All roads lead to Rome (via Torre Pellice...!)

We're on our way to Rome! After a small problem with the van this morning (no petrol!) and only a few hours sleep for most of us, we left Austria behind and began the long journey of toll roads to Italy...It took a long, hot 12 hours before we arrived just in time for dinner with an OM couple - Matt and Rose, at their house in Torre Pellice. Now we'll set off again in just 3 hours time (3am) to begin the second part of our journey to Rome, ready to begin the conference tomorrow evening...

So long...farewell, it's time to say Adieu....

This is our last night in Austria, and we can't quite believe how fast these three weeks have gone! Austria always seemed like such a long way away: our penultimate country, and now we leave for Rome in four hours!

Our time in Austria has been beautiful in more ways than one. Austria is a beautiful country and a balanced schedule has given us chance to enjoy this. We have loved swimming in Austria's lakes and climbing its hills. We've also enjoyed some excellent food during our time here, and can heartily commend Austrian barbecues having had about 6 of them during our stay!

Each week here has had a different focus. During our first week we had some cultural training and worked with a local church in Linz. We did some street outreach: talking to people as well as connecting them to the local church through invitations. It was an encouragement to see a Nepali family we invited come to an event run by the church and get connected with people in the church who could speak Nepali.
















The children's programme we ran at the Sunday evangelistic service...



In our second week we worked with a different church alongside a short-term team from Finland. We helped the church run a three day event called 'Parkfest' in a local park...This was a fantastic opportunity to connect with the local people - especially since lots of the people came from the Balkan countries we had just visited...Lots of Kosovo and Bosnia flags were face painted! Each day around 60 children came to the park to play games, do craft activities, eat cake, play football, and hopefully build up relationships with the local church members.

At the end of the week we had the opportunity to run the church youth group for around 20 teenagers. Our theme was 'Where do you put your trust?' and Toni had the chance to give the message (for the first time...)

Our final week was spent working with the beginning of a church plant in a nearby town. Again we talked to local people and tried to build up awareness of the church's presence in the town. We were encouraged by how open and willing to talk people were.

One of the hardest things in Austria has been the heat - so...naturally, we found an excellent way to cool down!!

The hills are alive...

The 27th June was a special day for our team, for two reasons....First of all, we would be leaving Sarajevo behind and driving all the way to Austria to begin our next three weeks of ministry, and secondly, it was the day that Germany would play England in the World Cup...Having three Brits and one German on the team the tension was high all through the journey...each person convinced that their own country would win (though the Brits were slightly less convinced)...The Australian was also hoping England would win - (which could have been something to do with a previous Germany v Australia game...)

We figured that now Wanda was better, we could do the journey in 10 hours easily...However, as it approached 4pm and we were only just approaching the Slovenian border we realised that we would have to just imagine what was happening on the pitch...Stopping at a petrol station in Slovenia we managed to catch the last two minutes of the game, and wish we hadn't - 4-1...! The Brits had been defeated....

However...some more good news was about to follow...as soon as we entered Austria we were able to reconnect again with our Navi-man...The last time we heard from him was in Germany and I don't think that he was happy about being kept in a box for the last 3 months. But let me introduce him properly - his name is Daniel and he is very British. He's quite a sensitive guy and doesn't like it when we make fun of his pronunciation of Austrian street names. He's not so up to date with the short cuts just yet but he has been kept in a box for a while so maybe he's just readjusting to working again. He has a Navi-partner, whose name is Emily, but she always sounds annoyed so we are just sticking with Daniel for the time being. We are very grateful for his return to the van and feel like he has become an eigth member of the team...

Toni reconnecting with Daniel

Our journey took a total of around 15 hours, passing through Croatia and Slovenia before we arrived in Linz, Austria, where we will be until 18th July.

Bosnian Coffee...

One of the first things we were introduced to when we arrived in Bosnia was Bosnian coffee. This wasn't popular amongst the team as it's quite strong, and there is amusing evidence of our reactions to it earlier on our blog. However, as we experienced more of Bosnia we saw how significant a part coffee plays in the Bosnian culture. We discovered that Bosnians have a strong café culture. The culture here is very much relational, and this is reflected in the amount of time spent in coffee shops; it seems that Bosnians can make a cup of coffee last for hours. Consequently, coffee shops are actually a vital part of OM Bosnia's ministry, and we were able to also experience this during our stay here. When we were first told that we would be going to local coffee shops with the specific purpose of talking to people I was privately filled with dread. I find building a connection with strangers very difficult, and when I imagined going to a coffee shop expressly to talk to strangers I imagined a coffee shop in England. If I were to sit down next to a stranger in an English coffee shop and try to talk to them, they would probably think I was quite strange, and I would feel deeply uncomfortable. However, I underestimated the relational nature of Bosnian culture. People were so eager to talk to us, and so friendly, it was actually really enjoyable, and I experienced a first: having a lengthy, deep conversation with a stranger. It was such a good insight into how OM Bosnia operates and one of the many times on Transit when I have been able to experience local culture in a way I never could as a tourist. (Amy Woods)

Bosnia...

Bosnia is split into two different parts - one being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is made up of mainly Bosniaks and the other being Republika Srpska, which is made up of mainly Serbians. The border of these two parts runs through Sarajevo. During one of our prayer walks we were able to walk from the Federation of Bosnia into the Republika Srpska. There is still lots of division between these two parts and we were able to spend time praying for reconciliation.

One of our activities during our time in Bosnia was 'Community Time' on an open grass area near to the high street. Each day we went down to this field and did a programme for the local children - Bible stories, drama, games, craft, face painting and balloon modelling. We loved going down and just spending time with the children - especially the gypsy children that came along as we would often see them in the town during the week.

The kids especially liked being face painted as tigers!

As well as the community time on the field, our other main area of ministry was to meet people and talk to them. This could be done quite easily on the street or in one of the many coffee shops.

The World Cup was a great conversation starter! Here is Hannah and Lisa with one of the girls they met on the street...

Fancy a cuppa?

We heard from many people that Bosnia is a coffee drinking culture, and the team wasted no time in introducing us to Bosnian coffee - This wasn't even the full strength drink - I just hope that they like their tea too!!

We will be in Bosnia until 27th June...

Climb every mountain...

Journeys in Wanda have become one of the highlights of Transit Challenge! Just before this journey from Kosovo to Bosnia Wanda was a little sick...not knowing that much about car mechanics, all I know is that the bit that holds the front wheels together wasn't in a good condition! Thankfully, there was a garage in Peja we could take it to and so Toni and Adam spent the whole of their day off fixing her up, ready to drive to Bosnia the following day! (I'm pleased to report that Wanda is now in perfectly good health!!)


So, we began our journey, back through the mountains from Peja to Sarajevo -about a ten hour journey - up and down mountains, reaching over 1800m high (5900ft) and higher in some places. Even though the road was so windy, the scenery was absolutely beautiful...




This is where we stopped for lunch...

Some of the scenery along the way...

This photo is taken from a bridge over this river...

Finally, we crossed the border....We were a little worried when we saw this sign - thought we had driven to the wrong country by mistake...but we were in the right place!

We even found our meeting place straight away, without getting lost!...