Lunch

Lunch is the most important meal of the day. At least, it is in Peru. Here, breakfast is generally small, a little bread, maybe with an egg, and some juice. Most nights we don't eat dinner, but when we do, it's also small, some rice, a little potato, and chicken, usually. Lunch is the main meal of the day.

Over the past couple of days I have had the privilege of sharing lunch with several friends. Often Carlos and Lucho join me for lunch in my apartment. We'll make a quick run to the store, pick up a few things, and come back. Anything we forget or can't find Carlos has in his house across the street. We spend the early afternoon in the kitchen cooking, and eat sometime between two and three, and spend the rest of the afternoon together in my livingroom.

Today, Rafael, the Area Director in Reynoso invited Carlos and I over for lunch. He wanted us to spend some time with one of his Global Leaders, Jason, and a potential leader, Torro. The five of us squeezed into his kitchen. Rafael is very short. His head doesn't even come up to my shoulder. So when I say squeezed, I mean it. I hit my head a couple of times on the cabinets and the hood over the stove. Anyway, the five us squeezed into Rafael's kitchen, peeled the potatoes, sliced the bananas, washed the rice and vegetables, and prepared the meal together. French fries, Milanesa, fried bananas, rice, and salad.

It took us about an hour and a half to cook, and only about twenty minutes to eat it all. But it was certainly time well spent. Cooking with Jason and Torro was a great way to get to know them. After lunch we sat around the table and each shared how we came to be involved in Young Life. Jason and Rafael shared some of the problems they are facing in club, including the fact that they do not have female leaders. We talked about ways to still reach the young women of the neighborhood through forming relationships with their parents, planning events to do with larger groups, or borrowing leaders from another club. It was really neat to hear from these young men about how God is using Young Life in their lives, and how he is using their lives for his glory.

Tonight, Carlos is out doing contact work in Santa Rosa. There is a women's group using my apartment for a meeting starting at six, so I'm hanging out upstairs. Monica is coming over soon to finish setting up. I cleaned the apartment after lunch today, and am now beginning to think about making an early dinner and calling some friends back home.