07 May 2011

day three ...

really comfy bed, really fitful sleep. could have been the stray dogs barking outside, or the roosters crowing at an unnaturally early hour. decided to skip the run this morning.

excellent 'peasant omelette' here at the
Pensiunea Scorillo followed by a ride with Pastor Marian to Trinity Pentecostal Church in Bacau. some 30 participants came for the conference, representing six different churches and several different denominations. i bet you that there was only three people over 40, and the majority were in their twenties. what a great demographic for church leadership.

i thought that it would be challenging to fill six hours of teaching time, but a few small group breakouts were included, and once you calculate translation time - budda bing budda boom! - you find that you actually run over time by the end of the day. there were great conversations and questions - and some touchy areas (ooh, that women in leadership issue!) - but all in all very encouraging and very satisfying for us all. i think that we were challenged to take seriously the post-modern world (be it western or eastern) as we reformulate how to communicate who Jesus is and what is the Gospel message.

dinner ended up being a repeat of lunch (but who's complaining?), as there was a good bit of food leftover. i got to indulge in what may be one of Romania's true national sports - table tennis - with Daniel, who has a ping pong ministry. the only reason that i ended up besting him in a game (unless he let me win) was that for the most part he was in a shirt, tie, had a security card and lanyard around his neck and was talking on his cell phone at the same time as he was pummeling topspin backhands.

arriving back at the hotel by 7:20pm, i decided to cram in that run that i skipped this morning. so i set out for a 14.9k run ... only i got lost.

in the rural Romanian countryside.

with stray dogs chasing me for at least a half a kilometre.

19.5km later, i found my way back to the hotel.

a shower and a skype chat with some of the ladies back home and i'm ready to chow down on the chocolate covered cookies that Daniel bought for me (the spoils of ping-pong victory, i guess). then it's off to bed, and a preaching morning at Trinity Church in Bacau.


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