Coffee Time!

JP and I had the opportunity to help out at RenovArte Cafe - the ministry place of our friends Phil and Sandy - for six weeks while they were in Australia visiting family.  If you didn't know from previous posts, RenovArte exists, not only to provide great coffee and treats to local college students, but mainly to build relationships with them and share about a relationship with Christ.

JP was in charge of finances and buying product for the cafe during six weeks.  This was way more time-consuming than we had imagined, but it was a really great experience!  Apart from our main ministry activities, at least one of us was at RenovArte each day for a couple hours to make sure all necessary items were in stock, and sometimes to help take orders and serve the things that we know how to make, like sandwiches.  I (Jessica) also got involved in the English conversation group for a group of business men and women that Phil started.  I am happy to be able to continue this even though Phil and Sandy are back from their first trip to Australia in over three years!  (Phil is Australian and his family lives there).  They returned the end of January, and we are now back to "normal" ministry activities.  But we love to drop in and have a good coffee at RenovArte, or take someone who we are sharing Christ with for a good atmosphere to chat.

 

Me with some of the cool staff at RenovArte!

Linguistics, Coffee, and Christ

Last week, JP and I had the opportunity to help out our friends Phil and Sandy, who also work with International Teams, with a new aspect of their cafe ministry to college students.  They run a super cool coffee shop - RenovArte - right in front of the Arts buildings of the main campus of Queretaro State University.  This university has around 25,000 students studying at several campuses in Queretaro. Phil and Sandy were asked to "sponsor" the Mexican Association of Applied Linguistics seminar at the Linguistics campus on the outskirts of town (not the campus their cafe is near), as 500 students and staff from around Mexico, and even some from other countries, would be coming to the campus for three days, and surely they would want coffee.  "Sponsoring" an event like this doesn't mean donating a service, just being there and selling your goods.  So this was a great opportunity for them.  So, since they couldn't leave their main campus cafe understaffed, JP and I, and three other girls, went to help out.

Ere (a student at the Linguistics campus, also works evenings at RenovArte), Sandy, Phil, and Jessica

The event went from 8am to 8pm for three days, and A LOT of seminar attendees were dragging by the first evening because there was just so much going on.  Espresso was very popular!  The students could choose one of 5 classes being offered during a block of time (I wish I could've gone to some of them!), or opt to skip a class block.  Several of RenovArte's regular customers who were at the seminars stopped by, as well as many people from outside of Queretaro.  However, those who study all the time at the Linguistics campus were very interested in having a RenovArte branch at their campus, so that could be a future plan!

Most importantly, we were able to chat with some of the students who were on lunch break, or had opted to skip a class block.  JP talked with one teacher who had survived cancer, about Eternal Life in Christ.  Several people, upon learning Phil was originally from Australia, asked why he had moved to Mexico, and he was able to share his desire to see the youth of Mexico know Christ.  Some of the Queretano students showed interest in stopping by the RenovArte location at the main university campus to talk more.  And that's what the ministry is about - sharing faith in Christ with students in a way that they know He is relevant in their lives.

 

JP and Phil serving customers

 

Phil and Jessica making paninni sandwiches

It was a tiring few days, but also a lot of fun!  This event may have been a step in the direction of opening up a second RenovArte - at the Linguistics campus - and building relationships with more young people.  JP and I were glad to be a part of it!

 

Enjoying coffees before disassembling the cafe

I was also excited to be able to try out my beginner's Portuguese with a girl who came to the seminars from Brazil!  I could understand her just fine, so maybe I'm doing better than I thought!  heehee!