Sunday, Sept 25: I am sorry we have not been able to blog on
this trip until now. Our schedule has been unbelievable and we have struggled
with jet lag more on this trip than usual. We arrived in Budapest in the
afternoon but our baggage did not. It did not transfer in Amsterdam but thankfully,
we had put essentials in a small carryon. The other luggage arrived the next
morning so it was no problem really. We met out niece and her husband, who had
just arrived in Budapest, for dinner. It was a great surprise since we had not
seen them for about 10 years. The next morning, we met a couple from
ReachGlobal that we had been hearing about for some time and had a wonderful
time getting to know them. We went to the airport around 11 am and waited until
1 pm for our shuttle to Bekes, Hungary where our conference was. It took us
about three hours to get there and it was fun to see the countryside as we
went. It is very flat and agricultural much like much of the Midwest. We even
saw a lot of black dirt like we had in Iowa.
The conference was about ministry to the Roma, and about
half the group were Roma. The first night we had dinner and then opening
message and worship. The worship for this conference was amazing. The
people were obviously rejoicing in what God had done in their lives. The
music was lively and in a Roma style. It was a lot of fun. We ended around
10:30, caught our bus and went to another town to our hotel arriving to our
room around 11:30. We were told we had to catch the bus back at 7:45 so the
turnaround was short. We were so tired from jet lag we drug ourselves to
bed and crashed. Then up at 6:30 rushing to get ready, eat breakfast and
catch the bus. This was the routine for the week. It was exhausting. We both
really struggled to stay awake during all the sessions and it really didn’t get
much better as the week went on.
We learned a lot about the Roma and what God is doing among
them. It really is amazing but difficult work. Many Roma are coming
to Christ, but the conditions they live in are often terrible, and the work to
reach them is hard. We had people from about 30 countries at the
conference, so it was a bit chaotic with so many languages. About half
knew English so most of the messages were presented in English with a lot of
translation for others. It became very evident why God has called us here, as none
of the messages were connected to scripture very well at all. We hope that
our training over the next several years will change that dramatically.
We made a few connections, but mainly this was a learning
experience for us. We did connect pretty well with the six leaders who are
coordinating things, so that sets a good beginning for our trip back here in
November to begin to strategize about how and where to begin our
training. We have a day off today in Budapest to prepare for our trip home
tomorrow. Then on Tuesday, I fly to Minneapolis for more meetings, with
the other side of jet lag to deal with. I can’t say I am excited about that.
Thanks for your prayers and partnership with us!
Al
