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Silver Spring, Maryland: The Southern Asian Seventh-Day Adventist Church (SASDAC) hosted its “Cultural and International Food Fair” on October 4, celebrating the congregation’s cultural diversity and raising funds for a medical mission to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in February 2027.
“We will be having medical camps in several locations on the main island. So, everything that you contribute, everything that you buy today goes toward those funds,” SASDAC Pastor Jerald Christo said. He thanked the cooks and others who contributed food to support the mission.
Participants represented several Indian states, including Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Maharashtra, as well as Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Peru. They shared their cuisines and competed in a food contest, with Kerala taking first place, Nepal second, and Uttar Pradesh third.
The judges were chef, restaurant fixer, and storyteller Ashish Alfred; Michael Kruger, vice president and chief financial officer of Washington Adventist Hospital; and Nandini Selvam, CEO of South Asian Herald.
“Thank you very much for sharing your food, your family, your culture. It really means a lot,” chef Alfred said.
He explained that entries were evaluated on presentation, flavor, and costumes, including how participants represented their cultures through food and attire. He added that all the food tasted good.
Anu Lakra, SASDAC’s director of evangelism, described the fair as a community event highlighting the diversity of the church’s approximately 1,000 memberships. She said the gathering offered an opportunity to introduce neighbors to a congregation whose members come from different countries and Indian states and work together to promote peace.
“We want our community members and neighbors to know who we are. We are here for them. We are here to support them, and they need us as community members,” Lakra said. “We celebrate our diversity. We want to congratulate each one of you for representing your country, your state of India. We are really proud of our culture and our traditions.”
SASDAC Lead Pastor John Daniel said the congregation includes people from 38 countries and nearly every Indian state. “It is unity in diversity, a miniature of whatever we look like,” he said.
Daniel said organizing the fair required a “visionary leader” and thanked Lakra and the volunteers for their work.
“She has a passion to go and serve the community,” he said.
According to Daniel, Lakra had already raised funds for about 100 water filters to help people in the Andaman Islands who lack access to clean drinking water. Each filter can provide a family with clean water for at least three years, he said. The church is also working with volunteers and partners to provide sanitary supplies for women and support other community initiatives.
Pastor Daniel Ebenezer, director of Sabbath School and Personal Ministries for the World Church of Seventh-Day Adventists, said the gathering reminded him of Cultural Day celebrations held on October 2 every year at Pfizer Memorial College in Pune, India, where people from different cultures come together.
“What a blessing. What a joy for us to be here,” he said.
“It has been a beautiful experience for us here, and we really appreciate the hard work that has been put in by organizers and volunteers for taking time for a good cause,” Ebenezer added.
He also offered his best wishes to the volunteers preparing to travel to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the community project.
“We wish you all the best for making the mission a grand success. We pray that you’ll have a wonderful time there. We pray you’ll come back with a rich experience,” he said.
Elisha Pulivarti, a SASDAC director of communications, commended the initiative and said similar events are planned.
An imam from the local Ahmadiyya Muslim Community spoke about the value of learning about other cultures and religions, saying greater understanding can help reduce judgment. He expressed interest in bringing members of his mosque and the church together to discuss their work and explore ways to support one another.
“At the end of the day, it’s all just one big community. We all live very close together,” he said.
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