blend until mixed.
Add chicken broth, bay leaf and carrots to the chicken and tomato and herb mixture. Simmer for 30 minutes. Salt to taste. Serve over rice and top with green onions and parsley. Serves 4 to 6.
Devotional: Embracing enough
Before your meal
Say: Some kids living in poverty in Africa don’t have shoes or socks, so let’s take ours off. (Pause to take off shoes and socks.)
Say: When many kids living in rural Africa want water, they can’t just turn on a tap. Some kids have to walk for an hour to a stream to get water! For our drinking water for dinner, let’s get our water from the tap outside. (Go outside and fill your cups at an outside tap—or the furthest water source you have—and bring the cups back to the table. For more impact, you could fill a large container and take turns carrying it inside.)
During your meal
Read: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in … whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:35, 40
Say: In this passage, Jesus says that whatever we do for “the least of these brothers and sisters” we actually do for Him. That’s pretty amazing!
- How does what Jesus says change the way you feel about helping others?
- What do you think our motivation should be in helping others?
Say: At the end of our devotional, we’re going to pray the Lord’s Prayer. In the prayer, we ask God to give us enough for the day—“our daily bread.” Many people in the world don’t have enough—like the children we discussed who don’t have shoes or clean water.
- Do you think our family has enough? Why or why not?
- Do you think our family has extra of some things? What are some examples?
- If God has given us enough, how might our overflow of “enough” meet someone else’s “not enough”?
After discussing the question, close by praying the Lord’s Prayer together:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:9-13)
This devotional was adapted from Step Into My Shoes, a seven-week devotional for families. For more free activities and experiences, visit Step into My Shoes.
By Amber Van Schooneveld, photos by Aveleen Schinkel
