Oradea

 Thursday we drove to Oradea, a city about three and a half hours from our home in Gherla, to do some Inste business.  Our group is preparing to begin studying the third Inste book, Old Testament, so we decided to pick the books up in person and spend a bit of time with the Romanian Inste Director, Timotei Bulzan.  It was great to encourage one another in making disciples using Inste.

Discussing Inste with Timotei outside over lunch

Beautiful view from the picnic tables at the top of the mountain pass on the way to Oradea.

The trip was not only for business.  We also took some time to enjoy the area.  Thursday afternoon we walked through the old town of Oradea and then splurged on a hotel for the evening.

Pastors Simi and Gabi Hosu invited us to join them on Friday and Saturday to tour a couple of caves in Șuncuiuș, not far from Oradea.  Our friend Pastor Teo Bulzan is from this area and we stayed at his church's retreat center there.

Friday we toured a small cave that was accessible only by a swinging bridge over the river.  The cave was good, but the swinging bridge was the best part.

The swinging bridge over the river.

We made it across!

 That evening, we stopped by Teo's family farm and watched them harvest potatoes.  We helped a little bit and were rewarded with delicious fresh French fries for lunch the next day.

Even the little ones helped harvest potatoes.

Saturday we toured another cave that is accessible only by foot or by train.  We decided to hike the 45 minutes to the cave. 

We walked along the river and by the railroad tracks to the cave.

 Romania is a beautiful country with beautiful people and we enjoyed the couple days we were able to explore new areas.  May God bless this country with a mighty spiritual revival!