Snail

See the snail in this picture? It's huge! (The passport is for scale.) Every morning we walk to school through a nice woody area and snails like this one come out onto the path after it rains. There may be snails this big in the US, but we haven't run into any. The snails we are familiar with are tiny lake snails. This one is about four inches long and we've seen bigger ones! Wow! How cool is that?

Trip to Hortobágy

Last Saturday we went with about 100 other Hungarian language students to Hortobágy National Park. Every Saturday during our 4-week intensive language course, the students are taken to various places to increase our cultural and historical knowledge of Hungary. Our trip to Hortobágy was very interesting. There we learned about how before flood control was built along the Tisza River the river would flood every year over vast areas of the flat, empty land called the Puszta. Because of the annual flooding, crops could not be grown, but the grassy, sometimes marshy land was well suited to raising herds of horses, cattle, sheep and pigs. Each herd was cared for by one or more "pasztor." We learned about the types of animals they raised and their lives on the puszta. Mike got to ride on the horse of one of the "gulyas" or Hungarian cowboys. We saw some interesting animals they raised on the puszta including the famous Gray Hungarian cattle and the hairy pigs. At lunch we were served gulyas (or goulash) soup, a traditional puszta herder's meal. Here are some of our pictures.

Baptism, then School

We were so happy last Sunday to attend a baptismal service at the Shalom Open Bible Church here in Debrecen. Three people were baptized, all over 50 years old. The eldest was Constantine, who is 85 (see picture)! What a joyful service that was! We praise the Lord for His power to change lives!
The meal after the service was wonderful, too! The ladies served us stuffed cabbage. Yumm!
Immediately after lunch we went to the University to register for the summer intensive language course. We took a written and an oral test for placement in the appropriate classes for our current proficiency level. We are both at the intermediate level, but were placed in separate classes.
Classes began Monday, six lessons a day, five days a week, for four weeks. We also receive cultural, phonetic, and history lessons. That makes for very busy, interesting days. That said, time to do homework!

Intensive Course Begins Sunday

Another round of language classes begins tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon with registration and oral and written placement tests. Classes begin Monday. We are excited about these classes since we are expecting to advance our language abilities to the next level in the four weeks of this course. Please pray for us. The course is intense and will require a lot of energy and focus from us. But it should be fun, too, getting to meet interesting people and learning even more about Hungarians.

When I Grow Up

I, Nancy, have learned a lot in the past six months, especially about kids. Okay, I haven’t been around kids a lot, but my own experience has given me new insight into being a kid trying to grow up.

I understand why toddlers sometimes have temper tantrums. It can be so frustrating to have feelings or needs and not have the words to be able to express them. I, thankfully, have not thrown a temper tantrum, at least not yet, but it sure would have been cathartic to do so a few times.

I understand how sign language can help when you don’t have the ability to use words yet. Our daughter-in-law taught our grandson some sign language for words like ‘drink,’ ‘help’ and ‘thank you.’ That has really helped the little one. We use a lot of sign language, too. When a man stopped me in front of our apartment and asked where the cukrazda was (a favorite Hungarian sweet shop), it was very helpful just to point down the street and say, “I only speak a little Hungarian.” He understood. I felt a little foolish, but I succeeded!

I understand how wonderful it is to have a mom and a dad and grandparents and siblings who take the time to teach you and to explain things over and over. These are the people who listen to your attempts at speaking and clap and smile when you say a word or two. We have been blessed by teachers and many friends who patiently listen to our attempts at language and explain things we don’t understand. They even smile and encourage us when we attempt to speak. A Hungarian grandma would be a nice addition, though.

I understand why little kids like to have the same books read to them over and over. It seems they never tire of Good Night Moon. I like to hear the same things over and over, too. Especially when they contain words I know and understand. And if there are just a few words in them I don’t understand, the repetition helps me learn the new words.

I understand how having a book with words you can read is a treasure. For years I took our boys to the library regularly and helped them to pick out books that were on their reading level. Now I look for books, articles, even advertisements with words I know that I can read. It is so rewarding to find them!

I understand why it is so hard to sit still during the sermon in church and how easy it is to fall asleep. We sit faithfully in Hungarian church services, listening intently to what is being said, but the words are often so big and the phrases are beyond our comprehension. If the room is warm or we are tired, it is so easy to let our minds wander and our eyelids droop.

I understand how terrifying it can be when Mom or Dad has the young one buy his own gum for the first time. Even though you know all the right words to say and have watched others do it countless times, all that goes out of your head when it’s your responsibility to speak to the clerk.

I know how much easier it is to understand Bible stories than lectures with big theological words. I’ll learn those words later, but right now, all I can comprehend is what happened to people in the Bible. But what they did is really cool, even in Hungarian!

And finally, I understand why kids can’t wait to grow up. I used to look at my kids and think, you have it so good, why do you want to grow up? Well, I might have it good now, but I can’t wait until I can grow up and speak Hungarian!

School of Worship

This week a "school of worship" is being conducted in Debrecen. During the day local worship team members receive instruction, encouragement and experience in leading worship. The best part for us is the open worship services conducted each evening by some of the best musicians and worship leaders in the country. We were told that there were about 600 people from Hungary and Romania who attended the first night. What a great time together with the Lord! An additional advantage for us is the language practice we receive. God is good! Isten jó!

What did you do on the 4th of July?

July 4th is not a special day here in Hungary, of course. It is just a day that comes between July 3rd and July 5th. There are no parades, picnics, flags flying, or fireworks- just another day. So what did we do? There are a couple of Hungarian friends of ours from the churches here in Debrecen who do work as translators. The past couple of years they have put together a school for those who would be interested in being a translator. At the end of the course they ask English-speaking people to come in and help give the students some practice. We were asked to give a testimony, preach, talk about a favorite subject, etc.

Nancy and I had a 90 minute time slot, so she gave a devotional and I preached. We have worked with translators before, but this was different because each student was given 10 minutes during our talk. So, right in the middle of our speech, the moderator would call "time" and another student would come up and pick up where the previous student left off. It was difficult, but very interesting. It made us realize just how difficult being a translator is, and we greatly appreciate the good translators we have worked with since we have been here in Hungary.

Also, after we were done with the translator's school, Nancy and I did find a restaurant that served hot dogs. So we did have a bit of a traditional 4th of July after all.

Way to go, Mike!

Sunday morning Mike obeyed the Lord and got up during the testimony time at church. In Hungarian he asked the church to pray for the pastors, Michael and Mary Gulyas, who had had a difficult week. Last week they had moved into their new home, a huge task in itself. But also last week, Michael's briefcase was stolen from his car. The thieves broke his car window and took the briefcase from the front seat. Michael lost no money, but the briefcase contained his three Bibles and all the sermon notes and other tasks he had been working on! So, Mike called Michael and Mary forward (in Hungarian) and asked the congregation to pray for them in Hungarian as he prayed for them in English. After the service, several people complimented Mike on his Hungarian. Way to go, Mike!