Hello and thank you to everyone back home who is helping support our trip through prayer and financial support. Also, thank you for taking the time to keep up with the trip while we are away. We flew through the night to Vienna, and then drove to Heiligenkreuz, Austria. We arrived just in time for dinner, a day later than when we left from Savannah. The team here at Haus Edelweiss has shown us much wisdom and much kindness, in giving enough time for our bodies to catch up to the time difference; we crashed immediately after our meal.
On day two, we got to visit Vienna, before starting our intensive work of serving the students here in Austria. I asked Pat Pickering, one of the ladies on our team, to share a story from our time in Vienna:
Today as we strolled through the Nasch Markt (an open market full of food and spices), I witnessed an elderly homeless lady sitting on the hard concrete. There were people shopping at the market & dining at various restaurants and they all seemed not to notice her despair.
As I dropped a few euros into her cup, I attempted to speak with her. I discovered quickly she did not speak any English, but as I held her hand ever so briefly she said “God bless you” – the universal language of Christians.
My personal thought at that very moment was God has blessed me and God put me in this moment to feel compassion for her. He blessed me so that I could pass along my blessings to her & I know in that brief moment she felt the same thing I did: love one another.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Matthew 25:34-40
Every moment of our lives, regardless of location, we want to be attentive and available to serve God. Whether we are cooking, cleaning, sight-seeing, or back home driving in carpool, we want God to find us ready and willing to obey his call. Thank you again for your prayers and your love.
– Sean Ihrig
Associate Worship Pastor
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