Every first and third Friday night of the month, Iowa State students and community members can go to Memorial Lutheran Church, 2228 Lincoln Way, for a FISH dinner.

But they won’t necessarily be eating seafood.

For the past 10 years, International Student Ministry, a Christian organization that works with ISU international students, has been sponsoring the Friday International Student Hospitality (FISH) dinners.

For a cost of $1, students and community members can attend the dinners and feast on food from all over the world.

Each dinner features food from a different country or nation prepared by students from that place.

“The students enjoy the opportunity to cook and share,” said Bessie Fick, International Student Ministry coordinator.

So far this semester, students have served food from America, China, Kenya, Panama, Turkey and Trinidad and Tobago. The dinners start at 6 p.m., but the preparation begins hours — even days — before.

“Students usually begin preparation Thursday, doing shopping,” Fick said.

Memorial Lutheran Church pays for the food, and students can go to any of several grocery stores where the church has an account to buy the needed supplies. Cooking usually begins early Friday afternoon.

Rachel Martin, representative for International Students Inc., has worked with FISH dinners for two years and said she looks forward to seeing what will be served.

“I like watching the variety of ways the students can take the same foods and make so many different dishes,” said Martin, senior in art and design.

Once the dinners begin, they typically last about an hour. Anywhere from 75 to 168 students have attended the dinners this semester.

After the dinners are over, cleanup is done by American students and community member volunteers.

Groups that have volunteered for cleanup include members of Campus Crusade, the Navigators and The Salt Company.

Although the chance to sample food from other countries is a big draw for the dinners, Dave Eggert, who also works with FISH dinners, said that is not all the dinners are.

“Our purpose is to make friends and speak English,” Eggert said. Eggert is the campus minister for International Student Research at ISU.

He stressed the importance of American students and community members being involved in the dinners.

“Friendships develop over a meal, and we encourage people to pursue that outside of FISH,” Eggert said.

Fick agrees developing language skills is one way FISH helps international students.

“A lot of the international students are looking for opportunities to speak English, and this allows them the chance to do that,” Fick said. “As you are eating the meal, it is a good time to socialize and ask questions about each different culture.”

After the first FISH dinner of the month, students and community members are invited to stay and take part in Koinonia, a time of singing, testimonies by students or community members and a question-and-answer session about Christianity.

The next FISH dinner will be Friday.