NASHVILLE (BP) — When the 18th century church planter, evangelist and foreign missionary George Liele was imprisoned in Jamaica, he spread the gospel in prison, reminiscent of the apostle Paul.

Liele, celebrated Feb. 2 on the Southern Baptist calendar, is among historical African American Christians author Trillia Newbell invites families to center dinner table devotions around in her book, “Celebrating Around the Table: Learning the Stories of Black Christians Through Readings, Fellowship, Food, and Faith.”

“It’s my family tradition in book form,” Newbell, a former director of community outreach with the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), said of the book released in September 2024 by Harvest House. “Yes, it’s for Black History Month, but you can use it any time.”

She began the tradition perhaps a decade ago with her family, discussing famous and not-so-famous African American trailblazers around the kitchen table with her family over traditional dishes, with prayer and devotions.

“You can use the book anytime,” she said. “We don’t want to just study history in a certain month. We want to study it all the time. And so, any time you can gather around the table and start a discussion, and look at the Bible verses together, and talk about people and learn about what God says in His Word, you want to do it.”

Liele rose from slavery, was granted freedom, and began preaching in Georgia during the American Revolutionary War. He borrowed $700 on an indentured servitude agreement to travel to Jamaica, arrived there in 1782 and, after earning his freedom from bondage, planted a house church with three other Americans.

Liele is remembered as the first foreign Baptist missionary. While preaching in Kingston in 1797, he was falsely charged with inciting a rebellion through his sermons and ended up in jail. Acquitted, he still served time in jail for a debt he owed on a church he pastored, and remained in jail until the debt was paid, preaching while imprisoned, Newbell pointed out in her narrative.

Newbell tells Liele’s story alongside 11 trailblazing African American Christians including Frederick Douglass, Betsey Stockton, Charlotte L. Forten Grimké, Lemuel Haynes, Ruby Bridges, Mahalia Jackson and others, offering original Bible-based devotions for each. 

“In the book, I feature … godly characteristics that each of them displays,” Newbell said. “The devotionals kind of feature those characteristics. So whether someone was brave, humble, forgiving, loving … all sorts of biblical characteristics that I found as I learned about the people, I pulled out. And then, I wrote a devotional based on what I learned about the people.”

The dinner table is important to Newbell’s family, she told Baptist Press, and she advocates for the dinner table as a prominent place to build unity in all family units. And while the book is built around family, including photos of cherished moments of Newbell with her husband Thern and their son and daughter, she presents the book as a useful tool for singles and includes “children’s corner” resources for those 6 and older.

She encourages families and individuals to try the practice to learn about a variety of cultures, continuing beyond Black History Month.

Unique to the book are recipes for Southern favorites learned in her mother’s kitchen, family traditions and personal contemporary tweaks.

Cornbread, homemade butter, baked ribs, black-eyed peas, greens, salmon croquettes, shrimp and grits, sweet potato pie, apple pie and banana pudding are among recipes presented as approachable by most cooks in modestly appointed kitchens.

“The recipes are meant to give you a taste of common southern African American cuisine. But remember, I am not a chef,” Newbell writes in the book, “and none of the meals will be gourmet. These recipes are for the everyday cook. And although the recipes have modern ingredients, I intentionally didn’t add complicated ingredients or require special equipment. So you won’t need an air fryer.”

Only, no microwaves, she’s quick to add.

“I said easy, but not that easy!”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.)