Lessons Learned

As we make preparations to return to the US for a year of furlough, we look back on our first two and a half years in Hungary and realize that we have learned, or are still in the process of learning, several things.

We have learned that making mistakes is not fatal. We have made at least half a million mistakes trying to understand and to speak Hungarian. We have mistakenly taken the wrong bus. We have greeted people incorrectly. We have gone to church expecting there to be a service when there wasn't one. We have dressed down when everyone else dressed up. We have bought things that we expected to be one thing and turned out to be another. And we survived. And as a bonus, we learned from most of our mistakes. Mistakes are not fatal.

We have learned that relationships are important. Every one of the INSTE groups that have been started have come out of relationships we have built or through relationships built by people we are close to. Our good relationship with our landlady has made our living situation here a comfortable one. We even were able to rent our apartment/office because of relationships of people in the church. The effectiveness of our public and private ministry has improved as relationships have been built with those we minister to.

We have learned that relationships take time and that people here in Hungary take time to build relationships. We have learned to take the time to have tea with our landlady when we pay the rent. We take the time to minister in churches when we are asked. We are learning not to rush off after having a meal with someone because everyone likes to stay and talk or just be together. It is not easy to leave our American busy-ness and spend time relaxing with others, but relationships take time.

We have learned many other things. Maybe we'll share more of them later.