A Certain Woman in Eastern Europe

Edith, Arden and I fly out to Amsterdam tomorrow morning and then train to Rotterdam for this conference: http://www.trinevents.com/ The last large European Conference I attended was in 2000. Over 6,000 attendees from the nations will attend. Joining the 3 of us are a missionary friend of Arden's from England and our long time friend Carol G who will arrive from South Africa. She drives in from Germany with a friend of her's. Just the 6 of us are 3 nations living in 4 other nations! We all are looking forward to the worship with people gathered from "every tongue, every tribe, every nation", practicing what it will be like when we are gathered around His throne in heaven! After the conference, Edith and I will visit friends and do some sight seeing and LOTS of picture taking.

Tanya Person at ICB - International Church of Budapest New Mexican food in Budapest - MJ w/Person children, Bethany, David, Tiana, Jennifer and friend, Richard Maiden Tanya and "her girls", Bethany, Jennifer and Tiana. Jim was in Armenia teaching for Ellel Ministries.

What a great weekend! Ed & Syble drove down to Szeged on Friday with Edith and I and ministered for ICF. It was a beautiful weekend and we had a lively time in worship, thanks Erik! Syble shared some of her testimony with us, and Ed was so good, as always. We had a really special time of prayer first and the Hoy Spirit was present. In Debrecen on Saturday night , again the presence of God was strong with people responding. On Sunday I was in Budapest for service there and again wonderful worship, teaching and the Holy Spirit's presence. God is on the move in Hungary!!

Silver holders of tea and coffee, served on train. Garages of Zhitomer This is art :-) Opportunity to shop on the roadside in the mountains of Transcarpathia, Ukraine

The trip to Ukraine April 15 - 22 was filled with wonderful fellowship, reuniting with dear friends and visiting some missionaries and churches. I traveled by car to Zhitomer , marshutka (small bus) to Kiev and overnight train from Kiev to Mukachevo and van to Uzghorod . The weather varied from cold rain and winds to pleasant sunny weather. I was blessed to go to the opera and see a ballet, too. Kiev is so big and sprawling it makes Budapest seem like a small, quiet town. One of the delightful spring customs in the villages is to repaint your fence and your trees before Easter. We were surprised to see that the trees in Kiev were also being painted....by the military! Sunday, April 27 is Orthodox Easter and I want to wish my many Ukrainian friends a very Happy Easter! He is risen, He is risen, indeed!!

At the Opera House in Kiev, where we saw a ballet An official building in Kiev

In Kiev A cosmonaut in Zhitomer One of the statues of Lenin in Zhitomer In Kiev

Sherry with her souvenir selling friend in Kiev who encouraged us to jump in the Dneper River in Jan for our health Sherry, Jack, Ellen, MJ, Moira and Fred in Mukachevo standing in front of Cyril and Methodias. Missionaries past and present. C & M brought Christianity to Ukraine 1,000 yrs ago. Jack, Ellen and Moira are Scottish and on a short term mission trip to Ukraine, Fred and Sherry full time missionaries. Fred in Mukachevo, Sherry in Kiev. Cyril and Methodius also brought the cyrillic alphabet to Ukraine. Tammy and Lena with Max, Kostya and Nikita in Zhitomer Sergey and Lasma in Kiev. Sergey is now head of the newly active Christian Political Party. Lasma is heading up the new church they started Mary Jill with Pastor Lena and her daughter Olga at the market in Zhitomer. Lena is Pastor of the Open Bible Church there and she and Olga work in the INSTE office.

Washing, mopping, pruning, planting as well as trying to catch up on this blog, send quarterly reports to you and packing for tomorrow's early morning 15 hr drive to visit missionary friends and visit churches in Zhitomer and Kiev. I am so, glad it is a sunny, breezy day so the laundry dries quickly. I will need to pack some of those things. Tammy is in Romania today, Edith will do the planting, the handyman has arrived got to run!

Notice the Eastern European method of carrying heavy items - canvas sling over the shoulder and under the old refrigerator. Our refrig was found dead Sat am and by Sunday we purchased a new one and Monday morning it was delivered. What a blessing that delivery of new and removal of old was included in purchase price.

Edith and I were enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon at home when the phone call came that our Ellel friends who were returning from a ministry trip in Romania were driving through Debrecen. Could we meet them to celebrate Geta's birthday? Being spontaneous we got together a birthday card and present, plates and forks, (they had the cake) and headed to McDonalds. Here is a picture of Geta with her special Italian cake and a photo of MJ, Sharon, Edith, Geta and Tanya. Gordon also was on the team and he graciously took the "Chick Flick".

This polar bear loves April in Debrecen

I received the most amazing sms (text message) on my phone this week. I had thought to blog it on the day but really need to now. It is the kind of message you never thought you'd see. My friend Erin wrote from Budapest "I just saw a POLAR BEAR cross Andrassy ut! not in a cage, but loose! Wow!" I wondered if the bear was going to TGIF's, or the Opera or just out for a stroll in this beautiful weather. I hoped Erin had her camera handy and kept checking her blog (which needs updating :-). Also, checked internet news sources and found an alligator causing traffic problems in Florida but no one had heard about the bear. It was only yesterday I discovered the message came in on Tuesday....April 1!! and guess who the April fool was?? That was a good one, Erin. Hmmmmm, now how many people did I tell about that sms??