Gherla, Romania Visit

Last weekend we made a trip to Gherla, Romania to visit the Open Bible Church there.  We had a wonderful time with our friends at the church and best of all, God spoke to us.

Relu translating for Mike

After the service, we and two other couples were invited to lunch at Mariana's house.  It wasn't until after we arrived that we realized that it was her birthday.  We had a delicious lunch of Chinese food prepared by Mariana's sister who is the main chef at the best Chinese restaurant in Cluj.  We Americans enjoyed eating Chinese food with Romanians and Swiss.  Talk about international!  There was a lot of talking in three languages around the table, too.

Romanians, Swiss and Americans enjoying a Chinese meal.

It was a hot weekend with temperatures in the 90's so we were very thankful for an air-conditioned car to travel the five-plus hours each way.  And we thank the Lord for protection and a good trip.

The view from the mountain pass where we stopped to rest along the way.

Please pray for strength for Pastor Teo Bulzan, the International Pentecostal Holiness Church leader who has been overseeing the work in Gherla for a couple of years.  He had serious health issues this summer and is just now returning to work after being incapacitated for about three months.  We praise God he is recovering and ask the Lord for complete restoration of his health.

Birthday Celebrations

The Open Bible Church we attend here in Hungary has a nice custom of recognizing the birthdays of its members every month.  In addition to that, when someone has a decade birthday (20, 30, 40, etc.), they are recognized separately and given a small gift.  Last Sunday there were two very special decade birthdays celebrated.  One was Mike, who turned 60 on August 20th and the other was Juliska néni who turns 90 this week.  Juliska néni is a founding member of the church and very much loved and respected. (Néni means "aunt" and is used as a term of endearment and respect.)

Mike is two-thirds Juliska néni's age and Juliska néni is about two-thirds Mike's height!

A large celebration was planned for such a special occasion.  Plaques, flowers and other gifts were given to the honorees.

 There was a dance

 and some special songs in their honor.

 And after the service there was a delicious feast for everyone including the many members of Juliska néni's family who were able to attend.

And of course, there was cake.  Happy birthday to Mike and Juliska néni!

Should I laugh or should I cry?

I think I'll laugh.  I could cry or get mad, but I think I'll laugh.
Last week I (Nancy) happened to look at my Hungarian driver's license and noticed that part of it had expired on May 18!  On the front it said it was good until 2023.05.16.  But on the back it said it expired 15.05.18.  I need to explain a couple of things.  In Hungary, dates are not written as we commonly do in the US, month/day/year, but are written year/month/day.  Also, Hungarian driver's licenses are good for 10 or more years, depending on the age of the recipient, but the medical and visual portion must be renewed more often.  All this is still confusing to me, so I took my license to prayer meeting that night to ask if I had a problem and was told that I need to renew it right away because it was partially expired.
So, we found the doctor who handles foreign patients and was told that only the Hungarian háziorvos (designated general practitioner) can issue the form needed to renew the medical portion of driver's licenses. 
I went to the háziorvos and explained what I needed.  I didn't even get past the assistant because she told me it was impossible to generate the needed form without a Hungarian national health insurance number.  I tried to explain that we had other insurance and that I had been able to get an exam two times before, but she said with the new computer system, I would have to go to the national health insurance office and ask for a number.
So, I went to the national health insurance office and waited my turn to talk to an agent.  When I explained what I needed and how already had insurance and used a private doctor for my medical needs, she called an expert on her phone.  Then she turned to me and apologized, saying that the doctor's assistant did not know the proper way to handle my case, gave me her name and number and the name and number of the expert she had called. Again she apologized for my trouble and said the assistant should call the expert if she had any further questions.
All this took several days because of different office hours, but during the entire time, I kept asking for the Lord's help.  I could feel his presence with me and knew he truly was helping me the whole way.
The next day I went back to the háziorvos and handed her the paper with the names and phone numbers on it.  She called the expert and found out that she could use my passport number in place of the health insurance number!  The doctor took my blood pressure and gave me the eye tests.  I paid the fee, which was much reduced because I'm now 60, and received the doctor's certification for my driver's license renewal.  Whew!
This morning I went to the driver's license office and got an appointment to finish my paperwork.  I went to the appropriate window and asked to have my license renewed.  The lady asked for my paperwork.  There was some confusion about my address card, so after some discussion, she said she would look up the rules about that.  While she was waiting, she looked at my driver's license and asked, "Why are you renewing your license?"  I told her it was expired and she said, "No it isn't.  Look, you have the newer driver's license.  The dates on the back are in EU form, not Hungarian form.  Your license doesn't expire until 2018."  I couldn't believe it, but it is true.  Later I examined it more closely.  The dates on the front of the card are Hungarian style, but the dates on the back are in EU (and American) style.
So I just had to laugh.  Yes, God was with me the whole time and even though I did all that running around for nothing, I am very relieved it is over.  God is good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suffering for Christ

We enjoy going to our church home group meetings.  We have become friends with each one who attends and really appreciate the hospitality and leadership of Róbi and Judit Szabó. 

Last night we were looking at 1 Peter where it talks about suffering for Christ and Róbi asked if we had experienced any problems because we are Christians.  Thinking back, we Americans could not name one.  Then Róbi told about his father's experience as a trolley bus driver during the Communist era.

The bus company had a program by which they would honor exemplary employees and Róbi's father was an exemplary employee.  He was always on time for work, always did a good job, never had complaints from his passengers and never had an accident.  However, he was never given the title of exemplary employee because he was a Christian and regularly went to church.  But Róbi's dad didn't complain.  He explained that he was not working for the praise of men, but for the praise of God.

It has been 26 years since the government changed to a democracy here in Hungary, but this testimony was a fresh and humbling reminder of how sheltered we Americans have been.  May the Lord help us to honor Him if and when we should face the possibility of suffering for Christ.

Meetings with Pastors

We are excited that in the last two weeks we have met with four different pastors from four different denominations that are interested in starting INSTE groups in their churches. Two of the pastors are leading Gypsy churches, one is working with the homeless and one is leading a Hungarian church outside of Hungary. We were so happy to share with them how INSTE works and help them make the first steps toward forming discipleship groups.  Please pray with us that they will be able to follow through on their plans and that many more disciples of Jesus will be made.