Things We Are Getting Used To (Part 1)

   There are some anomalies that occur when you live anywhere. Some are colloquialisms, like "skosh" from the Pacific NW; "fixin' to" from the South; "Pahkin ya cah" from Boston.  There are other things you scratch your head and mutter, "Well, this must be what it's like here…."  such as perfectly good roads where you stop every few miles, throw in change to a funnel and proceed on (or off) & thank Heaven you have saved up your change!  Or, driving miles and miles without having to do that… now what do you do with all that change??  Or, espresso stands on nearly every corner….. or not, and you haven't seen them for days & are going through withdrawals… Or going into a really popular restaurant that is 'local' and nearly everything is fried but the coffee… or nearly everything is fresh and says whether it is vegan, Gluten Free, Lactose free, Free Range, Politically correctly raised/grown, or helps keep small insects from being annihilated from the planet.

   Well, there are things to get used to here as well. Like saying "Hello, szia, szia "(pronounced, see-ya) when you say 'good bye'  and saying "Szia!" when you say 'hello'.

   Then there is getting used to cars being dirtier after it rains than beforehand… this is due to the Sahara   as it ever encases the continent of Africa & the prevailing winds suck up some of the sand to deposit it elsewhere in the rain… like Hungary.  It is also taking some getting used to when there isn't sand deposited on the windshield after a rain - I find my self thinking, "Hmm, something's odd here…. oh yeah!"

   Then meat shopping is quite different here - and also different than many other places even around Budapest - they all have their 'local cuts' which may be totally different than somewhere 10-20 km away! (These are in large, supermarket- type stores) There are neighborhood meat stores as well…
I never really expected to find chicken feet (cleaned) and other odd bits as a marketable item. So, sometimes, as a mostly spur-of-the-moment-cook, we have mostly vegetables and rice… other times, I have been able to guess what this part of meat could be, so we give that a go, or pass.

   You get used to stocking up when you can - an oddity here…. especially when it is something on sale during "English Days" at the store, or, "Italian Days" or "Asian Days".   Sometimes the items just aren't in, even though they are advertised to be so…

   You get used to being looked at as though you have grown three heads all of a sudden - especially when you are asking for an item at the pharmacy or the store that you thought was carried everywhere!
(This is after the 'victory' that they actually understood your Hunglish!)

God is So Good

Hello!

Sikerül! (Success)!- Our latest half year of language classes was very helpful, whether that was from the way things were taught or that the initial culture shock of the last year has worn off - only God knows, but we are done for now. Continuing on will be determined by costs. We have been paying this last 6 months out of our own salary, since the extra money allocated for us was used up with last year's classes.

We have also been able to complete the purchase of our vehicle, thanks to many of you helping out in that matter. It is a 2000 Opel Zafira and is easily adaptable to our many ministry uses that we employ.

(This weekend, it will be used to help move it's former owners to their first house that they purchased).

Thanks to some of you as well, Carrie's knee replacement surgery last fall has been very helpful. Recovery has been daily improvement.

We covet your prayers for:

There are lots of camps coming up this summer - The Bárka's retreat; Patchwork Camp (quilting); English Camp; and many smaller day camps around for Hungarians and it's speakers in nearby nations. The latter type of camps are day camps where children may have never had a chance to go to a camp. They are served breakfast and lunch, with lots of activities and teaching about God's word.  We will be assisting our local friend and brother "P" with these camps in word and deed.

We will continue to host a number of people coming through the Budapest area - some we have never met before… all daily life!

We ask for prayer for "Bones" and "Non"- two young men Carrie saw on the metro last week. Both extremely lost. Pray also for "Double Crosser" and continue in prayer for "Blackbird",  "Upside Down" and all the people who 'hang out' with these mentioned. God is at work here, but so is the enemy. The more Jesus makes an impact, the more the enemy's cage is rattled - especially since the enemy knows it's a losing battle!

 "

... Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. … " Ephesians 6:18