Dinner with a Difference | Tauranga

Dinner with a Difference

Gather your friends and whānau and join us this June for a night with a twist. Keewani will be creating a favourite Filipino meal as she shares. There’ll be cooking, learning, laughter, and eating of course! We’ll bring the food and inspiration- you bring your questions and appetite!

All events: Doors open 7pm, event 7.15-9pm

Tauranga

Friday 21June: Holy Trinity Tauranga, 215 Devonport Road, Tauranga

During this evening, we’ll share a meal together and you’ll be able to ask Keewani questions you’ve always had about sponsorship.

For event enquiries email: events@tearfund.org.nz

About Keewani Cook  

With a genuine heart for people and a strong desire to provide help and healing, Keewani Vallejo Cook thrives in her work as a physical therapist. She travels to share her compelling testimony. 

Born into abject poverty in the Philippines, Keewani’s childhood was difficult and heartbreaking. Her family moved frequently due to their inability to pay rent, and there was rarely enough food to go around. They lost family members to treatable medical conditions, all because they could not afford healthcare when it was needed. Life was hard, and she couldn’t imagine a way out of the hopelessness. 

When Keewani was seven years old, she was invited to participate in Compassion International’s child development programme through a church in her community. With the love, support, and care she received from her sponsors and the Compassion programme staff, her life began to dramatically change. Hope grew in her heart as she experienced God’s great love and learned that He had a plan for her life and future.  

Compassion sponsorship made it possible for Keewani to receive an education and advanced university degrees, which released her from the poverty she grew up in. Her family came to know the Lord and launched a children's ministry in their own backyard directly impacting young people in their community and helping to spread the word of God. 

Keewani is a powerful speaker who loves to inspire people to grow in their relationship with the Lord. She speaks passionately about the power of prayer, faith without limits, discovering God’s will, obedience to God, and the compassion of Jesus. 

Keewani and her husband, Terry, live in Dallas, Texas. 

Kiwi’s story: