Chef Sharon Steward is sharing her skills in the kitchen to serve youth learning about mission work.

Steward, along with a team of volunteers, will be serving up food for the teenagers as they learn discipleship and receive mission work training in Winnipeg during Spring Break.

"For Jesus food was almost a first thought."

As a professional chef, Steward will be working to find food to "nourish" the teens. Over 250 young people will be gathering at Fort Garry MB Church for ten days to participate in SOAR Heartland.

"I really feel that cooking for people that are in ministry, that are hands-on working with children or people that are using energy that they wouldn't normally use, really need to be fuelled well," Steward says.

Steward is used to cooking for large crowds of people, as she is not only an instructor at Red River College, the head chef at Pioneer Camp but also an author. In 2017, she released a cookbook for families.

The chef wanted the food at SOAR to not be typical "teenager" food. She is instead focussing on nourishing and practicing hospitality.

"Their meals are cared for and planned well," Steward says.

Steward hopes that by having everyone eat the same food it will help the teenagers connect and fuel their work learning about missions.

"For Jesus food was almost a first thought," Steward says. "He had the fish ready to go for the disciples."

The food will be prepared by a team of volunteers. Steward says that many young people have volunteered to serve food during spring break.

"It was a really good opportunity to combine all of the different groups of people I have worked with or trained."

Steward is looking forward to demonstrating the power of teamwork with her volunteers and to "provide a ministry" for the people they will be feeding. 

The chef also adds that she is looking for volunteers to help serve food for SOAR Heartland during the break. Stewards says that interested parties can email her directly at ssteward@pioneercamp.ca.