Life is an Adventure

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

Quick Trip to Hungary

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

A Day of Rest Before The Long Trip Home

Monday, July 11:  As we left northern Sri Lanka, the pastors there gave some testimonies about the training. My favorite was the pastor who said he had preached for many years and now was embarrassed at how he had done it. He had preached his words and not God’s. He now says he has determined to preach with his Bible in his hand because he wants to preach only God’s words.

We had a wonderful day Saturday in C-city, Sri Lanka with a large group of pastors and women. It looks like we will begin working on a training network here in the future. The pastors are all seemingly well educated and eager to start the network. We feel good about the progress. Edie spent time with the ladies and had good responses from them as well. She felt that the Lord really undertook for her as she addressed about 30 ladies, something that is not her favorite thing to do. But the Lord gave her the words and she did well. 

On Sunday, I spoke at a Baptist church near C-city that is 180 years old, and is still going strong preaching the word. I thought it went well; my translator was excellent and really enjoyed my message. We had a great time with a family in the church who hosted us for lunch. What a wonderful extended family! They were a blessing to us. Later in the day, I had a meeting with a major pastor and the vice president of the seminary. They are both really behind us starting a network here and may be influential in helping us form some kind of partnership with the seminary sometime in the future.

Today we planned to move to a hotel near the airport to save on the long drive tomorrow before our long flight home, about 30 hours in total. When we got a taxi, we found out that our hotel would still be about an hour away from the airport even though they said they were nearby. The hotel is nice and near the ocean so we are enjoying a lazy day for the first time in a month. We are frankly quite tired and not ready for the long trip home tomorrow. We will need the Lord’s help as we go. He has never failed to help us.

Al

God Undertakes for Me

Saturday, July 9:  I am relaxing for the first time in 3 weeks and nothing to prepare! We got here at 9:45pm last night after finishing the training and having a lovely lunch made by the Pastor's wife. The training ended well in V city with evidence that both the men and women made good progress. We didn't get to bed until 11:00; we were so tired. Alan said to me that this is adventure land, meaning nothing seems concrete and he has so few details as to what is going on. I barely crawled out of bed and hit the shower this morning. When the host here at the seminary guesthouse said, "breakfast is ready.” I wasn't even dressed. After getting ready, I checked it out. String hoppers! At least we know what to call it. There is a kitchen here so I made Alan and I scrambled eggs, toast and coffee instead. They have a microwave! I had considered staying at the room but of course I prayed about it and when we got here, we found out the electricity would be turned off by the city from 8am-6pm. So I packed up some notes to write, my IPAD and notebook just in case. 

There were 25+ ladies at the church where Alan was to speak. I had not a clue what to say or how I was going to pull this off. I began to pray earnestly saying if ever Jesus needed to take over it was now. Alan "waxed eloquent" with the whole group for an hour on II Tim and the need to preach the word. He was in true form and I could see some women shaking their heads in agreement. After tea time they broke us up and I had the women. I asked the Pastor at teatime if he had a translator, he replied, "yes” and then I waited with the ladies as he nabbed one of the Pastors. Not a good sign usually but I stood resting in my God who loves me and undertakes for me. Our translator worked out great and even said afterwards that he would do it for me again. In all humility, He, my Lord, waxed eloquent too but this time it was through a worn out soldier who had nothing left to give but Jesus Himself. Even as this servant spoke, I told myself this isn't you and you know it. I testified of the power of God's word in our lives, the call as women to influence others through the character of God, by God's grace through the word. I even shared a short version of my testimony of coming to Christ. We had time and I walked the women through the first six verses of Ps. 139 using pathways. Just 30 minutes of looking into God's word and the women were excited and blessed with the word. Afterwards, I got many words of appreciation, testifying how they were blessed and when was I coming back? 

As most left the pastor's wife of the man whom God connected Alan with in Bangkok (God thing), spent time sharing her heart and said how she was so discouraged but that I had really lifted her up. It was not me, but God's word. She said it was how I said it in love made a difference to her and spoke to her heart. That was the Lord!!! Oh, I couldn't be more filled in my soul! Though the bod is thoroughly worn to the bone, I couldn't be happier. 

Two things we have learned:  1. Alan coming across the world 10 days before me doesn't work unless we sleep in separate rooms (jetlag), and 2. Three weeks in India or similar places is max for us. The conditions just are too much for us to manage doing it longer. We aren't saying we won't but something to think about as we plan future trips.

We saw a herd of elephants here and a praying Mantis probably 6 inches long (love those creatures). I am not thrilled with our roommates the cockroaches. I wonder how they will like Colorado. "All creatures great and small the Lord God made them all.” I did see a cat here (rarely see any but dogs are everywhere) and it had seen a few fights. You should have seen the expression on his face and the way he sat but didn't sit. He was a survivor that is for sure!

Tomorrow (Sunday) Alan is preaching at a Baptist church. I am not sure how this came to be. Then he has a meeting with some seminary staff around 5pm. This is an evangelical Methodist Seminary from what we can tell. On Monday, our partner Seth leaves and we don't have anything lined up so we may try to find our way to the beach.

Thank you my fellow soldiers of the cross we cherish your prayers! 

Edie