Adventures in Austria

I will always remember my first day and night in Austria. (f you want to know why, you should ask me to email you my Europe journal from last year.) I knew that my visit this year would be very different. Oh sure, same place, but different people. And it was different - but not disappointing. :)

Since I booked all my plane tickets separately from the RC team, I arrived in Vienna, Austria, four hours before the group. I was supposed to sit in the airport and wait for them, but I instead I found Matt Edwards (our contact in Hungary) with Richy and Fruzsi (Hungarian friends) waiting for me in the airport! I was so confused! I didn't really piece together what was happening for a few minutes, but eventually we figured it out. Matt, after receiving the flight info I sent via email, thought that I was flying into Vienna and would be in Hungary for two days before the team arrived. (Vienna, by the way, is an hour and half from Tatabánya, Hungary.) So Matt came to pick me up... but in actuality, the team and I were about to head into Austria for two days and visit our Torchbearer schools there, THEN head to Hungary by train. Yeah... So that was confusing. But we got it all figured out eventually! Since I still had four hours to kill while I waited for the team to arrive, Matt and the others took me into Vienna and we visited a castle/palace place. It was pretty sweet.

Then Matt dropped me back off at the airport and I waited for the team. They arrived soon thereafter and we ran to catch our bus (just barely made it!). God provided an awesome opportunity for one of the girls (Kate) on the team to share the Gospel with the guy next to her. It was not a forced conversation; rather, he asked questions that led straight to the heart of the matter. Later, on the train, Kate and I talked about that and many other things. The conversation opened up a much deeper friendship for the two of us. I am thankful, because I wanted to spend some time with Kate since she arrived at Ravencrest. I was sorry that I moved back to California before we had a chance to talk. Kate does have a heart of platinum (Frank and I discussed this in Hungary), so you can imagine how neat it was to talk with her for a while.

We all arrived at Schloss Klaus late and went to bed soon after. I wandered through the castle first, and reminisced about my time there last year. Then I talked with the girls, and fell into a night of delicious slumber.

The next day was a delight. We woke up, ate breakfast, and walked to the station to catch our train to Schladming. The highlight of the day was our visit to the other Austrian Torchbearer center, Tauernhof. We ate lunch, had coffee at Tauernhof, kicked back for a few hours, then headed back to Schloss Klaus.

That evening the students put on a program for the Schloss Klaus students, and all went well. I was, however, a bit down. One of the guys unwittingly said something that hit a deep insecurity of mine. That carried over to the next day, but God faithfully reminded me that my security lies in Him. :) What a loving Lord.

I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting several students at Schloss Klaus. No, there were not deeply kindred spirits, but there were students there who were overflowing with the life of Jesus Christ.

When we left for Hungary on Wednesday, March 16th. My conversations with the girls (on the team) during the train rides and at Schloss Klaus made me eager to continue ministering together in Hungary. Each of them is so special to me, so I am thankful for the two days in Austria when I had conversations with Becky, Mauri, Sarah and Jacque. I had no idea that these conversations were preparation for an even deeper bond that was yet to come through trial in Hungary.