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Welcome! Thanks so much for visiting my ministry website! Since, I have arrived in Uruguay, the mate (pronounced ‘mahtay) has been a very interesting thing to observe, know and share with the Uruguayans. mate means friendship and sharing. It was my personal aim to share with you through this website, experiences, news, reflections and friendships that I’ve encountered along the way. I hope this is useful in sharing who I am and what God is doing in my ministry in Uruguay. Especially in the San Lucas Methodist Church in Paysandú. Related to that, someone wrote an article entitled: “Mate friendships: a form of intimacy” and I would like to share that with you. In traditional mate use, the cup is often shared among close friends and family (using the same straw, or bombilla). Reminiscent of the kind of closeness written about in Robert Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land," where the characters become "water brothers" or "water sisters" when they drank from the same cup one after the other, those who share the mate cup join in a kind of bond where the sharing of the health and meditation of the Yerba mate is a sign of total acceptance and friendship. In Uruguay it’s common to find a close-knit family or two lovers, or two or three best friends sharing a mate on an outing to a local park or beach. In all these places, when an individual or group finally offers to include you in their mate sharing, it should be taken as the highest possible compliment and entered in to with great appreciation. As I wrote before, the objective of this website is to be a bridge of information between you and this mission. It is precisely this fact that makes sharing the Mate into such an intense friendship-event. You don't share it with a casual friend. You share it with those with whom you would share God’s love. Friends, enjoy this Mate Times! Miguel
Arenas
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