Mathew and I got home last night from Budapest. We took the night train on Friday with Clint and arrived in Budapest around 9 am Saturday morning. Peter Gal picked us up from the train station. He told us that we were invited to go to another town two hours south of Budapest for church, and we decided to go for it since we'll be in Budapest for church with Paul and Joan in two weeks.
Peter showed us around the city. We saw the print shop he owns and runs, the castle district and the catacombs, a fort at a lookout point, the Parliament building, and many other attractions around the city. We ate at a McDonalds owned by a brother from church. Unfortunately, he was out of town, but we will meet him in three weeks.
At four, we left for the other town (Baja). Upon arrival, we went and ate supper at someone's home and then went to the church for a singing. Afterwards, Matt, Clint, and I went with a group of kids to someone else's house to talk and have snacks. We all stayed at different people's homes that night.
On Sunday we went to another church five minutes away from Baja. The service started at nine with a song, the minister went up and had a silent prayer over the Bible, then had the service (we had an interpreter). Only one minister spoke. He read out of the New Testament first, had a prayer, then read out of the Old Testament. At about 9:40, he sat down, we sang a few songs, had a prayer (the prayers are given by brothers specially chosen to pray). The non-members were dismissed before greetings were given (a tradition like closed testimonies which began in an attempt to keep government spies out). There was an hour break, then we sang for about an hour.
At about noon, everyone went home for lunch. We went with Peter to his brother-in-law's house where we feasted. From there, we drove around the city and saw a few points of interest before dropping Clint off at the bus station so he could catch a ride back to Budapest so he could be back in Prague in time for work on Monday.
At four, we were back at church for the afternoon service. It was held the same way as the morning. The service ended at five, and we were dismissed for a time before having another40 minute singing. After that, we had supper and talked before a final singing that lasted almost an hour and a half.
Peter showed us around the city. We saw the print shop he owns and runs, the castle district and the catacombs, a fort at a lookout point, the Parliament building, and many other attractions around the city. We ate at a McDonalds owned by a brother from church. Unfortunately, he was out of town, but we will meet him in three weeks.
At four, we left for the other town (Baja). Upon arrival, we went and ate supper at someone's home and then went to the church for a singing. Afterwards, Matt, Clint, and I went with a group of kids to someone else's house to talk and have snacks. We all stayed at different people's homes that night.
On Sunday we went to another church five minutes away from Baja. The service started at nine with a song, the minister went up and had a silent prayer over the Bible, then had the service (we had an interpreter). Only one minister spoke. He read out of the New Testament first, had a prayer, then read out of the Old Testament. At about 9:40, he sat down, we sang a few songs, had a prayer (the prayers are given by brothers specially chosen to pray). The non-members were dismissed before greetings were given (a tradition like closed testimonies which began in an attempt to keep government spies out). There was an hour break, then we sang for about an hour.
At about noon, everyone went home for lunch. We went with Peter to his brother-in-law's house where we feasted. From there, we drove around the city and saw a few points of interest before dropping Clint off at the bus station so he could catch a ride back to Budapest so he could be back in Prague in time for work on Monday.
At four, we were back at church for the afternoon service. It was held the same way as the morning. The service ended at five, and we were dismissed for a time before having another40 minute singing. After that, we had supper and talked before a final singing that lasted almost an hour and a half.
We'd heard rumors about the wonderful singing, and we were not disappointed. For all the first singings, it was really good, but nothing too earth shattering. For that last hour and a half, though, they turned it up a notch. It was among the best singing I've ever heard. When someone selects a song, they will have certain parts be solos, duets, or men/women only. They usually sing two verses of a song, and the selector will pick which verses to sing. A brother stood in front during the singing conducting to keep tempo, while a sister accompanied on the organ.
We took off right after church ended at nine. We were back to Budapest around eleven, and slept until eight. The plans were to see several other sights on Monday and head back to Prague on Tuesday, but the places we wanted to visit were either closed or sold out, so we ended up coming back on Monday evening. Whoever it was that told us after we went to Hungary we'd want to go back was right! We're both ready to head back!
2 comments:
So thankful you got to be in Hungary and spend time there. Sounds wonderful! And the pictures are awesome! Love and prayers ~ Mom and Dad
"We ate at a McDonalds owned by a brother from church" that brother came to visit Magdalena once...he's nice. :]
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