They had made a post on Facebook about the fellowship meal. In the months ahead meals were being served in the various housing areas in the city where they lived. They were refugees. But they chose to see themselves as expats with refugee experiences unlike how the government saw them. They came out of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Syria, and Congo to Denmark. Nations around the world where there had been war, violence, and terror for years. Many of them were deeply traumatized by what they had been through in their home country, and during the often yearlong and not very pleasant case management until they were given official status of refugees.
They had found a venue, a big hall in a worn-out business school where there would be room for at least 200 people. They hoped for many people to show up. It would be easy even for unemployed people to attend because the meal was free of charge, sponsored by different foundations.
When the deadline for registration was met 95 people had said yes to joining the meal. Nicolas who oversaw everything told the ladies and one man who volunteered to cook that they would prepare food for 110.
“There is always some who come even though they have not registered” was Nicolas’s argument.
The four ladies and one man from Iran, Somalia and Afghanistan had agreed upon what each should cook on the day of the arrangement. One would make salad with vegetables in many colours, another cooked the Somali casserole with beef, one wanted to cook tasty Arabic rice, there were more dishes with chicken, beef. A woman made a lot of samosas. The Afghan people presented their cool delicious yoghurt with mint, cucumber and water.
Nicolas and the always faithful Daria had been in the bazar and purchased all the ingredients, and now the volunteers had been in the not-so-big kitchen sweating over the pots and pans for six hours since 10am. Nicolas and other men who volunteered to put up tables were doing all they could to get the hall ready and festive for the evening. They were decorating the room with beautiful tablecloth, and they hung up light garlands on the walls.
Everything was set up for an enjoyable evening where the expats and the Danes would have a good time together. Mustafa from Syria had planned with his musician friends to come and play Syrian music on traditional instruments, and there would be dancing.
….
The disciples of Jesus had been out in the villages for three days. They had visited people there, and had been welcomed with raisin cakes, and rich dishes of goat and lamb with yoghurt and bread. They felt richly blessed because they had the opportunity to talk about the Kingdom of God, all the things Jesus had taught them for two years now. Now they were back and together with Jesus. Matthew told with great enthusiasm of a blind man who had gotten his sight when he was prayed for. Another one said,
“Demons left a young girl when we prayed for her!”
Jesus cheered and told them that their names would be remembered in heaven because they had believed in the Son of God and had done his deeds in their life on earth.
“But now, my dear friends, we need to rest and have a time of fellowship and prayer. Let’s sail over to the other shore and find a quiet place there”.
They borrowed a big fishing boat and rowed all together over to the other side of the lake of Gennesaret.
Everywhere Jesus went crowds were following him. He had a magnetic personality, people immediately liked him, and came in the hope to get a word of encouragement or getting healed of some serious sickness.
Not that all the people liked him though, far from that, because he also told them some of the not so pleasant things about their sinful, selfish lifestyle. And besides, how could he, an ordinary carpenter’s son, be the Messiah as he claimed to be. People were really divided in their opinions of Jesus of Nazareth.
When the people found out that Jesus was heading for the other side, they collected their sick, and shouted
“Come on now, if you want to have a touch of Jesus, he went this way”.
They walked and ran as fast as they could. From the villages people came out to see the spectacle, and they joined the crowd when they heard where they were heading. Two men were carrying their friend, a builder on a stretcher, who last year fell from a building, and broke both legs. The legs had grown together wrongly so it was very painful for the man to walk, and most of the time he was not able to walk at all. The sun shone blazingly hot from a clear sky, they were sweating, and some of the children complained
“Why are we going all this way to meet that Jesus man. My feet hurt, and I am hungry”.
“Shhh” the father said, “We are almost there. Just keep on running. Why don’t you count the steps you take, and each time you get to one hundred you’ll get a reward!”
When Jesus and his 12 disciples got out of the boat, they heard the chatter and shouting of the crowd. Peter and Jacob tried to look to the opposite side and to rush the disciples away from the people, but Jesus stopped, and looked down at the crowd which was very close to them.
“I am moved with compassion for these people because they seem so lost. Nobody to take care of them. They are like a flock of sheep without a shepherd”.
And he waved at them that they should follow him. Some of the disciples said to each other
“So much for our time of rest…”.
Another one answered
“Don’t you realize that Jesus loves these people. He does not just see them as a nameless crowd. He wants to do good to them just as he is doing good to us!”
They all sat down in the grass, and Jesus stood so that they could all see him. He began to preach and teach them about the Kingdom.
….
At 6pm the party was about to start. People were arriving in the hall. There were elderly couples, families with 2, 4 or 5 children, and few Danes. It didn’t take long before the tables were filled. They had put up tables for 110 to match the amount of food. But even still there was a major influx of people. Nicolas and the other men went to the depot for more tables and chairs. Amelia said to her friend Henry:
“Why don’t you help with the tables. I will reserve a place for you at this table”.
She pointed to a table with just two empty chairs. Tables and chairs were moved and put closer together so that there was room for more. Nicolas went to the women in the kitchen,
“Do you have some extra food somewhere? …. No, of course you do not. Can we do something so that people don’t eat so much, and there will be food for all?”
Nobody answered because there were no good answers.
“We just must hope that people can restrain themselves, and not eat as much as they use to when there is a free buffet”, Daira said.
When half an hour had gone by Nicolas counted the guests, and nervously said to two of the other men
“We are 198 in total, and we have prepared food for 110”.
Nobody had imagined that so many would come without having made a reservation.
Another 15 minutes went by. At last, it seemed that there were no more people coming. The hall was buzzing with happy voices. The children ran about playing and screaming. Nicolas stood up, clapping his hands, and shouted with a happy voice
“May I have your attention please. Now, let’s begin the party. A warm welcome to everyone. Also, welcome to those of you who have not made a reservation! I hope and believe that we will have a fun evening together. It is wonderful to see that so many people have come for this very first big fellowship meal. We have been looking so much forward to this, and the women in the kitchen have been sweating all day to prepare delicious food. There is just one thing I must tell you to be aware of: we have prepared food for 110, 95 had registered for the evening, and we are now a total of 198. This means that there probably is not quite enough food. So, I urge you to not put too big portions on your plates, so that there will be enough for everybody”.
People clapped their hands, and the volunteers carried the food in from the kitchen.
Amelia said to Henry,
“We must pray. God may give a miracle so that there is enough food after all”.
“Yes, definitely we must”, Henry said.
“Dear Father God, dear Jesus. You see that there is food for 110 and we are 198. Please Jesus multiply the food like we remember you did when you walked with your disciples on this earth”.
….
It was getting late in the afternoon, and in a few hours it would be dark. People had been sitting for a long time listening to Jesus. Many people had been healed and set free from oppressing demons. The man with the broken legs sat joyful between his good friends with a big grin on his face. His legs were totally healed. He even did not have the pain he used to have in his knees after having worked sitting on his knees for many years.
Peter and John came up to Jesus and interrupted him saying
“Master, we need to send the people away to the villages and farmhouses to buy food. They have been sitting here in the sun for many hours, and they are hungry. Soon the sun will be down.”
Jesus answered,
“Why don’t you give them something to eat?”
The disciples frowned and looked at each other, then looked at Jesus.
“What do you mean Jesus, how would we be able to feed these 5000 men plus women and children?”
“Go and look how much food you have”, Jesus told them.
“We have five loaves of bread and two fish, but that is ridiculously little for such a huge crowd”, Peter said.
“You believe that nothing is impossible for God, don’t you?” Jesus asked.
“Yes, Lord, we believe that. We have come to know you as our Saviour who can do all things!”
“Now my friends, please go down among the people and arrange them in big groups”.
The disciples did as Jesus had told them, made them sit together in groups of 50 and some of 100, but they were still puzzled over what he was up to.
When they were done with that, they went up to Jesus again, and asked “What now?”
Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, he looked up towards the heavens and blessed the food. He then told the disciples to come up and take bread and fish as he broke it off. Jesus broke the bread and the fish in big chunks, and the disciples went down to the crowd, still wondering how they would fulfil the task of feeding all those people. Peter took the lead, broke the bread in smaller pieces and gave it out to people. The same he did with the fish. When the other disciples saw how Peter did it, they went and did the same thing. All the time as they broke the bread and the fish in smaller pieces there was still bread and fish left in their baskets, and they continued to distribute bread and fish to people and lastly to Jesus and themselves. Everyone was eating and became full. Jesus shouted,
“Are you happy my friends, do you have enough to eat, are you full?”
The crowd cheered, clapped their hands, and shouted back
“Yes Lord, thank you for a delicious meal!”
….
Nicolas shouted while pointing round in the hall
“OK, let the children have food first, and when they are finished the table down in the corner comes up and then that table and so on”.
Amelia and Henry kept praying, and when they came up to the buffet there was still plenty of food. They did not notice if people had restrained themselves to not taking so much food. But they had been at meals where there was barely enough. Here though, when everyone were finished eating there were still dishes and bowls half filled with food. But nobody took the opportunity to take a second or third serving.
“Then it looks like God has heard our prayer”, Henry said.
….
It was now dusk, and very soon it would be pitch dark. Jesus told the disciples, “Please take your baskets and collect the surplus food”. The disciples went out among the people and collected the leftovers. When they came back all twelve baskets were full.
“Jesus, you were right, nothing is impossible with God”, Andrew said.
….
“Yes, it was a true miracle”, Amelia said.
