Latest Adventures Part 1

We've had an eventful few days.  On Thursday the 13th, Vince McCarty, Open Bible International Ministries Director, arrived in Budapest for a couple of weeks of business and ministry in Hungary, Romania and Ukraine.  We met him at the airport and took him to Debrecen.  After lunch Friday we left for Romania. 

We had a meeting in Oradea, just over the border, with Teo Bulzan, leader of the Pentecostal Holiness Churches in Romania.  Teo has been sacrificially giving of his time and his heart to minister healing to the Open Bible Church in Gherla, functioning as its pastor for a year in addition to his other duties.  We are eternally grateful to this man of God for his help.  The meeting lasted a little over an hour, but since Pastor Teo had other business he had to attend to that evening, we went ahead of him to Gherla with plans to meet the next day.  We checked into our rooms in Gherla later that evening.

Pastor Teo Bulzan

Saturday, the three of us went to the mall in Cluj to walk around a bit and visit the Starbucks there.  While we were sipping our drinks at Starbucks, who should walk in but Pastor Teo!  He had stopped on his way to Gherla for a coffee, but since the line was too long, we all decided to go back to Gherla for the meetings scheduled for that afternoon.  By the time our meetings were done, we could not find an open restaurant, so we went back to eat at the hotel's restaurant.  Guests were arriving for a wedding reception that filled the entire restaurant, but we were offered our choice of either beef or chicken with potatoes and salad. We ate at a table set up in the hotel lobby. The meal was delicious and appeared to be what was served to the wedding reception guests, too.  The reception, however, lasted until about six in the morning, so none of us slept well due to the noise, but we had a good breakfast and headed for the church service.

The service was a wonderful celebration of how God has grown and strengthened the church in the past year and a half.  A new assistant pastor was installed and prayed over.  Daniel will serve as assistant for a year under Pastor Teo's supervision and leadership.  Immediately after the service, some other business was handled and then we went to Daniel's home for a delicious lunch.  We couldn't stay long because Vince was scheduled to preach in Oradea, in Teo's church that evening.
 

Pastor Teo Bulzan (left) and Vince McCarty (right) praying over Daniel

 We arrived in Oradea in time to quickly freshen up, pray with the worship team, and find our places in the sanctuary. It was thrilling to worship with hundreds of Romanians and to join in the prayer for the children who were to begin school the next day. Vince honored Pastor Teo during the service for his ministry in Gherla.

Vince presenting Pastor Teo with a gift in appreciation for his ministry in Gherla

We arrived back in Debrecen about 9 pm our time.  We noticed, though, that the water heater wasn't working, but we were all so tired, we decided to call the landlady about it the next day.