We are waiting for the grand finale of the Oradea Party to come. There will be a final concert in the city centre followed by fireworks at 11pm. We were down there last night, Sorin, his daughter and Andy mixing with the crowds, taking in the atmosphere as thousands of people gathered in the city centre. Having linked Sorin's daughter up with her friend and her family, we hung around for the headline band to come on stage. The food stalls were all busy with long queues getting caught up with the passing crowds. After about half an hour, getting colder and tireder, and no sign of the band, we called it a night and made their way home.

This morning we were at Speranta (Hope) Pentecostal Church. We were given a warm welcome  by the pastor and led into the main auditorium. They meet in a large round building that seats around 1000 people and at 9am they have an hour of prayer and Bible time. Four or five short encouragements from the Bible are give by different leaders and then each one is followed by a time of prayer where everyone prays out loud all at the same time. A very efficient way to pray! None of this one-by-one with long silences. Maybe we should adopt this approach in the UK. The main service runs from 10-12noon. Today there was the dedication of a baby with a song from his dad, a testimony and song from a visiting couple from Holland plus a regular time of praise and worship. Then Sorin shared about the work of Path of Life Association and Andy spoke from the book of Nehemiah about the importance of working together to do the work that the Lord has given us - helping to rebuild broken lives. We handed out leaflets encouraging people to get involved in the work and had a few good conversations with some who were interested to know more.

In the afternoon we were at the Gypsy Baptist Church which had been re-scheduled to allow Andy to speak before we dashed across the city to Betania Pentecostal Church. This is a new contact with another impressive building.

The roof is a glass arch stretching the length of the main auditorium (think Lakeside shopping centre) and there is tiered seating on two levels on three sides of an impressive stage area. The band led the singing competently and sensitively with times of open prayer interspersed with songs and encouragements.

Four members of our Path of Life team were with us and after Sorin had spoken about the work, they joined him on the stage to sing a song and share a testimony. Then Andy preached on the need for grace-filled Christians focussing on the examples of Jonah and the older brother in Luke 15 - both of whom found it difficult to show grace to others. It was a lively preach and well received. Afterwards we joined with others in the basement hall for pizza and drinks. It was a good end to a blessed day. 

Now for the fireworks!

Tomorrow we start our teaching in Emanuel University - morning classroom work and afternoon placements in the prison, a homeless centre and a children's centre. Please pray for us.