Sammy's Time with Us

It's hard to believe that Sammy Reeves' time with us is almost over. Sammy came to Hungary with us almost four weeks ago when we returned from two weeks of convention, seminars and vacation in the US. Sammy is interested in becoming a missionary and has spent much time in prayer and the Bible during her time with us to see if this is what God wants her to do. She has had a small taste of life on the mission field including making INSTE books and brochures, working with Good Sports Ministries at an English (as a foreign language) Camp, and dealing with an unfamiliar culture. She had been scheduled to work two weeks with Good Sports Ministries, but due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, the second week was canceled. So, during her last week here, Sammy has had a lot of time on her own as we were in language classes all day and had a lot of studying to do in the evenings. Sammy helped a lot, though, to make our language studies easier by washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning and doing other things as she could.


Life has not been all hard work, though. When our neighbors Eva and Istvan heard that Sammy was here, they invited us to their cabin by the Tisza River. We had a fun day with them the week before our language classes began. One time, Sammy was out in a little motorboat with three other young ladies and Istvan when the motor stopped in the middle of the river! A larger boat that was passing by had pity on them and towed them to shore so they didn't have to row all the way! The food Eva and Istvan made was just wonderful, too, including traditional Hungarian stuffed cabbage and delicious roasted pork, fish and vegetables.

Last Saturday, our neighbor Anna and her daughter Csilla invited us to to their house for supper. Since it was Anna's name day, she served a selection of cakes for dessert. The supper was delicious, the conversation was great (both of them speak excellent English), but those cakes!!!

We are planning to take a field trip with the language school tomorrow to Oradia, Romania, and Sammy will be able to go with us. Then on Sunday we will take Sammy to Budapest to catch her flight home. Please pray for a safe, uneventful trip for her. We will miss her and pray that God will continue to guide her in His ways.

From Grandma's Brag Book

Nancy (alias Proud Grandma) just had to show everyone some more pictures of the newest addition to the Juntunen family. Above is Isaac David with his big brother Nathan. Nathan is taking to being a big brother quite well, we are told.

This is Isaac getting a little Daddy time. Babies are amazing, aren't they?

One down, three to go

We have finished the first week of our four-week intensive Hungarian language course. This time seems to be going a bit easier for us than previous intensive courses. We both feel like we are understanding more in class and are more able to participate in what is happening. We have not suffered from the frustration we experienced before, either. Praise the Lord!

We are not taking part in quite as many optional offerings this time around. For example, we opted out of the two-day field trip/excursion to visit Budapest and a couple of smaller towns this weekend. Perhaps we are wiser and are using our time better. Perhaps we are just a little bit older and slower. Maybe both. We are enjoying the weekend even though we are spending a lot of time studying. Catching up on sleep this morning helped a lot.

Sammy is staying with us this week. We picked her up from the Good Sports English Camp on Thursday. She thoroughly enjoyed working with the 8- to 10-year-old Hungarian kids who were learning English. The camp leader told us that she gave an awesome testimony on Monday. We're so proud of her! The camp she was scheduled to work at starting this Monday, however, has been canceled. That means she will have to find things to occupy her time while we are in school and while we study after school. She's resourceful, though, and we are leaving some INSTE books for her to make!

Opportunities Everywhere

Even while we are busy with other things, we run across opportunities to talk about INSTE. For example, last Sunday when we took Sammy to the camp she is working in this week, we were able to talk with the youth and worship leaders of a local church who are also working at the camp. When they asked what our ministry is here in Hungary, of course we told them about INSTE. They were quite interested and asked several questions. Their pastor is one of the evangelical pastors we have not yet been able to meet. They also asked us if we had had any contact with the Reformed Churches here, but we said we had not yet been able to.

Then, last night at the welcoming dinner for the language school, we sat with a couple of missionaries from the Reformed Church in America! They are working with gypsies here at the invitation of the Hungarian Reformed Churches. After the dinner, we exchanged business cards. We hope to be able to follow up on both of these contacts and on others that come our way.

Last Saturday, Mike met with the leaders from a church near Budapest that is seriously considering beginning INSTE this fall. Mike met the lead pastor of this church at a pastor's meeting earlier this year. God is opening doors for us, many times in ways and places we weren't expecting. Praise His Name! We trust Him to continue to guide us and to give us wisdom.

Off to School Again

Today we begin another four-week intensive Hungarian language course here in Debrecen. We will have six classes every weekday, beginning at 9 and finishing at 3:30. There are also optional cultural, historical and social events to attend during the course. This afternoon we will be taking oral and written placement tests, and classes begin on Monday. Thank you Central Region Open Bible Women's Ministries for paying for our classes!

Please pray for
- good teachers and classmates
- opportunities to witness to our teachers and classmates
- adequate rest
- wisdom for using our time well
- great progress toward fluency

Also today we will be taking Sammy, our niece, to Mikepercs, a village just outside Debrecen. There she will spend five days helping Good Sports Ministries at an English camp. At the camp grade-school-age kids will learn English and be presented with the gospel. Sammy will be working with a group of teenagers from Texas and some orphans from the local orphanage. She was to have a second week of camp with Good Sports, but the Swiss group she was to join had to cancel.

Please pray for
- Sammy to have an enjoyable, fruitful ministry
- a great ministry opportunity for Sammy for the following week

Grandparents again

Mark & Isaac David

Yesterday, July 15, our son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Nadine, gave birth to Isaac David Juntunen. Isaac was 9 lbs 3 ozs and 20 inches long. Now Nathan has a little brother to play with. Nathan has always said he will not share his toys with his little brother, but once he sees Isaac I think he will change his mind.

Sammy Sees Hungary

We spent Monday and part of Tuesday showing Sammy a little bit of Hungary. Monday we went to Budapest and spent the day touring the city by subway, bus and tram. We saw Hero's Square, Parliament, Castle Hill, Fisherman's Bastion, and Buda Castle among other places. Sammy had done her homework before she arrived in Hungary and was very excited to see the places she had read about. We ate lunch at the fanciest McDonald's in Europe. It's in a building next to the Western Train Station that used to be the place the royal family waited for their trains. It is very beautifully restored, but we have no pictures because cameras are not allowed!

Tuesday afternoon we went to Hortobagy where we saw the gulyas (cowboy) show, the Pasztor Muzeum, and the traditional Hungarian farm animals including the furry pigs. The pigs weren't as furry as the last time we saw them. We wondered if they shed some of their hair in the summer. It was hot enough, though, that we wouldn't blame them for shedding fur! We drank lots and lots of water but were very glad when we got back in the air-conditioned car.

Today it's back to work. We're trying to show Sammy that as missionaries we do get to see great places in the world, but a lot of our days are spent in daily living and doing regular tasks just like anywhere else. That's why right now she's working on putting new addresses in brochures for us!

INSTE Office Help

We are so happy to have Sammy Reeves working with us for a couple of weeks. She is getting a taste of what being a missionary is like. We really appreciate her help in making INSTE books and doing other office tasks for us. Most of the time we just explain to her what we are doing and how tasks like writing newsletters and keeping financial records fit into everyday missionary life.
We all enjoyed church this morning. There is another young lady in the church named Samantha so Pastor Misi referred to the girls as Samantha One and Samantha Two. Pastor Misi also encouraged the teenagers to introduce themselves to Sammy and practice their English. After church most of the young people were too shy to say anything more than hello. We understand! It's scary to talk with native speakers of a language you are learning! We experience that every day!

Trip Summary 4

On the Fourth of July, we were able to spend a little time with Mike's dad in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, as well as Mike's brother Dale and his family. It was a short visit, but we enjoyed being able to see them. On Sunday we had a wonderful time with Nancy's sisters and other relatives who gathered in Des Moines.
Monday we started on our way home. We brought Sammy, Nancy's niece's daughter, with us. The picture above is Sammy and her family who gathered to say goodbye at the airport. Sammy is a delightful high school senior who is interested in becoming a missionary. She is spending a couple of weeks with us here in Debrecen and then a couple of weeks helping with a kids' sports camp put on by some missionary friends in a village near us. Please pray for Sammy that God will show her during this time the direction He wants her to go. Pray also that she will also be able to put up with us!
Our trip back to Hungary was long, but we made all our connections--just barely. When we arrived in Budapest, though, we discovered that our luggage did not arrive with us. The same was true for about half the passengers on our flight. We filled out the necessary paperwork to report our suitcases missing and then waited for the next flight from Paris to arrive to see if our bags were on that flight. They didn't, so we took the train home to Debrecen having been promised that our luggage would be delivered to our door the next morning. We were concerned that customs might question the suitcase full of children's vitamins that Sammy was bringing for the children at the sports camp, but the Lord made sure that everything arrived intact the next afternoon.
We are still adjusting to this time zone, trying to make our bodies sleep at night and stay awake all day, but we should be better soon.

Trip Summary 3

After a wonderful time at convention, we went to Billings, Montana to visit our son Mark, his wife Nadine and our grandson Nate. We had a wonderful time with the three of them. Nancy was able to go with Nadine to her obstetrician's appointment and hear the new baby's heartbeat. (Little Isaac is due to arrive around July 15.) While Nadine and Nancy were gone to the doctor's office, Papa (Mike) stayed home with Nate. Nate had not been feeling well, but was taking a nap when Nadine and Nancy left. When they got home, Mike reported that Nate had slept a long time, but after he woke up, while he was sitting on his papa's lap, he threw up all over both of them! Thankfully, Nate was feeling much better the next day and was able to take a little trip with the whole family to see the animals at Cabella's. Papa and Grandma thoroughly enjoyed spoiling Nate--and spending time with Mark and Nadine, too.

Trip Summary 2

After our trip to Austin, MN, we headed down to Bentonville, AK for the Open Bible National convention. The evening services were fantastic and challenging, and it was good to see our very good friends again.

Nancy enjoyed the time she was able to spend with two of her sisters: Leona Venditti and Delores Winegar

Vince & Lois McCarty. Vince is the Director of International Ministries for Open Bible Churches.

Will Hunsaker of Clear Lake, IA enjoying a fantastic dessert during the Central Region minister's fellowship

Tammy Swailes (missionary to Ukraine) and her sister, Lisa

Katrina Langr is a friend from Austin, MN. She is a member of Master's Commission and had a part in the Sunday evening service.

(still more)

Trip Summary

Well, we are back in Hungary, but we had a great two weeks of convention and visiting with family. Our trip began with spending the weekend in Austin, MN on Father's day. Our youngest son Matt and his wife Mandy drove to Des Moines from Michigan, and we all rode together to Austin to visit with our oldest son Paul and his wife Kate.

Paul & Kate

Matt & Mandy

Mike spoke at the church and it was great to be able to see old friends once again. We want to thank Pastors Bill & Miala Glaser of the Living Bible Church in Austin, MN for a great weekend.

Bill & Miala Glaser

(More to come)

Traveling back to Hungary

We leave today at 5 p.m. for Hungary. Our flights take us from Des Moines to Detroit to Paris and then to Budapest. We'll take a train from Budapest to Debrecen and hope to arrive there around 6 or 7 p.m. Tuesday. We can't complain about the long travel time, though. Compared to traveling by ship just a generation ago, we're going as fast as lightning! Please pray we'll make all our connections and the trip will go well.

The plan is to post some pictures and tell about our trip to the US once we get over jetlag. And we'll introduce Sammy, Nancy's great niece, who is traveling back with us to stay in Hungary for a few weeks.