It is Independence Day in Mexico and of course there was a party. Traditionally the fiesta is the eve of Independence Day much like our celebration of the New Year. Mexican's love to celebrate and will do so for any occasion. It is especially exciting for the kids since life at Pan de Vida is routine and they do not get to leave the facility much at all. So anytime there is an opportunity to have a party with games and special food, everyone has the energy for it.
This year the Levi Youth group challenged everyone to a food and costume competition. I even had a food table. Since I am not an expert on cooking Mexican style, I decided to have a "Chicharrone Buffet." Karen and Silvia were my team mates and we got all the things to dress up our area and prepare the popular treat. The plate itself is a square piece of fried pig skin, then we topped it with shredded cabbage, pickled pig skin, pico de gallo (onion, tomatoes, jalepeños) and then more salsa. We had so many requests, we had to break the "plate" into halves and quarters to accommodate. Of course we did not win, since it wasn't really a prepared dish but we had fun just the same. La Tia Elena won for the spiciest of chili and another church member won with the best flavour of chili with shrimp dish. In addition to this we had traditional pozole soup along with other flavours of chicken rices and cactus.
There were lots of games prepared by the youth group that kept everyone entertained for the evening. There was ring toss, bingo, a food guessing game where the options were weird combination of ingredients thus making a person question whether they really wanted to sample or not. One booth was called "The squash" and it was a competition to fill a bottle with water by using a sponge. Then there were foosball challenges and a game where they used a fishing pole with a ring on the end to try to stand a bottle upright. It was wonderful to see the anticipation of the kids faces as they waited in line to play the games and even greater to hear the roar of laughter as everyone enjoyed the time.
We were also blessed to have many of the new members of the church come and join in the food/dress competition and especially the fellowship. The main reason we do what we do is to teach others about Jesus Christ, so for them to feel welcome and a part of what happens here is very encouraging. It is exciting to see others receive the same joy that comes from having a personal relationship with Christ and getting to know each other as brothers and sisters and make events like this one a true family reunion.
This year the Levi Youth group challenged everyone to a food and costume competition. I even had a food table. Since I am not an expert on cooking Mexican style, I decided to have a "Chicharrone Buffet." Karen and Silvia were my team mates and we got all the things to dress up our area and prepare the popular treat. The plate itself is a square piece of fried pig skin, then we topped it with shredded cabbage, pickled pig skin, pico de gallo (onion, tomatoes, jalepeños) and then more salsa. We had so many requests, we had to break the "plate" into halves and quarters to accommodate. Of course we did not win, since it wasn't really a prepared dish but we had fun just the same. La Tia Elena won for the spiciest of chili and another church member won with the best flavour of chili with shrimp dish. In addition to this we had traditional pozole soup along with other flavours of chicken rices and cactus.
There were lots of games prepared by the youth group that kept everyone entertained for the evening. There was ring toss, bingo, a food guessing game where the options were weird combination of ingredients thus making a person question whether they really wanted to sample or not. One booth was called "The squash" and it was a competition to fill a bottle with water by using a sponge. Then there were foosball challenges and a game where they used a fishing pole with a ring on the end to try to stand a bottle upright. It was wonderful to see the anticipation of the kids faces as they waited in line to play the games and even greater to hear the roar of laughter as everyone enjoyed the time.
We were also blessed to have many of the new members of the church come and join in the food/dress competition and especially the fellowship. The main reason we do what we do is to teach others about Jesus Christ, so for them to feel welcome and a part of what happens here is very encouraging. It is exciting to see others receive the same joy that comes from having a personal relationship with Christ and getting to know each other as brothers and sisters and make events like this one a true family reunion.
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