Thank You, Americans!

Last night we were invited to attend the orientation meeting of the four new INSTE groups at Élet Church here in Debrecen. It was a fun meeting. The 31 students, their leaders and Pastor Joseph were all excited about beginning INSTE. Pastor Joseph began the meeting with scripture and a short talk. Then he turned to us and said, "Please be sure to say thank you to all those in America that sent you to us." So we are sending you a big THANK YOU from all the INSTE students in Hungary! We, too, appreciate all of you who support us financially and who pray for us.
Here are some of the students from last night's meeting. They couldn't wait to get started.
These are the INSTE leaders. What a great group of leaders they are! Please pray for all the INSTE leaders and students in Hungary.

While we wait...

We are still waiting for the papers for our car to be finished so we can pick it up. While we wait, we are continuing to do things the way we have for the past year. This is a picture of Mike with Nancy's shopping cart. Nancy goes to the grocery store three times or so a week and brings the food home in the cart. If she didn't have the cart, she'd have to go every day!
Mike has been using the cart to transport reams of paper and other materials needed to print INSTE books. Last night we used it to deliver INSTE books. They are too heavy to carry the twenty minutes it takes to get to the church!
We thank the Lord for the new INSTE students beginning this semester. And we thank the Lord for the cart to be able to transport books to them!

Waiting

We heard today from the car dealer. He had told us last week that the paperwork for our car would be finished by the 19th (yesterday) and we could pick it up then. However, when they called today, they told us that they have run into a snag. If we understood correctly, the car did not have the proper papers when the dealer bought it. So, they told us that it will take another two weeks or so for the papers to go through and for us to be able to pick up our car. So we will wait.

We did, however, find the official translator's office and the "official" translations of our drivers licenses should be ready by Tuesday. Guess we'll work on our Hungarian driver's licenses while we wait for the car.

Pray for Hungary

Monday through Friday of this week the evangelical churches in Debrecen are doing an extremely important thing. They are praying together. Each evening a different church is hosting a prayer service around different themes including praying for the lost, for the youth, for the city and for the country. Last night we met at the Open Bible Church and prayed for those who do not yet know Jesus. We are looking forward to tonight's service. It has been snowing all day, but people who are really seeking God will be at there ready to pray. What a privilege to pray with people who are serious about touching the heart of God on behalf of others! Would you join us this week as we pray for Hungary?

Nancy's Hungarian Day

It snowed in Debrecen today. And snowed and snowed and snowed. It would have been a lovely day to stay at home, studying from my Hungarian books and catching up on work. However, I (Nancy) went out into the slushy mess. First I went to city hall to try to get a Hungarian driver's license. My current international license is still good for some time, but I knew I had better get an early start on getting a new one. Good idea. I thought I had everything I needed, but when I was called to the window, I was told that the translation I had of my American license was not good enough. I had to have an "official" translation, not the one I had from the university. The lady said some other things, too, that I didn't quite understand, but I did understand the name of the street where I needed to go to get another translation made. I went home and looked up a translator's office on the street she gave me.
After lunch I went to McDonald's and I met with Katalin, one of our instructors from our last language course. Kata is moving to Budapest tomorrow and we wanted to touch base with one another before she left. She was happy to hear that Mike will be preaching in Budapest later this month and will try to come hear him then. We drank our cokes, talking for about an hour and had a wonderful time together. We could have talked longer, but I needed to get going for two reasons. One, I wanted to try to find the translation office before it closed and two, my brain freezes after about an hour of Hungarian conversation!
After a short tram ride and a wet, slushy walk, I found the street and the number of the place where the translator's office was supposed to be. I couldn't find the office, though. After trudging around in the soupy mess on the sidewalks, I decided to try calling them later after I got out of the snow.
On the way back on the tram, I ran into two Korean girls who are part of the Hungarian conversation club we meet with once a week. We talked in Hungarian for a little bit until we came to my stop.
I got off the tram and decided that since I was wet and cold already, I would walk the couple of blocks to the pharmacy before I went home. I showed the pharmacist an empty bottle of the nose spray that I wanted and she said they were out of that kind. (In Hungary, even "over the counter" pharmacy products are "behind the counter" and you have to ask for them.) She showed me a shelf with about five different nose sprays and then recommended one she had in the back. I couldn't tell the difference, so I took the one she suggested. (This was, again, all in Hungarian.)
I got home all wet and cold, but pretty happy that I had stumbled through in Hungarian all day long.
It's evening now and still snowing. I am enjoying the snow much more from my window than I did from being out in it! Oops! I forgot to call the translator's office. That will have to wait until Monday, I guess.

A step closer

Today we took another step closer to getting our car. We paid for it--in cash! This is how the dealer asked to be paid. The American type of checks are not used here. We offered to pay by credit card, but he asked for cash. So, we went to the bank and took out the money we needed in large bills. Then we went straight to the car dealership on the bus. Thankfully, it was not a long ride and we didn't have to change buses. The dealer and his assistant counted the money and gave us a receipt. They told us that the official paperwork will take 10 days or so. We should be able to pick up the car on the 18th or 19th!! Yeah! It's amazing how much we miss driving!

We found a car!

We have found a car to buy! Open Bible International Ministries has agreed with us that we need a car, so Gulyas Misi, the Open Bible Field Director in Hungary, very kindly went car shopping for us and found a 2007 dark gray Skoda. It's in very good condition with only 11,000 kilometers on it, goes 100 kilometers on five to six liters of gasoline, and is tiny! Misi was able to get us a very good price on the car, too. We signed the papers on Tuesday and may be able to pick the car up in about two weeks.
Why two weeks? Well, first of all, since they don't take checks here, it is taking some time to make arrangements with our bank in America and the bank here to get the car paid for. Then there is the paperwork. That should take another 10 days or so. We will also need a special "C" license plate that is issued for cars owned by foreigners.
But, we will have a car! We will be able to visit INSTE groups, do INSTE presentations and seminars, and transport books and supplies! Thank you Lord! Thank you everybody who helped!

The gas is on

I remember something now that I forgot to tell you during our busy time the last three weeks. During the first week of language classes, the Russians and Ukrainians came to an agreement that allowed natural gas to begin flowing again through the pipelines to Europe. Thank the Lord! Hungary has natural gas reserves built up for just such emergencies. We were not without heat like some Eastern European countries, but the clock was ticking as Hungary was using their reserves. We were asked to conserve as much as possible and there was talk of closing schools and some other public buildings if the crisis continued. We are so thankful that Russia and Ukraine worked this out!