Daily Report from Europe

Our team of ten will be leaving Seattle this Sunday around 5 p.m. Please keep us in your prayers: Matt, Heidi, Betsey, Denetta, Rich, Stephanie, Noel, Becky, Debbie and Paul.

I will be updating this blog with daily reports whenever I get to a place with internet access. Keep checking back here for updates, and feel free to comment with your questions. I will even try to post some photos if/when I get a chance. This all depends on time and technology. Thanks for being a part of this team by praying for us. See the blog "European Missionary Journey" for the details of this trip.

TUESDAY - 3/29/06
3:15 A.M.
We have arrived safely. What a journey! Seattle, to San Francisco (we were on the same flight as Pastor Jim as he made his way to Manila), to Munich, then to Krakow, Poland. Followed by a 2 hour drive to Nowytarg. Paul and I had a good drive through the fog through the snow covered countryside. The team is situated at a nice bed and breakfast as well as a couple of host homes. Heidi and I are at Denise's apartment and are ready to rest. Tomorrow we will be helping at an English class that Denise teaches, and will be going on a prayer walk of the city. The ground here in is covered with deep snow. We're missing two bags -- pray that they would catch up with us tomorrow (one is Betsey's bag, and one contains the missionary gifts).
There will be more to report later. Good-night for now.

Tuesday night, 11:40 p.m.

This was a day well spent with missionary Denise Johnson. After spending the morning hearing her vision and story, we went on a long drive through the countryside, surrounding the area in which she ministers. It was a "prayer drive" and provided insight into the spiritual battle that exists here. She pastors the only non-Catholic church in Zakopane - a city of 40,000.

In the afternoon our group taught a conversational English class in a school, and then in the evening we had a prayer/worship service with the church members. It was the first meeting in Denise's newly remodeled basement which will serve as a meeting place for small groups.

The Niedzica Castle - built in 1325


Wednesday Night - Blizzard & Believers Gathering

Today we visited the Niedzica Castle before making our way to Zakopane where we met with the believers at the Foursquare Church there. While at the castle, I was put in the stocks by our team (ha ha...)

After breaking free, we assisted with a high school English class, taught be Denise Johnson. We prayed over the future internet cafe outreach that the church is planning to open.

Tonight's gathering at the church was a powerful time of mutual encouragement. Team members shared words of encouragement, a great time of prayer for each other, and refreshing worship.
Heavy snow began falling today at noon, and continued late into the night. It was amazing to be in a blizzard here at the very end of March! Narnia was filmed in Poland, and we have been praying for the end of winter with the ministry here. We believe there is a great future in Christ for the Polish people.

It is midnight again. Tomorrow we head for Germany!

Thursday, March 31st
Answer to prayer...Betsey's luggage arrived...
We rode the train 2 hours from Stuttgart to Bondesshof Bible Center, enjoying the company of Hanna Langsev. Last night she took us to a large housing project (formerly a French Army Barrack) where hundreds of refugees are housed in single room dwellings. There we met with refugees from all of the world (Kurds, Algeria, Burkina Faso, and many more). We helped feed them, pray with some, and show the love of Christ. Hanna comes here every week.

Last night we crashed after enjoying some Turkish donors (food). This morning I went for a run with one of the students who is from Woodinville. It was a beautiful run through the countryside.
The school director spent time with us sharing his vision for the school and for Germany. Later we went to a 7th century castle in Meersburg. The weather was beautiful. From here one can see the snow covered Swiss Alps, as well as into Austria. This afternoon we went to a ministry at a student center where Hanna goes every week.

We have been having a great time with her and discovering the challenges and great opportunities for ministry here in Germany. This school has amazing outreaches to unsaved school kids, addicted families, refugees, and much more.

Everyone on the team is doing well. God seems to be ordering our steps. Pray for us tomorrow as we leave at 4:30 a.m., for a train to Stuttgart and then our flight to Budapest.

April Fools! -- April 1st

I'm writing from Budapest where we are ending our day with Dave and Mindy Sebens. We left Germany this morning (early) after getting up around 3 a.m., taking the train to Stuttgart, flying to Budapest, and getting settled into our hotel.

We were thankful to make all our connections, lock up our bags in Stuttgart (where we return tomorrow), and get our rooms at our hotel (after they told us they we full, and they had no record of our reservation) -- so everything worked out in the end.

It's great re-connecting with Dave and Mindy. They used to work at EFC before going on the mission field full time. Today they showed us this amazing city on a warm day. Tomorrow we will be attending 2-3 different services, all in the morning, before returning to Stuttgart for a stop over before we go to Greece. Tomorrow is my birthday -- and I will celebrate it in Hungary and Germany, while on a mission trip. This is perfect as far as I am concerned, except for the fact that our kids are at home.

Hanna Langsev was an inspiration to us all in Germany. She is super "sold out" and has an intense love for God that I have rarely seen. The ministry there is doing an amazing job of reaching out in a nation that is spiritually struggling.

Time to go for now! I'll write again when I can. Thanks for the comments and prayers. I keep relaying them to the team.

April 2nd

We worshiped together today at the Calvary Chapel here (www.golgota.hu). There is no Foursquare Church in Budapest. Now we are heading back to the airport.

9 p.m. -- Team Leader Sends Passport to Madrid

This afternoon our team left Budapest for Stuttgart. Tomorrow morning we are heading to Athens. As I left the plane and made my way to the passport station, I realized that I, as the team leader, had made the most amateur missions blunder - I had left my passport on the plane (in the seatback). We quickly notified the officials, but they would not let me back on the plane to look. I was detained while we waited for the crew to come through customs, but they never did. Before I knew it, the plane had left for Madrid, Spain. I was totally stressed out about this, and the team was waiting to see what would happen next.

I told the team to go on, while I contacted EFC to have a passport copy faxed over. The passport police contacted the plane, and after 45 minutes of fear, I found they had located my passport, and the plane is returning tonight! Prayers were answer, and the joy of finding it was enough to overcome my own embarassment. I had just imagined being stuck in Germany, going to the embassy for a new passport while the team continued to Athens.

Instead, we stay on schedule. My passport will arrive here before midnight, and we are right on track! Thanks for your prayers! This has been a funny day, only in retrospect. The Geman Police were kind and wished me a happy birthday. The team was gracious and probably will feel free to make mistakes since the humanity of their leader was made SO evident tonight (in case that was ever a question before).

Tomorrow is a BIG travel day as we take the train from Thessalonica to Athens.

PHOTOS FROM BUDAPEST

Dave & Mindy Sebens

We are in Athens - 12:39 a.m. 04/04/06
Emergency stop in Croatia
Last night we stayed by airport in Stuttgart, and were off to an early start for our travel day.

Our plan was to fly to Thessalonika, but a disturbing event unfolded as a medical emergency on our plan forced us to the ground in Zagreb, Croatia. We prayed for the situation, and believe the woman actually died on our plane. We ended up on the ground in Zagreb for two hours.

Once in Thessalonika we took two buses to the train station (packing the aisles with our luggage). Being delayed, we were afraid we would miss our train, but a man helped us from the bus all the way onto the train! He was our interpreter, negotiated a group rate for us, and was a total "God-send"! We thanked him with some Applets and Cottlets and another Seattle gift. We made it on the train with 5 minutes to spare.

I am writing from Sandra's place where Heidi and I are staying. The team is settling into their hotel and tomorrow we will be touring the Acopolis with Sandra, visiting the Foursquare Church in Athens and participating in a refugee feeding program in the afternoon and evening.

Thanks for your prayers! Rich hurt his back today and could really use a healing, so please pray for him.

Tuesday, April 4th - Final Blog

Once again, thank-you for your prayers. Rich's back was better today and he made it through the entire day. He also was able to enjoy his anniversary with Denetta. Today we went to the Acropolis with Sandra Williams, and then went to Mars Hill and read Acts 17. It was a great experience being where Paul was during that critical time in history. After some "historic" fellowship and prayer walking, we enjoyed a lunch together before going to see and hear more of Sandra's vision for the city of Athens. Later in the afternoon we went to the Foursquare Church which is the largest evangelical church in Greece. We met with the Pastor (George) for an hour and heard the amazing history and story of the ministry. Their services are translated into nine languages and the have a multi-faceted outreach to the poor and the destitute of the city -- with feeding programs, showers and haircuts for the homeless, counseling, youth outreach, and much more. They are even sending missionaries around the world. We had a rich time of prayer there and as a team. God is doing good things in us and the missionaries have all been encouraged. Tomorrow we visit Corinth and will be given an overview of Sandra's ministry to the prostitutes. We will conclude with a prayer walk. The next moring we fly out at 6 a.m. so we have to leave for the airport at 3 a.m.

Thanks again for all your prayers!!!!

Back Home!

We all made it home safely and uneventfully. I lost track of time as we flew from Athens to Frankfurt to Portland to Seattle. We've been busy catching up on sleep and look forward to sharing memories and photos together. Each member of this team made a great contribution. It was a joy travelling and ministering together.

Thank-you for your prayers and most off all I hope you will remember to pray for our missionaries and the ministries they are involved in.