Is it the end of the week already?

What’s the saying? “Time flies when you’re having fun!” How about this: “Time flies when you’re on a mission trip!” Allow me to recap the past couple days…

After posting my last entry from Teo’s house (Tuesday morning), we stayed at his house for a bit and shared some good fellowship time (or, as I call it sometimes, we were shooting the breeze). However, as lunch fast approached, we split up to go to 3 different homes. I can’t say enough just how welcoming, accepting and hospitable these people are. Of course, they’re Romanian, so that explains it! :D

Originally, I was going to be joining a family nearby for lunch. However, as the husband was still at work, this would have left me alone with the wife and little daughter…not a good thing. So, Christina came with me, and I’m glad she did. This not only gave accountability but also allowed her to translate to and for me. We shared a lot of stories and I was able to share some of the pics that I had taken. And, of course, the food was great. We had a meat and cheese plate to start, followed by home-made chicken, potatoes and mushrooms. But, the best part was the dessert…homemade crêpes! Apparently, it was her mother’s recipe, and a good one it was too.

However, the time came that we had to leave, as the Bible study was starting at 6 and I was leading. Again, this was for the youth of the church (teens to 20’s). So, after giving my warmest thanks, Christina and I left and walked back to the church. Thankfully, like in Romania, everything is just a short walk away. We managed to arrive “on time”, which means we were a little late by American time but on time by Romanian time. :)

We started off with worship and prayer. I still have a hard time of knowing when to sit and stand, as we stand during worship and sit during prayer but they do the opposite, for the most part. So, my reactions are still a little delayed, but oh well. Vergie gave her testimony about how God is able to do more than most people think possible. This was a powerful message indeed, as many were moved by it and Pastor Luca (the head pastor of the church here in Castellón) wants her to give it again on Sunday morning. Afterwards, thanks to Teo’s suggestion, we split everyone up into groups to answer the three main questions I wanted to cover for the night regarding what it means to be in the family of God. It was great to hear the answers that everyone had, as it gave me more insight into who they are and where they are in their walk with Christ. Needless to say, we had a very good discussion.

Originally, we had planned to go to the beach afterwards. However, due to the rain and the wind, Teo decided to order some pizzas and open up another part of the church for everyone. This gave us an opportunity to mingle with everyone throughout the night, which was great. However, we had some time to burn between my message and when the pizzas arrived, so Rich decided to talk with everyone about their church and encourage them to be active in the direction of the church.

Now on to the next day. As was mentioned before, Vergie was being encouraged to see a doctor, and praise God she did. So, while Helen, Vergie and Rich went to see what was going on, I went with Joanne, Naomi and Christina to explore the city (and the ladies decided to do some shopping as well). So, I managed to get a lot of great pictures of Castellón. I'll post them on Facebook for you all to see.

Afterwards, we went out to Peñiscola, a city north of Castellón. There, we had lunch just before visiting the castle there. This castle was used by Benedict XIII after his exile and was the site of the beginning of the Spanish inquisition. And, yes, I got pictures. I'll need to post the links to the albums in Facebook. Afterwards, Teo treated us to ice cream from one of the local stores. 4 words: melon and chocolate orange. YUM!! :D Apparently, I'm not the only one that likes those. Teo and Manuel had melon as well and Joanne tried the chocolate orange, which she seemed to like.

We came back to Teo's only to leave for dinner again. I can now say that I've had McDonald's in another country. Priscilia had come home the night before and was back at work...for McDonalds. So, we visited her and supported the McD's she works at. And all this before church last night.

This was our first service that we attended while we have been here in Spain. However, it was strangely familiar. This is because it is a Romanian church, so it was very similar to the services we attended in Sibiu. However, we were not the only guests, as another Pastor from one of the neighboring churches was there as well and did a couple of songs for the congregation. Afterwards, Rich delivered a great message (again :P ) on unity in the Body of Christ. This really struck a chord with the congregation, as this is something they are striving to work for with the other churches.

Afterwards, we came back to Teo and Priscilia's house to do some late-night posting and such (or, in my case, a very important phone call ;) ). Shortly after, we called it a night, said our goodnights to everyone and turned in for the evening.

This brings us to today. We are at Teo & Priscilia's right now posting and such before lunch. Tonight, I will be delivering a message on obedience before getting baptized in the Mediterranean. Needless to say this is a big day for us all. Have a wonderful day everyone and I'll post again soon.