Blue Skies

Today was the first day in weeks the skies have been cloudy all day. It truly makes us appreciate the gorgeously blue Hungarian skies. That blue was captured when we took this photo of the Reformed Church tower in Bagamér earlier this month.

Prayers for America

Last night we were at a meeting where a pastor from America, Michael Fletcher, spoke. The auditorium was full--not only were there people from many churches in Debrecen, but there were people from around Hungary and Hungarian-speaking people from Romania. It was an awesome service with enthusiastic worship, an anointed message and a phenomenal response to the call to allow God to use us and what we have any way He wants. At the end of the service, the leader in charge asked for a pastor to lead in prayer for Hungary. As he prayed, everyone in the building passionately called out to God for Hungary. Then the leader asked another pastor to lead in prayer for Romania since there were representatives from Romania present. Even though Romania and Hungary have had many disputes in the past, this prayer, too, was passionate. Then, the leader in charge said that there was one other country represented and that we should pray for America, too. The prayer leader thanked God for the good things that have come out of America and went on to pray for repentance of the many evil things now present in the US. We were deeply touched by the heartfelt prayer for America.
We personally continually pray for both of our countries, Hungary and the US. Both countries are in desperate need of God. But when people from another country pray for the country of our birth, not only are we profoundly moved, but we know that God will answer.

In Bagamér

Here are some pictures of people we spent the day with in Bagamér last Saturday.

Before the church service, I took pictures of the young people sitting beside us. Szabolcs is a new convert. We realized we had spent the last three Saturdays with him! Beside him is Tünde, an INSTE student. Next to her is Bridget, a Romanian who just moved to Debrecen to attend the university to study English.

I turned the camera around to catch a picture of Judit (on the right), the dear 83-year-old saint who sits behind us in church in Debrecen, too!

The ladies in the aprons are some of the wonderful cooks who served us. These Bagamér ladies not only cook well, but they love and serve God with their whole hearts.

Wonderful World of Food

Yesterday we were privileged to go with about 30 Open Bible people from Debrecen to a small village east of here called Bagamér. A small congregation in Bagamér invited all of us to enjoy their hospitality for a day. We had a wonderful time of fellowship, food, prayer and worship together. We were served delicious home-made Hungarian food on long tables set up outdoors.The first course was gulyas soup (goulash) with meat, vegetables and Hungarian homemade pasta. That was followed by Debrecen-style stuffed cabbage served with sour cream, of course.
Then there was a huge assortment of homemade pastries, each bite better than the last.
The food was plentiful and delicious. But the best part of the day, of course, was being in the presence of the Lord together with wonderful people who love God.
Today we enjoyed another good service at the Open Bible Church here in Debrecen. After church, we decided to go downtown to try out the new Subway restaurant that just opened up. Again we had a great meal. The sandwiches, chips and cookies were delicious and reminded us of home. Is it any wonder we've added a few pounds since we've lived here?

INSTE Celebration

Worship at Élet Church

One of the churches using INSTE is the Élet Church here in Debrecen. They had four groups with a total of 32 students who finished Discipleship 1, and this past Sunday they had wanted to celebrate this accomplishment in a big way.

Jim Singleton (on the right) ministering.
Tamás Hunyadi (also an INSTE student) is translating for him.

Jim and Sharon Singleton, pastors from Mississippi, were already scheduled to be there so after Jim had ministered in their regular service, they had a special celebration service for the INSTE students. They asked me to share a few words of encouragement, then each of the students was called forward to receive a certificate the church had made and a book. Afterwards, Jim prayed over the students and the church. What a great time to be able to see the excitement this congregation has for growing in their relationship with the Lord, and to know that we are having a small part in helping them influence their community for His Kingdom. Most of the students will be continuing on in Discipleship 2. Pray for the continued growth and development of this congregation.

Handing out certificate and book

The INSTE group

Picnic at the Lake

Saturday morning we joined with the youth and others from the Open Bible Church for a picnic at a lake just outside of Debrecen. Many people took the challenge to ride their bikes to the lake. The lake is only about 4 miles from Debrecen, but part of the way was difficult because it was along busy city streets and along a narrow country road. Everyone made it safely, though, and enjoyed the trip.

We drove to the picnic site and took some of the youth who didn't have bikes with us. When we arrived, everyone set to work gathering and cutting wood, peeling and cutting potatoes and setting up our picnic spot. Hungarians enjoy cooking outside, but instead of barbecuing, they cook in a big pot over a wood fire--and is it ever delicious!

While lunch was cooking on the fire, one of the young men found a piece of bacon fat and started making a traditional Hungarian treat for himself. He stuck the fat on a long skewer and held it over the fire until is started to melt, then he dripped the fat onto a piece of bread and ate it. We're told it's delicious and one of these days, we'll be brave enough to try it.
As lunch was cooking, the guys played a game of soccer. The teams were mostly older men against teenagers, but the game ended at lunch time with a 3-3 tie. Mike played, but was very sore this morning. The Hungarian expression for sore muscles is something like having a "fever in one's muscles."
After a leisurely lunch and some clean-up, there was a short worship time with Pastor Misi giving a devotional. Then, for the rest of the afternoon, everyone talked, walked, napped or just sat around.
We all enjoyed a nice day. Even we "gotta-run!" Americans were able to simply enjoy being outdoors, spending time with each other.

Coffee with American Visitors

Yesterday we were invited to have coffee with some visitors from America. Jim and Sharon Singleton pastor in Mississippi and have for several years made trips to Hungary to minister in churches here. Their host, Ilona, invited us and her pastor and translator for coffee at her home. Not only did we enjoy Ilona's great hospitality, but we also enjoyed getting to know the Singletons. We discovered that we have several common friends, both Hungarian and American. They have had INSTE groups in their church for several years and know Nick and Leona Venditti also.
We had a great time talking "American," too. Our poor translator had to translate both northern and southern American accents! And no one can translate a joke that is a play on words!

Weekend Ministry

Saturday we went to a youth conference in Muzsaly, Ukraine. Zoli and Dori Acs, the Debrecen youth leaders and five youth went with us in Zoli's car and our car. We thought we started early enough, but it took us an hour and a half to get across the border into Ukraine. The picture above shows just half of the line of cars waiting to get into Ukraine. The picture below shows Zoli and Obed waiting patiently.

We also made a wrong turn and ran into construction that took extra time. God was with us, though, guiding us right to the church even though we had never before driven there ourselves. We were an hour late getting to the church, so when we walked in, they were waiting for us. The leader called Mike to the front and said they were ready for the message! Mike didn't even have time to sit down to collect his thoughts, but stepped right up and began his sermon.
Also at the youth conference were youth groups from Budapest, Nyiregyhaza and the local area. One of the young ladies from Budapest translated for Mike. She had spent a year in Pennsylvania and although she did not have much practice being a translator, she did a very good job.
It was a great day together with all the youth in Ukraine. Several of those who went with us had never been to Ukraine before even though they live close to the border. They had never had borsh, a traditional Ukrainian soup that was served for lunch (pictured above).

It took another hour and a half to cross the border coming home, too. The line was shorter, but it seemed that the guards on the Ukrainian side took a supper break while we were waiting!

Sunday morning Mike preached at the Open Bible Church here in Debrecen. We were so happy that one of our teachers, Tünde, came with her sister to the service. Tünde had never before been to an evangelistic church service and was pleasantly surprised at the good music. She said she enjoyed the service and could even understand Mike's English.

Language Helpers

Even though we are not taking formal language classes right now, our language learning continues. Every day we try to read, write, listen to and speak Hungarian. We check out books from the library to read (children's books are easiest), read the ads and papers that come in the mail, and read the Bible in Hungarian. We often receive emails from INSTE groups or other Hungarian friends that need to be answered, so we write often, too. Every day we hear Hungarian spoken around us, but we also purposefully listen to DVD's, TV and radio, to try to pick up more of what is being said. Speaking Hungarian is the most difficult part, but God has given us friends who are helping in that area, too. Mike has been meeting for over a year with his language partner, Balazs. Balazs is a graduate student who is perfecting his English. Nancy's new language partner is Piroska, a retired German language professor who is learning English now in her spare time. Each of us meets weekly with our partners and we speak Hungarian for half an hour and then English for half an hour. God has blessed us with neighbors, too, who are eager to help us learn to speak. Anna enjoys helping us speak Hungarian when we go for walks. Eva, our landlady, stops us to chat every chance she gets. Even at church we get a chance to practice our language skills. Not long ago, the pastor told everyone to speak to us from now on only in Hungarian!
Some days we understand a lot and can communicate just what we want. Other days don't go as well, but we thank God that He is giving us many opportunities to develop this tool we need for ministry.