Que Tal everybody, this is Beau writing from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Today was a fun day ending with an inspirational night. The team returned to Universidad De Belgrano where some stayed to share with the students, and Wes, Jordan and I excepted a Table Tennis challenge from a group of Argentinian students. As Jordan and I were chauffered to the place of the informal Ping-Pong tourney by one of the students, we experienced the skill of a local driver. Suffice to say, driving in Buenos Aires is not for the faint of heart. After an hour of intense play in the basement of a shopping center, the American team emerged victorious by only three wins-10 to 13-by the skin of our teeth. Back at Univ. de Belgrano, Micah had a great conversation with a student named Matias, and was able to draw on some of his forgotten Spanish from old classes.
One of the highlights of the day, though was the debrief period in the evening. Pablo (a Christian student at Belgrano who we connected with Dave, and who was a formidable opponent in Ping-Pong) shared with the group. He emphasized how before we arrived he had prayed for some Christians to help him reach the school for Christ. Pablo stated, "I want students to know the God I know." Mentioning his Joy at finding Christian brothers in the mission field Pablo said, "Before you came there was only two of us, but now that I met Dave their is three, and there will soon be more." Our group was overjoyed because this was our intention in coming here. We sought to connect Dave to some local Christian students. After praying for Pablo, Dave concluded the night with a few words of encouragement. He stated simply in a quiet but powerful voice, "even though each of us are unique, God will use you in your own way to share his gospel." Dave ended saying, "your life of faith in Jesus is a journey, and if you trust him he will accomplish things you never dreamed of." Its so inspirational to me that if you give your all for Jesus, and keep him in the center of your life, he will never leave you in want. Missionaries Dave and Paula Sinclair of Argentina, and our team leader Weston White and his family (future missionaries to Spain) are such amazing examples of this concept.
Hasta Luego,
Beau Larimer
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
There's no place like Starbucks...
Today was another great day. We all got to sleep in and didn't meet up with Dave until noon. Que bueno! We also got to have grilled chicken for lunch. It was amazing. It was as if this chicken had drowned in a sea of lemon juice before falling onto a flaming grill. So good. But, of course, it still came with french fries, and, sadly, we had to scarf it down like a pride of starving lions to not be late to Dave's.
The first college we visited was the School of Social Sciences. I was kinda excited because we were visiting the school I would attend if I went to UBA. "..." Let's just say I would change my major if I went to UBA. The campus was extremely dark and gave off a spirit of opression and hopelessness. We prayer walked through the building, but made few contacts. However, we are confident that God has a plan for the students of UBA Social Sciences and pray they would seek Him and He would draw them to Himself.
After UBA Social Sciences, Dave wanted us to visit UBA Literature and Philosophy. It only took us two hours and lots of walking to get there. It was literally on the opposite side of the city from where we are staying (and have pretty much been all week). Once we got there, though, our time was well spent. We prayer walked for a while and then decided to set up and have some worship in their courtyard. Similar to the School of Economics, Literature and Philosophy had a courtyard at the school where a lot of students were gathering. Once we began worshiping, a professor came up, observed what we were doing, and then began to have a conversation with us. Sarge, Beau, and Marcelino were able to talk with him for quite a while and give him the Gospel presentation about six different times. He was actually a Jewish, so they spent a lot of time going through Isaiah. They say the average convert hears the Gospel 7-8 times, so if that is true this professor is only 1-2 times away from receiving salvation.
By this time it was about 5:00PM, so we had to jet all. the. way. across the city to get to Spanglish on time and somehow find time for dinner. We ate at Plaza del Carmen, where we had the most interesting pizzas. I ordered a cheese pizza. I got an eight inch circle of dough coated with about 1/8 cup of pizza sauce, smothered in 10 pounds of mozzarella. Different.
Jordan, Beau, Priscilla, and I left dinner early to get to Spanglish on time to meet our friends. When we got there Pablo was waiting for us. I practiced some guitar (I'm still trying to learn) while Beau and Jordan taught Pablo how to throw an American football and Priscilla made a new friend, Rahel, a student from Germany. We stayed outside chatting with them. When the rest of our group showed up, we realized it was freezing and most of us weren't interested in Spanglish. Instead, we decided to go down a couple of blocks to...
STARBUCKS.
People say love is universal. So is Starbucks. We were each able to order our drinks in English and, praise God, the barristas understood. Where else would a Spanish speaker understand, "Yo quiero un Grande non-fat Vanilla Latte, 1 pump, 1/2 splenda, no whip"? But seriously, they did. We also introduced our Argentine friends Pablo and Ismael (Chino) to Starbucks. I think they enjoyed it. (Side note: Starbucks in BA has free water that tastes EXACTLY like in the states. It was amazing)
We spent close to three hours visiting with the guys at Starbucks. We believe Ismael is also a believer; he was talking about the things of God and how God has changed his life. He told us he didn't have a Bible, so Priscilla generously gave him hers. We all signed it with encouraging messages and gave him some of our favorite verses to look up.
We caught the last Subte for the night on the way home (we actually had to run from Starbucks to the station)(like 6 blocks). But, it was SO awesome on the Subte to see members of our team interact with the students riding home at night. One of the coolest things to see was Micah approach a guy and start a conversation with him. In SPANISH! It's incredible to see the things we are each able to accomplish when we put God first and allow Him to work through us and, often, take us beyond our comfort zone.
All in all, today was yet another amazing day. It is sad to think that we really only have another half day of ministry left in BA. Tomorrow night we are going to be having a nice, relaxing dinner as a team and recapping/debriefing all that God has done, before getting up early Saturday, seeing a couple of sites and jumping on the plane for the trip home.
As I've got accustomed to, I'd like to part for the night with another passage. Tonight's comes from Micah 6:6-8:
With what shall I come to the LORD
and bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
with yearling calves?
Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams,
in ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Truly, God is not looking for anything we can bring to Him other than to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly in His sight. Please pray for our team, that we would keep this focus as the physical mission trip comes to an end.
Blessings,
Justin
The first college we visited was the School of Social Sciences. I was kinda excited because we were visiting the school I would attend if I went to UBA. "..." Let's just say I would change my major if I went to UBA. The campus was extremely dark and gave off a spirit of opression and hopelessness. We prayer walked through the building, but made few contacts. However, we are confident that God has a plan for the students of UBA Social Sciences and pray they would seek Him and He would draw them to Himself.
After UBA Social Sciences, Dave wanted us to visit UBA Literature and Philosophy. It only took us two hours and lots of walking to get there. It was literally on the opposite side of the city from where we are staying (and have pretty much been all week). Once we got there, though, our time was well spent. We prayer walked for a while and then decided to set up and have some worship in their courtyard. Similar to the School of Economics, Literature and Philosophy had a courtyard at the school where a lot of students were gathering. Once we began worshiping, a professor came up, observed what we were doing, and then began to have a conversation with us. Sarge, Beau, and Marcelino were able to talk with him for quite a while and give him the Gospel presentation about six different times. He was actually a Jewish, so they spent a lot of time going through Isaiah. They say the average convert hears the Gospel 7-8 times, so if that is true this professor is only 1-2 times away from receiving salvation.
By this time it was about 5:00PM, so we had to jet all. the. way. across the city to get to Spanglish on time and somehow find time for dinner. We ate at Plaza del Carmen, where we had the most interesting pizzas. I ordered a cheese pizza. I got an eight inch circle of dough coated with about 1/8 cup of pizza sauce, smothered in 10 pounds of mozzarella. Different.
Jordan, Beau, Priscilla, and I left dinner early to get to Spanglish on time to meet our friends. When we got there Pablo was waiting for us. I practiced some guitar (I'm still trying to learn) while Beau and Jordan taught Pablo how to throw an American football and Priscilla made a new friend, Rahel, a student from Germany. We stayed outside chatting with them. When the rest of our group showed up, we realized it was freezing and most of us weren't interested in Spanglish. Instead, we decided to go down a couple of blocks to...
STARBUCKS.
People say love is universal. So is Starbucks. We were each able to order our drinks in English and, praise God, the barristas understood. Where else would a Spanish speaker understand, "Yo quiero un Grande non-fat Vanilla Latte, 1 pump, 1/2 splenda, no whip"? But seriously, they did. We also introduced our Argentine friends Pablo and Ismael (Chino) to Starbucks. I think they enjoyed it. (Side note: Starbucks in BA has free water that tastes EXACTLY like in the states. It was amazing)
We spent close to three hours visiting with the guys at Starbucks. We believe Ismael is also a believer; he was talking about the things of God and how God has changed his life. He told us he didn't have a Bible, so Priscilla generously gave him hers. We all signed it with encouraging messages and gave him some of our favorite verses to look up.
We caught the last Subte for the night on the way home (we actually had to run from Starbucks to the station)(like 6 blocks). But, it was SO awesome on the Subte to see members of our team interact with the students riding home at night. One of the coolest things to see was Micah approach a guy and start a conversation with him. In SPANISH! It's incredible to see the things we are each able to accomplish when we put God first and allow Him to work through us and, often, take us beyond our comfort zone.
All in all, today was yet another amazing day. It is sad to think that we really only have another half day of ministry left in BA. Tomorrow night we are going to be having a nice, relaxing dinner as a team and recapping/debriefing all that God has done, before getting up early Saturday, seeing a couple of sites and jumping on the plane for the trip home.
As I've got accustomed to, I'd like to part for the night with another passage. Tonight's comes from Micah 6:6-8:
With what shall I come to the LORD
and bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
with yearling calves?
Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams,
in ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Truly, God is not looking for anything we can bring to Him other than to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly in His sight. Please pray for our team, that we would keep this focus as the physical mission trip comes to an end.
Blessings,
Justin
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Living Sacrifices & a Note about Cultural Faux-Pax
Yes, this post is long, but please read it all. God is doing amazing things in Argentina, and I've tried to edit my posts as small as is possible to effectively communicate with you just how awesome the work in BA is.
**
BA Culture of the Day: as many of you (especially our younger readers) may be familiar with, the "bromance" is a close friendship between guys. As you may or may not be familiar with, in Argentina the traditional greeting is a polite kiss on the cheek. Well, on the Subte today, Beau had a little cultural faux-pax. Much like when you are walking through the mall and have to divert around another person and keep running into each other in a perplexing studder-step face off, Beau had this same issue. Only with his mouth. And another guy. No kissing, just lots of head bobbing and awkwardness. BA: a different kind of bromance.
PS about the culture: you are always supposed to "go to the left" when greeting someone."
**
Today was yet another incredible gift from God. We started our day at the Sinclairs' house, praying "through the alphabet". It was awesome to have to really, really, really think about things to pray for. It always seemed like once we'd get past a letter the requests for that letter would just start flowing. "X" was a little difficult. I don't know how to pray for xylophones or xenophobia. If you do, please advise.
We took the subway to the end of the line today and visited the Catedral Metropolitana before walking to the colleges. Being in such a grandiose and historic building was slightly overwhelming, but seeing the lostness of people and the hopelessness of mass (we visited during daily mass) was compelling. There were so many people praying to statues of the saints or the Virgin Mary, expecting they have the power to bring them salvation or satisfy physical needs. They have a notebook for you to write prayer requests in which are read monthly by the priests; I wrote the following prayer:
The first school we visited was UBA Facultad de Ingeniero (School of Engineering). Carmen, Beau, and I were on a team today, and we began the morning by prayer walking. I walked up to a student (Fernando) and asked him where the cafeteria was. Engineering students are different than humanity students. We were able to ask him his thoughts about God and found out he is actually an atheist. For him, he believes in things he can test and prove, and God does not fit within those limits. I was quickly able to share with him that God is God because He extends beyond our intellectual capacity.
Outside of the school, Beau and Carmen engaged a group of guys, and we ended up talking to them for like half an hour. Okay, actually... I kinda pushed them to go talk. One of the guys told us he was a Protestant, so we're praying he is a believer and can connect with Dave to continue reaching the students.
We walked from UBA Ingeniero to Puerto Madero, one of the nicest areas of the city. It was much like being in a US city (me gusta). We ate at this DELICIOUS Italian restaurant on the patio (go patio servers!) with a view of Puerto Madero and Rio de le Plata. The environment of PM made us feel like we were in a different world.
The Universidad Catolica de Argentina is in PM, so we visited it after lunch. Beau, Carmen, and I all felt mentally exhausted and had a hard time getting things rolling at UCA. We walked around, tried ambush evangelism (we were [inadvertently] sitting in front of the bathroom trying to start conversations), and then walked outside. Finally, we decided to walk back to near where we were meeting as a group and prayed God would show us who to talk to. He did.
After [again] pushing Beau and Carmen to go ask some guys where the international admissions office was, we were taken by Nicolas y Noel to the information office. **Cultural fact: if you ask a Porteno where something is and it is less than a mile away, they will not only tell you where it is, but walk there with you.** It actually turned out they did not know where the office was, so we were able to spend probably 30-45 minutes talking with them. Carmen chatted with Noel, and Beau and I were able to talk to Nicolas. Both were very interested and receptive of the truth we were telling them. Beau and I were able to extensively use our experience in the cathedral to witness to Nicolas. He said he did not believe in God because it was too hard a thing to do, and we made it our goal to show him faith in Jesus Christ is simple and personal rather than difficult and based on a religion. He seemed to truly respond to the Gospel, and we pray that He makes a decision to put his faith in Christ. Beau and I both felt he was on the verge of accepting as we were finishing our conversation. While we weren't able to pray a prayer with him, we know that faith in Jesus Christ is all you need for salvation and sincerely hope he finds it soon.
We came back to our hotel, and took the most amazing siesta I have potentially ever experienced. Two and a half hours. After forcing ourselves to wake up (and stopping Beau from throwing my iPhone/alarm clock out of our ninth story window) we grabbed dinner at Rey de Hamburguesa (they actually call it Burger King, too) before heading to UBA Facultad de Economias.
At UBA Economia we actually met a group of like seven guys who had just finished final exams. We talked to them for a while outside of their classroom and then they invited us to dinner with them. At Burger King. Again. (We've ate there three times so far)(it's good)(and comfortable)(but the beef is better than in the EEUU). On the way we had to dodge a barrage of confetti, flour, and whole eggs. Apparently it is a tradition in UBA to throw eggs, flower, and confetti at graduates after the finish their final exams. This is one tradition we intend to definitely NOT bring back to the states. It looked like someone blew up a bakery at Times Square on January 1. Crazy.
At BK we spend about an hour chatting with the guys and just getting to know them. Jessica, Jordan, and I talked to Sebastian, an economics student at UBA. We were able to talk about a bunch of things, and though our conversation never got deeply spiritual, we shared our faith with him and were able to forge a friendship.
It's amazing to see how God can do amazing things through and despite our weaknesses. Fatigue is definitely beginning to rear its head among the group, but due to our prayers and earnest seeking of the opportunities God brings us, we are continually provided with a sufficient amount of energy and enthusiasm to accomplish His work.
Truly, we are learning each day what it means to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, continually and literally relying on Him to provide us with the physical and mental capability to get through our days. Believing God will provide for us and actually relying on Him to do so are very different things, much like the difference between believing in Jesus Christ and having faith in Him as Lord and Savior.
Thank you for all of your prayers; you have no idea how much they are working. Hopefully this blog will help frame your perspective. Please continue to specifically pray for our team's energy, that we would be able to make it through the rest of the week, and for Dave and Paula Sinclair, that the energy and enthusiasm we have brought to BA would continue long after this week is done.
Solo Cristo salva!
Justin
P.S. (A little from Beau): During this trip Justin has converted me to blogging, so I couldn't resist coming down and throwing some thoughts his way as he wrote. It is interesting he mentioned sacrifice in sharing the Gospel because I've been studying that in the Bible this trip. As I've learned how to show the Gospel with non-believers, I've been afraid that my inadequacies might have a negative impact upon my communication. But we need to keep in mind it is God using as tools for reaching the lost rather than us bringing them to Christ. Since God is perfect, by offering ourselves as living sacrifices for His work, sharing the Gospel, He will use and amaze us as His instruments of righteousness. - Beau
**
BA Culture of the Day: as many of you (especially our younger readers) may be familiar with, the "bromance" is a close friendship between guys. As you may or may not be familiar with, in Argentina the traditional greeting is a polite kiss on the cheek. Well, on the Subte today, Beau had a little cultural faux-pax. Much like when you are walking through the mall and have to divert around another person and keep running into each other in a perplexing studder-step face off, Beau had this same issue. Only with his mouth. And another guy. No kissing, just lots of head bobbing and awkwardness. BA: a different kind of bromance.
PS about the culture: you are always supposed to "go to the left" when greeting someone."
**
Today was yet another incredible gift from God. We started our day at the Sinclairs' house, praying "through the alphabet". It was awesome to have to really, really, really think about things to pray for. It always seemed like once we'd get past a letter the requests for that letter would just start flowing. "X" was a little difficult. I don't know how to pray for xylophones or xenophobia. If you do, please advise.
We took the subway to the end of the line today and visited the Catedral Metropolitana before walking to the colleges. Being in such a grandiose and historic building was slightly overwhelming, but seeing the lostness of people and the hopelessness of mass (we visited during daily mass) was compelling. There were so many people praying to statues of the saints or the Virgin Mary, expecting they have the power to bring them salvation or satisfy physical needs. They have a notebook for you to write prayer requests in which are read monthly by the priests; I wrote the following prayer:
Lord,It felt like I was able to use this opportunity to share the Gospel with Catholic priests. Also, witnessing people in a practicing cathedral (as opposed to the non-practicing church we visited on Monday) gave us increased cultural insight about the role religion and the "saints" play in Argentine life.
I ask that the people of Buenos Aires would see the truth that salvation comes only through faith in Christ and is not about a religion or the good things we do. Only Christ saves!
Justin
The first school we visited was UBA Facultad de Ingeniero (School of Engineering). Carmen, Beau, and I were on a team today, and we began the morning by prayer walking. I walked up to a student (Fernando) and asked him where the cafeteria was. Engineering students are different than humanity students. We were able to ask him his thoughts about God and found out he is actually an atheist. For him, he believes in things he can test and prove, and God does not fit within those limits. I was quickly able to share with him that God is God because He extends beyond our intellectual capacity.
Outside of the school, Beau and Carmen engaged a group of guys, and we ended up talking to them for like half an hour. Okay, actually... I kinda pushed them to go talk. One of the guys told us he was a Protestant, so we're praying he is a believer and can connect with Dave to continue reaching the students.
We walked from UBA Ingeniero to Puerto Madero, one of the nicest areas of the city. It was much like being in a US city (me gusta). We ate at this DELICIOUS Italian restaurant on the patio (go patio servers!) with a view of Puerto Madero and Rio de le Plata. The environment of PM made us feel like we were in a different world.
The Universidad Catolica de Argentina is in PM, so we visited it after lunch. Beau, Carmen, and I all felt mentally exhausted and had a hard time getting things rolling at UCA. We walked around, tried ambush evangelism (we were [inadvertently] sitting in front of the bathroom trying to start conversations), and then walked outside. Finally, we decided to walk back to near where we were meeting as a group and prayed God would show us who to talk to. He did.
After [again] pushing Beau and Carmen to go ask some guys where the international admissions office was, we were taken by Nicolas y Noel to the information office. **Cultural fact: if you ask a Porteno where something is and it is less than a mile away, they will not only tell you where it is, but walk there with you.** It actually turned out they did not know where the office was, so we were able to spend probably 30-45 minutes talking with them. Carmen chatted with Noel, and Beau and I were able to talk to Nicolas. Both were very interested and receptive of the truth we were telling them. Beau and I were able to extensively use our experience in the cathedral to witness to Nicolas. He said he did not believe in God because it was too hard a thing to do, and we made it our goal to show him faith in Jesus Christ is simple and personal rather than difficult and based on a religion. He seemed to truly respond to the Gospel, and we pray that He makes a decision to put his faith in Christ. Beau and I both felt he was on the verge of accepting as we were finishing our conversation. While we weren't able to pray a prayer with him, we know that faith in Jesus Christ is all you need for salvation and sincerely hope he finds it soon.
We came back to our hotel, and took the most amazing siesta I have potentially ever experienced. Two and a half hours. After forcing ourselves to wake up (and stopping Beau from throwing my iPhone/alarm clock out of our ninth story window) we grabbed dinner at Rey de Hamburguesa (they actually call it Burger King, too) before heading to UBA Facultad de Economias.
At UBA Economia we actually met a group of like seven guys who had just finished final exams. We talked to them for a while outside of their classroom and then they invited us to dinner with them. At Burger King. Again. (We've ate there three times so far)(it's good)(and comfortable)(but the beef is better than in the EEUU). On the way we had to dodge a barrage of confetti, flour, and whole eggs. Apparently it is a tradition in UBA to throw eggs, flower, and confetti at graduates after the finish their final exams. This is one tradition we intend to definitely NOT bring back to the states. It looked like someone blew up a bakery at Times Square on January 1. Crazy.
At BK we spend about an hour chatting with the guys and just getting to know them. Jessica, Jordan, and I talked to Sebastian, an economics student at UBA. We were able to talk about a bunch of things, and though our conversation never got deeply spiritual, we shared our faith with him and were able to forge a friendship.
It's amazing to see how God can do amazing things through and despite our weaknesses. Fatigue is definitely beginning to rear its head among the group, but due to our prayers and earnest seeking of the opportunities God brings us, we are continually provided with a sufficient amount of energy and enthusiasm to accomplish His work.
Truly, we are learning each day what it means to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, continually and literally relying on Him to provide us with the physical and mental capability to get through our days. Believing God will provide for us and actually relying on Him to do so are very different things, much like the difference between believing in Jesus Christ and having faith in Him as Lord and Savior.
Thank you for all of your prayers; you have no idea how much they are working. Hopefully this blog will help frame your perspective. Please continue to specifically pray for our team's energy, that we would be able to make it through the rest of the week, and for Dave and Paula Sinclair, that the energy and enthusiasm we have brought to BA would continue long after this week is done.
Solo Cristo salva!
Justin
P.S. (A little from Beau): During this trip Justin has converted me to blogging, so I couldn't resist coming down and throwing some thoughts his way as he wrote. It is interesting he mentioned sacrifice in sharing the Gospel because I've been studying that in the Bible this trip. As I've learned how to show the Gospel with non-believers, I've been afraid that my inadequacies might have a negative impact upon my communication. But we need to keep in mind it is God using as tools for reaching the lost rather than us bringing them to Christ. Since God is perfect, by offering ourselves as living sacrifices for His work, sharing the Gospel, He will use and amaze us as His instruments of righteousness. - Beau
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Welcome to the shire.
**Note regarding the title: everything in Buenos Aires is SMALL compared to what we're used to in the states. The elevator. The beds. The showers. The drinks. But especially the elevators. According to Beau and Jordan, "it's like we're in the Shire 4,000 years after Middle Earth."**
Sorry about not updating the blog last night. Yesterday was actually an AMAZING day, but when I got back to the hotel I couldn't get a decent WiFi connection. So, I am going to fill you in on two days today.
Lunes o Monday
The day kinda got off to a rough start; except for Wes and Sarge everyone overslept. I woke up five minutes before we were supposed to be downstairs ready to leave and yelled "Guys! We're supposed to be downstairs in 5 minutes." This was followed by me taking a very cold (and brief) shower. But, as a testament to my strength I did not let out a single yelp, even though Beau and Jordan we're waiting for me to do so. It happened that the shower got warm just as I was getting out and Jordan was getting in. But before Jordan tried sprinting across the hobbit-sized beds. However, he improperly stepped over the last mattress, causing it to catapult towards him, inflicting a minor injury on his shin and providing entertainment for Beau and me.
That was the morning.
We went to the University of Belgrano yesterday and had an amazing time talking to the students. I was able to meet Daniel, an exchange student from Australia studying Linguistics, and Jenny, a student from Alaska here studying Spanish. The groups I was in were able to have conversations with the students about their interests, etc, but were very mindful of bringing up eternal, Spiritual things. Many of the students have an idea of religion and know the basics facts of Christianity but are lacking faith. However, while at Belgrano we also met Pablo, a believing student excited about reaching his peers. He spent half of the day with us, and was a great encouragement.
After Belgrano we went to the University of Palermo, a business school. However, there were no students there at the time, so after praying we left and walked to UBA Derecho (University of Buenos Aires Law School). On our way we stopped at la Iglesia de San Juan, a Catholic church built in 1732. As we walked inside, the darkness and lostness of the nation was overwhelming. Seeing all the extravagance and idolatry in that place really gives you a concrete image of what we are up against: man's religion. God is not interested in rituals and good works, rather He desires to have a personal relationship with us.
Really, this is the main thing we find ourselves telling everyone we talk to: faith is Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, realizing He is the only Way of salvation from our sins, and that the good things we do in this life (including our trip) flow from our love for Him.
We ended up home last night, and got some rest, preparing ourselves for another great day.
Martes o Tuesday
We were all up on time today. PTL (Praise the Lord).
We spent this morning at UBA Facultad de Medicina (UBA School of Medicine). The UBA schools here almost feel like prisons. Priscilla, Micah, and I spent a couple of hours this morning just walking around the buildings and praying. We really felt the Spirit leading us to simply offer up prayers for the students and people of Argentina. Similar to the Israelite's trek around Jericho, we bathed the building in prayer and asked God to pour Himself out among the people and destroy the bastions of humanism and agnosticism that stand in direct opposition to the Truth of who He is.
As an answer to prayer, Wes, Jessica, Jordan, and Carmen were able to talk to two different guys at the Med School (Fidel and Juliano) and were able to give a full Gospel presentation, with both guys expressing a desire to begin a relationship with Christ. We went to lunch (Jordan and I enjoyed some bistec de chorizo [ribeye]) and then gathered in front of UBA Medicina for some worship. Jordan, Jessica, and Carmen met a guy name Ishmael and invited him to join us for some singing. I was able to get to know him (even though everyone wanted me to sing instead of talk), and I think he is going to be joining us at Spanglish tonight.
Spanglish is a time where Portenos come to practice English and Spanish. It's a non-invasive way for us to have people meet up with us and through our [5 minute] conversations get them thinking about God. Kinda like speed dating, but not actually dating. [And Wes says missionary dating isn't worth it.]
Really, we are all being continually and extremely blessed by this trip. We can honestly see exactly how God is piecing together everything we've done together. There's so much more I can tell you guys, but I've got to go get ready for the night.
Salvation is here!
Justin
P.S. Blogger isn't letting me upload pictures right now, so I'm going to put them on my MobileMe gallery later tonight and give you guys a link. Hasta Luego!
Sorry about not updating the blog last night. Yesterday was actually an AMAZING day, but when I got back to the hotel I couldn't get a decent WiFi connection. So, I am going to fill you in on two days today.
Lunes o Monday
The day kinda got off to a rough start; except for Wes and Sarge everyone overslept. I woke up five minutes before we were supposed to be downstairs ready to leave and yelled "Guys! We're supposed to be downstairs in 5 minutes." This was followed by me taking a very cold (and brief) shower. But, as a testament to my strength I did not let out a single yelp, even though Beau and Jordan we're waiting for me to do so. It happened that the shower got warm just as I was getting out and Jordan was getting in. But before Jordan tried sprinting across the hobbit-sized beds. However, he improperly stepped over the last mattress, causing it to catapult towards him, inflicting a minor injury on his shin and providing entertainment for Beau and me.
That was the morning.
We went to the University of Belgrano yesterday and had an amazing time talking to the students. I was able to meet Daniel, an exchange student from Australia studying Linguistics, and Jenny, a student from Alaska here studying Spanish. The groups I was in were able to have conversations with the students about their interests, etc, but were very mindful of bringing up eternal, Spiritual things. Many of the students have an idea of religion and know the basics facts of Christianity but are lacking faith. However, while at Belgrano we also met Pablo, a believing student excited about reaching his peers. He spent half of the day with us, and was a great encouragement.
After Belgrano we went to the University of Palermo, a business school. However, there were no students there at the time, so after praying we left and walked to UBA Derecho (University of Buenos Aires Law School). On our way we stopped at la Iglesia de San Juan, a Catholic church built in 1732. As we walked inside, the darkness and lostness of the nation was overwhelming. Seeing all the extravagance and idolatry in that place really gives you a concrete image of what we are up against: man's religion. God is not interested in rituals and good works, rather He desires to have a personal relationship with us.
Really, this is the main thing we find ourselves telling everyone we talk to: faith is Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, realizing He is the only Way of salvation from our sins, and that the good things we do in this life (including our trip) flow from our love for Him.
We ended up home last night, and got some rest, preparing ourselves for another great day.
Martes o Tuesday
We were all up on time today. PTL (Praise the Lord).
We spent this morning at UBA Facultad de Medicina (UBA School of Medicine). The UBA schools here almost feel like prisons. Priscilla, Micah, and I spent a couple of hours this morning just walking around the buildings and praying. We really felt the Spirit leading us to simply offer up prayers for the students and people of Argentina. Similar to the Israelite's trek around Jericho, we bathed the building in prayer and asked God to pour Himself out among the people and destroy the bastions of humanism and agnosticism that stand in direct opposition to the Truth of who He is.
As an answer to prayer, Wes, Jessica, Jordan, and Carmen were able to talk to two different guys at the Med School (Fidel and Juliano) and were able to give a full Gospel presentation, with both guys expressing a desire to begin a relationship with Christ. We went to lunch (Jordan and I enjoyed some bistec de chorizo [ribeye]) and then gathered in front of UBA Medicina for some worship. Jordan, Jessica, and Carmen met a guy name Ishmael and invited him to join us for some singing. I was able to get to know him (even though everyone wanted me to sing instead of talk), and I think he is going to be joining us at Spanglish tonight.
Spanglish is a time where Portenos come to practice English and Spanish. It's a non-invasive way for us to have people meet up with us and through our [5 minute] conversations get them thinking about God. Kinda like speed dating, but not actually dating. [And Wes says missionary dating isn't worth it.]
Really, we are all being continually and extremely blessed by this trip. We can honestly see exactly how God is piecing together everything we've done together. There's so much more I can tell you guys, but I've got to go get ready for the night.
Salvation is here!
Justin
P.S. Blogger isn't letting me upload pictures right now, so I'm going to put them on my MobileMe gallery later tonight and give you guys a link. Hasta Luego!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Beau's Two Cents- I mean dos pesos de Beau (workin on it)
Hi I'm substituting in for Justin, who's trying to un-wrinkle his clothes at the moment. The whole group is absolutely stoked to get out and about prayer walking and sharing the gospel tomorrow. When we got in today, although most of us were exhausted from sitting for seven and a half hours in our cross-continental flight from Panama to Argentina, with our knees almost touching our chins, we were dying to get out and about the capital. After stashing our baggage in our hotel we went out to a local baptist church with the Dave Sinclair (our local missionary). However, in the service most of us hit a wall of fatigue. I looked behind me and found Sarge smirking at my losing battle with the napping monster, but on taking a second glance a few minutes later I saw Sarge chin to chest in full slumber. Later on though, after a large nap at the hotel revived the team, we went to a meet and greet with four missionaries here in Buenos Aries. Dave and Paula Sinclair, and Aron and Stacie Bray, they mentioned some culture differences for us to keep in mind, such as the cheek to cheek kiss. These missionaries inspire me. They're so passionate for reaching the lost of the Argentina, and they have such a patient outlook on the difficulties of their new culture. Both couples are quite recent arrivals, and they appear to be adjusting quite well. Before leaving we shared a "Mate tea," it's so bitter that regardless of my attempts to douse it with sugar, the bitterness of it triumphed. It puts hair on your chest, I'll say that much. The compact, vertical urban environment in this city, is very different than Bako where everything is spread out. Lastly its amazing to me how Christ's love crosses all cultural and language barriers. In going to the local church we were welcomed like family by the Christians there, which I guess we are in Christ. Our fearless leader Wes, pointed out how amazingly incredible it will be to spend eternity worshiping with Christians such as those. It is the love of Christ we experienced in the local church, that we hope to share with others during the rest of our trip in Argentina.
Can I get this with subtitles?
We finally touched down in BA this morning at about 8:00AM. Thanks for all of your prayers as we made the last leg of our travels here. We actually arrived an hour earlier than expected. It was cool to finally meet Dave Sinclair, the missionary we are working with. The flight went very smoothly (finally), and we had a safe commute from EZE (BA Int'l Airport) to our hotel. It's definitely a nice place to stay; much more compact than our rooms in Panama City, but who are we to complain?
After we got settled in the hotel (and figured out how to work the bidet)(but no one has been brave enough to use it) we went to visit the oldest Baptist church in BA. It was began in 1906. It was very traditional, and I was able to follow along during the music portion. However, once the pastor began speaking, I couldn't follow anymore and may have (okay, I did) slip in a little nap. I think everyone on the team got a little rest during church. After we got out, I told Priscilla, "I really could've used subtitles in there."
Afterward we went to lunch at a local restaurant. All of us had malinesas, a type of fried, breaded veal. While it was good, we all realized that in Argentina the people do not season their food prior to cooking. We did a little walking around down then took the subte (subway) back to the zone our hotel is in.
Tonight we have our orientation at the Sinclairs' home this evening, so I am going to get some rest before then. Keep us in your prayers, and I'll make sure to let you know as more specific requests become known.
In His Service,
Justin
After we got settled in the hotel (and figured out how to work the bidet)(but no one has been brave enough to use it) we went to visit the oldest Baptist church in BA. It was began in 1906. It was very traditional, and I was able to follow along during the music portion. However, once the pastor began speaking, I couldn't follow anymore and may have (okay, I did) slip in a little nap. I think everyone on the team got a little rest during church. After we got out, I told Priscilla, "I really could've used subtitles in there."
Afterward we went to lunch at a local restaurant. All of us had malinesas, a type of fried, breaded veal. While it was good, we all realized that in Argentina the people do not season their food prior to cooking. We did a little walking around down then took the subte (subway) back to the zone our hotel is in.
Tonight we have our orientation at the Sinclairs' home this evening, so I am going to get some rest before then. Keep us in your prayers, and I'll make sure to let you know as more specific requests become known.
In His Service,
Justin
Saturday, August 8, 2009
I called, You answered
When I last left off, we were hoteled away for the night in Panama City, compliments of Delta Airlines. As a group we had prayed for God to show us His will and were trusting Him to have good works prepared for us to do during our stay.
We were right.
Last night I wrote about the pastor from Iowa we met (Jason). He ended up sharing a room with Wes last night and hanging out with us today. At 1:00PM today, i.e., an hour before we initially planned on leaving Panama City, we found out that our flight had been further pushed back and we would be spending all day in Panama City. We just had dinner and will leave the hotel in about an hour.
Anyway, Jason saw a lot of people gathering at this convention center across the street from our hotel and suggested we go over to witness. It ended up being an Anime Convention. So we all marched ourselves outside, braving extreme humidity for one block, and ended up inside the convention. **Side note about the humidity: it is SO humid here that as soon as I took my camera out of the case it began taking blurry pictures immediately because there was so much moisture .**
The first group we ran into inside was actually a church group down in Panama City that specifically reaches out to teens and young adults. The young people of Panama are in desperate need of a Savior, feeling deserted and abandoned by their parents, government, and society in general. The sentiment I received from talking with the people at this convention was one of apathy. Nothing is of any significance. Life is simply to be lived and evaluated at its end. Existentialism truly robs us of the joy that comes with knowing our lives our lived according to God's purpose.
We prayed with Bryan (or is it Brennan) from the church group and then went out to talk with people. Some of the girls had the opportunity to talk to a group of Jehovah's Witnesses and share the truth of Jesus Christ with them. We had a lot of people asking what our shirts were about. Micah, Jordan, and I were asked if we wanted to be put in a lottery to win 20 Anime DVD's. We politely declined.
After this, Jessica and Priscilla were able to talk to a guy and Jordan, Micah, and I talked to his friend. The girls were able to share the Gospel and lead that guy (I don't know his name right now, will update for sure) to the Lord, and the guys and I were able to (with me functioning as a quasi-translator) visit with Allisandro for quite a while and share the Gospel with him. He claims to be Agnostic and has an incredible amount of "knowledge" about Christianity. He was raised a Catholic, and understands that our sin condemns us to Hell and that Jesus Christ died so that our sins could be forgiven. However, he said he just does not have the faith to believe and accept.
It is so sad that many people are sent to Hell due to the distance between their heart and mind. Still, we were able to pray with Allisandro and gave him information about the church group we met. May God continue to work in His life and draw him to Himself.
All in all, God is doing amazing things already. The theme for the trip is, "Salvation is here!", taken from the Hillsong United song by the same name. One of the lines says, "Salvation is here and He lives in me." Jesus Christ lives in each and every one of us that has a personal relationship with Him, and wherever we go we take Him and His salvation there too. May we continue to be reminded of this.
If you could please lift up the following requests in prayer we would greatly appreciate it:
Justin
We were right.
Last night I wrote about the pastor from Iowa we met (Jason). He ended up sharing a room with Wes last night and hanging out with us today. At 1:00PM today, i.e., an hour before we initially planned on leaving Panama City, we found out that our flight had been further pushed back and we would be spending all day in Panama City. We just had dinner and will leave the hotel in about an hour.
Anyway, Jason saw a lot of people gathering at this convention center across the street from our hotel and suggested we go over to witness. It ended up being an Anime Convention. So we all marched ourselves outside, braving extreme humidity for one block, and ended up inside the convention. **Side note about the humidity: it is SO humid here that as soon as I took my camera out of the case it began taking blurry pictures immediately because there was so much moisture .**
The first group we ran into inside was actually a church group down in Panama City that specifically reaches out to teens and young adults. The young people of Panama are in desperate need of a Savior, feeling deserted and abandoned by their parents, government, and society in general. The sentiment I received from talking with the people at this convention was one of apathy. Nothing is of any significance. Life is simply to be lived and evaluated at its end. Existentialism truly robs us of the joy that comes with knowing our lives our lived according to God's purpose.
We prayed with Bryan (or is it Brennan) from the church group and then went out to talk with people. Some of the girls had the opportunity to talk to a group of Jehovah's Witnesses and share the truth of Jesus Christ with them. We had a lot of people asking what our shirts were about. Micah, Jordan, and I were asked if we wanted to be put in a lottery to win 20 Anime DVD's. We politely declined.
After this, Jessica and Priscilla were able to talk to a guy and Jordan, Micah, and I talked to his friend. The girls were able to share the Gospel and lead that guy (I don't know his name right now, will update for sure) to the Lord, and the guys and I were able to (with me functioning as a quasi-translator) visit with Allisandro for quite a while and share the Gospel with him. He claims to be Agnostic and has an incredible amount of "knowledge" about Christianity. He was raised a Catholic, and understands that our sin condemns us to Hell and that Jesus Christ died so that our sins could be forgiven. However, he said he just does not have the faith to believe and accept.
It is so sad that many people are sent to Hell due to the distance between their heart and mind. Still, we were able to pray with Allisandro and gave him information about the church group we met. May God continue to work in His life and draw him to Himself.
All in all, God is doing amazing things already. The theme for the trip is, "Salvation is here!", taken from the Hillsong United song by the same name. One of the lines says, "Salvation is here and He lives in me." Jesus Christ lives in each and every one of us that has a personal relationship with Him, and wherever we go we take Him and His salvation there too. May we continue to be reminded of this.
If you could please lift up the following requests in prayer we would greatly appreciate it:
- safety while finishing our travels
- our friends at Generacion sin Limitas, the church group, that they would be encouraged to continue in the ministry God is doing in the youth of Panama
- all of our new friends from Panama who need a personal relationship with Christ, that believers would hear the call and take the Gospel to them and that they would be ready to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord
- that our team would continue to have servants hearts and be ready for whatever God leads us to do this week
Justin
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