Chilean BBQ

Greg and I started out our day the way usually do, by getting up early and working out.  We get up a little later here in Chile (6:30 a.m.) than we do at home (usually 5:30 a.m.) because there are bodies sleeping everywhere in the apartment.  When we get up it wakes everyone else up too.  The extra sleep has been nice (I love to sleep)!  It's tough to run outside because we're in the middle of the city.  We'd be stopping every block or two to wait 2-3 min. for the light to turn green so we can start running again.  There's also a lot of people walking to work. With this in mind, Greg has been doing stairs in the apartment.  There are 16 floors, plus two that go down to the parking garage.  He says it's a far cry from running on the trails on North Table Mountain, but that it's not a bad workout and good enough for the 6 weeks we're here.  I've been running outside on weekend days when there are less cars and people out and about.  The other days I've been using an old elliptical machine in the apartment gym.  The screen doesn't light up anymore and it squeaks a lot, but it works - and that's good because it's the only thing in the gym that does work (the other 4-5 pieces of equipment are all broken).  One thing we will love about being home is to be out of the city and back on the trails, including for running and mountain biking in the morning.

Today Daniel, who is the head of Casa Esperanza, invited us to go to church with his family and to come for dinner afterwards.  This is the third church we've gotten to visit while here, and as friendly as the others were this one was somehow even friendlier.  Everyone, I mean everyone, in the whole church of 50+ people, came up to us and gave us a kiss and a hug to welcome us.  They also sang as loud as at least 200 people.

After church, we took the subway to Daniel's house.  We were treated like royalty.  I have to admit that I struggle with that, and so does Greg.  We came here to bless and serve, and yet everywhere we go people are blessing us.  Daniel's family is amazing - they are so committed to God and live a life of service every day.  We had a Chilean BBQ, which is traditional here.  The Chileans love grilled meat.  We had chicken, pork and sausages (picture to the right).  We felt so loved and like we are part of their family.

I found a Bible verse that I guess explains this desire to bless, yet being blessed everywhere we go:  Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38). 

I always think of this verse as being about tithing to the Lord out of thanksgiving.  But yet one thing we've learned on this trip is that giving is about so much more than money.  Love is the greatest gift you can give.  This has been very humbling.  It might sound strange, but when we came here with the intention to serve it is almost difficult to let people serve you.  Yet, the love and joy people have shared with us here is beyond any gift we could ever receive - and we will treasure this always.