"Look at all the diversity in this room. We have black, white... even yellow and brown people!" - Pastor Samuel Bamford

This morning, Amber and I set off in search of the International Baptist Church of Vienna, not really knowing what to expect. We had to take several subways and walk a few blocks to get to the 10th District. The church was on Herndlgasse #6, through a small courtyard in a quiet part of the city that neither of us had ever been to before. We walked into a small building, and up some stairs to a small sanctuary. It was so cute! I've never seen so many different nationalities in one room before. There were people from Africa (wearing traditional dress), the Philippines, China, India, Austria, Germany, Australia, and then smack dab in the middle of all of that were two little Kentucky girls!

We sat down and noticed a cute family of four sitting in front of us. Almost immediately, the wife turned around and said, "Are you two from the states?" (In a very American-sounding accent!) Of course, when we said, "Yes," they immediately knew we were from the south. The family was in Vienna for the week, because the dad was there on business..... from VIRGINIA!!! We finally ran into some neighbors! Amber and I were so excited. They started asking us all of these questions about what all there was to do in Vienna, and Amber and I were very pleased that we could give them some suggestions. The mom was so impressed that the two of us were studying abroad, and even asked, "How DO your parents stand having you away for so long?" :) My mom just bought some new deck furniture, so she's doing alright! :) lol.

During the greeting portion of the service, a little Asian woman walked over and introduced herself to me. Her name was Shirley, and the first words out of her mouth were, "Oh, you two girls are so beautiful! We have such beautiful people here today!" If they're calling me beautiful, I think I'll come back to this church!

The service was so great! They had a praise band, and one of the first songs they sang was "Wonderful Words of Life," which we sing a lot back at home. It was so comforting being there in the midst of all of these Christians from all over the world, just singing and praying together. The message was delivered by one of the members of the church, Mr. Samuel Bamford, an African atomic physicist.... woah. His message was about the importance of FERVENT prayer. Not just regular prayer, but he stressed how important it is to really be passionate about what we are talking to God about. He said that the crucial elements of a good prayer life are Regularity, Fervency, Variety, Expectancy, and Persistency. Being an atomic physicist, he made a connection between prayer and a particle accelerator (yeah... a what?). He said that, simply put, an accelerator takes a smal particle and adds more energy to it, then focuses it into a beam, and directs the beam to a specific target to get results. => Likewise, prayer, when done fervently and with a specific purpose, will gain direction and energy, focus on a particular goal, and get results from God! Prayer is strong enough to act like that beam.... and it will get things done. :) I loved it!

After church, we were invited to go downstairs for some of the most excellent finger foods ever! Amber and I definately didn't turn that down. They even had apple strudel! My FAVORITE! While we were downstairs, we met a missionary for Illinois named Elizabeth, and a boy from Indiana University named Brandon, who was here to study Opera (wow!). Brandon said that his father had gone to college in Kentucky. Amber and I were thrilled! We asked where, and Brandon said, "I don't know if you would have heard of it. It's a very small college in a little town called Berea." (I almost fell over.... Amber actually sat down, haha) We explained to him that the world seriously couldn't get any smaller than it had at that moment! :) After the finger foods, the three of us headed out to get coffee at a local coffee shop. We made our first Christian friend in Vienna! YAY!

Tonight, the other Americans and I are having Sunday Night Football appreciation night, and watching a some NFL on tv. I haven't watched tv since I've been here, so I'm ready for some good ol' American sports! :)

***"The God of the mountains is still the same God in the valley." -Mr. Bamford***