The Road Home
My Friday began when Kara woke me up. “Food, Charlotte. Wake up.” It was about 5:15 a.m. London time. I had slept for an hour and we would soon land at London Heathrow airport. I stared at my plate for a while until Kara said, “Is something wrong?” In my foggy brain I was trying to understand why I wanted to be waked up for only a croissant and a cup of tea. But then I remembered I should always be grateful for food because many people in the world wake up to an empty plate. And besides, the croissant smelled wonderful, it was warm, and I had strawberry jam and orange juice to go with it.
We landed at 6:10 a.m. and had a long brisk walk to our next gate for a 7:35 a.m. flight to Vienna. Shirley rode in a wheelchair since she is using a cane to protect a painful knee. We threatened to pile all our backpacks in her lap, but thought that might be somewhat unwieldy. Surprisingly, we arrived at the gate with enough time for a devotional. What do you suppose people around us thought as Kara read scripture, shared her thoughts, and we circled up for prayer?
Finally we were on the flight to Vienna, coming ever closer to our final destination. The two hour flight was our last airplane ride. On landing we claimed our luggage, bought bus tickets to Bratislava and waited for Scott, Lisa, and Paige to arrive. Our admiration for Roger went up several notches when we got to the bus ticket office and learned he speaks fluent German.
The rest of our team members arrived about forty-five minutes later. We had seen them only yesterday, but we greeted them joyfully and now felt complete with the whole team together. It was time to get on the bus. I must say when we arrived at the bus with our twenty-two bags the driver looked dismayed. Some slept on the one hour bus ride to Bratislava, but others took in the scenery. Lisa commented that even though she had been away from Slovakia for four years, as she watched the familiar fields of sunflowers go by she felt like she was coming home.
In Bratislava we were greeted first by Stefan, the interim pastor at Trnava, and by Robert, the new district superintendent of Slovakia whom we had been with years earlier in a couple of different churches. Soon Lubos, Milos, and Lubo arrived from the Trnava church. After a lot of hugs and introductions we loaded up and were on to the last leg of our journey. Roger said later that our Slovak friends were so warm and friendly they felt like family even though it was the first time he had met them.
Shortly after checking into our hotel Palo, the youth pastor, arrived. We unpacked, rested a little, and went to the town center to have supper with him. The evening ended with a very productive and well organized team meeting. Scott and Lisa are doing a fantastic job as team leaders.
Now that we are back home with our ministry partners in Trnava our mission with the children and youth in English camp can begin.