Bratislava on Thursday

Thursday in Bratislava:
Forgot to tell you about Tuesday night in Kosice. I received a call Tuesday afternoon asking if I would speak at a meeting for young people ages 15-24 when I arrived in Kosice. I was honored to be asked and accepted quickly. I then spent the rest of the afternoon and the flight time getting ready to speak. I don’t like “canned messages” because I believe in divine appointments. Even if I am speaking on something I have spoken on before, I believe our dynamic God has something specific to say to those who will be listening. I was excited and nervous about this opportunity.
We were greeted at the airport by our driver, one of Miro’s best friends, who whisked into his car and onto the highway. Our plane arrived at 7:15 and the meeting had started at 6 so we were off to the races. We were hitting amazing speeds and one time I think the Kia went up on two wheels as we rounded a steep curve! Needless to say, my prayer life was becoming more and more intimate during this journey. One time we slowed down to about 40 k/m over the speed limit from the 60 to 80 k/m we were exceeding it because it was an area where the police hung out! We arrived at the church about 5 minutes after we had walked off the plane and I was taken to the platform. There was a pretty good crowd of some excited young men and women and I had an amazing time as I spoke through my interpreter Val for about 30 to 40 minutes. I used John 6—the story of feeding 5000 families—and focused on making sure you position yourself to be heard. One next generation leader in that passage of Scripture made sure he was in a place to be heard and Jesus used what that boy had to change the world that day. Heaven wants to hear your voice so you can touch Heaven and change earth.
It was a great evening and a great honor. Afterwards we shared a great meal with Miro, an amazing leader here in Kosice, at his favorite restaurant and took a long walk through this beautiful city center. We encouraged each other about the plans God has for all of us, stirred up dreams about changing our cities, our countries and the world, and just had a great time—a band of brothers who did not even know each other a short while ago and now were joined together by God in a great adventure.
Today we flew back to Bratislava. Lukas headed off to the next conference city—HK—and Danny and I checked into our hotel. Pastor Pasho of Bratislava City Church dropped us off in the Old City and we set out exploring this beautiful place. The first mention of this city in literature was in the year 907 and the castle here has foundations dating back that far. We bought a walking tour book and spent the afternoon exploring history. Then the real adventure began as we decided to use the metro system of trams and buses to make our way back across the city to our hotel. Nothing is written in English. With the help of one young man at the first stop who could speak a little English and a lot of “sign” language, we found our way to Tram #13 which took us to the main train station. After taking a pit stop at the toilet—which we found out was a pay toilet as the attendant chased us into it screaming at us with his hand out—we got on Bus #61 to the airport and 20 stops later got off at the shopping park which is across the street from our hotel. We zipped into the shopping park to purchase a drink and a Magnum—the best ice cream I have ever eaten. Lukas introduced us to them last night in Kosice and Danny is trying to figure out how to get them back to the states without melting.
We will find a place for dinner tonight, Pasho will pick us up at 7:30 in the morning to get to the bus station. There we will catch the 8AM bus to Vienna airport, board a plane for Paris, and then onto Atlanta and home to VR. What a trip. Leaders were trained, connections were made and dreams downloaded from God that will affect our world, here and in VR, for years to come. Can’t wait to get home and share them with you.