As we arrived to the flat we were welcomed by Zsofi, and her 4 beautiful kiddos. Esti (Esther), Eliza (Elizabeth), Jonathan, and baby Augustine. Zsofi had prepared a delicious "Snow White" cake, cookies, and tea, and little Jonathan had set up a "store" out of a bench and proceeded to sell us plastic fruits and vegetables for pretend money. After a short discussion on the successes, blessings, and takeaways from the Alpha training, Ryan, Genesis, Esti, Eliza, and Jonathan played tag throughout the house. It was really great to see and hear the kids laughing and playing.
Today, we gathered together as a team and met at John's office to engage in a sort of spiritual retreat. We engaged in several exercises that challenged us and taught us ways to begin doing things such as having a daily examination and reflection to journaling to creating a time of solitude and silence all in an effort to genuinely seek God's voice and direction in our distracted and busy lives.
As I went through the exercises today, thinking about the weekend in Debrecen, one thing that kept coming was a realization of unity in Christ. God showed me that despite borders, cultures, languages, denomination, financial status, or age, that the desire to know Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit has no limits. Hallelujah!
Tonight, the ladies and Ryan went back over to the Wilson's to babysit the kids in order to give John and Zsofi a date night. Karl had not been feeling well, so he and I decided to stay back, grab some dinner and call it an early night (it's now 11:45 pm here...so much for early).
Anyhow, we tried a little spot next door and it was closed, so the front desk clerk at our hotel suggested we try another place around the corner. I won't go into too much detail other than to tell you that we were way underdressed as this was a classy joint. However, the menu prices were very affordable, so we stayed. Apparently in Hungary, you can get 5 star cuisine and service for 2 star prices. For those of you who know how much of a "foodie" I am, you'll know that Iwas a happy camper.
What I really want to share is how God watches over us and if we listen and pay attention, His love is overwhelming and tangible and real. In the restaurant, there was a duet of a violin and piano. They were great. They played everything from Hungarian folk to American rag-time. At one point, the music was so beautiful, Karl said, "this sounds almost like worship music". During the dinner, our waiter asked us what we were doing in Hungary. We explained as best we could that we were here to evangelize. He told us he was with the Reform church, and that was that.
Well, during dessert (strawberry crepes : ) ), we noticed that the piano player was playing "Our God is Greater". He actually played another recognizable worship tune before that, but Karl and I were so blown away and almost weeping (okay weeping) that we can't even remember what the first one was now. So you're probably thinking what we were thinking....the waiter tipped off the piano player to who we were and why we were here. As I mentioned, the service was impeccable, so this was not out of the question. So, we asked him. "Did you tell the piano player to play worship music for us?" His face and reaction was of genuine confusion. "No", he said. It was at that moment, we both know that were basking in the love and glory of our Great Comforter. Our God truly is Greater. It was an experience that I'll never forget. Thank you Lord Jesus! Amen.
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