by Chuan Khai Wong
On the first weekend of March 2025, the usual chairs of CERC’s Central campus met with rows of dining tables, fondly called ‘Geddit tables’ for this reason. Geddit was underway! And the three sessions saw a total of 180 guests hearing and having conversations about the gospel. In the days and weeks leading up to this weekend, one would find it took the combined efforts of the church to bring this to fruition.
Pastor Jerome preaching the gospel from the book of Leviticus.
The crowd cheering enthusiastically during the games.
The day before Geddit, members of the waitering department were already hard at work. As they polished the dinnerware to ensure it was dry and clean, the Maitre’d (or head waiter), Sin Roong, taught the proper etiquette of waitering, and instructed members to be wary of the dietary restrictions of specific guests.
In welcoming new members and briefing everyone on the goal of the department, he said that “the aim of Geddit is to remove the usual barriers that prevent our friends from coming to church and hearing the gospel. And our department plays a big part by ensuring our guests are comfortable throughout the event.”
In the hours before guests arrived, teams meticulously set up the tables in preparation by arranging cutlery, plates, and glassware. Donning white shirts and black vests during the event, they enthusiastically brought each dish of a three-course meal from the kitchen to the guests – down a flight of stairs (or two!).
Shuyan ensuring that water glasses are always filled.
Julius carefully carrying plates of food to be served.
Despite the physically tiring labor, Sin Roong expressed joy in that gospel was preached. “This is the first time we’ve run three Geddits in two days, and when I first heard about the plan, I thought it was impossible! But I’m really thankful for the whole team, because without them this could not have happened,” he said.
Sin Roong (middle) sharing a light-hearted moment with the team
Meanwhile, action was also happening in the kitchen department led by Alpha and Melvin. Behind the scenes, the teams worked long shifts, cooking and plating three-course meals for a total of 800 people over the weekend.
“In our [Malaysian] culture, we bond over good food, good conversations – that’s what we try to deliver in the Geddit brand,” said Alpha. For appetizers, two bowls of soup, a cold gazpacho and warm cream of mushroom; for the main course, two sausages, one artisanal and one normal, along with mashed potatoes and peas; and for dessert, Pulut Hitam with santan.
Guests enjoying the food and the conversations.
But the department is not a business-run restaurant, and as such they face many handicaps. “We don’t have the vendors, and people might not keep the best ingredients for us.” More than that, “equipment storage is limited” with only one fridge and one freezer. Faced with this problem, the team improvised with make-shift freezers, made of dry-ice and large insulated ice boxes.
When asked the biggest challenge of managing such a large team, he said it’s “not knowing who is able to turn up,” knowing that every member has different schedules and different ministries to attend to. The makeup of the teams also meant that “everybody is at best a home cook” with no professional experience in the kitchen – except Melvin, who used to be a full-time chef.
Melvin (right) cooking as Alpha (left) checks on the food quality
Nevertheless, to counteract the handicaps, the duo started planning 3 months in advance. “It’s one of the most physically demanding departments,” said Alpha, “but all this planning is to ensure that the teams get plenty of rest to sustain the long shifts.”
The kitchen team hard at work ladling soup into bowls.
“What’s encouraging is seeing people coming to church, being exposed to the Gospel through Geddit.” He also found encouragement in knowing the church is edified, in learning to work together and bearing with one another. “With the right culture, the church ends up being stronger after the long shifts. Stronger and closer.”
Besides the food, Geddit is also known for thought-provoking and entertaining skits.
The skit department led by Fionna decided to transpose the theology from the book of Leviticus to relevant cultural trends. “[Pastor] Robin was the main script writer, and he understands the heart of Leviticus to be about the kind of man, or nation that could live with God, like Israel did.”
Members of the audience sharing a laugh during the skit.
In the skit, two different groups of actors represented two groups of K-pop and football fans, with each aspiring to win a chance to meet their ‘idol’. Yet only one person from each group was worthy of doing so.
The underlying theology was this – “we often think we know what it means to be a fan, based on the criteria of how much we spend, how we look, or having the right moves etc. But being a true fan is agreeing with a person’s worldview, and seeing it as good,” she said. “Likewise, loving God is seeing things the way He sees and loving His judgments and evaluations.”
“The actors were actually soccer players and discussed what it means to be a real fan,” Fionna further elaborated. “They love Messi, and they were saying it’s not just about knowing how to do tricks, how to make a goal, but it’s a mentality – to be honest I didn’t understand, but it was as if they were in love with Messi.”
She emphasized that “it’s not to show that these idols are worthy of worship,” but to use things that “people worship naturally” to make the skit relevant to the audience, with the goal of evangelizing and edifying using culture.
The football group attempting to prove their worthiness of meeting their football superstar.
Actors from the K-pop group grieving because they weren’t chosen by their ‘idol’.
