Jae and Debra moved to South Africa in 2005 to invest in the lives of those living in marginalized communities. Debra shares, "I just wanted to bring God's Word. I didn't want to bring food."
The Evans began discipling the Xhosa children living in the township called Mbekweni. After some time passed, they realized the importance of food for ministry and setting children up for successful futures. Debra and some of the Xhosa mommas started fixing hundreds of servings of soup in the community center where they ran their programs. Within a few weeks, the number of children attending the program multiplied from 60 children to more than 300.
In 2007, North Coast Church’s pastor Chris Brown visited the Evans in South Africa. Seeing how food was multiplying their ministry, he returned to California and raised the funds for the first Super Kitchen—a concept Jae had designed to mass produce hot, nutritious meals.
A food center opened in Paarl, South Africa in 2008 proving the concept of the Super Kitchens. This first centralized, industrial kitchen cooked 1.5 million meals in its initial year of operation.
Reflecting on the past ten years Jae shares, "We had no intention to start Outside the Bowl. We were set on staying in South Africa for life but God had different plans." Jae credits Chris for the start of Outside the Bowl which became an official nonprofit a few years later. Chris had commented, "This kitchen thing is working. Where else should we take it?" A little closer to home yet with extreme needs were Haiti and Mexico.
It is incredibly inspiring to look back on ten years of the Lord's prompting which has led to nine Super Kitchens producing millions of meals which are transforming futures for thousands of individuals around the world.
This video, created in 2014, captures the progression of the Super Kitchen including the faces of those impacted by receiving hot, nutritious meals.
