Roma Church | First Day of Clinics

On Monday, we joined a Roma (aka "gypsy") congregation in the town of Batăr. The folks here in this congregation were very kind & inviting and were very passionate in their worship. A short sample of their song service is with the photos below.

On Tuesday, we made our first clinic stop in the town of Ceica. The clinic was held at a local church in the town and provided children's activities, a brief physical exam/medication dispersal and spiritual counsel to those in attendance. At today's clinic, I served on the counseling team: here, I met many of those who came to the clinic and learned some of their life stories. We would discuss the condition of their faith and encouraged each person to either begin a relationship with Jesus or tell us more about their existing relationship with Him. While we didn't have the turnout we expected today, we're hoping to reach more people in tomorrow's clinic.

Roma Worship Service

Roma congregation

Ceica clinic

Advent Sunday

Today was the Advent Sunday and it was full of preaching, testimonies of teammates and fellowship with those at the church. We greeted the locals with the blessing "pace" (pronounced pah-chay, means "peace" in English).

The second service took place in the home of a local pastor-in-training. We all sang "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" (some of us in English, some in Romanian) & I joined 2 of my church's teammates in presenting our personal testimonies, each of us being translated for the local folks. The services today helped me have a greater understanding of how the body of Christ truly is one large family & that while we may be separated by different languages, we are united in our faith and kindred spirits.

On Monday, we plan tovisit a Roma church where Pastor David will be preaching and follow that by a training for the medical mission porttion of the trip for the rest of the week.

Pastor David preaching at Maranatha and Pastor Elijah translating

Riverside outside Maranata Church

Fellowship, music & testimonies at a living room service

Settling In | First Day

We arrived in Budapest late Friday morning and then took a bus to our destination: Oradea, Romania. After getting settled-in our hotel along the river, we had dinner with the local pastor we're ministering with, his family, and another missions team from Texas.

Today, we started out by visiting "the Bear's Cave" (Peştera Urşilor) on the edge of the Transylvania region. The scenery en route was breathtaking--rolling hills and stunning landscapes studded with eastern Orthodox churches. The Cave itself was spectacular . From the floor to the ceiling was at least 30' high and expansively wide. Stalactites and stalagmites formed the interior which housed bears hundreds of years ago. God's handiwork was clearly on display for us today!

We had planned to have a special children's event today, but those plans fell through due (at least in part) to the threat of inclement weather. On Sunday, we will be celebrating Pentecost with local believers--I'm looking forward to joining the local style of worship!

Arrival at Budapest Airport

A rainy view of the river from the hotel

A view of the countryside from outside the Cave

Inside the Bear‘s Cave

Papricaş de cartofi

Vienna

We've made it to our gate in Vienna to board our next flight to Budapest. It was a nice, smooth ride--what a blessing! Thanks for your prayers for that flight :-)

Our plane on the Vienna tarmac

We had plenty of room at our seats since we had the emergency exit row

On our way

We've finished our first leg to NYC & now we're waiting to board our flight to Vienna. After that, we fly to Budapest & drive into our destination in Romania.

Thanks for your prayers for safety! Please continue to pray for safety and that we may have comfortable & restful flight so we may begin our time in Romania rested and not worn out when we get there

Commissioning Service

Commissioning Service

Yesterday was the church's "Commissioning" service for our team--the church's formal send-off and blessing of the 5 of us before we take-off on Thursday. I promise, we didn't plan to line-up in height order! ;-D

It was so heartwarming to see members of the congregation gather around us in prayer to express so clearly that they support us and believe in the mission we are undertaking. It is an honor to represent our church in Romania and I'm proud to be a representative of our body in spreading the Good News.

The notes, the financial gifts and the words of encouragement have truly been very special to me--thanks to all who've taken the time and made the sacrifice in through your kind gestures!

One Week Away | Trip Playlist

One Week Away | Trip Playlist

It's exactly a week away from the day I take off with the rest of my team to head to Romania! The countdown is on for sure.

Here's a few of the tunes that'll be in my head during the journey of places we'll pass through en route or visit as a destination. What tracks would you add? I'm cheesy and like songs that particularly match up to the itinerary (Raleigh->New York->Vienna->Budapest->Romania is the route going, Romania->Budapest->Brussels->Washington DC->Raleigh is the route coming back).

I hope that during the trip, if you hear any of these songs or get them stuck in your head, think about me and the team and say a prayer for us that we'll have a safe journey en route to our destination and while there ;-D

1. New York, New York - On the Town
2. Vienna - Billy Joel
3. Budapest - George Ezra
4. Back in the USSR - Paul McCartney
5. Romanian Wind - Hans Zimmer
6. The Blue Danube - Andre Rieu
7. Bruxelles - Dick Annegarn
8. The Washington Post March - John Philip Sousa
9. Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show