Budapest - Get Engaged

I love this video because it highlights some of the wonderful inventions made by Hungarians.

Children's Work

When the new school year began in September, the children's "Sunday school" at church also began after a summer break. Sunday mornings begin at 10 AM with the entire church family worshipping together, sharing testimonies, and prayer. Then, the children are invited to go upstairs for a special teaching time while the Pastor begins his message.



For my children, this is their favorite part of church. and they eagerly wait for the right moment when they can join their friends upstairs in the "children's room." We have 2 rooms upstairs - one room for ages 3-10, and one for the upper grades. Both classes have teachers. There is not yet a class for toddlers, but there is one room downstairs with some toys where the little ones can play while parents listen to the sermon. (these 2 pictures were taken through the glass door, thus the glare on the photos)



This year a new children's director was named and recognized before the church family. She is excited about quality Bible teaching, wants to plan some outreach events, and provide training for the group of children's teachers. Each Sunday the teachers rotate, so that they can take turns staying in the service. Each one is responsible for planning their lesson based on the theme for the year. There are a few children's teaching guide books in Hungarian, but the teachers can write their own lessons, and search through resources for games, songs, and activities to accompany their lessons. They are very talented and creative! I am so glad to have the opportunity to work with them.

I must say, that after having seen how our American churches function with regards to the amount of money spent on their children's programing, I really like the simplicity and the limited resources here in Hungary. Church is very simple. Teaching children is very simple and does not require expensive toys, the finest chairs, modern video equipment, or expensive curriculum. For our curriculum, we use the Bible. I say, we all need to model this simplicity....less really can be more! Children are really easy to please, and teachers are very resourceful. Imagine how much more we could give to Lottie Moon or to humanitarian efforts around the world if our own church budgets were reduced!

The Week in Review

I had a great week. This entry is going to read like a newspaper so just relax and skim it over. The stress of a language exam is now behind me and I have been able to rest and reflect on something other than verbs. I am still trying to take in and comprehend the depth and width of God's grace.....He has answered a prayer this week that has been a long time in the making, and is the fulfillment of a promise He made. I am just amazed. Because of having to wait and suffer through something that I had no control over, I can truly say this was GOD's hand, and not my own doing. It's so good to just sit back and watch what God does.

Monday Elizabeth was able to return to the ovoda (kindergarten) after being absent about 4 weeks. She had a series of infections that were difficult to get rid of and we are thankful that she is well now. She was very happy to return to her class and see her friends.

Tuesday we met with a Hungarian driving instructor at our house. He is going to prepare us to take a written driving exam so we can get a Hungarian driver's license, so we can begin driving again. We have had no personal wheels since July, and our backs are feeling the weight of lifting that double stroller on and off the bus, carrying Stephen, carrying groceries, walking uphill to church in the rain, etc....you get the idea. So, our driving teacher brought us the manual in English - so we could learn how to drive:) It is an 85 page manual that includes information such as herding animals, how to wait for a taxi, and how to load a car. For example, 2 children under age 10 only count as 1 person. So, if a car is only supposed to hold 5 people how many children can sit in the car? We will be using a translator since the exam will be in Hungarian. If we want to be sure of passing the test, he told us to pay the translator a little more money! Don't worry, we don't have any extra money for that!

Wednesday morning I went to the mother's group at church for prayer and fellowship. I am always amazed at the honesty and openness that the women express. No one wears a mask. If you are having a rough time, then you say you're having a rough time. There is no false pretense, no fake smiling, no saying everything is fine. And in this way, everyone really knows everyone else, and we really pray for each other. How refreshing.

Thursday evening was the weekly house group, and a small group from our church comes over for prayer & Bible study. When one of my friends walked in she was smiling, but when I asked how she was doing she burst into tears. She had just received a phone call that a friend had committed suicide. Suicide is a common solution to problems. In the past 9 months there are 2 others (who we are acquainted with) who were on the verge of suicide but were persuaded otherwise by loving Christians.

Friday was the World Fair at Josh's school. This was a one time event, but it seems to me that everyday is "world's fair" day at this school. There are 13 children in his class and only 2 are American! Most are Hungarian, plus several other Europeans. During free time, lunch, and recess, Josh is surrounded by Hungarian friends and and enjoys learning their language. Anyway, each elementary grade studied a country and made presentations. It was a good reminder of how diverse each culture is and how God LOVES each and every people group.

Monte has been talking to a couple of neighbors and helping them with yard work. Saturday morning he worked for about 4 1/2 hours helping shovel rock and dirt into a container. They were trying to clear out some of their land to prepare for the spring planting. Monte didn't realize that there is a right and wrong way to shovel. I had a good laugh when he told me the story - because if you know Monte, you know that he is a good, thorough, diligent worker who knows how to move dirt. Miklos, the neighbor, kindly demonstrated the proper way to shovel the dirt - it has to be done in an orderly and methodical way. Who knew? Their method did make sense because of the type of shovel they use. Instead of the typical American shovel, this is a square ended, flat shovel. So, Monte had a wonderful morning spending time working with new friends. They were so kind to give him a bag of apples, mandarins, and chocolates for all his hard work.

While he worked I stayed home and washed five loads of laundry, washed dishes, and decorated about 4 dozen cookies with the fabulous four. I have some beautiful leaf and pumpkin shaped cookie cutters to make "fall" cookies and we plan on delivering these cookies to the neighbors later this week....if we don't eat them all first.

God Answers Prayer

27 years ago, I was twelve years old and in the seventh grade. My mom began getting sick, and I would find her lying on the couch when I got home from school. Then, one afternoon she came into my room while I was doing my homework and she told me she was pregnant. I was in such shock that I couldn't finish my homework that night. I realized that God was answering a prayer that I had prayed - I had asked him for another sibling. The pregnancy wasn't the easiest on Mom, and she was often very tired. Dad and I began to do the weekly grocery shopping, which I really enjoyed. He and I would come home with all kinds of extra foods that we didn't really need! Mom made all of her pregnancy dresses and continued to serve in the music ministry at church. When the day came for the birth I stayed with Momaw and Popaw, who lived next door to us. I remember Dad calling to say that we now had another GIRL! I really believed now that God does hear and answer prayer, because I had asked specifically for a sister.

27 years ago, I jumped off the school bus and ran through the orange grove up to the house. Mom was coming home from the hospital that day, and when I ran inside the house I found her sitting in the living room holding our new baby. Those first few moments of holding the baby were wonderful...almost as if she was my own.

In the years that followed I did a lot of babysitting, watched the same Disney movie repeatedly for at least 500 times, woke up in the morning to a little sister staring at me or putting stickers all over my radio, found her wearing things that I had put in the trash, found her wearing my retainer (gross!), spent countless hours listening to her singing, got really tired of her peeking under my door, fussed with her because she always wanted to do things her way, and prayed with her to receive Christ. When I got my driver's license I would take her to the Winter Haven library, the Shake shoppe and the park in downtown Auburndale, Boardwalk & Baseball, Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, and we often went shopping together too. I always thought it was funny when people would ask me if she was my daughter. I didn't think it was funny when she tipped over a store mannequin. She was always my biggest fan and she promised she would always love me no matter what. God in His wisdom knew that I needed her and she needed me.

I know God places us in families.....for a purpose, for His purposes. I am thankful for the family God has given me. If we fail to acknowledge the sovereignty of God and His wisdom, we fail to recognize the larger plan for which we were put on this earth. If we fail to love and forgive, and fail to live peacefully with one another, we miss the whole purpose of the family. I hope I will live up to His purposes so that when I see HIm face to face He can say, 'Well done." Moments shouldn't be wasted and love shouldn't be withheld....."You don't know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for little while and then vanishes away." James 4:14 Each moment together is precious.

Rachel, you are an answer to prayer. Happy Birthday.

Same But Different

Just in case you ever wondered what living here is like.......we listed some of the differences to give you an idea of what daily life for us is like here in Hungary.


Different:
All bills are paid at the post office. This potentially means long lines every time you go, but it does streamline things.
A truck comes to our house to "vacuum" up our septic tank once a month. It must be emptied or it will overflow into the street.
Doctors can make house calls.
Eggs are always brown, and speckled bird eggs are for sale in the grocery store.
If you want to use a cart at the grocery store, you pay 100 forint. Your money will be returned when you return the cart.
Bring your own bags to the grocery store, or buy new ones each time.
Outside shoes are taken off when you come inside, and inside shoes are put on.
We use a clothesline to dry our clothes.
We ride buses, trams, metro (subway), and trains in the city.
Almost every home has a fence, gate, and a dog.
We eat FRESH bread, not pre-packaged, pre-sliced, spongy, plastic-wrapped bread.
Lunch time means a large, hot meal....sandwiches are saved for the evening supper.
You can buy chocolate infant cereal.
Greeting one another with 2 kisses!


Same:
The setting of the sun, and the evening moon rise, the dark night sky that makes stars so visible.....The same spiritual darkness is here, as is everywhere in the world. Lack of interest in spiritual things, unawareness of a greater dimension outside of this present time, intentional avoidance of the Bible, deep atheistic beliefs that prevent a thorough logical examination regarding the natural world, focus on money and position for a successful life, abortion on demand, and self-preservation instead of community. However, the love of Christ is a shining light and is evident in the affection and unity that believers have for one another. This unity always amazes me - to find people in a different country, culture, language, etc...but who have the same knowledge of Christ and share the same love.....it's breathtaking.

24/7

Recently I asked my children what they thought was the best and worst part of being a missionary. We live in a modern European city, not a third world country. We live in a beautiful duplex that is heated in the winter.....and in the summer. We can shop in modern stores full of choices......but they don't compare to Wal-Mart, Target, or JCPenny. McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Subway, and Starbucks are here......and are considered luxuries for us. We really do have to walk a mile uphill to get to church!! (Just remembering all the stories that Dad told us) So we do have our share of things that are different, strange, and difficult for us. Here's what they thought, straight from their mouths, unedited (well, I had to translate the 2 year old's words for you):

7 year old: The best part is telling others about Jesus, and seeing new places; the worst is traveling on airplanes because they make my ears hurt.
6 year old: The best part is meeting new people, learning a new language, telling others about Jesus, and hotels with swimming pools; the worst is getting kicked out of your country for no good reason, and hotels with no swimming pools.
4 year old: The best part is playing in the snow, playing in the backyard, digging holes in the backyard (she's been trying to find the mole), Christmas time, and ice cream (Hungarian ice cream!) The worst part is I don't like dangers or walking up steep hills.
2 year old: He likes the ice cream too, and the kokoszgolyo (chocolate Hungarian dessert) The worst part is when mommy washes my special blanket and I have to wait for it, and I don't get to see my grandparents!!


Mission work is obviously important to us, but the children don't always think about us being different because we are missionaries. God in His mercy and grace called us to move to a different country, and we have humbly tried to follow. We are ordinary people. We didn't coax or persuade the mission board to send us, or pretend that we were already perfect. God knew our weaknesses and our strengths. God simply opened the doors, made all the arrangements, and in HIS miraculous timing put us in Hungary. Everyday we talk with our children about why we are here and pray for opportunities....and all is normal to them. This is just life!

We are trying to teach our children that to follow God means to put your life alongside Him, which means you follow him wherever He leads, and obey what He tells you to do. Elizabeth recently wrote me a note which said, "Dear Mom, I will go to Africa when I am grown up." She then said she would bring me back a present! Joshua loves reading about China, and wants to go there one day as a missionary.

As a family we have enjoyed watching Kids On Mission DVDs that we packed in our crate when we moved here. That has been a great resource to see how other missionaries live and work all over the world. We also love to read books and watch films about missionaries - Hudson Taylor, Gladys Alyward, Amy Carmichael, George Muller, Jim Elliot, and of others who dared to follow Christ, like Corrie Ten Boom and William Tyndale. We also read from You Can Change the World (the children's version of Operational World) to understand how to pray for different people groups around the world. We play on the Wonderzone website where the kids can read biographies of people and Bible characters.......and be inspired to be a change agent in this world. My purpose in all this is to be intentional about teaching our children. Sometimes the very things you think you value the most can get overlooked, because they really don't assume a place of priority in our lives. The majority of our time and energy is spent on things that are important to us. Missions isn't a Wednesday night program for us. It's 24/7, living, breathing, struggling, worshiping, praying, and following Jesus one day at a time.

Let the Little Children Come!

Our Elizabeth turned 6 this month, and she requested a costume and tea party! It may sound like a mother's nightmare to open your home up to 14 little rascals (4 of them being your own!), but I actually like having children's parties. However, I confess that the day before the party I felt overwhelmed. My homemade doll cake completely cracked down the middle, the strawberry cheesecake turned out to be smaller than I expected, I realized I didn't have enough party hats for all the children, there was a lot of cleaning still to be done, my wet laundry was hanging up to dry in the living room (still wet after 2 days of hanging!), I stayed up until 1:00 AM and finished baking cookies .....and I did all this while caring for my own 4 children and rolling out the pizza dough for our Friday night dinner. I was praying, "Lord, help make all this come together without me coming apart!"



As it turned out, everything fell nicely into place at the right time, (and the cake was patched with lots of extra icing). All the extra work involved in planning such a party was WORTH IT! As the children arrived they could choose one of our costumes to wear, but some brought their own. We had so much fun taking their pictures in various costumes because each child's face glowed with delight! It was priceless to see the wonder and innocence of precious children, each uniquely created by GOD. We decorated sugar cookies which was a new idea to some of our friends. Usually this is done at Christmas time with gingerbread cookies. We also decorated foam picture frames, in which they could put a picture of themselves dressed in a costume at the party. I read to them from 1 Samuel 16:7, how Samuel went to choose the next king of Israel. God instructed Samuel not to choose a king based on outer appearances. Man looks on the outside, but God looks at the heart. What is inside a man is more important that what is on the outside. There was a chance to speak a truth about God, and the moment was not lost.



We had a great opportunity to share our love for Jesus with others. God used a routine event in the life of our family to reach into the lives of others. I have heard it said that families with young children should not come to the mission field. However, I have found that having my own 4 young children around has been the easiest way to meet new people and make friends. My children certainly go against the cultural grain sometimes - they talk loudly while on the buses and my 2 year old waves to old men and hollers, "SZIA!" (hi in Hungarian) But they are the ones who speak boldly, who are quick to love, and are not inhibited by language barriers. Children were on the heart of Jesus. He didn't overlook them, put them down, or tell them to go away. He drew them to himself. And that is a very good place for us to start.

Changes in Our House

Good-by middle of the night feedings, no more high chairs, play pens, bouncy seats, or sippy cups, first words from the fourth baby, and first day of school for the first child........a lot of things have changed in the last year! September has brought even more changes to our house. Joshua has begun second grade at an English international school and Elizabeth is going to a Hungarian kindergarten-like school, in Hungarian of course! Both are enjoying making new friends and getting used to a new morning routine. Joshua has Hungarian language lessons while at school. Elizabeth likes learning more of the Hungarian language and comes home with new words and phrases everyday. She is still getting used to the Hungarian foods served for lunch and is getting braver about trying new things. Olivia is also getting used to a new routine of life without big sister around, and Stephen is talking in a mix of Hungarian and English, and copying everything Olivia does! Some changes come more easily than others, and as I watch my children grow older, the changes seem to come more quickly. Living in the moment, savoring each moment, and contentment in the moment - it's the only way to live!

Good Summer Comes to An End

We were very blessed this summer to have two visits from family. In July and August we spent our vacation time with grandparents from Texas and Florida. We also got to act like tourists and visit many places we have been longing to see! We had such a wonderful time exploring more of Budapest and even taking a short train trip to Vienna. Even more amazing was that it felt like we had just seen them yesterday....even though it has been a year and a half since we have seen our families. Time is going by so fast, and we are glad to have shared some great memories with people who love us.




Leaving is never easy, saying goodbye doesn't get any easier, and I'm still not used to the separation. There's a pain in my heart when the children ask, "Where is Poppa?" Skype, digital pictures, internet, packages and emails make life a little bit sweeter, but trusting that God is in control makes all this bearable, and worth it all.

English Camp

Memories of when I attended camp as a child are still embedded in my mind. There is something unique about the camp experience that can heighten the senses and bring into focus all the important things in life. It is such a time when all other daily routines cease and the senses are dulled to the monotonous and exchanged for something far more glorious. The photo is tangible evidence and will always be there to remind.


The setting invited an array of questions:
"How do I know God is real?"
"How can God hear me? Does He really have ears?"
"How do you know when God is talking to you? Does He have a loud voice?"
"Can you tell me your story?" (a boy wanted to hear how I came to know Jesus)
"What about all the suffering in the world? Why doesn't God stop all the wars?"

And some bold, convincing statements:
"I already have a plan for my life, and I don't need God."
"I don't think God is real because I can't see Him."
"I am not a sinner."
"I became a believer at camp last year."


"But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8



It's amazing to find yourself suddenly in the middle of what God is doing...."God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:4


"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6 And so I wait for the day of completion in each of these young lives.