Feeding the Bachelors

We enjoyed a late lunch today with our pastor, Misi Gulyás and his son Obed. Obed helped our conversation along by looking up words in his Hungarian/English dictionary on his phone. Marika, Misi's wife has been away from home for some time and we wanted to make sure the bachelors had some good food to eat. Misi's older son, Jethro and his wife Kata became parents just four months ago to twin girls. They live in Kuwait, where Jethro and Kata teach special needs students. Marika was excited to go see the new grandbabies (their first), and left the first part of February to spend three months with them. She has been taking care of the little girls while their parents are at work. According to Misi, she is happy, but a little tired now!

Her taking this trip meant the men would be home alone. Marika is a fabulous cook and left a lot of food prepared ahead of time for them, but according to Misi today, a lot of that food has already disappeared--he looked at Obed when he said this. They have both been cooking some, too, though they really miss Marika's cooking.

We are really blessed to have such great pastors and friends in our home church, the Open Bible Church in Debrecen. They are all very loving, kind and patient with us and help us in many ways. Thank you, Open Bible Friends. We love you!

Signs of Spring

Here are some signs of spring around us:

Our neighbor and her grandson preparing a flower bed.

Leaves coming out on the bushes.

The storks back in their nests. (We saw one, but didn't get a good picture.)

The Tomor INSTE group meeting outside!

Studying INSTE in Hungarian

We are really enjoying leading a Level One INSTE group in Tomor. But, it's not easy. For one thing, the daily studying takes some time. We end up with books spread all over the place--the INSTE book in Hungarian, a Hungarian-English dictionary to look up words we don't know (a lot of them!), a Hungarian Bible, an English Bible and an English-Hungarian dictionary to find the right words to write our answers.

Then there's the weekly meetings. Mike prepares his questions ahead of time. And we pray a lot! We do our best to help each other say what we need to say, but we are very thankful that the books contain most of the answers to their questions, so we can often just point the students to the right paragraph. Or we can find a Bible verse that sheds light on the matter at hand. The students are quick to help each other and to help us. Many times one or two of them will understand what we are trying to say and will tell the others what we wanted to say. Or they will answer each other's questions.

So that's how we are leading an INSTE group in Hungarian even though we do not speak the language fluently yet. Now you know how better to pray for us. Please do!

Happy Birthday, Tammy!

Tammy, on right, with our missionary friend Mary Jill

Today is Tammy Swailes' birthday. Tammy is the Regional Director for INSTE in Europe, a missionary in Ukraine, and our missionary supervisor. She is an amazing woman who speaks Japanese, Hungarian, and Russian, is constantly traveling to oversee and encourage INSTE personnel in many countries, personally directs the INSTE ministry in Ukraine, and is currently taking courses online toward her master's degree!

But most important, Tammy is our friend. She keeps in touch with us, encourages us and is concerned not just with our work, but with our personal well being. We know she keeps us in her prayers, too.

Happy birthday, friend! We hope it is a good one and that the Lord gives you a blessed, fruitful year!

March 15 Holiday

Today is an important holiday in Hungary that commemorates the revolution that began on this date in 1848. Earlier this week school children prepared for the holiday by singing the National Song that was written by one of the leaders of the revolution and talking about the history of this date. Many of them made flags and decorations and then went with their teachers and classmates to decorate memorials around the city.

We celebrated the day by visiting some of these monuments and then we stopped at a cukraszda for coffee and Coke.

Yes, restaurants often serve Coke in glass bottles. Without ice, of course.

Tomor Takes Final

We are so excited that the INSTE group we are leading in the village of Tomor has just completed taking the final for the first book! And they are all excited about continuing on with the second book. We have come to love and appreciate each other and look forward to every time we can meet. It is wonderful to watch these new believers grow in their faith.

What Do Missionaries Do?

Yesterday on Hungarian news radio there was a program about missionaries and what they do in this century. Since more than half of Hungarians are Catholics, the program focused mainly on Catholic missionaries. Three missionaries they interviewed were interesting to me.

They interviewed a Hungarian missionary priest in Brazil by Skype. The first question the reporter asked was, "What did you do today?" He responded by saying he had just had coffee and had made a quick trip to the store, but hurried back to be ready for the interview. Of course, it was still early morning there and his day had just started. Later in the interview, one could tell by the emotion in his voice that he was very concerned that Brazilians turn aside from their superstitions and concentrate on their faith in God.

There was also an interview with a priest from India who works as a missionary in Hungary. He spoke very good Hungarian. When asked about that, he said that he had lived in Hungary for ten years and it was very important for him to learn the language so that he could minister well to the Hungarians around him.

They talked with a chaplain at the Budapest airport who considers herself a missionary. She said that when people travel, they can be more open to spiritual things, so she has many opportunities to talk to travelers and minister to them when they seek out the chapel in the airport.

What do missionaries do? What do Mike and Nancy do? Like these people who were interviewed, we live our daily lives in a place that is unfamiliar to us. But our desire is to share Christ with the people who live around us. So, we work hard at learning their language so we can explain the hope that is in us. But the best way to encourage people to follow Christ is to follow him wholeheartedly ourselves and live in the presence of the Spirit of God, taking Him everywhere we go. Yes, we use tools like INSTE and preaching in churches, but it is God living in us and speaking through us who makes us effective for His Kingdom.

All of us who follow Christ are missionaries. We are all on a mission to share Christ with those around us. Some of us use the title, but most of us don't. May we remember to take the Holy Spirit with us everywhere we go so He can influence lives for the Kingdom of God through us.

New Hungarian Church Law

Monday the Hungarian Parliament voted to officially recognize only a few more churches in Hungary. This article tells a little more about the vote. This means that Open Bible Churches in Hungary and almost all the other churches we work with have lost their status as churches along with their tax-free status and eligibility for government subsidies. There is uncertainty about what other areas this will affect for the churches. Please pray for Hungary, that God will work this out for the good of His Kingdom!