Europe Trip: Day 5

Today I woke up and felt quite nice, actually. Much better than yesterday. I guess the jet lag has passed and I am generally on England time. Good thing too, because I leave in two days and go another two time zones farther!

A couple of brothers game me each a contact in London that they knew, that if I needed anything or had the time, that maybe I should send them a message and see if they were available. So Sunday evening after determining our schedule, I sent them each a message. It worked out just perfectly that Bro Paul and his wife could meet me at 10:30am on Tuesday but only had a few available hours, and Bro Bienvenue could meet me a little after 2pm.

Bro Paul and his wife accompanied me to Wesley’s Chapel, which was where John Wesley’s “base” in London was. He had a home there and lived and preached there when he was not riding across the countryside and preaching. He is also buried there on the ground as well.  We enjoyed the short tour the volunteers give and I pulled up a quote of Bro Branham’s to play at Wesley’s grave.

I really enjoyed being there and having considered that in this area the last two church age messengers walked. It was sobering and touching. I can’t describe the awe that I felt at the history and meaning of this place.

It was funny to talk to the tour guide who assumed Bro Paul and I were old friends. “No, we’ve only just met a few minutes ago, but we were both there before the foundation of the world when the sons of God shouted for joy”. If she knew the scripture I was referring to she obviously ignored us for being weird I guess. I thought it was delightfully funny.

Bro Paul and his wife are both teachers, very educated, but very sweet. Bro Paul is actually a doctor, not a professor. I’m not sure which is actually better, but he corrected me when I said “professor”. I enjoyed the discussions with them, and the short lunch we grabbed at Subway.

I then popped over via the underground to “Elephant and Castle” where Bro Bienvenue picked me up. He drove me over to the London Tower, the Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and all over the districts of London. I took a photo of the hotel Bro Branham stayed in but I did NOT take a photo of Hyde Park that Billy Graham criticized.

Bro Bienvenue and I had mostly a great time just fellowshipping. He was a very nice brother and tried very hard to figure out the logistics of Wednesday night to be able to have me come by a church to preach. The believers in England have made me believe I truly could spend about 6 weeks preaching in England as they all would have loved to have me for a weekend or at least a meeting. It’s a wonderful spiritual family we are blessed to be a part of.

Bro Bienvenue wanted to grab a little snack, so we stopped for a Kebab. I figured this would be smaller, it was 10 pounds and we were in London, 10 pounds I thought wouldn’t get much, but boy was I wrong. Now I was in trouble again as it was around 5pm and I knew that Sis Sharon was going to have food back at Bro Gerald’s house and expect that I will eat like the lions in the den after Daniel left. Now, this was difficult because that was THE BEST food in London that I ate, hands down, no questions asked. The lamb was marvelous, the chicken was good, the minced beef was nice, so in order to conserve space for later, I left most of that.  While the beef was good, it wasn’t the other two and SOMETHING had to go.

Afterwards I took the train back to Bro Gerald’s house for more fellowship (and food). We of course had dinner in the traditional African style. There was 4 types of meat, rice, vegetables, and just kinds of things. I probably didn’t even need breakfast this morning and here I’m on the fourth meal of the day. I made the mistake of mentioning on Monday to Sis Sharon that my wife said I looked skinnier when we facetimed. Well, I HAD walked 10 miles that day. She interpreted this as my wife may think I was not being fed enough!  BIG mistake.

The fellowship was very nice, Bro Gerald wanted me to sing my special again. Our other guest Bro Benjamin could play the piano though, so I taught him the chords really quick and I sang for everyone. Then we just kept singing and worshipping. I went through most of the William McDowell stuff I knew and a few more. It was really very nice worship, heartfelt, sincere. We could have sang for hours…well all except Bro Gerald who falls asleep around 10:30 or so regardless of location or position! The believers here love the Lord and love to worship. They are very musically talented and I will never forget my time I spent here.

Soon, I will leave for Finland and the main purpose of my trip. Since Tuesday my heart has turned towards Finland, and I am feeling a distinct burden for the meetings. May God be with us and open the flood gates. May he heal and strengthen the believers, and save the lost.