Europe Trip - August 2006

August 5th -- I am here safely - thanks to all the prayers!! I had a nice flight from Cincinnati to Paris. Sat next to a Bulgarian girl who is studying in the US. We had a great conversation the last hour of the flight and had an opportunity to share with her about showing God's love to those in need and why missionaries are called to do this. I barely made my flight between Paris and Vienna. It was scheduled with only 45 minutes in between. The Paris flight was late. Customs takes forever and the terminals were on opposite sides of the airport. I think I covered over a mile of FAST walking in less than 15 minutes! It felt good to get some exercise after sitting for 6 hours on the plane, but the stress nearly killed me!!! I slipped on the plane at the last moment. Whew!
The good news is that I was sitting next to a nice couple who live in Vienna and speak English. I asked them how to get from the airport to the train station. They didn't know, but promised to ask for me when we got off the plane. True to their word, the got the scoop for me! After a short bus ride I was in the Sud Banhof ready to board a train to Graz. I was hoping to catch 40 winks as I hadn't slept in over 24 hours. But, God had another plan for me! There was an older man who sat in my train compartment that also spoke English well. We had a great conversation about spiritual matters. He also gave me a running commentary on what we were seeing out the window of the train, as he had grown up in this region. It was quite interesting!!
At last I arrived in Graz and met my friends! We had a joyful reunion. I love my friend's fiance. As I entered her parent’s house (also friends of mine) some other friends were waiting to give her a surprise engagement party. Then we were off to church where I taught a girl's Bible study. I actually thought I was just attending the study, but Mirjam asked me to teach as we were going there. You know what they say - missionaries need to be ready to preach (or teach) pray or die at any moment. God somehow allowed me to function despite the sleep deprivation.
Today we went to church. Later we will go to a picnic in a nearby town where Joze and Nada are planting a church. I have lots of friends to catch up with in the next few days.

August 12th -- Just finishing up my time facilitating a leadership conference for our GEM leadership. What a humbling experience! There are so many competent people serving the Lord with GEM. We had an awesome time of sharing and learning together. I continue to be amazed at how God is working in Europe. So many of the Europeans really feel they have "outgrown" religion and see no need to consider that God exists and wants to touch their lives. They join church just to have a patron saint so they have one more reason for a party on their saint's day. The thought of God actually being part of their everyday lives is totally foreign to them. So here come our missionaries. Patiently and prayerfully modeling a life lived for God. They join with the national Christians (which is less than 1% in most Europeans countries) and seek to bring light to this dark continent. Our missionaries are educated, diligent commited believers who are challenged with raising support, dealing with internal strife that inevitably comes in the national churches, raising kids in a cross-cultural experience and trying to maintain a spiritual walk in spite of discouragement. Do Pray for them!! For me personally this time has been as close to heaven as I will get on earth!! Someone to cook for me and make my bed each morning (staying in a hotel), hours of time over meals and in the evenings to listen to the hearts of missionaries in Europe - and share some of my own heart also! I am such a "people person" in every way. I love that God has given me a ministry that allows me to use my gifts to the fullest!!