*Disclaimer: First Baptist Church is not affiliated with, nor does it necessarily endorse any of the restaurants that are discussed in these posts. These are just the personal opinions of the blog writer and are meant only for information and fun.

International Lunch at BCM (819 Main St.) / Red Bowl Asian Bistro – Village At Sandhill Columbia, SC 

This week I got to have a homecoming of sorts when Aaron and I joined our International Minister, Ryan Dupree for the weekly free International Lunch at the BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) building on Main Street within campus. Before coming to FIRST, Thursday lunches were a regular part of my life since International Ministry was a big (and fun!) part of my job when I worked at the BCM. While the lunch is hosted each week at the BCM, the lunches are provided by CMI (Columbia Ministries to Internationals), which is pretty much a group of ministries in Columbia who like to minister to Internationals. First Baptist is a part of that, and this week, we provided the food and volunteers.

Continue reading →

*Disclaimer: First Baptist Church is not affiliated with, nor does it necessarily endorse any of the restaurants that are discussed in these posts. These are just the personal opinions of the blog writer and are meant only for information and fun.

Black Bean Co. – 701 Gervais St. Columbia, SC

This is probably going to be one of my least popular lunch blogs because I’ve chosen a place that encourages veganism. If you’re like me, the term “vegan” almost seems like a bad word or something that sounds like torture. But hang in there because this isn’t as bad as your meat-loving self might think. And *spoiler alert* there is actually meat involved. This might all look healthy, but I promise that it is delicious as well. And if you are a health nut, you’ll really like it.

Continue reading →

*Disclaimer: First Baptist Church is not affiliated with, nor does it necessarily endorse any of the restaurants that are discussed in these posts. These are just the personal opinions of the blog writer and are meant only for information and fun.

Lucky Hot Dog Cart – 1423 Main St. Columbia

This week I hadn’t gone out to eat much, but needed a place to go for the blog. I wanted to try something knew, so Aaron suggested that we go down to the hotdog stand a block or two over. Now you might already be tuning me out, thinking, “Ugh, I don’t even like hotdogs,” but hold on with me for a minute. The hotdog cart that we normally see across from Starbucks wasn’t there, so I spotted another cart with a big red and yellow umbrella just down Main Street across from the Marriott. We decided to venture that way. We were glad that we did.

Continue reading →

*Disclaimer: First Baptist Church is not affiliated with, nor does it necessarily endorse any of the restaurants that are discussed in these posts. These are just the personal opinions of the blog writer and are meant only for information and fun.

As a single adult, finding good community can be a bit of a challenge. Many activities in our culture center around young families, and one can often feel like a fish out of water when one is not a part of such a family.  Continue reading →

*Disclaimer: First Baptist Church is not affiliated with, nor does it necessarily endorse any of the restaurants that are discussed in these posts. These are just the personal opinions of the blog writer and are meant only for information and fun.

A few years ago when I worked in international ministry, I attended a Chinese event where Michelle Wang, owner of M Vista and six additional restaurants, gave her testimony … in Mandarin. Fortunately, I had a friend translate for me the entire time. I remember being very impressed by her story.

When I received the opportunity to put together this blog for First Baptist, visiting one of Michelle’s restaurants was a no brainer. I knew with her that I wanted to dive a little deeper, not only into her food philosophies, but into her journey to becoming a Believer in Jesus. When I messaged Michelle about getting together to talk food and Jesus, she was out of the country, but excited to get together. Just two days after her return, we were in M Vista (chosen because of its proximity to the church) making this segment of Sunday Lunch Blog. More than sharing about her restaurant though, Michelle was excited to share about her faith. When the cameras were off, Michelle told me that she really wants to encourage people and share Jesus with them.

This Sunday Lunch Blog will not only have some food pictures with it, but some videos as well. We hope you enjoy!
Continue reading →

*Disclaimer: First Baptist Church is not affiliated with, nor does it necessarily endorse any of the restaurants that are discussed in these posts. These are just the personal opinions of the blog writer and are meant only for information and fun.

Food unites us. No matter your skin color, ethnicity, gender, or religion, you need food to survive. That need gives us common ground. Growing up in a small Southern Baptist Church in rural South Carolina, I learned that lesson well at an early age. After church – we ate. Homecoming – we ate. Fifth Sunday Night Singing – we ate. Someone got married – we ate. Someone died – we ate. Graduation – we ate. VBS – we ate. That time I was commissioned as a missionary and the church canceled the Sunday evening service to load up in the van and attend my commissioning ceremony – food was involved. I would joke that we are the “Church of the Covered Dish.” To give someone food is to say, “I care about your survival.” Food is used to bring people into something deeper. When I worked in Collegiate Ministry, most of our events centered around food, and when we were out on campus promoting those events, we often started the conversation with, “You should come; there’s going to be free food.” And typically we’d hand them some cotton candy, a sno cone, or some candy while we said that. Now that I work in the media department here at First Baptist Church, one of the most common questions/complaints that I get is, “Where’s the Wednesday night dinner menu?”
< ---more--> Continue reading →