By Staff, Baptist Message
VILLE PLATTE – When Rachel Ortega retired last February, she volunteered to take over the annual cookoff sponsored by First Baptist Church of Ville Platte.[img_assist|nid=7845|title=Top Chef|desc=Rebecca Graves of Lakeshore Monroe (left) who was named Overall Grand Champion by a team of 20 judges for the food, men’s dessert, costume, decorated hat and ugly tie contests. Graves also took first place in the Poultry division. Graves won an LSU canopy, ice cooler, two LSU chairs, the Grand Champion and Poultry chef hats, and an electric roaster. To Graves’ left is Carey Lemoine, a volunteer from Lafayette.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427]
The community outreach that takes place the first week in November had dwindled over time to a dozen booths. Ortega had a vision for more.
“Armed with brochures about the cookoff I visited businesses in and around Ville Platte, talking about our church and how the cookoff is strictly a ministry outreach,” Ortega said. “I explained what Jesus had done in my life as a single parent with five children and how my passion was to provide a place where people could go just to be loved on.
“We generated a lot of excitement about the cookoff,” Ortega continued. “I added games, music, door prizes and super prizes for the winners, and I saw God move mightily.”
[img_assist|nid=7846|title=Cajun Turkey|desc=At First Ville Platte’s recent cook-off, Blair Bridges of Washington Baptist Church (above) open-roasts a turkey.|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]First Ville Platte received an outpouring of gifts for door prizes and $2,000 in cash donations to cover expenses.
Even better, “I had a chance to witness to many people as I visited them,” Ortega said.
The 2011 Harvest Time Cook-off consisted of 36 booths and more than 55 entries.
It took place on First Ville Platte’s 22-acre site, where its new worship center is to be built sometime in