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