Sunday, December 20, 2009

Men's Ministry: Year-End Cookout

The men from our church celebrated the end of this year of ministry with a cookout at our house last Saturday, December 12. Pedro called it a "mini-asado" (mini cookout) because the only meat being grilled was chorizo (sausage) for choripanes, in an attempt to keep things simple and affordable. However, he said this was a lesson learned because with Chilean men the word "mini" should never be used in conjunction with "asado!"

Even so, there was plenty of food and fellowship. The kids and I were gone for the first part of the men's event and when we did return, we slipped upstairs and tried to stay out of the way. I was amused the next morning at church when one of our sweet older ladies asked me if I was tired from all the work of hosting the asado. She said she felt badly that she hadn't offered to come over and help. I assured her that since it was a men's asado, I let the men do all their own work! (I'm not sure she knew what to think. I'm quite sure my actions were probably culturally abnormal, since the women do a good job of waiting on their men here in Chile. But it's one of the occasional benefits of being a gringa wife!)

We were pleasantly surprised at how many people were able to fit in our patio/driveway area once it was cleared out and the cars were moved. We'll have to host more of these get-togethers in the future. The men closed their event with a devotional and afterward a couple of guys stayed to talk late and solve the world's problems with Pedro. :)

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