Thursday, Nov 10: Thankfully, we had an uneventful flight to
Budapest. We arrived around 12:30 pm and got to our hotel around 1:30 am. We
had a short nap to catch up on sleep. All our team of 11 people arrived
that day or night. We went to bed around 8:30 pm and woke around 2:30 am,
so did not get much rest. Edie and I, and two others, left for Romania around
9:30 am with me driving the van. The roads in Hungary are not bad, mostly
two lanes with a lot of traffic. It was hectic driving with many slow trucks
requiring a lot of passing. In Romania, the roads were a bit narrower and
bumpier but still not too bad. Hungary is flat farm country. It reminded me of
Iowa in some ways with areas of black soil. The part of Romania we passed
through was hillier, almost mountains in places making the roads more
twisty. It was a long intense day with jet lag to boot. We arrived
just as the church service was starting, around 6 pm, with one-time zone
change. Overall, it was about 7 ½ hours of travel. I had been told for
sure we would not be asked to preach, but I was doubtful. I spent some time in
the car thinking about a passage.
When we got there, the pastor asked who was speaking. He
said we had about 40 minutes to preach. So, I spent the worship time
preparing in my seat. I spoke on Philippians 2:1-14. The Lord was good and it
went well. Life is an adventure! I had prayed that I would be able to stay
awake in the service, as I was very tired. Preaching sort of helps
that. The people were very responsive, about a hundred or so Roma were gathered.
We were surprised that there seemed to be more men than women, this is unusual
almost anywhere in the world. Perhaps the women were home with children, there
were not many there.
I slept well last night, not waking up until 2 am and then
back to sleep until 5 am. Edie had a miserable night but also got a few hours
of sleep in the car. We meet with pastors this morning and then have six more
hours of driving to Bucharest. We will be arriving just in time again for a
church service. I wonder if I will be preaching again.
Al
No comments:
Post a Comment