Southwestern Union Record

Broken Arrow, Okla. » In October, the Broken Arrow church sponsored an international dinner, inviting the congregation and the community to attend. Although the church has much diversity of culture in the congregation, everyone who attended was amazed at the abundance of dishes from various countries.

Each dish was labeled with its native language, so it was sometimes unclear what the dish was, but all of the food was unique and delicious.                                      

Representing Chilean and Argentinian cultures were dishes made by missionaries Pablo and Haydee Tebes. Others bringing dishes from their native land were Tillie Christensen, England; Leo and Elena Vera, Mexico; Gennifer Buckley, Jamaica; Ulyssis and Jocelyn Negrillo, Philippines; Christy Harmon, Philippines; Gayla Yanev, Bulgaria; Cleo Darling, Bahamas.

Local church members celebrated their heritage by preparing dishes native to their homelands or dishes experienced from their travels, such as: Janice Davis, Germany; Richard Wagner, Germany; Judy Marquette, France; Barbara Calvert, England; and Greg Marquette, Native American Cherokee dishes.                                     

Still others found recipes gleaned from the Internet and joined in the celebration. Musical selections by artists from represented countries played softly in the background of the fellowship hall as guests dined and enjoyed the ambiance created by flags, collectibles, and native dress that members supplied. Many members expressed what a good time they had and that they were looking forward to the next international dinner.