It is always a great feeling to be invited to a national’s house.  They are typically very warm and aim to please, usually with food!  This night was no different, except that we, the Gringas (the white girls), would be learning how to prepare the delicious Costa Rican meal from scratch that we’d all share in later that evening.  Yeah, no pressure! 

DeNiel, Tiffany and I stepped into Jasmina’s humble kitchen and I began taking notes on how to prepare Arroz con Pollo.  After admiring that Jasmina not only had one rice cooker, but TWO, ( I still make rice the old-fashioned way, boiled on the stove, okay, maybe not THE old-fashioned way which would probably be over open fire, but close enough!) I was feeling a little envious, that is until we got to the part of the recipe where we fry up the ham and bacon.  She proceeded to put oil and the aforementioned contents in the second rice cooker when the following thought ran through my head, “Ohhh, that’s what the other rice cooker is for…she doesn’t have a stove…”.  My envy soon turned to shame and, in the same moment, I had an overwhelming appreciation for people who make the best with what they have.  Yes, I have a special and growing admiration for resourceful people!!

While Jasmina did most of the work preparing the food, we (the ladies) hung out with her darling kids and the guys (Scott and Anthony, DeNiel’s husband) had coffee and sweet bread with Pascual.  But soon, it was dinnertime!  Jasmina served up each plate with the Arroz con Pollo and potato chips, yep potato chips (think Lay’s plain potato chips).  I don’t ask, I just eat!  And eat we did, until we were stuffed!

After dinner, we brought out the playing cards and the games began.  Jasmina was becoming so good at the game that Pascual accused her (jokingly) of “playing dirty”!  We had a great time and the kids had a great time playing with each other, even though, they don’t speak each other’s language.  Take a look at the slideshow above to get a better idea of our time together.  If you are not able to see the slideshow, please visit our blog by clicking on Bennetts OnMission above.

P.S. Oh yeah, when we get to Mexico, I’m buying a rice cooker!

I just love to see God’s hand at work in just the simple things, like dinner.  I didn’t fix anything spectacular that evening, in my opinion, but the clean plates served as a “two thumbs up” of sorts.  Our dinner guests that evening were Pascual, Jasmina, Jasmine and Sarita.  You may remember them from our second Bible study.  They have recently moved to a different apartment complex and have graciously offered for their house to be used for a separate Bible study.  Because we currently lead two Bible studies and are in our final semester of language school, we have summoned the help of some new missionaries who will carry on the work after we leave. 

Our fellow missionaries, the Gillens, were also there as a way for us to introduce them to Pascual and Jasmina.  Our goal that evening was to simply introduce friends, but what came out of our meeting was sheer amazement at God’s work in progress!  After dinner, while the kids were getting acquainted with each other, the adults broke out the playing cards.  Typically quiet people, Pascual and Jasmina quickly came out of their shells.  The night was filled with laughter and a real sense that they were starving for fellowship.  They had such a great time that they invited us all to their house for the following Friday for more games and fellowship.  Jasmina also agreed to show DeNiel and me how to make Arroz con Pollo (chicken and rice)!  I can’t wait!

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We invited friends, Zaida, Marjuri and Daniela, from our new Bible study over for dinner.  This family has been instrumental in starting this new study in their home on Sunday afternoons.  Unfortunately, her husband Felipe had to work and wasn’t able to attend, but we sent a plate home with them, so he didn’t totally miss out!?!

There is an interesting story about this family’s connection with another missionary family now serving in Mexico, formerly language students in Costa Rica.  During their time here, they formed a strong friendship, but unfortunately since this family doesn’t have a computer or internet service, they haven’t been able to keep in touch as often as they would’ve liked.   As one of the pictures above indicates, we took advantage of the opportunity and wrote a short email to their friends in Mexico.  I also sent photos of them taken that night.  It was great to see how happy they were to reconnect with good friends.  I have since received a response from Mexico that I will share with them the next time we see them! 

God is so good!

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A few months ago, Scott and I were in the park looking for people to talk to about the Lord when we met Grace.  She was there with her dog, sitting on a bench alone.  We began a conversation about her dog which led to her opening up about personal matters.  As she was telling us about her family problems, she began to cry.  I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to pray for her.  My prayer, in Spanish, had a lot of holes in it, but I managed to include in it the message of Salvation.  Grace didn’t accept Christ that day, but we are praying that we will have more opportunities to share the love of Christ with her.

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Two of the teens from our first Bible study accompanied us to the theater for the viewing of a movie.  They wanted to see Kung Fu Panda, but it had stopped showing the week before, so we watched the dubbed Spanish version of Wall-E.  I don’t think they cared too much about the movie, but were more interested in the popcorn.

It was a good time for getting to know them a little better as we shared a time together after the movie eating ice cream.  They are sweet young ladies who are at a very impressionable age, so our hope is to continue to build our relationship with them and share the love of Christ, with our prayer being that they make a decision for Him.  You can help us pray too!