As usual, Kathy and I have been keeping busy. I got back from Chisinau, Moldova on October 8th, had one night at home and then flew to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a conference on fighting human trafficking. Over the years, I have been to nearly all the capital cities in  Europe but this was my first time in Sarajevo. It is a small city, surrounded by beautiful mountains and has an incredible history, including being the city where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914, effectively beginning WW1.

The city has a strong Islamic/Turkish influence. It was part of the Ottoman Empire for about 400 years and today just over 50% of the population is Muslim. Sarajevo has many mosques, many (but not the majority of) women wear the hijab and the cuisine has been influenced by Turkey.

The conference was very good and gave me an opportunity to network with others involved in anti trafficking whilst at the same time to learn from what others are doing. Sadly, the number of people being trafficked is terribly high, but wonderful Christian organisations from France to Hungary, Germany to Moldova, Luxembourg to UK are doing so much to help prevent it, fight it and help those recovering from it.

I arrived back on Friday evening to Hungary, where Kathy and I hosted a team from America, and had an excellent dinner with them and one of our leaders, Szandra. Earlier in the day, Kathy had taken the team on a prayer walk in Pécs and on a visit to a state children’s home we visit regularly to minister to the kids. The team were very generous and brought a lot of gifts for the children. The next day (Saturday), the team joined us as Szandra led the Walk for Freedom in Pécs. Over 20 of us gathered and walk through the city centre, handing out leaflets and highlighting the ever present sin of modern day slavery.

I was grateful to rest a little this morning and visit a local church here in Pécs for some needed spiritual refreshment. Thanks to Balázs and team at Calvary Chapel, Pécs for excellent worship and teaching.

Your prayers are appreciated and needed friends. I am currently preparing to teach a course on Biblical and moral ethics from November 1st. However, prior to the course staring, I have visits to our churches in Győr and Veszprém to preach and a week in Ukraine bringing humanitarian-aid. Prayers for strenght, good time managemet and needed rest please.