Friends,
It's 6:15am and I am outside surrounded by farmyard sounds I can hear the chickens, cockerels and wood pigeons. And it´s a beautiful sunny but still cool Sunday morning.
We arrived in the villages about 10:30 last night with our hosts eager to hug and kiss us. It was great to be back here again. They had also prepared a meal for us in each house that most were eating @ 11.
The crossing over the border was difficult but not too bad. The story behind the delay was that after keeping us waiting for over an hour one guard openly said that if we pay him 2000 Florints (approx £6) then we could go through straight away otherwise we would have to wait for the end of his shift. We have always had a strict policy not to pay any bribes - we should 'pray not pay'. This time after this conversation the people on the bus started singing worship songs and reading scripture together so they operated a 'praise not pay'. His shift ending 7:00 and within minutes the 2 buses were through without checking any luggage we had under the buses! Thank the Lord for getting us through for his protection and loving comfort. And thank-you for your prayers for us. There were a lot of texts flying back and forth to the UK. One from the UK reminded us of James 5:16b 'the prayers of the righteous man are powerful and effective'.
So what is the plan for today. We will each be attending Church in the villages we are living in. I will be meeting with Bea the Youth leader after the Akli church service (8am) to talk about the youth camp and cover some general points. Please pray for Bea this week as she leads the youth camp that she will be equipped for this and have Gods peace and wisdom and excitement that comes with submitted to Gods plan and an expectation to see him move.
In the afternoon we will be attending the Gyula fair. Claygate last week Gyula this week! We will be mingling with the crowds talking to them about the activities of the week and why we are here. We will also be singing as a group some English songs and 2 songs we learnt on the buses on the way over! Please pray that our people get really stuck into the fair feeling no sense of shyness.
I will also take the interpreters off for a meeting talking with them about the purpose and theme. Please pray that there will be a real unity between the interpreters and ourselves that we are 1 team of Christian brothers and sisters wanted the same thing - more people to know Jesus better.
Then after that each mission will go their separate ways setting up their various locations ready for a good start on Monday morning.
God bless you all and we will be remembering you in Church in England as we worship in Church in the Ukraine and thank Him for all he has and all he will do this week wherever you are in this so loved world of His.
Stuart Sadler