"Can We Talk?"

This is our grandson, Nate. He turned 10 months old this week. At this age he can understand a few words, especially "No". He can also speak a few words such as "no" and "mommy". However, he really cannot communicate yet. Mostly, if he wants something he cries to let people know he has a need.

The other day I realized that this is sort of how we feel here in Hungary right now. We know a few words that we try to use when we communicate, and we can understand a few words when people try to talk to us. But, for the most part, we really cannot communicate. There have been days when we felt like a crying infant saying, "I want to tell you what I need but you don't understand what I am trying to say." And there have been times when people have tried to talk to us and all we can do is smile and look "cute" (see picture above). Of course, it doesn't take them long to know that we haven't a clue what they just said.

Of course, it won't be long before Nate will be able to understand more words and his vocabulary will increase so that he can communicate better. This is the hope that we have for us as well: that we will grow from infant to toddler and eventually to an adult.

We sign up for language school this Friday. This will be a semester-long course running from Feb. 15 through May 15. Pray for us as we begin the learning process.

Why we are in Hungary

Last Friday we (Tammy Swailes, Mike and Nancy) visited the pilot INSTE group in Oradia, Romania.  We couldn't understand what they said, but the discussion was lively and they referred to their Bibles often.  The students were so happy to be able to study the Bible through INSTE.
On Sunday, there was a guest speaker from Romania at the Open Bible Church in Debrecen.  Many people were filled with the Holy Spirit and one person made a confession of faith in Jesus Christ that morning.  That afternoon in Nyiregyhaza, three more people were saved in the service there.  Praise the Lord!  Many people have been coming to the Lord in the past year in this part of Hungary and all of them need to be discipled to be able to grow and become strong believers.  That is why we are here in Hungary. The need is here now and we have plenty of work ahead of us.  Our goal is to have INSTE groups starting in September.  That is an ambitious goal since there are many other things we need to accomplish in the same time period. Our greatest need is to learn the language so we can develop relationships and minister.  Our immediate needs are to find a suitable place to live and work out of and to get our residence permit completed.  
Please pray for us and for Hungary.  May God bless you and may many new believers be 
added to His Kingdom where you are.  

Our first drama

We have been riding the buses and trams this week, getting used to getting around the Hungarian way. The buses are good and you can get almost anywhere in Debrecen if you are willing to walk a little way. The only problem is that we need to carry things with us like umbrellas, maps, wallets, cell phones, sun glasses and anything extra for that trip. Mike decided he would try a "man-bag" like he'd seen many Hungarian men carrying. Here is the one he found.
Mike's bag led to some drama yesterday. (Tammy Swailes has been introducing us to many facts of life here in Hungary and she calls excitement "drama.")
Yesterday was rainy and with rain predicted for the next three days, we stopped by the store to buy an umbrella. We have two umbrellas already, but both are in the boxes being shipped to us. The boxes were not here yet, but the rain was.
We stepped up to the counter to pay and Mike reached for his wallet in his bag. It wasn't there and the pocket where he keeps it was unzipped. He quickly searched through the rest of his bag and couldn't find it. Of course, our minds went all over the place. Where could his wallet be? The bus we rode that afternoon was very crowded. Could a pickpocket have taken it? The last time he had used it was at the internet cafe that morning. Mike thought perhaps he had left it on the counter when he paid for our internet time. So, Tammy took us back to the internet cafe, all of us praying the whole way. The man at the internet cafe spoke good English, but said he had not seen a wallet and one had not been turned in. We kept praying and noticed a trash can outside the store. Mike searched through there thinking that if anyone had taken his wallet, they might have taken the cash and thrown it in there. No wallet. Tammy told us our next step would be to file a police report. We went back to our apartment and Mike decided to check his bag one more time. When he started shouting, we knew he had found it. It was in a different pocket with other things on top of it. We thanked the Lord over and over and then decided we needed to take a few precautions like making copies of the cards we carry in our wallets.
We had to kid Mike about learning to carry a bag. We know what it's like to lose something in our purses, too.

New Missionaries

This is how we looked arriving at the airport in Budapest after 18 hours of travel. God bless Michael Gulyas and Tammy Swailes for picking us up and hauling our stuff the three hours to Debrecen.


We have been treated so well by the Shalom Open Bible Church here in Debrecen. Marika Gulyas treated us to Hungarian fruit soup our first night. Sandor and Eszter are letting us stay in a vacant apartment they own. We have been greeted warmly and feel very welcome.


Tammy Swailes has been so good to help us begin navigating the Hungarian world. Shopping is a new experience with figuring out what we are buying by the Hungarian names and how much it weighs since everything is in the metric system.

Tammy has shown us how to read the bus schedules and has helped us to buy bus passes. This week we get to try to navigate the bus system on our own!

We are working on our residence visas now and are making decisions on the best way to study the Hungarian language. What a great experience! We are exhausted, but excited to see how God is working in us and through us.

Hello, Hungary!

We made it! We are now in Hungary!

God blessed us on our trip. We made every flight and all our luggage arrived with us. It was not a totally boring trip, though. When we went through security in Des Moines, we were "selected" to go through the more extensive screening which took quite a bit of time, but we were glad we had arrived early. Our flight was late leaving Des Moines due to traffic in Chicago. When we landed in Chicago, we almost ran to our gate because they were already boarding our flight to Frankfurt. Then we had to sit on the runway, waiting for over half an hour for clearance to take off. We had no trouble with customs in Hungary and went though with our passports very quickly. (Please keep praying about our getting visas to live in the country. We are going to the immigration office on Tuesday.)

Tammy Swailes and Michael Gulyas met us at the Budapest airport and transported us and our luggage back to Debrecen (a three-hour drive). We are presently staying in a one-bedroom apartment. We are grateful for the temporary housing since it will give us time to find something else that suits our needs.

We are so thankful that Tammy is spending two weeks with us showing us how to get around and how things are done here. I hope we can remember what she is teaching us!

Packing up to go

Here we are weighing luggage. Did you know that your bags cannot weigh over 50 pounds or the airline charges an extra $50 or more? So, we are packing and re-packing to be sure our two large bags apiece are not over 50 pounds each.

The best part is, we leave tomorrow! Our flight leaves Des Moines at 3:30 pm and we will arrive in Budapest, Lord willing, about 1:30 pm Wednesday. Tammy Swailes and Michael Gulyas are planning to meet us there and drive us to Debrecen. (Lord, bless them!) Please pray we make all our connections and all our flights go smoothly. But we're almost there!

We are often asked how we are feeling right now. Well, we're excited since God has been leading us along this path for a year and a half and it is finally almost here. We're a little scared since there is a lot ahead of us that we don't know about. We're humbled because so many people have believed enough in what God has called us to do that they are willing to support us with their money and their prayers. We're sad to be leaving behind our family and friends, but are expecting to make many more friends in our new home. Another feeling we are experiencing is hard to describe. Just know that we realize that we have a period of a year or more of learning like little children all over again how to talk, get around, work and live. But we are looking forward to seeing what God will do in and through us in the coming three years.

Please, everyone, keep in touch!