Guinea Pigs

Sometimes you may feel a little bit like a guinea pig as you do international ministry in some far-flung corner of the globe.

We eat guinea pig here in Peru!

Guinea pig (called "cuy" and pronounced "kwee" in Spanish) is a Peruvian delicacy. There's not a ton of meat on the little critters, but they are tasty. Frequently they are served here with a mildly-spicy peanut sauce on top.

I've eaten quite a few guinea pigs in my time here in Peru. Guinea pig doesn't quite rank up there with a tender filet mignon or succulent barbecued ribs, but I do like 'em, and I've earned quite a few brownie points among the locals down here for being willing to embrace local culture and dive in to a grilled guinea pig - with the head and eyes still attached!

When I grew up in the Boston area, we had two guinea pigs as pets.

Now we eat 'em!

The point of this blog post about guinea pigs - after our Friday discourse on turkey - is that you can get a lot of mileage, and make a lot of friends, and get a lot of positive pub and street cred for your international ministry, if you're willing to toss back a guinea pig or two, or whatever other critters that the locals like to grill up in your neck of the international woods.

I've eaten guinea pigs, worms, crocodiles, llamas, turtles, piranhas, and anacondas here in Peru.

In the case of the crocodiles, piranhas, and anacondas, my firm philosophy is to eat them before they eat you.

They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and I think that the way to impressive ministerial impact is through your stomach as well. Stay away from eating nothing more than Big Macs and Whoppers. Throw down whatever the locals are throwing down. They will like you, and admire you, and respect you for it, and it will go a long way toward endearing them to your ministry.