Dandenong Polish Church opened our Adra café in June last year. Prior to this our church was never directly responsible for a project like this and given the climate of 2020 and the restrictions that took place, we had no idea how this project would take off.
On our opening night we had 15 visitors. During Stage 4 restrictions we were the only program operating in the local area which provided us with further opportunities to build relationships in the local community. We not only provided hot meals and food hampers but also supported people with clothing and other house items where possible. On our final night of 2020 we ran a a special Xmas program and dinner which was attended by close to 100 guests. When I asked Pr Josh to get his perspective on this outreach, he said: “I was told once at college to preach and if necessary, to use words. With the ADRA kitchen I’ve been able to live out this motto and see Kingdom work in action. Hope is offered and lives are changed for the better, both with the community and our own church members.”
We feel that God is blessing this project from every angle. People have been very generous with donations which has allowed us to purchase necessary equipment to run such a project at the scale it’s growing. We now have 50+ volunteers that commit their time on a weekly basis to serve the most vulnerable in our community. It’s been great to see the benefits of this project in the church community. We are growing closer as a church family, both young and older church members are equally committed and support each other during given shifts.
We thank GOD for HIS ongoing guidance and blessings. And as it states in Ephesians 3. 20 “Now all Glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more that we might ask or think”
Wojtek Klauza
