Fortunately Unfortunate

I sure do appreciate everyone’s prayers.

I felt kind of sure that the foreign police would handle my case this past week but it’s the end of the day on Friday and we’ve still received no word. I can’t imagine it will take any longer than the beginning of next week.

Unfortunately, last week I couldn’t have imagined it taking longer than this week.

In the meantime, some interesting things have happened.

One of the main reasons I ended up coming to Croatia (instead of Ukraine, which is closer) is that I was able to make arrangements through Katka Dohnalova, who along with her husband and children are missionaries in Croatia. I thought it might be helpful to be in a place where someone who understands my situation will be there if I need some help.

On Sunday I visited the church where Juraj (Katka’s husband) is the pastor. Afterwards they invited me to their home for the afternoon and we had a great time getting to know each other.

Fortunately, at the end of the afternoon they offered that if I end up being here longer than Friday (today), then I can stay at their place. That was a great relief because the expense of my stay was one of my lingering worries.

Unfortunately, today I found out that on Monday Juraj had an accident while performing some repairs around the home. A foam he was using to fill a gap around a door caught fire and he received second degree burns on his legs, part of one arm, and his nose.

Fortunately, they were able to put out the fire and he’s now doing OK considering the seriousness of his injuries. Also, the doctors say there is no threat of infection and he will not require any skin grafts.

Unfortunately, because of their circumstances, it seemed best to me to stay on in my current location, even though I would have to continue to pay for my lodgings.

So this morning I talked with my host. Fortunately, before I even mentioned anything about Juraj, he said I should stay on here without paying anything.

Wow!

This afternoon I went to visit Juraj in the hospital. When I talked with his wife earlier I asked, “Who’s preaching on Sunday?” I didn’t want to right out offer to preach but if they needed someone then I thought that would be enough to let them know I was willing. It turns out they do need it. It’s a small church and it’s not easy to get someone to preach on such short notice. So on Sunday I’ll be preaching at their church in Rovinj.

Fortunately, one of the things I did this week was prepare a sermon that I will be preaching in Banská Bystrica on Sunday, September 25.

That is, if I’m back to Slovakia on time.