This week, the unimaginable happened. A Mexican restaurant opened up in my town. And not just any Mexican restaurant... no: An American-owned-and-run Mexican restaurant. And it's heaven. From the moment the food crossed my lips, I knew my wallet would never be the same. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Before, we took the 45 minute trip to Songtan for Mexican food. Now, it's just a 20-minute walk.
The owners, Dylan and Jenny, are currently in the process of growing their own veggies on the premises, and Dylan, although he never trained professionally to be a chef, spent much of his life in the food industry, picking the brains of any chef with whom he shared a restaurant. He studied their work and practiced at home until he was able to create the amazing food he set before me at Cantina.
Although the menu lists a grand total of zero vegetarian main dishes (one if you allow for fish), all it took was for Dylan to hear me talking about not eating meat to offer me several options to suit my taste. He went on to tell me that he was blown away by the number of vegetarians in the city who'd come out of the woodwork so he was in the process of making a veggie-friendly revised menu. In the meantime, he instructed me to warn him on Facebook before I wanted to come by, and he'd be sure to have veggie offerings for me. What service!
Jenny, who is superwoman at the bar, is in charge of events and other such details. My friend Nick and I knew immediately that we wanted to move the location of another friend's baby shower to the restaurant, so we spent a bit of time dealing with Jenny on those details. Not only did she seem to know every trick in the book for how to throw a good party, she was also incredibly friendly about it all. The conversation flowed easily, and Nick and I left the meeting with big grins on our faces.
Nick, me, and our grins.
The overall decor of the place is great, too. It's a little loud, because, in keeping with the latest style in Cheonan, there's minimal fabric to absorb sound, but it's not so loud as to deter me from returning. There are several tables at the front of the house. In the back is an open-air kitchen and a pool table, positioned in front of this mural:
Painted by JnJ Crew from Hongdae (Seoul), this mural sets the tone for the whole restaurant.
I ordered their chimichanga, which melted in my mouth. It was amazing. Somehow, they'd gotten their hands on fresh cilantro, which adorned my plate. After not having had it in two years, it was a phenomenal taste. They didn't skimp on the sour cream (actual sour cream!!!) either. The complimentary chips and salsa were delicious, and the Cantina Peppers were surprisingly good. I could taste the spice on everything through my dish (which means it's probably pretty spicy, as my tolerance is rather high), but Dylan and Jenny assured me that they could make the food in non-spicy versions as well.
I'm still in South Korea, so I can't be there today to share with you about Compassion, but if I could, it would go a little something like this:
Your tax-deductible contribution to Compassion International of just $38 a month connects your child with a loving, church-based Child Sponsorship Program that provides:
Food and clean water
Medical care
Educational opportunities
Important life-skills training
Most important of all, your sponsored child will hear about Jesus Christ and be encouraged to develop a lifelong relationship with God.
When you sponsor a child, you'll receive your child's photo, personal story and a child sponsorship packet by mail in approximately 15 days.
When children find out they've been sponsored, the joy they feel is indescribable. Just knowing that someone across the globe cares means more than you can imagine. Sponsoring a child will profoundly change the future for your child, and will change your own life as well.
Got questions? I'd be happy to answer them below. Or you can go HERE for some more information.
Please share this post with everyone you know.
In 2009, I visited Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (80% of the population lives on $2 a day). Just before I left to go there, I developed a massive inner ear infection. The school nurse was nervous about the amount of pressure that was on my ear drum at the time. I started my antibiotics, and I got on the plane anyway. I spent a couple days on my own, meeting one of the kids I sponsor throughCompassion International, and then I met up with my mission group in Costa Rica. We stopped long enough to pick up our missionary, David Webb, and his summer intern, head to the river, get on a boat, and enter Nicaragua by water.
It was there that I met Orlando, the then Nazarene District Superintendent for that area.
Orlando touched my life deeply those two weeks. The man traveled all the way from his home to be with us, but chose to sleep on the dirt floor of a nearby house. I don't know if it was because he wanted to show solidarity with the community or he had some moral or dictated stance against accepting a room from us in the hotel where we stayed or what, but it touched me nonetheless.
Orlando got up before us and went to bed after us.
Orlando organized our missions activities.
Orlando suffered through our horrible attempts at Spanish, making efforts to communicate with all who tried.
Orlando sat with me as I heaved my parasite-infected guts out under the Nicaraguan sun.
Orlando found me a doctor in the middle of the night.
Orlando woke up the bus driver to take me to the hospital.
Orlando insisted upon staying by my bedside, to wake every time I whimpered.
Orlando showed me Christ in a way I had never seen before.
David, Orlando, and another man who helped us do construction on a school. Photo taken by Ashley Meeks.
The question still occasionally baffles me: Why would a man shepherding the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere make time to care for a spoiled little rich girl like me? Surely, he has much more pressing issues on his plate.
And yet, he still continues to take care of me. I want to share with you one of the most recent emails I got from him. I will post it in the original Spanish, because I believe firmly in preserving the intended quality of the message (many things from many languages simply cannot translate into English). You can find the translation here.
Anne,
Dios te bendiga, espero que cada dia mejores en tu vida espiritual.
Te protejo con la sangre de Cristo y el poder de Cristo cada dia en tu vida. No dejes que el diablo te robe la bendicion y la salvacion de alma. No dejes que la oscuridad de este mundo empañe tu salvacion y las dudas te sieguen tu mente. No dejes que tus impulsos te traicionen.
Los problemas de este mundo siempre estan. Nosotros nos morimos y los problemas se quedan en la tierra.
Con Cristo estoy juntamente crusificado y ya no vivo yo mas Cristo vive en mi:
En Cristo,
Orlando Alvenda
I can't tell you the blessing it is, knowing I have a prayer warrior like Orlando on my side, slashing away at Satan for me, when I get too weary to do it myself. Orlando is the man I think of when I direct my thoughts to my Christ-model here on Earth. Yes, Orlando is definitely only human, but if I look forward to one day hearing Christ come to him and again say, "Bien hecho, siervo bueno y fiel."
Who is your Christ-model? Why?
***Don't forget to sign the petition to save refugees from North Korea!***
