After a regulatory bowl of porridge and several cups of coffee for breakfast, it was a short walk down into the city centre to visit the Street Food Festival that is happening in Oradea over this weekend. It is all part of an annual event that celebrates the freedom of the city after Facist occupation and they have free open air concerts and various street artists performing. There has been a lot of development in the town centre over the last few years with old buildings being give a face-lift and new pedestrian areas constructed. It's all looking very European. They still have trams which run from the centre to the outskirts of the city and add a touch of nostalgia. As part of the developments new mains water pipes are being laid in the roads which is causing much disruption for traffic.

Cars turn down roads only to find that their progress is curtailed by a deep trench and confusion follows as some cars try to squeeze through whilst others turn around. Some roads have been halved as one side is dug up but two-way traffic continues on the remaining half - again causing some confusion and much pipping of horns and waving of hands. It's surprising how thin cars and trucks can become if the need arises!

In the city centre the food stalls and trailers were setting up and customers were beginning to appear. The senses were stirred by the sights and smells of food being cooked  and thankfully the sun shone on everything and everyone, There was a children's area with large bean bags that seemed to be occupied by more adults than children who stretched out and relaxed whilst the children were doing activities in the tent.

In the afternoon Andy was speaking at the Gypsy Youth day-conference that has been sponsored by DT. There were around 120 young people from the Transylvanian region. Andy spoke about finding our identity in Christ and at the end, Pastor John invited the young people to respond and make Christ Lord of their lives. It was good to see some 10 young people step out to the front. Please pray for these and other young people in the Gypsy Church as they face many challenges and changes within the Gypsy communities. The Church is growing fast and many of the leaders are relatively new believers. Next Saturday DT has sponsored another day conference for these leaders and Andy will be speaking there also.

Tomorrow Andy and Sorin will be speaking at three churches - two Pentecostal and one Baptist. Once again, thank you for your prayers and encouragements. Please continue to stand with us.