Time Zones

We are taking a little detour from our short series on Hungarian and American culture differences that impact our work in Hungary to look at the impact of time zones.

The time difference between Hungary and the US often impacts our work here.  We are six hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone and nine hours ahead of the Pacific Time Zone.  That means when it is noon at the Open Bible Global Missions office in Des Moines, Iowa, (our sending organization) it is 7 p.m. here in Hungary.  This week we missed an important email because Nancy forgot to check her messages before she went to bed.  The problem was worked out in the long run, but what could have been handled in a couple of hours in the same time zone took more than a day to resolve from here. 

We are always figuring what time it is in America.  Each of our sons lives in a different time zone in the US, so we try to work out through email when is the best time to Skype with them.  And then, any time we travel to the US and back, we deal with jet lag.  It takes Nancy a full week to be fully awake at the right time after coming back to Hungary!

But these are small challenges compared to what missionary life was like only a few decades ago.  We thank God that we can stay in contact with friends and family in the US even if we are awake at different times.