Every Sunday morning, while much of Johannesburg is preparing for the week ahead, a team of volunteers gathers in the kitchen at Sandton Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sunninghill. Bread is buttered. Sandwiches are packed. Fruit is sorted. Hot meals begin simmering on the stove.

By the following day, those meals will reach schoolchildren, elderly residents, unemployed families, homeless individuals, and others facing hardship across northern Johannesburg.

Situated in Sandton's affluent district but surrounded by communities under significant socio-economic strain, including the informal settlements of Chilli Lane, Plastic View, Clay Oven, and nearby Alexandra Township, Sandton Seventh-day Adventist Church officially relaunched its community ministry as Adventist Community Services (ACS) in 2018. A community needs assessment had revealed the extent of the challenges around the church: hunger, unemployment, gender-based violence, child-headed households, homelessness, and few opportunities for young people.

"We could not remain within the four walls of the church while families were going to bed hungry, child-headed families were growing, young people were struggling to find employment, and women and children were suffering in silence," said Tshepiso Moseme, ACS Ministry Leader at Sandton Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Hope Kitchen: 3,000 meals a month

The centrepiece of the ministry is a partnership with Meals on Wheels Sandton — an organisation founded nationally in 1964 by the late Dr. Dennis Baird and expanded to Sandton in 1986 by Trudy Chapman and a team of volunteers. Nearly four decades later, Meals on Wheels Sandton continues to serve vulnerable communities through feeding programmes, food parcel distribution, and humanitarian outreach, with three salaried staff and a committed volunteer team.

The Hope Kitchen Community Meals Programme now provides nutritious meals to more than 3,000 beneficiaries every month. Elderly residents, unemployed individuals, homeless people, and vulnerable families from Riverside, Diepsloot, Chilli Lane, and surrounding communities gather not only for a hot meal but for fellowship. Before meals are served, volunteers offer a short devotional message and prayer. Visitors to the Sandton Church feeding centre can also receive free health screenings and assistance with CV writing.

Chi Sundayi, Chairperson of Meals on Wheels Sandton, said the ministry has taught volunteers something unexpected about what beneficiaries most need.

"One surprise has been discovering that people hunger for far more than food," Sundayi said. "A warm meal opens the door to conversation, prayer, encouragement, friendship, and hope. Many of our beneficiaries value being listened to, prayed with, and treated with dignity just as much as the meal itself. I have come to realise that we are not simply feeding people, we are restoring hope and reminding them that they are seen, valued and loved."

Lunchbox of Love: feeding Alexandra's matric class

The church's Lunchbox of Love programme responds to a specific gap discovered by volunteers at Alexandra Secondary School. Grade 12 learners attending afternoon intervention and examination preparation classes were staying at school until early evening, long after their government-provided meal, with no further food available. Every Monday, Sandton Church volunteers now prepare and deliver nutritious meals and fruit to more than 270 matric learners at Alexandra Secondary School.

In a letter to the church, Alexandra Secondary School credited the programme with improving learner attendance, participation, and concentration.

"More than just a meal, your gift brought comfort, encouragement and hope," Mr N. Mello wrote on behalf of the school's leadership, staff, and Grade 12 learners. "It reminded our learners that they are seen, valued, and supported by a community that believes in their future."

Responding to displacement

When displaced Malawian nationals recently sought refuge at the Malawian Consulate in Woodmead following unrest in South Africa, Meals on Wheels Sandton mobilised volunteers to serve approximately 2,000 hot meals to families awaiting repatriation, on some days serving more than 600 meals in a single day.

The Sandton response forms part of a wider Adventist humanitarian effort to cross-border displacement, with ADRA South Africa leading a separate operation for over 2,000 Zimbabwean nationals at the Department of Home Affairs in Epping, Cape Town, and Beitbridge Central District Dorcas ladies feeding thousands of returning travellers at the Zimbabwe border.

"A glimpse of what God is like"

Sandton Seventh-day Adventist Church Pastor Oetla Simankane said the church's community ministries aim to reflect something deeper than emergency assistance.

"We want people to experience more than a service provided," Simankane said. "We want them to encounter, in tangible ways, the character and kingdom of God."

He said the church hopes everyone who encounters its ministries leaves knowing they are loved, that they belong, and that their circumstances do not define their future.

"Through these people, I have caught a glimpse of what God is like," Simankane said, describing what he hopes beneficiaries will say. "That is the deepest measure of success for any community ministry."

The ministry echoes Ellen G. White's description of the Christ's method: "The Saviour mingled with men as One who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, 'Follow Me.'" (The Ministry of Healing, p. 143.)

In Sandton, that method is being lived out every week. One meal. One conversation. One prayer. One act of compassion at a time.