Peru Dinner Fundraiser - Calvin

As many of you might know, we have been going to Pachacutec, Peru to minister with Gamaliel Church. We've gone twice, and will be returning this March Break. Part of our planning involves some fundraising. Though many in this group are paying a good portion of their trip on their own, we did want our congregation to have the opportunity to rally around the team and support them.

On December 5th we held a chili dinner and concert event. We supplied the chili, desserts and flavoured coffee's. Fred, from our church, provided our guests with a 1.5 hour piano concert. It was loved by all who attended.

Below are many pictures that describe the evening. I've included the order of our evening as seen on the powerpoint presentation, as well as some video of the group, just to give you a better idea of what we were up to behind the scenes. .

We had a wonderful time together, and thank you to all who helped us raise just over $4,500.00. Blessings.

The day began at 9:00 am. Even before that, however, Janine had been doing lots of shopping for the chili ingredients needed to make our 3 great chili's. Thanks Chad and Janine for your help. You are the chili guru's. Here you can see she organized things very well for us.

Here is Chris getting the meat ready for the chili. More of the group cooking and cutting away. Notice Nancy on the left there. Quiet, but working hard. Watch for more of that in the following pictures. We needed to peal LOTS of onions. Here is Wilma...you can't see the tears, but there were many! Ben and Chris helped to get the sanctuary ready for the piano concert. We cover the floor with tarps provided by Redeemer High so we don't spill any coffee or goodies on the church carpet.

Yes, that's blood on the fridge door.

No, this is not a crime scene investigation.

Yes, we cleaned and sanitized afterwards.

Mom and daughter....crying together!

Our "rowdy" section cooking away.... : )

Ah, Annette....what can I say about Annette....she's a sly one. Devious, but worked hard all day...even if she DID try to circumvent my orders several times....I think she gets that from her husband.....hmmmm

Oh, here's Nancy again. She's been moved quietly out of the way, and is quietly opening LOTS of cans.

Preparations in the sanctuary continue.

Well, Nancy AGAIN. AGAIN she's been moved, but she continues steadily on. Cutting now.

Here's Mina rinsing the beans in preparation for the chili.

Hey, Nancy AGAIN.........still cutting quietly.

Grandma's Chili. No Meat. Lots of OTHER stuff.

Bet you didn't want to see that picture.

Good thing we didn't show you until AFTER you'd eaten.

Yes, they all washed their hands.....oh, before handling the food.

Chris and Ben cutting the MANY buns supplied to assist with chili consumption.

Jeannine setting up tables, etc.

Here she is AGAIN. Different colour pepper, same idea.

Quietly cutting away. What a saint!

Here is the slacker group. Just hanging out....no, not really.

They worked very hard all day.

At noon we were done cooking and we let the chili stew in 10 different crock pots for about 6 hours. I ensured they were stirred regularly.

The church smelled so good!

We all arrived back at 4:30 pm to get the final preparations ready. Some of us wore our Peru soccer shirts from our last trip. Seeing as how Annette hasn't gone yet, I'd say she stole this one from someone......

Sorry about the picture Annette.

Here are our guests gathered together and ready to start eating.

Leah and Hannah. Always a joker or two in the deck.

Once I opened with prayer, we listened to the national anthem of Peru, and sang the Canadian National Anthem; then we ate.

The chili was VERY good. Nothing but complements.

The "mature" table.

Here is Peter REALLY enjoying is Grandma's Chili.

Pastor Ken, don't look so serious...oh, I caught you in mid buttering of the bun...sorry about that!

Serving the chili to our guests. A matching set.

Not everyone ate in the fellowship hall. The team ate in the kitchen for the most part. Here Margaret and Wilma take a well deserved rest.

After dinner we took some time to instruct the group about Peru. This group shared what they had learned in their research. At the end of this entry you will find the powerpoint presentation that I did. Worth taking a look at.

Then it was time to share with the group how they could invest in the lives of the team and those in Peru, and we ended with dessert, flavoured coffee's and the concert.

Fred did a wonderful job of sharing his gift of music with us. He is sooooo talented. I didn't get to hear him much, but he's always appreciated. The setting was intimate, cozy, and up close.

People sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed Fred's playing. I see Christine really enjoyed it. Just relaxed and drinking in Fred's gift and talents.

While Fred played, we cleaned up.

Marg did a great job, and also wanted to complement me on my great job for the day. Reg, on the other hand, didn't seem to agree with her assessment. I can just hear him saying, "What, that Ron guy....work....you gotta be kidding!" : )

Below is a short video clip of our work behind the scenes.

Here is the powerpoint presentation that was given to the group present. It's about 4 minutes long, but worth taking a look at if you want to know more about what we are going to be doing.