Baptism

Yesterday's service at church here in Debrecen concluded with four people being baptized.  The four people in front wearing white were baptized and standing with them are their mentors.  Each of the mentors introduced their mentees and told a little about them.  The two ladies furthest right in the front are neighbors.  Márika, the mentor, told how they have been friends for more than twenty years, but earlier this year her friend came to church with her and accepted Christ as her Savior.  Both the ladies were just beaming.

We are looking forward to having some if not all of these newly baptized believers in an INSTE group soon!

Túró Rudi

Túró Rudi is a wonderful Hungarian snack food.  It is a sort of candy bar made of lightly sweetened cheese curd coated in dark chocolate.  It might sound a little strange, but it is delicious!  It comes in the original plain version and other versions with different flavors of jam in the middle, also yummy.  Túró is cheese curd, kind of like dry cottage cheese, that is used in various traditional foods in Hungary.  Rudi is said to be derived from the word "rud" which means rod or stick.  Since Túró Rudi is a dairy product, it must be kept refrigerated and so is difficult for Hungarians to take with them when they travel, thus making it another reason Hungarians miss home.  The picture above shows the original and most popular brand Pőttyős which means "dotted."  So, seeing red dots anywhere reminds Hungarians of Túró Rudi. 

Yesterday we were at McDonald's for lunch and tried their new Túró Rudi Flurry.  It was a little strange at first tasting sweet ice cream with the slightly tangy túró, but we decided it was delicious and gobbled up the entire cup.  Túró Rudi--something that must be tasted when visiting Hungary.

Happy May Day!

We enjoyed participating in this year's May Day church picnic in the Nagy Erdő (Great Forest).  Márika Gulyás with the help of some others including her son Obed (above) cooked pörkölt (Hungarian stew) over an open fire and served it over pasta to everyone present, about 100 people.  We enjoyed pickles with it and a wide assortment of desserts that were brought by all the ladies.

There was a time of praise and worship followed by a message by Bodo, one of the men in the church.  The children played soccer and other games and the adults rested, visited and enjoyed each other's company. 

May 1 is Labor Day in Hungary, a national holiday, so it was a great time to relax and strengthen our relationships with each other.  Happy May Day!