How I turned my kitchen into a place to meet Jesus

If Jesus came to your house for dinner every week, what would you cook? Who would you invite? What would you talk about?

For the past six months, those questions have become my joy to answer as I’ve opened my home every Thursday night to host The Last Supper Club.

In my day job, I’m a radio presenter on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. I host Daily Service and Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4. I’m also the voice of BBC Sounds. It’s always lovely when someone comes up to me and says: “No way, that’s your voice in my ears!” 

But since October 2025, I’ve come home from work, swapped my radio mic for an apron, and started prepping dishes and desserts to feed what my mum calls “the 5,000”!

Pull up a chair

The Last Supper Club is more than just a group of people gathering together for food. It’s a space for anyone who is hungry to discover more about Jesus.

From church friends to work colleagues; from people who already know Jesus to those who are curious about Him; from long-time friends to one person I literally met in Primark who now comes regularly, my flat fills up every Thursday. People pour in, pull up a chair and tuck into a curry, mac and cheese, Biscoff cheesecake or apple crumble…all with the Bible open so we can feast on the word of God too.

I’ll explain later why I’ve chosen the Gospel of John to read with my guests but, honestly, it’s a tasty book! 

Each week, I surprise guests with a menu inspired by the Bible passage we’re reading that night. One of my favourite evenings was themed around John 7 – a chapter full of people who had divided opinions about Jesus. “The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, ‘Where is he?’ And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, ‘He is a good man’, others said, ‘No, he is leading the people astray.’ Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him…So there was a division among the people over him” (v11-13, 43, ESV).

I knew some of my guests were “looking for him” at my (much smaller!) feast too, and they also had different opinions on Jesus. So, I decided to have some fun with my menu and icebreaker game. Here is the invitation:

Before we even got to the icebreaker, the menu had started the debate. Half the room loved my BBQ Marmite wings, while the other half hated them. This reaction was perfect – we couldn’t stop laughing! And it really felt like Jesus was sat next to me, laughing too. I quietly thanked Him for the crazy inspiration and how it had helped me get to the heart of the night: Who do you say Jesus is? And have you made up your mind about following Him?

The same thing kept happening every Thursday: Jesus would turn up in my kitchen and mark the night with His presence. Whatever I planned, Jesus always seemed to be behind it all: the guest list, conversations, questions, atmosphere – even the menu. Throughout the night there were these small but unmistakable moments: someone would share something vulnerable, ask a question or suddenly understand something new about God – and I’d realise Jesus was gently at work the entire evening.

Now, I intentionally look for Him. From the moment I begin cooking until the final guest leaves, I expect Jesus to show up in the most wonderful, awe-inspiring way. The Last Supper Club has taught me to know His presence. It always leaves me hungry for more of Him.

How it all started

Food is my love language and the way my family speak – we are fluent in cooking, eating and feeding people. My mum is from Guyana and my dad from Mauritius so, growing up, life happened in the kitchen. The running joke at my grandma’s house is: “Make sure you bring your dinner!” as though she hasn’t cooked enough to not only feed you that day but send you home with enough for the next day, and probably the day after that, too. 

I am so thankful God placed me in a family where I have learned to speak food and hospitality. It shaped how I love to cook and feed people at The Last Supper Club – or whenever people come over. I wanted the same to be true on my wedding day, too.

In September 2023, I married Chiko Shire on a golden day full of sunshine, joy and really good food. We chose a Caribbean menu and intentionally made time to stop and eat because hospitality mattered deeply to us (and because there was no way I wasn’t eating curry goat and plantain on my wedding day!).

More than anything, we wanted our wedding to point people to the gospel. During the service, we asked Yannick, one of our elders, to preach from Matthew 22 – Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet. It was the perfect setting. After all, weddings are full of invitations and RSVPs. Some guests hadn’t RSVP’d and didn’t come. Some RSVP’d but never showed up. Others accepted the invitation and sat celebrating with us. And there, in the middle of our wedding ceremony, people were hearing about another invitation entirely: the invitation from Jesus to the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Yannick brought the passage to life brilliantly, imagining not only the food we’d soon eat at our reception, but the ultimate feast to come. Curry goat. Oxtail. Jollof rice. And yes, perhaps the great Nigerian vs Ghanaian jollof debate will be finally settled in heaven!

At the end of the day, as we hugged our guests goodbye, two of our friends came up to us: “Is it true that if I don’t accept God’s wedding invitation, I can’t come?” one friend asked. 

“Well,” I replied, “why wouldn’t you accept? Jesus has invited you Himself. What’s stopping you from RSVP’ing now?” For the first time, they realised that earthly weddings are only shadows of a far greater wedding to come.

‘I started reading the Bible…’

Two years and many game nights and dinner parties later, something shifted. Both our friends messaged us separately, within days of each other, without the other one knowing. “I’ve been thinking about Yannick’s sermon,” one said. “I’ve started reading the Bible,” both said.

Chiko and I stared at the messages, trying to contain our excitement! “Where did you start?” I texted back. “Genesis. It’s a bit weird.” Of course, I thought. Most people open a book and start at the beginning. “Chiko and I would love to read the Bible with you,” I replied. “Let’s start with the Gospel of John. I’ll cook dinner – just come round.”

Those two friends became regular guests. Every week, they asked questions around the dinner table as we ate together and read John. Since then, more people have joined us. And through it all, Jesus has remained the true host of The Last Supper Club. He oversees the guest list better than I ever could. He fills the room with believers, seekers, doubters, wanderers, friends and strangers – hungry people of every kind.

Some come wanting to know more about Jesus. Others simply come for dinner and good company. Week after week, I go to bed humbled, often in tears, that Jesus would use my kitchen to draw people He wants to sit and eat with. He’s still in the business of having dinner with sinners. He really is “the same yesterday and today and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).

How about you?

As you read this, you may already be thinking of friends, colleagues or hungry people in your life who have started asking questions about Jesus or shown an interest in reading the Bible. Maybe Jesus wants to use your kitchen too. 

If Jesus came to your house for dinner every week, what would you cook? Who would you invite? What would you talk about?

I’ve added a few notes below as a guide, and we’ve left room at the end of the article for you to scribble down some ideas, tear them off and pop them into your Bible to keep in prayer.

Who would you invite? 

This has been a fun and sanctifying question for me while hosting The Last Supper Club. Left to myself – and without prayer – I naturally invite people who are easy to love, easy to host and likely to love me back.

But Jesus has gently stretched me to also invite people who may come and never return, may not agree with me (or Him) or may not even say yes in the first place. It’s an echo of Matthew 22. 

Each week, I’ve learned to pray intentionally about who to invite and to pay attention to the small cues God places in my week: the friend who casually mentions their football training has ended so they’re now free on Thursdays; the colleague who suddenly asks deeper questions about faith; the parent whose child’s favourite dessert is on the menu that week. 

I’m learning to listen more carefully to Jesus. And slowly, the question changes from: “Who do I want to invite?” to: “Jesus, who would You like to have dinner with this week?”

You don’t need 15 people around your kitchen table every week. Maybe for you it’s one person. Or two. Or ten. But pay attention to the people God places in front of you. 

What would you talk about?

Everyone loves to hear a great story and, as a Christian, you have the greatest story to tell: your testimony of how Jesus saved you from death to life. Revelation 12:11 says: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (NKJV). It can be easy to talk about everything except Jesus once everyone’s around the table. That’s why I kick off my nights with an icebreaker. 

One night, we read John 4 – the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. She arrives hoping to avoid people and encounters Jesus, the Living Water. She leaves transformed, running back to the people she was avoiding, to tell them all about Him. So that week, I added this to my invitation: “We’re diving into John 4 this week and so I am asking my guests: when you’re thirsty, what’s your go-to drink? Please bring that drink to the table and share it with us tonight!”

That evening, my table overflowed with juices, wine and fizzy drinks. But many people brought various bottles of fancy water, and that became the perfect bridge to discuss Jesus as the Living Water. It was a lightbulb moment for some of our friends who had never read the Bible, but connected with the words of Jesus: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again” (John 4:14). 

Once again, I knew Jesus was at the table and I thanked Him for moving among us and softening our hearts. 

May our tables, conversations and even our icebreakers point people to Jesus so that, like the woman at the well, our guests might leave saying: “Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?…Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in [Jesus] because of the woman’s testimony” (John 4:29,39).

I hope this has encouraged you to think of the hungry people in your life – may the Lord send them your way as you open your heart, and table, to welcome them and Jesus to have dinner at yours. Who knows what testimonies are waiting on the other side of our obedience, joy and hospitality.

Happy hosting!  

With special thanks and much love to Stewardship, Bible Society and The Way for their support of The Last Supper Club. For updates on The Last Supper Club podcast and behind-the-scenes moments from around the dinner table, follow Swarzy @swarzyshire