on vacation

it's all in the family.

Choir tour in Austria

Third Presbyterian Church had a tour in Austria this past June. They gave 4 different concerts including this one above to refugees in Innsbruck and this one below in Gmünd. A highlight included a city tour of Vienna. The choir invited refugees to spend the day with them on this tour. That time together meant a lot to us all.

international cafe

Thanks to the generosity of BCF in Blacksburg, VA, the Innsbruck team has been able to start an international cafe in innsbruck. During the trial phase, the team will be hosting this cafe each month.

The first cafe was held yesterday, and there were refugees there from: Chechnya, Tibet, Georgia, Kosovo, Nigeria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey,

I came to offer my support as well as a taxi service for the refugees. Some of the comments from the refugees I met included:
"when will it happen again?"
"It was exactly what I needed --peaceful, games, conversation."
"You should have this every week and invite musicians from different countries each time."

Here we are in the cafe, along with the pastor (left) whose church has offered the room and their help.

bridge collapse

On the exact same day, Aug 1, 1976, a bridge across the Danube in Vienna also collapsed. It happened at 5 a.m. so there were only 4 vehicles on the bridge. There was one fatality.